Ferdinand

More information. I had a detailed conversation with the Bathroom / Kitchen Fitter over coffee yesterday. He suggests an in line suitable-for-purpose, which is fine. But he has not fitted one before - not necessarily an issue, but means I need to keep a weather I on the process. Do I need to specifiy anything etc. Is there a brand of "solid, reliable" pump which won't be horribly expensive. Is it sensible to buy a spare at the same time? Can anyone recommend a source? Questions: 1 - Am I better going to an accumulator? It would be whole house as disentangling the plumbing to 2 bathrooms at opposite ends could be complex. That should not be too much of an issue for usage, and would be quite nice for eg washing up. Central heating is a sealed system. The main time where we have a problem is morning showers, so it would have plenty of time to top up. I am guestimating a 400l-500l jobbie, since my peak demand is likely to be a couple of showers plus a bath plus odds'n'sods. 2 - Are there regs and regular maintanance for an accumulator? Or are the FAF (fit and forget)? Cheers Ferdinand

You probably want a 5ft and a 9ft, so you can take the car in without opening both. F

What are your constraints and budget? Looking at your setting, I would probably suggest a pair of farm pedestrian gates from an agricultural stockist would fit in well. Just been looking into it for a neighbour who is on a budget, and a pair of hunky-chunky (ie the bloke reversing into it will lose the damage war) metal hanging posts, plus a pair of 5ft metal farm gates, comes in at under £200 including VAT for 5 bar gates, or about £250 including VAT for wooden ones from my usual stockist. Because they are likely to have a range of sizes you can probably do your 60:40.

How wide is your entrance going to be?

Lots of opinions ;-). Time to sift. ?

Someone here - poss @ProDave - recently used pre-owned panels at about 1/3 of the cost for a solar project. All you would have to do is watch and wait.

Having reviewed Planning Apps for several of his HAB projects, I think they have significantly improved each time. I think Kevin’s worst habit is his overlove of gadgets of all kinds, whether they be bits of renew-o-tech, plywood chimneys as you say where maintenance will require a cherry-picker, or Pocket Orchards. There were some cracking online exchanges back in 2013 when they were all in the Storming phase. My favourite: (paraphrase) Local in 30s semi: The noise is bad now that it is finished. New local in the Triangle: I can’t hear it; I have soundproof glazing. F

I think the single most interesting point about the two builds from this week’s episode were both spearheaded by people who are construction professionals ... Quantity Surveyors no less. Self-build will be working when it is being done more by drama teachers and telephone sanitisers from the B-Ark. And they both came within reasonable distance of budget, and at least one said iirc that the important point was that they did not change much. I think this is what Kevin McCloud has been wanting to cover since about 2001, recalling no his comments when doing the Hedgehog one in Brighton, and the Estate in Brum. Ferdinand

I would have small claims on my mind by this point. That may cut through any persnicketying about who is responsible between the developer and the warranty provider, if the judge decides on a commonsense basis. F

I love the result. But that is a mad thing to do.

Treat it as a special area in the garden. Do you have children or grand children? Make it into a play / relaxing area, with railings round the edge, treated as a roof garden. Why not have one of those large chess boards made out of pavers, or Nine Men’s Morris, or similar, or several. And seats in the sun. And a fountain, and so on. Or a labyrinth? Or a deck. And a BBQ and a barrel o beer. F

If I bought it for the current bid and sold it to you for the price of 3 brollies I would still make nearly a 50% margin...

I could speculate on this by offering £3 and then waiting for @Sue B to have a hole in her roof when it is raining..

This is interesting: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/208954/Amended_Guidance_for_Applicants_and_landowners_and_or_occupiers_-_June_2013.pdf see para 3.9 . Revocable at will if no express or implied agreement or contract. Hmmm. ??? But needs some checking and contextualisation. The possible implication is that if the DNO cannot demonstrate a current agreement, either written or by proving that the landholder has accepted money, then they can be instructed to remove their equipment at any point. I think that suggests 3 months notice but I am not certain. That is a very valuable document. Ferdinand

It reminds me of how Car Insurance can revert to Road Traffic Act only, though that may have gone by now as a rule.

I think that the situation around sales of properties is more ambiguous in practice. When we had electricity cables removed, they were quite happy to proceed on the basis of a wayleave from 1958 and three owners ago. ”Bare Wayleave” sounds like an arsecovering word for “O Fook, we haven’t got a Wayleave”. Or perhaps it may be the legal minimum that automatically exists with a cable and no other documentation or agreement. F

What is underneath? can you just take it away? It classically needs to have a surface 150mm below the dpb, and everything sound and functional eg air bricks. It may be that it is worth doing more given that you have to start eg put a gravel path and French Drain in, or go deeper and put skirt insulation on that wall. What is the situation with the remainder of the house? F

Cheers. F

Make sure that it is a fag packet with one of those coronary warnings, to make sure you are ready for the number he Is about to give you ?

just had this email. It is 3 years since my freebie car charger was installed in the garage. I have never had an Ev. —————————- As a loyal customer to Chargemaster (now trading as BP Chargemaster), we hugely appreciate your commitment to shaping the future of the Electric Vehicle industry by purchasing an EV and a BP Chargemaster Homecharge Unit. When you originally purchased our Homecharge Unit it came with a 3 year communications package providing access to BP Chargemaster’s ChargeVision platform. This package period has now come to end. However, as a thank you for your custom we are offering you an option to extend this package and access to the ChargeVision platform for a cost of only £50 for the next 3 years (usual price £95). To take full advantage of this offer, please email comms.pack@bpchargemaster.com stating your name, and your contact telephone number, and if you have a preferred time/date to take a call. One of our team will then ring you to confirm the renewal of your access to ChargeVision and to take payment. If this offer is not taken up over the next 30 days, we will send you a confirmation saying that the comms element within your Homecharge unit will be deactivated and your login in details to the ChargeVision platform will be no longer apply. We also would like to take this opportunity to share with you about our Polar Plus membership, which for £7.85 a month you can access the UK’s largest electric charging network away from your home. For those first-time users, the first three months’ membership is FREE! Please visit https://polar-network.com/ for more information. ————————- Hmmm. A solution to the Big Brother problem that goes with these? Are there any gotchas hereeg could it disable the whole thing? Ferdinand

@NeverEnoughCake I think your big thing over the next couple of weeks is getting to grips with the planning system and what it will require of you. It may be about to hit you like a steamroller if you are not already familiar with things. Can I suggest that you read several of the blogs here and elsewhere of projects with similar aspects (and I mean every word of the blog). That will I think be really helpful. Can I suggest for offsite blogs: Jeremy’s blog here http://www.mayfly.eu/ . Read it end to end. Dip into Life at the end of the Road, which is off grid https://lifeattheendoftheroad.wordpress.com/ For onsite, pick a few and read the earlier posts about planning stuff. Other people may have good suggestions; I am now out for the day. F

That gate would kill the Wicked Witch of the East.

Imo it may well be their cockup so perhaps you should expect some rebate or no extra charges. F

Watched this last night. I think they are trying hard, and the judges grew on me, but that the format is a mongrel for something looking for a Home of the Year, and that partially cripples it. 1 Three houses. 2. Couple talk about their home, and are taken away, Identify Favourite Place. 3. Judges .. an architect, an interior designer, and a lifestyle blogger, are dropped off and walk up to and around it. They explore the house for some time - the meat of the prog. then mark it out of 10 for functionality, design, and something I have forgotten. 4. The houses are compared by score and one shortlisted for the final prog. Problems 1. Scoring like washing machines does not work. 2. If it is about Home then the judges should interact with the people who live there, and how the people interact with the house. They should not judge just the house. 3. too much depends on the personal prejudice of the judges. 4. the houses are far too samey .. they are all well off people building detached on idyllic sites. And it is sign done by region, so this could continue. They should have made it granular eg one below 200k, one 2-400, and one unlimited. The format is like one from a minor Tv station ... Best House in Town from last year, which avoided the issue by having everything from refurbed terraces to big detached. Ferdinand

Do self-builders not have a right to display Builder’s Cleavage? I have not seen an exclusion in the site T&C. It is even demurely hidden by the cropper-chopper until you explicitly go looking for it. *hard stare* That last sentence is TMI, though.