Ferdinand

Have now done this one. I used the ASBO stuff, which is normally about £40 for 5l. Paid £30 for 2 tins that were being flogged on ebay are were a little dented. I used the "semi-gloss" version. 5l of the product gave a coverage over Traditional (not the ultra-smooth one) Sandtex Masonry Paint of around 2 coats on 40-50 sqm, so I have a whole tin left for topups. The finish has a slightly rubbery feel to it, as if flies might bounce off, and the one I used had a sheen when viewed longitudinally. I would not use it for a wall, heavily exposed to scrotes, but for something that is not subjected to regular attack it would be fine imo. The Sandtex paint is one of their 'offwhite' shades, perhaps Cornish Cream. I would do a patch test or sample test first, and I would want to paint it over the new finish as quickly as possible. The pic below shows the close-up sheen. It is reflecting sky and a brick wall about 4m away. Ferdinand

I am doing a small cladding job on one of the properties at the moment, where whatever masonry paint they used has flaked off on a more-exposed corner, and I don't want to have to redo it again, and had to buy a few battens. The colour dye, it was explained, is so that BCOs and the like can inspect more easily and reliably from ground level. Sounds logical and reasonable. Though the bloody stuff came off and my dashboard is now slightly blue. I think it is perhaps a bit of a red-herring to go for price over quality on the battens, as they are such a small proportion compared to the cladding. Even on my job with relatively cheap (£25 per sqm ish) plastic Eurocell rosewood-shade cladding, I have paid £16.27 for treated 25x50mm battens @ 53p + VAT per m, and about £200 for cladding. Undyed would have been about £13.27. The job looks really sharp as an inexpensive tart-up, so I will do a blog entry when it is finished. Ferdinand

IMO possibly, depending on the project. To me, having had EWI quotes on about 5 different properties including one of detached, terrace, semi and 2 bungalows - though not a 3 storey terrace, that looks like 10-18k depending for EWI plus scaffold levy in your area, depending eg on prep required and the complexity of the back. Whether 60k in total would do it depends on the auction price particualarly, but taxes and obvs sharks in the custard of the legal pack and what standard you renovate to, if you are self-renovating, finish you want, and how good you are. Council grant may be possible, and with 5 or 6 doubles potentially a good yield if a rental. At that price may have 'flats' potential. Ferdinand

Thanks.

Nice hat.

I think building a heat loss model of your house may be a good place to start. You want the heat loss spreadsheet at the top of @JSHarris‘s blog page. And start addressing the very very basics such as draughts under doors. Eventually you will make it warmer. The colder it is, the more impact you can have with simple cheap things. F

This may be a worm escaping from the can. Are you properly ventilated and insulated, especially in the kitchen? F

Upstand along the back made from something 40mm+ thick. eg a 150mm x 50mm plank of wood (ideally hardwood) done with something like polyurethane or waterproof yacht varnish. I have one that was done with bullnose skirting board back in 2013 behind a kitchen sink, and remarkably it has survived this far. Or a row of border tiles that normally live in bathrooms come in a similar dimension. Put a request in the Marketplace and somebody may have something left over.

1p At 20.3mm diameter. 50 x 50 ish plus the extra for a hexagonal grid. £30 per sqm so the same as a nice tile. But you get backache even more and resin is not cheap.

With a simple shape like that you will be able to get a complete secondhand one off eBay for perhaps a couple of hundred, maybe with appliances and even the sink. Watch for one locally, check sizes, go and look, then buy it. If you just want to do your worktop, then what about 600x600 large tiles? Or if you really hate mason’s mitres, then consider a sit on top sink to replace your current one, butting up to the L. Or a joiner could probably replace the worktop for you in half a day or a day for 100-200. Ferdinand

I make it 2500-3000 pennies per sqm. Ish. Good project for a weekend !

You will need to consider how you are regulated being near a “watercourse”. Depends on the type of watercourse, but flow and flood and also pollution potential during or after the build may be relevant. Anything about vegetation? https://www.gov.uk/guidance/owning-a-watercourse I like the idea of screw piles, if they are designed to take whatever loads are put on them by attaching 3-4m posts to the top and having a large shed on top of that. What sideways or vertical-plane twisting load would be put on the joint at the base of the post by a gale incident on the shed? I might be tempted to treat it as a platform, with a shed put on top of the platform. One other option is to build the platform from scaffold, which would be more predictable to work with. Depends on the visuals. Ferdinand

#£&(7(*5£#%/;’j Apple auto-typo not-keyboards. iPad came from Sydney, so it thinks it is upside down. Indeed, carefully.

What is the rateable value under Business Rates? You will start paying Council Tax before you occupy it, unless you have carefully strategised ?. F

What sort of tenants? What Council area ... will have policies? What sort of House / household / tenancy or tenancies? What sort of separate / communal facilities? Are you a resident LL or not? eg is your Council one of those that comes plonking along and goes ‘Abracadabra there are locks on these doors and they have ensuites, so it is now 6 x band A properties for Council Tax purposes’? You can also have ‘right to access’ issues if the T decides to keep it locked. One way if you are resident is to provide some sort of service that requires access included in the tenancy. All of the above affect your decisions. I think external doors are required to have thumb turn locks on the inside. If they inspect they may make you change those if it is wrong. Make your outside doors keyed alike. Much easier, and you get lots of spare keys for stock. For my most recent project I think I have 10+ keys. F

You probably mean CO. And it needs an 11ft deep pond imo not a trampoline ?. Or a slide.

Recommencing ... Would all that foam soften the landing? And will it help the thermal efficiency of the washing machine ? Going to get moderated soon. Tick tock.

Stopping the winding up for a moment, I’m glad that you did not come off the scaffolding, @recoveringacademic.

At least it’s outside the trousers. But how is the washing machine now?

Are there any current recommendations for thermal cameras? I am wondering about buying one. Cheers Ferdinand

You probably know already, but planting Japanese Knotweed is a specific offence. The devil would be proving it of course. http://www.knotweed-uk.com/Knotweed-and-The-Law.htm

And there was me hoping it was OneOff with a typo, in the vain hope that there weren’t Two or Three of them .. ?.

That’s interesting. I thought TS were focusing away from consumers these days, and referred cases to Citizens Advice. Scotland different, or Ferdinand mistaken? Hoping the latter.

Welcome. I think you need a rapid check as to your CIL exemption status, if your area does CIL. If it is not in place, then you could lose it if someone decides you have started.

What an encouraging thread.