Ferdinand

But if you think that without limits you end up with a Geodesic Dome in a Grand Designs house in the Lake District .. .. and take a bath.

Yeah I tried it with the water running but it didn't make any difference. It doesn't matter if the switch is up or down, the water runs, so no failsafe. I don't know how they work but it's probably scaled up as it's before the water softener. The story here is that I had a T leave the water on at the stop tap when they went away in winter in about 2010, and the result was a leak which caused T to be out of the property fro about 8 weeks, 2 weeks of my time coordinating the repairs, and an 8k insurance claim. Fitting the Surestop is just a way to make sure it is easy for the T to switch off the water, and easy enough that I can put something in the rental agreement for nights away that can be enforcible later. As you say @PeterStarck - that requires it to be reliable. The oldest one I have in nearly 5 years old, but that T is still there so I can't take it out to examine. My current arrangements for new rentals tend to be: 1 - Magnaclean on heating circuit when new rads or a new boiler are installed. 2 - LIFF Limefighter 2 (magnetic not electrolytic which is the Limebeater) and Surestop fitted with switch above worktop or inside cupboard. 3 - Term in the rental agreement that the Surestop be used when away overnight. I encourage them to use it when out for a day, and tell them the story of the Great Leak. I think that requiring Ts to croink around with a stop tap every time they are away overnight would make such a clause unenforcible due to being unreasonable. I know that people have opinions about water softeners. My experience at home in the same geographical area is that a Limefghter 2 made a significant difference when we fitted one. And since they only cost £20-£30 compared to £800-1000 for a boiler it seems a no-brainer. I will need to check which order the things are in in the system. Logically the Surestop has to be on the mains side if it is to be a stop tap replacement. Perhaps some thought needed there and to accept that it is a secondary stop tap (and perhaps go for the remote switch but non-WRAS version which would save a few £££). Ferdinand

So, rooting through the power tools inherited from dad I finally investigate the router. It turns out to be one of these Eru MOF 177/2 Type 2, with an 1850W motor. The exploded parts diagram in the manual is stamped Apr. 89. Dad certainly bought good tools. Given that ELU were taken over by deWalt (subsidiary of Black and Decker) in 1994, it must be 1989-1994 vintage. I think it still exists as the evolved deWalt DW625, which can still be bought in Screwfix. I am seeing posts from about 2009 saying "an old 'un but a good 'un - pity they were taken over, buy one secondhand. I have had mine 25 yeas and it is still going strong". So they would be the bees-knees when we still had bees. So presumably dad's choice of tool was pretty good. Is there anything i need to know, never having used a router before? The context is a worktop needing fitting with 2 right-angles on Monday or Tuesday , but for that I think I will oppo for somebody who is experienced, despite having grasped the concepts. cheers Ferdinand

+1 But Wickes gave some WEIRD prices and discount structures for kitchens, especially the split between the designer showroom and the boxes in the store which I have seen at up to 300%+ different in price. And people get snobbish about them. The seller of our current house got quite stroppy when we remarked that it looked like a Wickes kitchen.

How are you going to attach your newel posts? Or if none are intended why are there slots for the glass screen? F

ISTM that logically a *single* humidity sensor would need to be somewhere credible for adjusting the whole system, which might be say in the inlet or outlet. A sensor in the bathroom would risk throwing all the rest out of whack while the bathroom was being humidity-reduced. But - and a big but - I do not have MVHR in my house, so I could just be wibbling. F

@KaraB Welcome. Nice to see a question from a renter. Ferdinand

We are @SteamyTea'a substitute for the Great Egg Race, engineering version.

There is a template for that.

Morning, Caliwag. I do not like the D word. My problem with "Delight" (but not the concept) is that it has become a fashionable term and a boilerplate label in passages of architectural marketing bollocks. It is not really clear it means, unless it is used of roof windows. IMO a word to be avoided in general use. If I applied the word to something, it would be the folly farm tank court, or a camera obscura inside someone's house. I can imagine some interior decorator asking Hilda Ogden "well, Hilda, are you delighted with the spatial narrative as you walk into your new home", and coming out with one of those rigid hotwater bottles, and a porcupine, justifiably inserted somewhere. I think that RAs winter garden may eventually meet the criteria, but I hope he uses a different language. We have seem the same thing with "human flourishing" ("living within an optimal range of human functioning, one that connotes goodness, generativity, growth, and resilience.) as a compound noun related to quality of life. Likely to occur in UN reports and rhetoric from Diocesan Social Responsibilty Advisers, and diversity reports, but no one has a clue what they are nebulating about.

You can control that in due course. Once branches start falling off or it seems dangerous, a call to the Tree Officer may get some action. F

Welcome. Are you at risk of those trees swallowing that view, and what can you do about it? (Suspect not a lot)

Cheers. So potentially a good idea if you know you will use around half of it immediately, which would save £4-5 per tube if using all of it. Ferdinand

Know whether they are on the Planning Committee, and perhaps find out a bit about their record first - just as a check so you know about them. Generally I would say talk openly, but if they have a record of politicising stuff for personal electoral reasons (eg are they a Lib Dem or other 'pavement politics' type ? *) then you may want to keep a low profile if you are pushing limits. I would also ask them early in the conversation (or their gofer beforehand) about if there is anything you might say by mistake to make them recuse themselves from Planning Committee decisions (though this is usually because they have a family link or personal interest). These are rare red flags rather than usual issues. Ferdinand (* Happened to our bigger housing estate application 3 days before Committee via a mass-distribution leaflet but it was controversial locally in nimby terms.)

Do we think this Ebay chap is on the up & up? Or too good to be true? https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/dilip1719 Ferdinand

I think it works if you buy using the App. They are probably trying to infiltrate all their customers' smartphones and iPads. See http://www.wickes.co.uk/Trade Ferdinand

OK. Probable Recommendations. *This* shower recommended on another thread by - I think - @Nickfromwales. It seems well built and has a lot of fitting bits with it. Worth a try and delivered quickly. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/332130829568 The shower bath is also well made, thick, and well reinforced. I think it also comes in 1700 and 1800mm sizes. But in 1700 you can probably buy cheaper as part of a suite from eg Wickes. 1600 x 850/700 L-Shower bath with Screen from Cheeky Bathrooms: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/172603618735 = £265 The bath waste received is also as recommended on BH. And is heaevy and chunky. Bath swivel flip plug and overflow: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/391493900884 = £22

Suggest the best answer to that is a Surestop airswitch that can click off water like a light switch. Mount it on the wall or just inside a cupboard, and use every time you go out. A WRAS approved version is available. About 30-50 £££. F

Hi Rich I do not know very much about block and beam, but my first thought on your situation was "fill, damp proof and insulated slab", given how far you have already gone in removing the floor. You would also get the opportunity to do a really well insulated floor. As a belt and braces a French drain along the walls outside if possible might be beneficial. If you are damp-proofed then it surely does not matter that the clay underneath remains damp. Suggest a post in the Introduction section, and put a link to this thread in it for wider input .. as it seems slightly to have been missed. Ferdinand

Can we ask for a BH discount on this from the manufacturer? Are there enough of us yet?

From breaking ground to opening on Empire State was about 16 months . It might even have been built by a Polish Builders .. 'emigrants from Europe'.

I wonder if your traditional locksmith can help? I changed ours to keyed-alike via our local hardware shop, and it was about £40 per lock for 3 cylinders with slightly different mm measurements (eg 50/50 and 55/45). On the LBB this was one I *did* remember, and I now have 12 hosuekeys, but I forgot to ask for thumb turn locks. Ferdinand

Trusting that you can turn up Perry Como in the room where the small person is playing what small people play...

Would speculate that @Barney12 is installing a bigger stereo downstairs. Or a trombone.

The order I enetered with PlumbNation actually showed no delivery charge - but was well over £500 and The Midlands is hardly Timbuktu. It is part of Travis Perkins. But I actually went for the other one.