Ferdinand

Scrub that - it is in Worthing and he won't accept a courier. Will cross-post to Offers thread since this is a £350 item and is on at £100.

Is this one a dehumidifier of which anyone has experience? It is an Ebac which used to be the top of the range one in a couple of DIY sheds. I want it as more heavy duty than a domestic (which I have) but which fits in the back of a car and can be moved without provoking injury. There is a secondhand one I can get at a decent price. New price is about £335-350. Cheers Ferdinand

I am currently having the Little Brown Bungalow done - minimal surface prep if any + a skim. Existing walls being skimmed, not boarded except in a couple of places (acoustics on party wall) and that is in place already. We made sure the place was cleared for access. Walls + ceiling minus parts of bathroom and kitchen, which I make just around 250sqm. The chap is working on his own for this job. From memory, labour is a little under £150 a day for 8 days. Quality is great. So ~£4 per sqm for labour. I am supplying materials = 32 bags multifill and 3 bags bonding (Thistle from Wickes = £165 toto) if that helps show the size of the job. This is also the second decent sized job from this plasterer for me so that may also help. One important note is that having a very local supplier and horses for courses (one man band vs several men and their own scaffold towers etc) could make a large difference. My job is a small bungalow - the simplest case, which at most involves hop-up steps not scaffolding towers, and the plasterer is about 5 minutes away. Travelling eg 25 miles could add 10% to the day rate in mileage and another 10% of time. Ferdinand

@pocster I think you could be jumping the gun here - apols if I am wrong. 1. The regulatory authority for HMOs is the Council, and that is ultimately the party with whom you need to have the conversation about particular requirements. Either the EHOs or perhaps Building Standards. Watch out for EHOs calling their personal opinions / interpretations a legal requirement. 2 - If you are committed to being on the right side, then show them your report (which to me sounds questionable even on what you have said). They have much leeway and intepretation etc, but will tell you what they want and which regulations they will enforce. Licensing Schemes are widely abused by Councils to try and enforce all kinds of gold-plating and extra-legal requirements and things the Govt has not required, where over-enthusiastic or prejudiced politicians or not-fully-knowledgeable officers have a personal opinion or a brainstorm, so there may be contradictory requirements. 3. We do not have enough info to give answers - we do not even know, for example, what type of HMO it is - small, subject to Mandatory or Additional license under the 2004 Housing Act, a conversion, falls within pre-1991 regulations and so on, or therefore what grade of fire alarm is required. 4. Suggest that the HMO or HHSRS Forum of Landlordzone might be a better or extra place to ask. Post full details of the HMO, Council Name and the points from the Report. 5 - To me it seems you may be getting some personal opinions or interpretations in your report - validity needs checking (see point 1). I believe the EM requirements are set by BS5266.1:2016 and guidelines built thereupon. I have never met a 12v requirement, and since they are designed to ensure safety and 240v is safe if it is correctly wired, the claimed requirement seems to be gibberish. £3K sounds about right to me for a professionally fitted alarm system in a 6 bed Mandatory License HMO. There are various summaries around by people such as Fire Officers, TLC etc. 6 - What quantifiable loss have you suffered in order to be able to pursue a legal case? The Council and tenants will be more interested that it is safe *now*, although where HMO landlords are concerned some Councils love going scalp-hunting. HTH Ferdinand

I like the look of those. Good choice and good value. [Bonus comment: I guess my only question is whether they provide enough directed light for people to walk to or from the house in the dark.]

@JSHarris if you wanted to get rid and go to the table saw the Erbauers are quite rare and do OK on ebay - looks like a reliable £50 secondhand. https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=ERB596CWS&LH_Complete=1&LH_Sold=1&rt=nc&_trksid=p2045573.m1684 Ferdinand

I need to choose the type of flashing to use from the roof of a polycarbonate car port to a normal masonry house wall. There will be a little expansion movement in the heat by the polycarbonate. The situation is exposed, but the prevailing wind comes round the corner and down/across the (very shallow) slope of the roof. Can anyone advise? I usually avoid flashband due to it short life, and last time I used Ubiflex for a corrugated sheet roof. Now Ubiflex has a far wider range of products (B2/B3/Extreme), and I am not sure what to choose. Any comments or alternative suggestions will be welcome. Thanks Ferdinand

I am hoping (clutching at straws?) that this might not be as bad as you think. I think yours is 4 miles away. One for @SteamyTea, probably, but how many weather stations are there in the UK? When I was looking at temperature data in a conversation about skirt insulation, my closest was within 6 miles. Even data from an amateur may be relevant. Here is a map of dozens of Official Weather stations. And here is a list of around 150 'Independent' ie hobbyist ones. But they seem to be Automatic Weather Stations (aws in the url). While those may not all be "expert witness" quality, they could perhaps sway an insurance claim. ISTM that data from both may be relevant. The larger (and more expensive) challenge may be the expert interpretation. F

Incidentally, do you think Durisol have handled this in a reasonable manner? I haven't followed in total detail, but coming out to your site etc and accepting the claim seems to be perhaps drawing a positive from a negative(?). F

What is the appropriate comment? Yabba-dabba-doo! Bonus Lollipop. Just found the complete song.

I think you need the coupling then the end plug.

Cheers. I have memories of taking half a day to remove about 3sqm of it. In kids' bedrooms I love cork on a whole wall for art, though.

Thanks Peter. That might not be best fr me, as I pay VAT (not self-building). For me that is £9.50 ex VAT or £11.40 inc VAT (I am not self-building) for 1000 qty with a £11.99 delivery charge. For a small quantity I think I have found a better one at FFX, who do free delivery and £10.13 a box inc VAT. https://www.ffx.co.uk/tools/product/Senco-39A35Mp-8715274010502-Duraspin-35Mm-Drywall-To-Wood-Collated-Screws?gclid=Cj0KCQjwub7NBRDJARIsAP7wlT8BUPUOoitfBiuXMSa3kj_jNENB7DzB58lWA0wNqzbXHm41EO--hysaAjLvEALw_wcB Cheers Ferdinand

Steven Brown has a sale on at the moment for Timber Prints - 37.5% off, and you do not even have to do a 5-for-8 deal. £25 not £40 for a 16" x 12". https://www.stevenbrownart.co.uk/collections/timber-prints I like the giraffe: Ferdinand

@Vijay Perhaps a small evergreen bush and a clump of something perennially ornamental in the summer needs to be applied in front, with space behind for access for the Meter Man? Or some other suitable structure such as a garden bench? If that plan is N-to-top the meter location could be an amazing little sun trap. Or grow a vine or some wall-fruit?

I would argue against cork, on the basis that - unless there is some new miraculous variety around - it will look the worse or wear after around 8-10 years, and then if it has been stuck down properly it is an absolute b*gger to take up if not sodden. So you have to go over the top or apply yourself with a scraper and hammer to take it up in postcard-sized pieces. I hope others had a better experience(?). If @JessieAndRoss are putting something down which is difficult to take up, imo make sure that: 1 - It will last long enough so that you will never need to do so. 2 - You can go over the top with the next layer (think doors to be trimmed, skirtings etc). 3 - Or SEP applies (c) Hitchhikers' Guide. You will be moving on so it is Somebody Else's Problem and you will not have a twinge of conscience. I would hate to be the person who takes up @JSHarris's bamboo floor in 30 years time :-). I bet it is stuck down a little firmly. I grew up with a cork kitchen floor, and parents also used cork in the following house and put Flotex Tiles pver the top after about 10 years. The Flotex was still fine 20 years laterm and I used commercial quality pre-sealed then post-sealed by me cork in my own house which became a rental. I agree it is comfortable Wood or engineered wood floor can be sanded and repaired, and can be supplemented with rugs. The other option I am starting to like for bedrooms is a full room-sized rug over whatever, because the not-too-expensive Ikea Persian-style rugs we have from years ago (perhaps £12-13 per sqm in about 2000) are still going strong, to the extent that the 2 spares spare are still wrapped up in its original packaging. That is in a lounge and hallway not a bedroom. But I perhaps have extreme views on long-term durability and maintainability .. Ferdinand

Grand Designs Australia beckons. Really hope it works out well. On paintings, I now have a George Hall original canvas from his gallery in Sydney last autumn. And several rolled up prints that are waiting for my office to be tidy. Like a mug I bought it in week 1, so I was carrying this extra parcel from hotel to hotel until week 4. F

+1 Better off in your hand, than in their bush.

Does anyone have a good source for Dura Spin collated screws? I think I want box of 1000 for drywall, and also a box of 1000 for flooring, to play with. I am guessing 35mm and 37-40mm respectively. It would be useful to know the codes, as the ones on the case lid (eg 06a162P) do not seem to match anywhere Cheers Ferdinand

This is a 100 sqm bungalow, isn't it? Did you put loft storage in in the end?

Absolutely, not regulated - which is the same category as Kevin McCloud's product. The one I was thinking of was folk2folk, which is a Cornish B2B peer lender with a good record who offer 6.5% secured against an asset. I think his profile - and to be fair track record now - lets him make it fly at a lower rate, as it is thought to have a higher likelihood of success.

The band Runrig are named for the same, for a Scottish version of a Digger-like land-politics reason (I think), but I would have to look it up. Diggers not JCBs.

Kevin McCloud's developments have got better each time. Notably safe, southern, areas, but I do not think that a 4.8% return is enough. I can get a lot more than that peer to peer lending to businesses secured against property. F

Strips as in strip farming, I think.

How bad is it? Will the thing be uninhabitable? Or can the grain dryer run during the day when they will be out (suspect you need the 24x7 ability just in case)? Can you use those weeks as "medium" not "high" season at say 25% less rent, or for "friends and family" at a smaller or nominal charge (which may help you with the availability / occupancy requirements ti to get the tax concessions - others will be better on these than me). Solid chunky wooden fences may be an option for reflecting sound, at perhaps 1/3 the cost of a wall, but the whole thing is a bit of a black art. Or well sealed secondary glazing (or thicker units) is good for sound deadening with a larger air gap of 100mm or so. Ferdinand