Ferdinand

Would a waterproof cover in winter be a good thing? (Just asking, no experience). Ferdinand

Thanks. @Nickfromwales There is a floating floor going on top. We are taking up Over several rooms to verify what is underneath e.g. Cables and to insulate with rock wool. Can anyone comment on the handling difference between an 85mm circular saw and a 165mm circular saw? If I needed to I could justify something medium-expensive since I could be doing several similar renovations over the next 2 years. Need some bones to put under my floor to get the coppers to lift it. Any volunteers to be topped? Or "Ello Ella Ello Have you seen our Planning officer?" Ferdinand

I need to raise a significant number of T&G floorboards vintage 1966. Can anyone point me at an appropriate small powersaw (prob. Makita)? There is plumbing beneath so a jigsaw would be risky. Thanks Ferdinand

I think I see a material difference between 'side of the road' and 'back garden', as implied imo by 3 point 4 in @PeterW in his attachment. F

What happens in the gap? Can you run the pipe above ground inside something like a potting bench or a sitting area or a raised garden feature such as a terrace or a double fence?

You cannot leave it exposed where the public esp. children can be in contact with it. I interpret that as the above ground section of posts in garden fences are not ok, though e.g. those supporting a closed deck might be OK.

If a Condition, that sounds eminently appealable - not that it is relevant; sparrows nest in several kinds of bush etc. More fun than a Wordsearch or Jackie Collins on holiday.

I think it is legal to block someone in on your own land. eg dig a hole with your digger between them and the exit.

Hmm. Can you get your trees from France? Single Market, innit?

If you do do it they will need a lot of care this summer. For watering that hedge perhaps consider a Leaky Hose. If we get a ban you will not be needing your gym membership with all those buckets :-). If you are in Kent can you get a non-metered water supply? Pond or Sand point well, depending on your soil / water table? Or hose with a big interim tank? Personally I would wonder whether the Council would,be sticklers for the full fake-Latin name. Perhaps ask if you can change, or JDI? BAsed on other threads these could be on your VAT reclaim.

Will do. When I needed to hide a big pile of rubble I made a raised area, on the basis that it was unlikely to move and free draining. Levelled it off filling in with gravel, then weed membrane and made it part borders and part gravelled seating area ... so that it could be relevelled with a rake when the underlying compacted over time. F

@PeterW recommended these people who were half the price of anywhere I found myself. http://www.dwfrost.com/ And their tree is now growing vigorously. I agree with a wait until the autumn.

One way is to buy a low insurance no tax banger and park it across your entrance whenever you are not there. There are a huge number of cars from 2001 to March this year on which have no road tax or £30 per annum. I think I am right that one of the reasons that Mr Osbo changed the car tax was that about half were no longer paying any. Ferdinand

In England aiui clamping on private land without being one of a small number of organisations e.g. Police is a criminal offence. https://www.askthe.police.uk/content/Q528.htm One of my favourite imagined protests is to park a car on an MP's drive then go into London for the day, knowing that they can do very little about it. Ferdinand

Is this really as big as 13k having to be done *now*? What does the management actually want? Is it the whole caboodle finished and landscaped and planted yesterday? Or is it a nice garden to sit out in this year, entertain friends to a BBQ and chuck the kids (?) outside to play without them breaking their necks? Or is it to look respectable to the public after several years of chaos? And do you need to do it *all* now? I have a couple of thoughts I'll post if I have half an hour later, but I am thinking (based on the maps and photos upthread), that perhaps it is not prudent to do all of it to Chelsea standard if you still have extensive groundworks and still need a "building site" type area for the purposed of doing your building. I am thinking of terracing the bit to the stream by next door, providing something outside the bifolds and doing a shortish term (up to 5-8 year life) visual break between that and the rest so there is a domestic area and a building site and the twain shall not meet if you are being domestic. Perhaps something to make the garage look respectable from the street too. F

Agree. The main priority should be to design them out.

OK. Just had chat to EWI supplier on the phone. Their responses seem to be quite best practice. The main thing is about planning in advance. 1 - How to Mount things on the outside of the EWI Standard technique is to cut the foam so that sections of 2x4 can be spliced in ==> no cold spots. They leave with a screw stocking out to show where it is. Heavy stuff is better on freestanding poles if possible. 3 - Through the Wall Fans eg Vent-Axia Lo Cardon Tempra Make sure they are long enough, then they will cut a hole for them in the insulation and finish. (Note: emphasises need to make sure that a sleeve .. eg piece of soil pipe ... is fitted in the wall and will span the EWI too, and fan is mounted into that so it can be taken out easily for maintenance or replacement.) 4 - Gas flues Have it in place first, and they will fit around it, with a patch of rockwool insulation. 5 - Controlling mad men with drills (Hello Virgin) Various solutions, which maintly involve standing over intallation engineers with a cup of tea and some instructions as to what you have fitted to help them. F

Will need to measure up. Will reply later today. Ok @PeterW here you go. I need the following supplied and fitted.:Full details but an approx indication is fine. White uPVC. Everything is grade A with chromes handles and high security (anti bump, anti snap) locks. 225mm or ideally 250mm sills. Spec of unit is 4-20-4 float glass warm edge argon filled. I make the u value 1.4-1.5, so Ok for DG but not as good as is available. Front door: 2.1m h x 1.5m w door (900) and flush upvc side panel (600) Door 2 light top half with mullion, raised panel below. Back door: 2.1m h x 0.9m w door. Door identical to front door. Picture window: 3m w x 1.3m h. 1:3:1 division into lights. One light opening. Window: 1.2m h x 1.2m w. 1:1 division vertically. One light opening. Window: 1.0m h x 1.2m w. 1:1 horizontal division. Bottom light opening. Window: 0.9m m h x 1.2m w. 1:1 horizontal division. Top light opening. Window: 1.2m h x 2.2m w. 3 lights. 1 light opening. French doors.2.1m h x 1.8m w. Both doors opening. There will be a certain amount of building work (eg French doors replacing window but no lintel needed), which I am excluding. Ferdinand

Distinctly underwhelmed with Seconds and Co payment processing. Force me to use Paypal and then when I want to pay as a Guest to use a card Paypal forces me to ask to create an account, which I already have anyway. Then tries to force me to have it delivered to my home address when the build is 2 mile away. And allow me to fill in umpteen form fields before making these weird impositions. Double plus ungood. I want to be able to pay simply with the card I want to use,. Does anyone have a more effective way? (Update: Kind man did it over the phone. Website still requires fixing imo.)

I know there is no such thing, but this blog is supposed to be about Details. How to build an attractive looking bin store to deal with dustbins that breed like Statutory Consultees in the Planning process? Here is one option used locally. They have used traditional perforated blocks that we are all used to from the 1970s. Here is something similar from Kevin McCloud's The Triangle development, using Gabions. (Photo Credit) The McCloud version suffers from being in the eyeline whenever the householder leaves the front door. If you have any good examples, please post in the comments. Update 2/2019: This was the one I built. In this pic it still requires cleaning with brick acid, and the coping stones adding. Here we are testing a dustbin for size.

@SteptoeYou mean the things that look like mini washing machine agitator spirals? This is a plasterboard one not an EWI one. Long screws are doable, but are a cold bridge so are perhaps Plan B. Though having a filled cavity wall inside will help that. @ProDave Looking forward to your further comments when you have the time ! Ferdinand

Following on from January's Cost of triple glazing thread, is anyone willing to share the approx cost of their double glazing? I will be receiving my quote for the Little Brown Bungalow replacement DG this week, and would welcome some comparisons. In theory I should be in a good place, because my DG man measures up and has it made half a mile down the road, and I can't see how that can be improved. Cheers Ferdinand

What sort of ply is that @jamiehamy? Is that the pre-slotted-on-the-back stuff or just thin? Cheers

Have a look at refurbished 'site offices'. Those are moveable, and can be yours for a few thousands complete with some insulation, wiring, sink etc in various sizes. eg sometimes come up here https://www.wernick.co.uk/refurbished/latest-offers/ or often on eBay. Or static caravans too old for sites owners to permit them, which might be as few as 10 years.

Easily defined. When Big Harry comes down from the Council and says "Make My Day, Punk .. Move It .. or I will send in The Enforcers", then you need to be able to comply. F