Ferdinand

I guess one difference worth a note is that the panels are much easier to fit with 2 people. So people working alone may find tiles more straightforward. (Cue someone telling me that they did it single-handed while their arm was in a sling.) F

@MAB Are those plastic trays, or stone resin? I have bought my recent showers from sources discovered via ebay. The last ones were from UK manufacturers who maintained an ebay shop. For example, here is a stone resin one with a drying area which is about £250 in your size including raised legs and fastflow waste http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rectangle-Shower-Tray-with-Drying-Area-Low-Profile-Stone-Resin-Acrylic-Capped-/262453435127?var=&hash=item3d1b719af7:m:mjHGTupoOJkD72qT2tt-ckQ (Free delivery E&W :-) ! You need to dig a little for the one you want. There also seem to be antislip ones too. If you are planning a fixed screen (you want the 8mm type with a bracing bar at the top) then they are from around £300. eg Stone Resin 800x1700 bnut not drying area with side panel and flipper panel (which I would leave off) for £250. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wet-Room-Walk-In-Shower-Enclosure-and-Tray-Glass-Screen-Cubicle-Flipper-Panel-/282194371739?var=&hash=item41b418649b:m:mMClUuukEIRK0pd2nvCOt1g (Buggers to carry upstairs - ours below in a student house took 4 people to move the screens up 2 storeys) Ferdinand 'orrible photos but show what I mean. These have been in a student house since 2013 without a tremor. The screen and tray were about £300 each incl. waste and delivery. That floor is Ployflor Polysafe Hydro (hotel spas, shower areas, swimming pool surrounds etc) at about £300 a pop fitted in 4 bathrooms at once. http://polyflor.com/jh/products.nsf/products!open&family=saf&prodcode=fxsc151

Slightly on a tangent, I used quite high end interlocking patterned plastic wall panels for a bathroom a few years ago including behind the walk in shower, and they have proven fine over 6 years of 3 separate tenants. No tiling or finish needed. They came as 8x4s, and slotted together with just a trim of the top or bottom to fit. They were braced against the opposite wall overnight while the adhesive set :-). But I cannot for the life of me find what they were called. Ferdinand

Reflecting on the pros and cons. * Mike system: Gardiner eg Weight: 1080g for 5m pole dry. Cost: £108 for 5m 50% carbon pole including brush head and gooseneck. 4 sections with thumb lever clamps. Cost: £199 for 7m 65% carbon pole including brush head and gooseneck. 6 sections with thumb lever clamps. System: Some assembly required. Internal hose. Shorter. Extension sections can be added later. * Ferdinand system: H&G Promotions Weight: 1.6kg for 5m pole dry. Cost: £59 for 5m anodised aluminium pole including microfibre head. 2 sections with twist clamp. Cost: £95 for 5m aluminium pole including microfibre head. 3 sections with twist clamp. System: Plug and play. External coiled hose. Shorter. * Comment: The Gardiner system looks more thoroughly designed for a variety of professional uses, but the accessories seem to be quite a bit more expensive. The H&G is more 'plug and play'. Watch out for "working height" rather than "pole length" measurements as they add 2m for your own height. The Gardiner looks a lot easier to end up spending £500 or £750 through enthusiasm for accessories, while the H&G is less flexible but good enough for everything most of us may need. The Gardiner will be easier to get in a small car I expect, if necessary - but is perhaps a bit more fiddly to adjust. For smaller or older people the weight difference may be significant. * Conclusion I would be favorable toward the Gardiner if I was needing to go straight for panels on a 2nd storey roof, were small or older, or knew I would need flexibility and transport. But you pay for it as prices seem to be double. I would be favourable to the H&G if I knew the envelope of task I needed, and it did not go beyond conservatory / 1st Floor Windows or solar panels less than bungalow roof height, or if I can run the longer H&G pole up panels on a roof with a low gutter (eg as in my own situation). Would love to see a report on the longer poles within Gardiner system. Ferdinand

Unlikely to be enough. They run at ~2 litres per minute. You would need water butt volumes at least and even that could be limiting.

Full Review: This is a 3 section hose-attached aluminium telescopic pole, which is 26ft long = just under 8m. There is a shorter 17ft 2 section version. Costs are £95 and £50 respectively. It is a professional one from a firm called HG Promotions, and attaches to a hose. The web page is - shall we say - "keyword optimised": http://www.hgpromotions.com/products/6/Solar_Panel_CleanerIdeal_for_removing_salt_spray_seagull_mess_in_coastal_locations_Water_Fed_Pole Add ons available include inline detergent device (£10), hand pressurised 5l pump water supply (£25) for hosepipe bans (and 16l backpack version £40). Various types of head include cloth, brush, double sided, a swan-neck for leaves in gutters, and an inline lever-turn-off device. For cleaning algae from panels, I think you would be looking at the inline supply with the applicator, using an appropriate liquid. I have not tried the inline detergent device which attaches to the hose, but I expect such things tend to eat money if used with the branded product regularly. Diluted oxygen bleach or similar? I guess one could also try attaching copper or zinc wire to the top of each panel, which sounds painful. My main panel array starts at about 7ft with 6 rows of horizontal panels, so the shorter pole was not quite enough. I have not tried cleaning the ones on the high gables,thought it would reach, as my main issues are trees and pigeons. The setup is robust enough for what it does. If you order online as a consumer you have a right to return. I would *never* be using something like a pole on top of any ladder or steps (very bad idea imo). Hop up step or work platform ... maybe, but in that case the longer one is better. Up and down or tilting some way off centre is fine (I have to do 40 degrees off which is too much die to a garage). My intention is to clean panels 2 or 3 times a year. The window cleaner was proposing a charge which would pay for it in 12 months (we have 35 panels of which 28 are in the main array). A couple of pics with the "porcupine" microfibre-with-rubber-bits cloth. More on the other thread. An alternative system from Sureclean seems to be more extensive, but also more expensive - it is made from carbon fibre. Ferdinand

There is a thread about it here, @PeterW: I have a 3 section hose-attached aluminium telescopic pole not unlike @MikeSharp01 which is 26ft = just under 8m. There is a shorter 17ft 2 section version. Costs are £95 and £50 respectively. It is a professional one from a firm called HG Promotions, and attaches to a hose. The web page is - shall we say - "keyword optimised": http://www.hgpromotions.com/products/6/Solar_Panel_CleanerIdeal_for_removing_salt_spray_seagull_mess_in_coastal_locations_Water_Fed_Pole Add ons available include inline detergent device (£10), hand pressurised 5l pump water supply (£25) for hosepipe bans (and 16l backpack version £40). Various types of head include cloth, brush, double sided, a swan-neck for leaves in gutters, and an inline lever-turn-off device. For this @JSHarris I think you would be looking at the inline supply with the applicator, using an appropriate liquid. I have not tried the inline detergent device which attaches to the hose, but I expect such things tend to eat money if used with the branded product regularly. Diluted oxygen bleach or similar? I guess one could also try attaching copper or zinc wire to the top of each panel, which sounds painful. My main panel array starts at about 7ft with 6 rows of horizontal panels, so the shorter pole was not quite enough. I have not tried cleaning the ones on the high gables,thought it would reach, as my main issues are trees and pigeons. The setup is robust enough for what it does. If you order online as a consumer you have a right to return. I would *never* be using something like a pole on top of any ladder or steps (very bad idea imo). Hop up step or work platform ... maybe, but in that case the longer one is better. Up and down or tilting some way off centre is fine (I have to do 40 degrees off which is too much die to a garage). My intention is to clean panels 2 or 3 times a year. The window cleaner was proposing a charge which would pay for it in 12 months (we have 35 panels of which 28 are in the main array). A couple of pics with the "porcupine" microfibre-with-rubber-bits cloth. More on the other thread. Mike's system seems to be more extensive, but also more expensive. Perhaps also lighter since carbon fibre. Ferdinand

Is it more appropriate to ask what a girl can stop doing in order to persuade hubby to start doing something? Both items could be hunting for tiles.

Seconds and Co suppliers of insulation at lower prices have a newsletter, and supply 10% off voucher codes sometimes via that channel. Subscribe via popup on the website. There is one this weekend. They tell me new stock is going on the site this weekend, so hold on for a few days before ordering.

"I would love to use reclaimed concrete, Darling, but I have looked high and low on (list of 498 websites) without success. I need to finish this by date x so if you can find them by date y we can use them, otherwise we really need to use what we have. Good luck !"

Originally written 31/10/2017. "Call off orders from Retail Sheds" This evening I ordered a quantity of CLS (200 off 38 x 63mm x 2.4m) and OSB3 from Wickes, because my local branch had a special 15% discount running until the end of March following a shop refurbishment and related confusion. And to avoid any imminent price rises. With Wickes, because their CLS tends to be banana shaped after moving from the yard to the retail floor and changing with temperature and moisture (I assume), I like to go in first thing and choose the straight ones for the guys to fit that day or the next. This time I have not quite exchanged on the bungalow to be renovated, so they said I could pay now and collect as needed over several weeks, and would just put a tally on the chitty each time. I won't take the P and will pick up 30-40 at a time, and make sure it is cleared in 3 weeks. Has anybody else done this at other outlets? What were the arrangements? it seems useful - though it may just be my local branch doing me a favour and locking in The business. Ferdinand

Seconds and Co suppliers of insulation at lower prices have a newsletter, and supply 10% off voucher codes sometimes via that channel. Subscribe via popup on the website. There is one this weekend. They tell me new stock is going on the site this weekend, so hold on for a few days before ordering. Ferdinand

I think I don't see 300mm thick EPS with whatever is on top of that (if anything) being materially less supportive over a 50mm gap than it is over the rest of the floor. I think it would be difficult to find where the gap was situated in absence of an indicator. But interested to be shown mistaken. Ferdinand

What is the problem if you do *not* fill it? It will be under a lorra-lorra insulation, and I don't see much risk of eg rats moving in. If worried I would do a lean mix. F

I have degradation at about .5% per year according to research. I also think I have a guarantee, which may expire with the company and be futile. But I also have Solaredge which should help if a panel dies (though I could be misunderstanding and would not be surprised if I was). But just as I was about to place the final order I rang up and asked for a couple of spare panels and Solaredge modules, which they just gave me as a clinch the order freebie. I think the idea came from a Jeremy. If I was doing a normal install I think one spare panel might be realistic - my install has 35 panels. F

@Rossek9 You have taken the value of the tiles you have saved by your in roof system into account? Just checking. F

@Onoff This sounds like Hickory, Dickory, Dock. (Except it would be a squirrel.)

I guess you could use a sacrificial or washable insert cut to size. Horse matting or the trad rubber material for matts used in baths to prevent a-over-t slippage by grandma springs to mind, but I am sure people have better suggestions. I second the use of commercial but aesthetic wet-room or changing room lining materials. I have these in bathrooms in student houses refurbished in about 2012 for the entire bathroom floor so they cannot inundate the room below easily, and 4 years later they seem to be as solid as a rock. (Update: so I remember we used Polyflor Polysafe Hydro in Woodland Grey and it cost about £300 for the floor in a compact bathroom, fitted. They key was finding someone who was inexpensive to fit. And we did 4 bathrooms :-) ), http://www.polyflor.com/jh/products.nsf/products!open&family=saf&prodcode=fxsc151 A related point is perhaps to make sure that there is a grab rail or handle available. Once a year spriing clean with a pressuree washer? Ferdinand

At this point you do your solar calculation at the EST website and compare :-o .

There is now :-)

This is just a note of something I came across on Martin Goodall's Planning Law blog, related ot this piece: http://planninglawblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/extending-life-of-planning-permissions.html Planning Permissions usually have a condition to require development to start within 3 years (used to usually be 5, may soon be changed to be 2). In England, up until 2009, the usual way to extend the life of a PP was to apply to vary this condition. But when a temporary right was granted to extend the lives of PPs in order to allow projects to be extended during the UK recession, a provision was made in planning law expressly ruling out the extension of life of a PP by varying a condition. See the above blog for the reference. So when the temporary extension mechanism was withdrawn, neither that nor the "vary the condition" method were available in England. In this blog Martin Goodall noted that the provision banning the use of an application to vary the time condition had not been made live in Wales. Questions which would be of interest to BuildHubbers: 1 - Has this been brought into force in Wales yet? 2 - Can an application be made to vary the time condition in Scotland? 3 - Can an application be made to vary the time condition in Northern Ireland? Does anyone know? Ferdinand

^ This is not usually something to mention casually in a conversation with your planning officer , or ideally to discuss when you are talking about a specific identified address. And there may be regulatory dots and tittles to address when you sell it, if you do. Ferdinand

Hmm. My initial question was neutral. I asked it because I was musing on the use of the word and the self-definition of the profession. For TV, I would say: 1 - It is a lot about how you get to be on TV or advising, and that is very much about who you know and being in the right place at the right time. 2 - The skill set needed is different to that of a construction professional, in that being a TV presenter you need TV presenter, and also have to be photogenic or 'interesting', and have a "Face that Fits" That latter involves a whole set of prejudices and assumptions. 3 - I think it is also about "architects" being stereotyped. Part of that is us, audiences, and the TV companies not having a clear understanding, and part of that is lack of clarity on the professional side. For example how many here would be able to write a 100 word description of the professional competence / role of an architect. I think we could all try, but would all miss parts out with which we are not acquainted. For self-build I would say: 1 - We are overwhelmingly inexperienced clients, and there is no opportunity to gain experience in the typical self-build career of one or two builds. How long does it take for a new self-builder to gain the 'hinterland' to become a proficient client? 2 - We have difficulty sometimes interpreting how paper / cad relates to what we will get. That brings in the usefulness of models and other tools etc. 3 - The result is that it is easy to end up with a fairly standard build, which doesn't reflect our dream because we do not know how to articulate our dream and use our architect to deliver that. 4 - So we end up with our architect/designers interpretation of some aspects of our dream that we have been able to articulate, which is an intelligent estimate. There is also something in there about the role being so massively broad, that it is almost impossible for any one person to fulfil all aspects. So we need to see a lot of people who's profile does not fit what we need before we find the right one, and perhaps have a lot of extra expectations. Just me thinking aloud. What did Mark Brinkley say about this? Ferdinand

Just remembered my Wooster-named Restoration architect. Ptolemy Dean. I like him ... probably fantasic person to chinwag with over a bottle of Becherovka.

Has to be construction to be on topic. You can put a full length laminated one in the shower of you new bathroom. (In 2025 or whenever ). (Senses impending Sword of Damocles)