Ferdinand

In late 2015 on Buildhub I had a thread about removing a Huuuuge TPO Poplar Tree. http://www.ebuild.co.uk/topic/16624-removal-of-tpo-tree-after-branch-fall/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eygMw9JE9tY This is an update. The Council forgot about the replacement, but the neighbour did not :-).The Council recommended "oak or beech". And we talked about replacement trees including Turner's Oak. So I will be putting a standard tree in this spring, looking at something narrower than the 15m branch radius of the Poplar but with leaf colour interest and a mature height of perhaps 12-15m, by which time I will be in my coffin ("Here lies Ferd, who was alive and is now derd. There is no more to be serd."). It is prominent on a corner at the entry to a 100+ house housing estate. Options are: Quercus Robur Fastigiata (upright common oak) Quercus Robur Fastigiata Koster (narrower and a little faster) Quercus Palustris Green Pillar (upright red oak which goes red in autumn on the correct soil) Pyrus something something Chanticleer (medium size ornamental pear which goes bright red in the autumn) All are hardy as it is an exposed site. I think I am looking at option 3 or 4. Cost will be about £200 delivered for an approx 8cm girth 3m tall tree. If anyone has any comments they would be welcome. Ferdinand (How to embed a video?)

That got right up my nose.

Not yet. But when I was 11 doing Duke of Edinburgh in the peaks, I was too curious about a stand of wire wound into a corded fence. "What's that?". Thud.

I still can't decide whether this is a wind up by Mr "My tackle is as big as a 6 pack of Walkers Crisps. Honest." But if you try to do that you *must* have a watertight conditional purchase agreement in place *first*. Otherwise you gift somebody 10s of k in the value you add to their property, which they can exploit as they will.

Looks doable, but not something I would do :-). I can see that you will be one of those 92 year old tightrope walkers .

This conversation illustrates why I employ electricians and build fences.

Onk! Onk! Onk! Onk! Onk!

I'm worried again now. We have a widow in the house already and don't need any more . F

What are strategies being used by any of us here? Can protection be done practically at a house level? Cheers Ferdinand

Cheers all. I shall now sleep soundly. However a power cut killed my microwave this morning so I need a surge protector for the replacement.

To my eye the green label "PME" suggests it is a "TN-C-S (PME)" (from the link) system which - based on the initial comments above - suggests compatibility. Ferdinand

Here we are. It is all in the meter box. Not very good photos, I am afraid.

If there are fractious factions you could have the local Vicar or another functionary (King Arthur Pendragon, the local Earth Mother, or the Piper in Scotland....) come and bless it :-) "From codgers, and bodgers and ill-mannered lodgers, and stoats, and goats, and questionable scroats, and wild boars, and tame bores, and just down the lane bores, and bikers, and hikers, and people who like us... .. Good Lord, Deliver Us". Ferdinand

So how are you going to clean them? With that shallow roof pitch it could be .. er .. difficult from the outside. I have a cleaning pole that extends to about 9-10m but even that would be pushed. As for the inside.My solar panels are 3m off the ground and run upwards for 7m at 55 degrees and that is tricky. I think I would want that upstairs glass window I can see with the wintergarden view to be a solidly built Juliet Balcony for the inside, and I would want a system for the outside - turn a solar panel into a velux? (Update: Hmm. 1st floor level sitting out balcony below the slope of the roof, which would also give a sheltered garden feature / tea terrace and afford access?) I love the winter garden, though. And I am sure you have far better ideas than I do . F

Will do later.

If I buy a small field,will you try and put planning on it for me?

Thanks @Alphonsox Can you point me to something shorter e.g. One page which will help me find out which system I have in place? eg do I look in the meter box and trace it back visually until I find an earthing point? Cheers F

On another thread @Steptoe commented on my electrical setup: I have had a look around and my RCBOs are to BSEN 61009-1, and I think that it is OK if not quite latest best practice. GIven that the setup meets regs circa 2014 I think I am reasonably happy. A few questions if I may: What is a TT system and a TN system? What are the differences and how can I tell which one I have in place? This is my consumer unit. Ferdinand

Here's one I prepared last week. An example of a couple of types I talked about above. 1 - Knocked in posts and fence panels on their third use, 2 - fairly dense ranch-style fencing, 3 - post and rail with 2 rails and wire dog-mesh plus strainer wires. 2 and 3 have been in 5 years. 1 went in last Thursday. The one in the background is the same length run as yours and took 2 of us a short morning. A detail of attaching panels to knocked in posts - alternating side to allow space to attach to the post and to allow a little adjustment. I would strongly argue against postcreteing in wooden posts, as they will rot more quickly and the stuff will be a pain to get out, and an even bigger pain to repair when a single post goes - you will have to dismantle it and dig out the concrete, or insert a repair spur and use a big block to bridge the concrete plus bolt right through. Either knock in wooden posts like a farmer or postcrete in something concrete that will outlast your friend. From the conversation, I think for the security aspect you perhaps want a properly done 2m paid-for fence (prob £700 or so), and then add trellis to the top after a couple of months and perhaps some pyracanthas on the inside side. Also, anything horizontal will provide footholds. F

The Observer has published a correction: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/jan/22/brexit-hutting-china-train-observer-corrections Is the correction correct?

Let me try some pertinent questions that may I hope help. What is the cost per metre of your solution? What is the required height? How long must it last? What job is the fence to do? What are the ground conditions? Can it be seethrough? Have you built a test panel and did it stand up? What size gabions are you aiming for? I would expect scaffold planks to be hellishly heavy to support and for it to perhaps blow over unless you use large gabions. Small gabions seem to start at £15 each. I use three types of garden fence myself plus hedges. One is hammered in 8ft 4" or 5" round tantalised posts, for which I pay about £3 each, and leave at 6ft high, and join them by decent closeboard 6'x6' fence panels at about £25 each wedged one brick off the ground and screwed using Wickes green outdoor screws. This will last 5-10 years and can be shelter while a hedge is established, or a building site next door is being built. Materials are about £13-15 per metre, and can usually be reused two or three times for panels, twice for the posts. The second is substantial concrete slotted posts at perhaps 3m postcreted in and using a 6" or 12" gravel board and the similar panels. This should last 15-20 years, and the posts and gravel boards should last 40 years. This is approx £25-30 per metre for materials. The best place for Postcrete is nearly always Wickes. The third is using 3" round posts at 5'6" or 1.6m long, which cost me about £1.50 each. These are hammered in and joined by anything from a single or two strands of wire to half rounds to make a ranch style fence. WIth two layers of half rounds and posts at 2m this will cost about £4-5 per metre in materials. Type one and type 3 could also be used to supported chain link or sheep mesh or dog mesh. And postrammers are worth their weight in caviar. Perhaps scaffold planks could slide into slotted concrete posts but they will need to be treated and kept off the ground. If I need something elegant I would use wrought iron Estate Fencing or posher panels such as Hit and Miss or palisade. Or a hedge. For a hedge I would use hawthorn laid properly every generation, or privet or perhaps holly .. or gorse or myrtle if really exposed to sea winds. Or beech or hornbeam for a semi evergreen or semi evergreen for a heavy soil. Or a mixture. WIth the occasional bush allowed to reach 4m for birds to roost. I think you are probably flogging a dead horse with gabions and scaffold planks and stone unless one or two of them comes for free. Of course I could be wrong. Everything is tanellised, and apart from the panels I buy at an agricultural supplier. Farmers usually know best how to get value for money. You may be stiffed for delivery costs - collect or negotiate if you can. OTOH 15m is a nice short fence! A young friend who has just moved in to his first house has just discovered that properly fencing in a 50m garden all round to be dog proof and attractive easily costs more than a new central heating system :-). Anyhoo, write down your options and add up the costs. For that length it may be worth paying someone unless you want the fun of building it. HTH Ferdinand

I bet I have one of those as well, as I normally try and get one done immediately my side of the meter.

I will start up that other thread ... but yes it is double decker.

OK. However, I have all RCBOs (albeit dodgy single ones ) *and* banks :-). F

@PeterW If you are on a dual board (ie two banks with individual "offs") then consider distributing your ring circuits, your two ovens and your showers across the two - so that you still have the ability to cook and use power when someone is working on the other half. Ferdinand