Ferdinand

That is not much less than my Gaggia Classico cost on ebay. Twas advertised as "local pickup only" in Beverly, then it turned out he was willing to post it. Ferdinand

FOr a Christmas Diversion jump to 5:44. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SFXY8sM88q4

Study some Victorian water cisterns. I have not seen a stone one but it should not a problem to have its feet in water. Our small Manor House had one which was like an underground room with an arched roof, under the kitchen garden. I assume it was drinking or washing water. Crystal clear. Or for light relief read how WInchester Cathedral had so much water around its foundations in 1906 that they had a professional diver working in a 4m deep trench for 6 years to underpin them. He was called William Walker. They now have a delicious exhibit in the slightly flooded crypt with a statue by Anthony Gormley. http://www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk/our-heritage/famous-people/william-walker-the-diver-who-saved-the-cathedral/ Ferdinand

Aha. £550 per sqm estimate here. http://www.theenergycollective.com/david-k-thorpe/2376889/an-off-site-pre-fab-approach-to-passivhaus-deep-retrofit-2

Can you give me an approximate cost range for this type of solution. Just an example of a type of house and a ballpark would be useful. Say a square 3 bed detached. Are we talking 40k, 60k, 100k etc? Cheers Ferdinand

i don't think I can further help here since Megabad do not seem to recognise the concept of Debit Card.

Shades of Clarkson, But without the millions and the explosions.

I had actually never related "batten down the hatches" to "battens" ie pieces of wood fixed over. I had always treated it as a standalone verb. You live and learn...

You should have had one of my recommended double sockets. That is an hour you will not be getting back. An entire episode of Star Trek you will not able to watch again. Your last words: "Holy Polos. Why can't I remember what happened to Uhura's leather boots (*) after the Battle of Xaction Prime?" * probably purchased off Ebay by Max Mosley for use at Klingon-love-tryst themed parties.

To my eye that quote reinforces @Sensus' point because it reinforces independence of each application. But .. having read the doc, they are distinguishing between Policy (which is probably also code for Precedent) and site specific, and appear to treat Appeal results as determinants for their policy. Said policy is then applied to specific sites. So you are urbanising rural Lancashire singlehanded with a radically different out of step design, you naughty person :-) . THe parish church also looks remarkably different to the chocolate box cottages, so they had better demolish *that* and let the PC Meet in the phone box. Ferdinand

Travelex have a currency flash sale from 11am to 1pm today. https://www.travelex.co.uk/ I have no idea what the terms are but perhaps expect a slightly lower spread. Ferdinand

Off the wall, but I had a similar problem with the heavy banister rail installed by our predecessors who had clearly forgotten something (like studs in the wall) and ended up fixing it to the wall with plasterboard fittings. It came off within months. Spent nearly a day with a stud detector and drilling holes to find any woodwork in the entire wall, and only managed to graze a water pipe and find one piece of frame I ended up buying an oak plank for mounting the banisters, and some 10x10cm pieces of stainless steel sheet, bolting through with domed heads on the stair sides, and leaving the back as a talking point in my office. I like showing working. Can you install something the *other* side of the wall (bookcase, shelves, shallow cupboard, a wall-size mural or large canvas 3" off the face?) and fix it directly through the wall? A mural etc could be mounted on the bolts you have showing :-). IF it was me I would think about a false wall entirely in cork tiles or matt whiteboard for drawing pun or magnetic fixing of whatever. I used to ave one when I was a kid. That would give you a clean line on the stair side and the joiner could work on the other side. But this should probably be Plan B.

It reads both ways. 25k over next 5 years and 25k per year by 2022. Trade report http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2016/12/19/chinese-giant-to-build-six-uk-pre-fab-homes-factories/ .

Afaik these never went away, ostensibly for trade. TLC sell them for one. For Lava Lamps you get can them from the original manufacturer Mathmos. http://www.mathmos.com/mathmos-replacement-bulbs.html Ferdinand

Yep. The client is a HA. The 2.5bn cost for 25k dwellings is 100k each, which sounds about right if they get the sites at a reasonable price. The actual build cost looks similar to that for big developers with no Planning Gain or profit on top. I wonder where they will be for Planning Gain? I don't see them killing the PRS; there are too many types of customer, and Council House building did not kill it in the 1970s; the damage was done imo mainly by contract terms and security of tenure. My expectation is that they will be a launch customer and hopefully the factories can supply commercial developers. I hope the offsite fabrication delivers the 30% efficiency gain we have been promised since Egan in the 1990s. I do not think it will help much with the 1 million by 2020 promise by the Govt since it will be perhaps 3-4 years before anything starts to come on stream, but I think they may hit the target anyway. TH critical path for the project is planning not construction. And of course we have the Right to Buy applied to Housing Associations. But good to see new projects. Ferdinand

Indeed :-), which is why you should always tell them to charge in local currency on holiday because you can bet your pet Great Crested Newt(s) that the Glotel Hotel exchange rate will be worse than the one on your Appropriate (ie no FX Charges) Credit Card which will be the instantaneous Mastercard or Visa number. Ferdinand

A further question: how do Megabad treat Debit Cards? Are they treated as Credit Cards or Vorkasse? Once I have an answer to that I may be able to point out a couple of ways of avoiding the exchange charges as well and getting up to 1% cash/rewards back, and *maybe* keeping some purchase protection (though the Megabad complimentary scheme seems OK and you should have the 30 day return online protection if not ordering custom). Ferdinand

That is a distinctive bathroom colour :-). Back on topic. @TerryE A couple of requests for more detail if I may. Does that lose you any protection? eg Section 75 or the Debit Card equivalent? (My bank explicitly states when asked that protections that come with the account for card payments do not apply to eg BACS.) Are there any currency exchange charges? Ferdinand

Can't you just FOI them for the Validation Requirements if it is a single document? Or is it site specific?

Excellent that they think we are the only forum worth a link :-). F

Forgot to say that anybody doing that now would be facing a Stamp Duty bill of at least 10% = 100k if you moved in, or 13% = 130k if you didn't move in, and (I think) plus an annual charge of approx 0.5% to 1% for owning it in a company should you do that if it is a residential property and not rented out. It is so complicated that some of that last para may be too simplistic. Loadsamoney ! Ferdinand

@Nickfromwales These are excellent points: Tend to agree that they meant irrigation sprinklers. May be worth a check. Now ... about Fire Sprinklers ... I differ a little on a few details , and would welcome comment. I am not sure that I see a contradiction between Smoke Alarms and Sprinklers. AIUI it is for both, since eg Sprinklers are more likely to limit damage to one room, and use approx 10% of the water for a fire that would be used by the Fire Brigade. One difference there is whether the residents have to move out for a couple of months or not - which is a *huge* difference. If the Sprinkler *does* turn on, you will likely have firefighting in progress much more quickly (see timelines below), due to the need to hear the smoke alarms, evacuate the house, contact the FB, and wait for them to arrive before any water is put on. That would be firefighting in progress perhaps 5-15 minutes earlier. (Average London Fire Brigade response time is about 12 minutes). Detection. AIUI Sprinklers are typically set off by Heat Detectors activating at 57-8C and triggering at 65C, compared to the Heat Detecting 'smoke alarm' in your kitchen which will go off at about 58C. So imo they do not need "flames to the ceiling" to trigger. Agree that "tiny fire" was a bad phrase, but differences in property damage are very relevant if you are faced with 2 months in a hotel or 12 months in a rental. My gas cooker doesn't give off smoke, for example, while it does have flames. And if I am burning toast on it I get smoke without fire as well as flames without smoke. And Lord Knows what sort of dodgy materials we all have in our houses and what they will do. However Smoke Alarms rely on a human component in the alarm chain to fight a fire, and that component might be deaf, or old, or young, or disabled, or on holiday, or even on drugs. Of course, anybody having a sprinkler system in should also have fire alarms. I wouldn't see them as alternatives. The advice of the Fire Brigade is also leaning towards "Install Sprinklers". Norfolk: "It`s like having a firefighter on duty in every room of your house, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week". Agree with the comments on grey water. AIUI the spec of a single dwelling domestic sprinkler system is to deliver approx the same amount of water as is carried on a normal Fire Appliance (but all at the heart of the fire and 10 minutes sooner ). The FA carries 1800l, and the Sprinklers are required to have a tank of about 1000 to 1500l and have a dedicated unmetered mains connector of 32mm or 50mm, which delivers (estimate) approx 40l - 100l per minute at normal mains pressure. A singe sprinkler will require approx 50l/minute. Personally in a normal newbuild I would fit sprinklers, and also my normal minimum complement of wired or 10 year battery alarms, which is Heat Alarm in Kitchen, Optical Smoke Alarm in hall, Ionisation Smoke Alarm on landing, and CO Alarms near all gas using appliances. For me as an LL the issue of people being forced to move out has more impact, as I have to provide alternative accommodation. I did this once for a water leak caused by T leaving water on at stop tap when away in winter, and it was 2 months out and an 8k insurance claim, plus endless time dealing with it. Ref: BS9251 is the relevant standard, if anyone has access. Copy here: http://www.fire-sprinkler.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/BS 9251-2005.pdf Norfolk Fire Brigade advice on sprinklers: http://www.norfolkfireservice.gov.uk/nfrs/your-safety/guidance/13-your-safety/safety-in-your-home/43-domestic-sprinklers Ferdinand

IT is actually a self-conversion, but the measurement was inside/outside so it should be quite accurate. I guess if I was making a bay window I would put 75-100mm celotex in there. Ferdinand

I have 2 bay windows of which the roofs are approx 70mm thick from inside to outside, including plasterboard below and lead above. How much insulation will that have? Guessing, I make it perhaps 25mm max. This was built in 2007-9 ish, Cheers Ferdinand

Anything but silent :-) Like a lorry tipping its load.