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Ferdinand

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Everything posted by Ferdinand

  1. Ferdinand
    Quidco and TopCashBack have services where their cashback is applied to instore purchases without us needing to show a card or anything at the till. Is using this facility? The process is to register your payment card to QUidco or TCB, and then when you use it in a store they detect the transaction and cashback gets paid. The Topcashback service is called Oncard: https://www.topcashback.co.uk/OnCard/ The Quidco one is called HighStreet: https://www.quidco.com/quidco-high-street/how-it-works/ Given that it is easy to get a *lot* (I get several hundred a year) back with cashback sites, is anyone using these services? While eg Screwfix or B&Q might only give 1-3%, someone like Argos may give up to 10%. There is the handing over of data etc, but this seems to me to be quite attractive. Ferdinand
  2. Ferdinand
    Are you sure this won't be like St Paul's and completed by his children?
  3. Ferdinand
    IMO double sockets are now cheap as chips. I did a 12' x 8' kitchen in the early 90s and installed 13 sockets in toto. The tenant has managed to run out. Ferdinand
  4. Ferdinand
    Cheers all. I looked extensively into this, and recommended brands are Coo Var (or Coov Ar like a pirate depending on how good your supplier's spelling happens to be) or Blackfriar based on reading a lot of online reviews. The B&Q supplied brand Fortress seems or be deprecated. And there is a brand NVP which I cannot find reviews about. Prices are HUGELY variable. Like 400% variable. Red, Grey, Green and Black are common colours, especially from Coo Var. Getting coloured paints in smaller sizes is difficult and inconsistent. Ideally I wanted Grey in 1L or 2L - cannot get it easily. Wickes do supply coloured anti slip, at about £50 for 4L, which is an OK price, esp. if you have a Trade or Discount card. Good prices are not especially available via Amazon even with free delivery, but you may be lucky. I ended up with 1L Blackfriar black from Screwfix for £12.99. In stock but they would not deliver. Unfortunately @TerryE Pyracanthas would not be something we would want up this house ... there is a path round our bay windows, and it would take 5-7 years. Cheers Ferdinand
  5. Ferdinand
    I think you would need ones with two power-whatevers in it. Or an adaptor for the 3 pin. Or use one at once. Or get a different phone. I have them just for convenience and easy upgrade and as a part solution to kitchens designed by other people with <10 double sockets in them. F
  6. Ferdinand
    Screwfix have Double Sockets with Integral USB Chargers on offer at £10 for 2. I try and put at least one in every kitchen, and I have been paying about £10. Brand is British General, who I have down as "OK but not MK". http://www.screwfix.com/p/bg-13a-2-gang-sp-switched-socket-usb-charger-outboard-rocker-white/8534f?cm_sp=homepage-_-home-_-8534f Online orders (should incl. click and collect) until 8/1/17. Ferdinand
  7. Ferdinand
    Hmm. What would my sign obligations be using it just on the flat top of two bay windows? I don't see where I would put signs. Interesting failure of the police men to go all the way to a prosecution - householder refused a police caution and they backed down Perhaps the failed court case Ratcliff vs McConnell had some effect (climbed over locked gate and dived into half empty swimming pool). http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2913930/Pensioner-life-hell-local-children-charged-anti-vandal-paint-ruined-yobs-clothes.html Ferdinand
  8. Ferdinand
    I am looking for a brand of non-setting anti-climb paint. We have had a spate of lead thefts, including my neighbour's bay window tops (the house is empty for sale). I plan to paint the tops of my bay windows with anti-climb paint to make the lead unpleasant to steal. Can any one recommend? Thanks Ferdinand
  9. Ferdinand
    The other way to rapidly fill your hole would be to dig it, line it eg with tarpaulin, fill it, then remove the tarpaulin (probably need a winch or tow it away with a car). Can't see how that would work 3 times on the same hole though :-) . Probably 3 IBCs prepared with 3" bungs would be better. Rather like one rapid way to unload a lorry is lots of people or a crane, and the other is to tie the load to a tree and drive away. It all depends on the nature of your load - my dad did the latter with the 2" thick marble top from a butcher's counter mother managed to snag while passing in our small van one day. Ferdinand
  10. Ferdinand
    I think that when CiL came in S106 was restricted in scope to more local matters more directly related to the site than it was before. That restriction may still apply even if your Council have not implemented CiL (mine haven't either) - @Sensus would perhaps know - so you may be able to question peripheral things if you *really* want to, but it may not be worth it. eg My (housing estate site) PP had a sum in the unilateral decaration (which is like a S106 but does not require council signature) for improving the market place in the local town, which would perhaps be questionable now were it in a S106. We used a Unilateral purely to get an Application in quickly and did it exactly in line with the local Council's policy to avoid objection on that ground. Ferdinand
  11. Ferdinand
    That needs somebody else who has direct experience such as perhaps @MikeSharp01 or @Temp, but the issue was mentioned on this thread: I think I have seen mention somewhere of issues about this on occasions. Also see this article: http://www.planningresource.co.uk/article/1389099/inspector-dismisses-request-self-build-cil-exemption ie Make sure you have your exemption letter. Ferdinand
  12. Ferdinand
    I think it is a movable feast, but you could get away with quite a lot. I don't see how a bit of pruning and tidying ;-) on your land cold be development. The one thing to watch iirc is that you have your exemption from CiL: irreversibly locked in, as I believe some have had problems. Ferdinand
  13. Ferdinand
    yes.
  14. Ferdinand
    Does anyone have a recommendation for a wall mounted postbox for a street facing house wall for a T where I might be about to replace the front door (quiet street, shallow front garden approx 2m deep)? Obviously it needs to take an overlarge A4 envelope etc, and I do not want any of those silly in this application "here is some post to steal, Mr Burglar" windows. At home I have a Brabantia, which has lasted 3 years without a spot, but cost £60. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Brabantia-665400-Postbox-Black/dp/B000IU3VO4/ I was wondering about this Savisto one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Savisto-Slim-Line-Mounted-Lockable-Waterproof/dp/B00ZP7C01K/ Amazon links as I cannot make the Brabantia website talk to me. Aside: In Melbourne I saw some "hole in the wall" type letterboxes where there was an extra round hole through the wall below the slot where Snoopy could leave the Newspaper. Wonderful artefacts of an historical culture. Great fun. Ferdinand
  15. Ferdinand
    Interesting. I just used them on a boarding out project I have been wittering on about on GBF, but in that case time was of the essence and the radiator outmove was about 80mm. I really did not want to be pfaffing or lifting all the carpets and floors. Actually suggested by T who fits kitchens and bathrooms for a living. Rad covers, for which I have plenty of perforated mdf in stock, could be a plan B :-D. Ferdinand
  16. Ferdinand
    Is the Bosch quick change different from a keyless chuck? Ie is it a hex type base where drills just slot in? Thanks F
  17. Ferdinand
    One way is to replace the last few inches of your copper pipe with a flexible 300mm connector which has a push fit on one end and a connector to fit your rad on the other. I have done this, but have seen recommendations against due to them not being designed for constant hot water flow. But otoh most people on here run their CH at a low temperature and do not use it very often. @Nickfromwales? Ferdinand
  18. Ferdinand
    I thought the most important reason for an outward opening door for a putatively disabled suitable loo was so that rescue was possible if someone inside collapsed against it. The same applies to showers if we are being sensible.
  19. Ferdinand
    Nice to see another blog moving in, especially with the correct dates :-).
  20. Ferdinand
    We had a cocked-up title on the Council website for something. To me sounds like an error adding a descriptive title to the record when entered. Or perhaps a Spreadsheet line shift error and there are dozens of them created when importing . If it has the correct number and address on that should be fine imo. It may just need the number in fact. I assume you are keeping stumm and taking it as a yes. Ferdinand
  21. Ferdinand
    NIce card with little downside if it is the one I think. YOu should get £100 back in the first 3 months on £2k of spend plus £70 a year if you spend 10k on it, plus special offers through their website and promotions. No charge. IF you cancel wait until after the year end when they send the cash back. Review here: http://www.headforpoints.com/2016/08/10/american-express-platinum-cashback-card-rewards-cut/ I have the old version of the other Platinum Cashback one, which gives me 2.5% cash back in the anniversary month if I have spent 10k on it during the year. Guess when I will be buying big items (other discounts not adding an extra 2.5% etc)? A nice one to have is the Hilton Hotels Platinum Visa, which gives you a free night at any Hilton Property in the world just for spending iirc £2500 on the card, and no charges. I used mine on the 32nd Floor of the Sydney Hilton this autumn. Superb. But I am not recommending as that would require me to b regulated, F
  22. Ferdinand
    I think the thing to look for with DeWalt would be brushless motors. The other brand I like is Metabo, which are very well made, but I think they are more expensive. Ferdinand
  23. Ferdinand
    MOre or less :-) It has been Euro-regulated recently limiting merchant fees to iirc 0.4%. But that does not apply to self-issued Amex cards, only ones where third parties use their brand. VIsa and MasterCard seem to be pulling their horns in a little after regulation reduced the fees (imo the 0.4% ceiling was an EU wheeze to transfer profit from the American Visa and MasterCard to European retailers). You can pay your taxes with Amex cards at 0.4% ish and get your cashback or air miles or Amex points. I will be paying my stamp duty for the current house purchase direct and seeing if that works. It can get humongously complicated, but that is part of the fun and I only dabble. It is paid from the merchant fees, but the same goes for low interest rates etc. THe trick is to use the right benefit in the right place. If you are using benefits cards then the golden rule is to pay off in full always as the interest rates or fees are high to pay for the benefit package.
  24. Ferdinand
    AIUI Dewalt have separated pro and consumer ranges, and the latter are not as robust as Dewalts from several years ago. Open to correction.
  25. Ferdinand
    Keen people have supplementary cards for all their family members and get perhaps £50 of Amex point for each one they take out. If you have eg an Amex Platignum one person gets all the benefits etc, which are worth hundreds. See my added PS, Ferdinand
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