Ferdinand

I think the best hope here is that interest rates will be going back down again soon, but maybe not as far.

I haven't needed to try so far - not very prominent foxes to date. And even Roland has been less common - I think because of warmer winters and nearby housing estates having done with the fields some time ago. But tbf I've had an entire year and a half out of being able to pay attention to anything but absolute basics. Coming out now, but I'm still regularly sleeping half the day.

@Onoff's is probably made in Scotland. From Girders. On a more serious note, no one has mentioned Amazon Man who will give you 3.45s then chuck whatever-it-is over the top. I'll be looking at an electric sliding gate, but I have no answer to Amazon Man, short of putting the open-to-1m code in the parcel instructions. Currently I say "in the porch out of sight if one answers", and since I can't get to the front door in 3.45s that is what happens. Which has worked so far.

Door height may well be your physical issue, and sealing a space you need as much attention to ventilation as insulation. Try the forum's heat calculator as a place to start written by a member which many have found helpful - including me. 20mm XPS in a floor (unless maybe you control the flat below as well and treat them effectively as s ingle unit) seems ridiculously low. The last one I did (bungalow) was 100mm Rockwool under the existing floor (~equivalent to EPS) + 25mm of PIR on top - and that is less than ideal. Rather than 0.7 R-value, normally for a floor we would be looking at 0.12 to 0.25, depending on the conditions beneath. There may be a minimum value building regulations require you to meet. Have you thought through what you will be doing with the walls (my suggestion from rental renovation experience 50mm->75mm PIR)? Ferdinand

Not having done that very much, though I regularly measure road corridor widths etc arguing that there is space for mobility tracks, how is this Google Earth technique affected by overhanging trees?

This is the sort of thing I am out to measure. This is a 1969 ish vintage footbridge over the M1 where it cuts through communities, which is the only non-motor-vehicle route for several miles. That slope in the middle is about 1 in 12 and 60m long.

Thanks for the comments everyone. I think my Android Phone has a facility (guessing a mercury bubble or something) in the hardware but not the software, but then I am about 4 versions of Android behind, so it may have one by now. Straight edges are fairly doable tactically - eg lay it on a fence rail since rails are parallel to the ground and posts to the vertical to within a couple of degrees. Alternatively I have things like a lightweight monopod or a walking pole I can take around with me to be a straight edge. Cheers.

Can anyone recommend an inclinometer app for my phone to help me measure gradients of pathways? My application is not building as such, but measuring the accessibility of local footpaths, greenways for wheelchair and mobility aid access etc. Some are diabolical - I came across one recently in the middle of the new Greenways around Salford / RHS Bridgewater which is an 8% slope down to a road, with a grit-over-base skiddy surface that means that progress in eg a wheelchair is difficutlt to control, and any attempt tp stop turns into an instant skid. I was able to measure this one via a photo of the fence rails and counting pixels, as they had a datum on the fenceposts when they built it. Accuracy I am after is not that great - I'm thinking +/- a degree or two. I need to be able to tell the difference confidently between say 1 in 8, 1 in 10, 1 in 12, 1 in 15 and 1 in 20. Since I tend to survey such things using a cycle, I'm not up for a 1m or 2m long sprit level. Thanks for any suggestions. I'm on Android at present. Ferdinand * Photos

For that if I recall I just used a normal clear roll, perhaps something like this, which is 4m wide when unfolded so it will do many rooms and lap up at the sides in one piece if you need that: https://www.screwfix.com/p/capital-valley-plastics-ltd-general-purpose-sheeting-clear-150ga-25m-x-4m/71880 I'd suggest going down to Screwfix and having a look to make sure you think it is strong enough. If not there are thicker ones available. If you need to overlap, then you can do it by say 0.5m and tape along the join if you think that matters. One rough check that your subfloor is properly dry is to tape a square of sheet to the surface, leave it for a couple of days and see if any moisture which has been evaportating into the atmosphere has collected underneath. One thing to remember is that if you have one lapped up at the sides, the first lot of water from any leak you have isn't going anywhere unless you have slits - which may be good or bad depending. But leaks are very rare. I get less than one per 50 years of house occupancy in my small set of rentals.

If you need more space around it, one possibly acceptable way may be to have a set of modern hearth rails at a suitable height. In concept think of the altar rails in churches, but made out of eg wrought iron or something shiny. Or a traditional fender if that is permissible. I think the only difference I might have done with the cast concrete would have been to use shiny sheet for the mould to make it very smooth - but that might have shown imperfections.

Is there a high build (eg crack filling) or premixed filler you can dilute that would do it? TBH I think you are forked, and will need to skim.

That's a shocker; they have been a fixture of the North of Scotland for half a century. For those not familiar, they are (were) a major regional timber frame building company, with a turnover of around £200m. Devastating for Stuart Milne himself, who had delayed retirement to try and pull them through the post-Covid trading environment, and for the employees. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-67918029

For shower screens and trays, usually Amazon or Ebay - or outlets of shops or traders on Ebay. Quality is important but brand not particularly for screens, but yes for trays. The difference is huge between such and retail on shower screens. For shower panels brand first then outlet second. Large variations and quality of install is very important. You can now get good quality with no ply, and can expect a 20-25 year life if done properly. For grab handles etc Croydex are reliable. From Screwfix usually. If they get wet, textured plastic or some sort of grippy-when-wet cover - *never* chrome grab handles in a shower. For showers I go with MIRA for electric, or more generic if gas. Usually deals are around. Always shop around, and savings of 20-50% are common across the same item. For wall storage cabinets I shop around and go for ones made entirely of stainless steel. Another one with huge variation from one shop to the next. My experience with iKea is that the metallised legs on their vanity units develop rust quickly, so I am imagining the one in my bathroom two to be Corten steel, grinning and bearing it for a few more years. I do not have a current handle on taps - I am this week replacing a whb monobloc mixer which I think was a Bristan, bought from Wickes at admittedly half price, but which is leaking around the bottom after just 7 years, so a Trade Rated one from Screwfix will be going in as a replacement to avoid pfaff (rented property). If you are dedicated to a single well-advertised well-known prestige brand, you will probably get your nuts roasted on the flames generated by your bank account being burnt down. Have several quality options, then look for a deal.

That I think is very good comment. Without any commitment to supporting a practical and rational level of regulation / enforcement, everything else - all of it - is mere weasel words.

1 - The elephant in the room is existing buildings housing stock which are far bigger emitters and a far bigger question than newbuild. The Govt have stopped improvement in its tracks by cancelling eg required improvements in EPCs in rented property, and are resiling from application of the same principle to owner occupied. I think purely because they believe that that will appeal politically to Mr & Mrs Nimby and Mr & Mrs Daily Mail Reader. By comparison newbuilds are rearranging Titanic deckchairs. 2 - These proposals seem to include no improvement to newbuild wall / ceiling / floor U-values, because 'it is not cost effective'. 3 - Seem to be replacing SAP with a New Energy Model. This to me is problematic as we need to be in line with other European countries. 4 - It relies heavily on decarbonisation of electricity supply, but does outline essentially no fossil fuel heat sources in the future. 5 - I see no prospect of this happening, bearing in mind the approaching General Election this year.

You missed out SMART Goals. Which are what seem to be currently ruining football, and causing Manu U to keep losing - it never being Man U that causes Man U to lose. 🤠

TBH not sure - before I had a half round section attached to the wall with its far edge just my side of the halfway point between the windows since 2017, covering height approx 150mm to 1m, as an anchor for my mesh fence. Perhaps it has been cleaned in line with my side of that? (I can't be wrong in my call on the halfway point, can I? - It would have required one side or the other to have changed the window size.) I don't think I have a photograph showing that section, even reviewing the Little Brown Bungalow renovation thread which applies to this dwelling.

TBF it's not an inch. After very careful conversations someone has demonstrated that they cannot find the midline of a row of six bricks, and overstepped - which says either it was deliberate, or someone is being at least inattentive. The normal course of events after something like this is that more abuses will follow, unless it is nipped in the bud and *soon*, then consent will be de facto assumed for the next item, and dissent ignored. The thing that concerns me is not a boundary dispute - which it is not since it is as plain as a pikestaff - but the argument in 10 years time when the next one goes in and I want it moved back. Having said that I have long term tenants, and next door are a couple of oldsters there for the duration managed by their somewhat confrontational 5x or 6x son; it is quite possible that my Ts and the couple next door will do nothing awkward until someone dies. A "light touch" way of dealing with this would be to write a letter stating that for this fence I am giving him permission to put his fence on my land to shortcircuit future disputes; however I am not sure if that is sufficient - which is why I asked the question. Perhaps I need to say that as it is on my land it is my fence. Another one is whether this is a one-step-and-done thing, which means I can cap it off without concerns for the future. Since it is a rented property things can easily happen that impinge without me finding out for a couple of months. Still mulling. I can't let it go entirely uncommented. @saveasteading Is the correct position of the other end obvious? Eg right angles from the house? I'm not sure yet. I'll check next time I'm down there perhaps. Since it's a bungalow I can't go upstairs and take a photo. If there's a serious angle it will make me more likely to challenge.

Can I ask for opinions on this one? A neighbour living in the other half of a pair of semi-detahced bungalows that I rent to a long term tenant wanted to install a post and panel fence, for 'security'. He had an attempted break in because he had a big hedge at the front leaving the garden unsurveilled and no gate on his side-path. i.e. nothing to do with the fence, but hey-ho. I removed some overgrown bushes which had grown across the boundary, where I also had a low wire fence. My comments to the neighbour before their operations were to explain that my fence was on my side because that is what is required, and to make sure that their new fence was on *their* side. Fence having been installed and inspected I find that their efwitted plank of a fence man has (photos below): 1 - Put a concrete post right up against the house wall bridging the damp proof course, which is just ignorant and amateurish - disgraceful for a so-called professional. (My technique here would be to a) leave a 5" hedgehog width gap to protect the wall, or b) attach a wooden post to the wall starting above the DPC.) 2 - Put it exactly where my fence used to be i.e. against my wall in my garden. Seriously - what sort of steaming idiot cannot see where the boundary is in a pair of semis? My questions: a) How to tackle this? Clearly it could turn into a big problem if left to lie. b) Is that damp-proof course bridge a serious issue on the outside of a cavity wall? Technically of course I can require him to move it, or on failure so to do can have it done myself, send him an invoice and pursue via small claims if unpaid. But what is a sensible answer here?

Welcome. We are mad. It helps.

In my experience Building Control themselves are quite approachable - if you have concerns they may be able to clarify.

If you have teenage children who like over-long showers, and a sufficiently Machiavellian mindset, is this an opportunity for lifetime indoctrination to short showers? Just asking .... 😇.

I think this thread highlights well the importance of homework - including asking questions that we think may be naive here. It also highlights the importance of our ASHP market developing, and the industry continuing to grow.

A couple of reasons - one simply that laths come in 5m lengths and is inexpensive, so there was enough! And I decided since it was a rental it would make sense to protect the celotex everywhere rather than just by the door. I was referring to this one below, but I think I misunderstood slightly in that it does not save depth over a single 18mm thickness; what it does is make it monolithic.

Does the @JohnMo idea give you depth to make your 20mm of insulation a bit thicker? When I wanted to insulate above a (wooden, suspended) floor for a renovation for a tenanted property back in 2017-18 I did somethjng similar. I couldn't go down (but could do some underfloor insulation), and I was replacing doors without redoing door lintels etc. My height limitation was that modern doors are not as trimmable as might be assumed. The best trimming margin I could find was ~60mm combined off top and bottom. *Watch this point* . My layering was 25mm insulation board, slip membrane to stop allow movement / stop squeaks, 18mm OSB (gaps of ~6mm between sheet edges iirc), then underlay and carpet. I could have used Click Laminate (ie QuickStep as I always use) instead of carpet. 2 extra tricks I put in: 1 - I dealt with my carpet edges by using quadrant siliconed onto the skirting not nailed or glued - can take off with a Stanley knife. 2 - I did 1 because I left an insulated well 300mm wide around the inside walls where I ran all my wiring for sockets and plumbing for radiators (which were also put on the inside walls) to reduce penetrations and keep everything inside the insulated envelope, and it all needed to be accessible. I framed out my 25mm insulation using 25x38mm roofing laths - leaving the channels round the edge, and cut the OSB to match the framing, so that could just be lifted to get at wiring and plumbing I can't honestly remember if I screwed the OSB to the laths or just left it floating with the sheet edges aligned to the frame. One alternative to the "monolithic floating floor" is to frame out at the size of your laminate and put a thick strong laminate directly onto the frame; that will save a bit more height. There is a thread about it here, which also covers other aspects - not all of which I did. The insulated floor worked and the (mid-high end) underlay and carpet still looks as good as new (change of tenant last August and they love it).