Ferdinand

There are trade associations for one. My arrangement is with a particular tradesman I have used for a couple of decades, and my dad used for a decade before that. He has always had an "in" at one particular place. There are various useful comparator threads on the forum which may help you judge. As ever the aim is to get the reasonable price on the quality of product you select. Focus on that. You do not save by browbeating, which makes them cut corners and hate you, but by optimising in a way that works with their grain. That might be finding ways to save their costs and make their job easier, but it is also climbing as far up the supply chain as you can manage. I'm saving more than half of the cost of fencing pales tomorrow by getiting it direct from a rural sawmill and cutting 3.6m lengths in the car park, compared to my local (famously cheap) timber merchant.

You need to consider preservation of your joists, too. They need to be ventilated or guaranteed dry, which can be done by making sure that they are sealed from outside and sufficiently warm. The last one I did I used 100mm rockwool between joists (staplegun), with bottoms exposed to he void, with 50mm PIR above the floor (doors !), and a floating floor on top. I did that because it was simple, and I had just taken 100mm of rockwool out of the loft so it was empty enough to get me free loft insulation to 250mm.

Try looking at direct purchase from local manufacturers.

A housing developer near me has not quite completed their paling fence along my boundary on a house. I'm inclined to JFDI the poject. Does anyone have a decent indicative price for fencing pales - ie 100 x 22 (nom 4"x1") treated boards? The best I currently have is £3.65 + VAT for a 3.6m length I will need to cut in half ie about £1.90 + VAT. (As an aside, my normal fencing place has put their price for a normal 70-75mm 1.6m basic round post up to £2.30 +VAT from about £1.75 when I last had come a year or two ago). Ferdinand

Important point: apply the pressure at a time where they can still resolve it quickly.

On wheels?

I thought the general principle was that runoff could not be increased? It certainly is for housing estates. Could you try and get it rewritten as that, instead? I would need to do some research to know how I would argue that, if it were feasible. And I am not sure there is a suitable a to b to c planning strategy that can help. I might go for one of those wotsit-drains where the gates are, and a soakaway / pond / bog-garden inside the gate. And... Remember that there is a process to vary a condition.

And the bods were tired by he time they reached it so there are more listed-looking non-listed buildings.

If your plot is not large, why not consider going back to the farmer on he land anyway. Perhaps either 30k for a larger area, or less for the half-acre. He won' expect to get his asking price. You never know when it could be useful.

Updating this. What my tile roof look likes 2 years after treatment with copper sulphate solution and a Super Soaker. I'm surprised at the extent of contrast, but it certainly seems to have worked to keep the moss down. EIther it is strong enough to have bleached the tiles a little, or killed small bio-wotsits that darken the roof a little, or similar. I think I need to try with a weaker solution or a more precise instrument if I am to do it again, particularly if I try the front which is seen from the lane.

Nice to see Tony being (I think) consistent over 15 years, and how it has changed. You get to be one of the Best People. (That thread is worth a read btw for how they used to be thought about.) ? F http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=527&page=1

That points out a big risk for you. You can't develop for a different version of yourself; that is really vanity. Not least because no one out there is the same as you and the extra money that you spend on your ideas of Eco may just get reversed. The trick as a developer is to find your market and work to it. There are eco-things you can do, but there is a hell of a lot of eco-snake-oil out there. At the moment one of the worst is the temptation to put big eco-heating in a place where some money spent on eh fabric would mean smaller eco-heating could be use - just because that is what the Govt will subsidise. To me an example is the old Code for Sustainable Homes, which gave points for an Eco-Washer and other appliances. Which means that the developer had to tell the customers what sort of lifestyle they were to have, brands etc. Which to me was just a recipe for lots of washer to be disposed of, especially if the new buyer already had a favourite one.

If you start him at home, make it something like a shed or garage or other small project. F

At this point it is worth a reminder that if you have certain Employee Benefit cards, you can get an extra 10% off at Wickes on top of the Trade Discount. I have done very little maintenance / building work until recently to justify this. And I lost my Westfield Membership as it was mum's Westfield Health card, and she popped her clogs. Covered in my big old discount thread:

If a new housing development is expected to be very noisy, they tend to planning condition on special noise-reducing ventilation devices rather than saying "TRIPLE GLAZED" - so remember that aspect too.

Make sure that your solicitor drafts the clause, or checks it to your satisfaction. Take the time and SWEAT THE DETAIL. Costs should be a secondary consideration tbh. The buggeration if it is wrong will hurt more later. I had mine do one and I now have the right to do virtually anything for any service (undefined) which would by the look of it let me build a tunnel to use a relay of elephants to import water. Fortunately my solicitor was on a fixed price, and very professional - but looked a touch haggard afterwards.

Just bought my first lot of 63x28 CLS for a time. Bottom price here seems to be about £5 for a 2.4m. Last lot I bought was several years ago for about £2. ?

Thanks, both. @Roundtui - the kitchen is adjacent, and is whether it needs another one.

My pro took them out of several boxes with different batch numbers at once and mixed them up to avoid stripes...

That's quite good. I might get a screenshot every week and print it out ? .

No it doesn't. It means doing them in batches of 10 to half then full. Which is fine unless you are one of those silly sods who buys yuuuuuuuuuuuugggggeeeee tiles that weight 35kg each, in which case you deserve every cracked muscle fibre. How many broken tiles will that pay for? You are Twonald Dump and I claim my £5. Suggestions: - Are your tiles OK eg flat? - I'd perhaps take the old blade into the shop to compare. Is it worth looking at a Screwfix "Trade rated" option, or call the Dewalt helpline to check how often you should change blades? F

I am looking around for a way to put a loo in a "leanto" - which is really like a well-built enclosed carport currently used for washer, dog-food freezer etc. Tenant has asked for a loo, as she is getting on and it is a cottage staircase in the house. T is also happy for there not to be a hand basin in it. I have the soil pipe connection, and water supply, and can find a suitable toilet easily. What I am looking for is a way of creating a cubicle. I can probably do it from scratch with sheets of painted ply attached to some of the timbers etc. But I wonder if I can buy one pre-constructed, ideally self-supporting that can just be carried in and fixed to the floor. Is there anything like that in the caravan or commercial world? Any ideas would be most welcome. This type of thing may be one option: https://www.hpl24.shop/en_GB/p/Fireproof-board-toilet-cubicle/63 Ferdinand

Make the temporary kitchen from whatever is going in the utility room if you have one. Or do the utility room now and cook in it. A further utility worktop or a spare cooker hob for when the new £6000 one in the posh new kitchen goes phut, would be useful.

Emphasize your measures to control dust, but also note that if they are able it will help for cars to be in garages or around the corner.

One intriguing thing is that the plan seems to be 2 identical halves. Multi-family house? Or a pair of twins?