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There were a couple of years of planning, while we were talking about generalities , that I tended  to overlook the number of German and Austrian products I looked at. And then @Bitpipe wrote that post about Megabad, and someone  ( @Stones ?) asked me to do a bit of translation - as did someone else. How nice, I thought, they like German stuff. Me on the other hand, I wanted to buy locally - put money into local businesses and suppliers, use British products. Got to be cheaper.

 

Well, here's a little list;

  • Piling company: uses a 20 year old piling rig (Zeppelin)  made in Austria, powered by an 8 liter Magirus Deutz "Best in the business" says the rig driver
  • Doors and Windows: Gaulhofer - Austrian
  • Thresholds : Purenit - Austrian
  • Brickslot drains: ACO - German
  • Build: Durisol: German design, ICF 40 years old, locally produced
  • Bathroom kit: Geberit
  • Washing Machine: Bosch
  • Hand tools and workroom kit: Bosch. I am proud to own a DeWalt nailer though.
  • Build Standard: passivhaus 

 

That's most of our budget spent abroad.  I suppose some of these companies might have parent companies elsewhere

It occurred to me today that I might as well hang the German and Austrian flags on our HERAS.

That'd go down well on our lane - really really well.:ph34r:

 

 

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On the other hand now we're into Second fix, I'm amazed at how many UK companies make plumbing equipment, electrical equipment, gyproc, kitchens, taps, sinks and many other items...

 

So despair not, still time to redeem yourself!

 

I was quite delighted when I found out our kitchen would be made in Hull/Scunthorpe. 

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1 minute ago, JSHarris said:

 

I bet you were even more delighted that you didn't have to go to Hull to pick it up............................:o

As long as there is no repeat of this frmo across the water...lol https://thelochsidepress.com/2016/08/25/quick-action-to-fix-lorrys-damage-in-kilcreggan/ 

 

I'm sure you know the feeling! 

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7 minutes ago, dogman said:

Whats wrong with Hull:D

 

Family own a farm there. Worth about 6p

 

 

A friend of mine lives in East Yorkshire, was born there, lived there all his life, built a house there and has a business there.  Even he won't go into Hull after dark!

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1 hour ago, dogman said:

Glad we escaped.

Have relatives in Cottingham still and as i said we own what is left of a farm in Marfleet. Does your friend want 5 acres of prime real estate demolished large farm house on site so easy planning

 

By coincidence his self-build was styled on a farmhouse, but he lives out at North Newbald, in relative peace and calm compared to Hull.

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I lived in hull for a year in 1979 loved it. They were just starting to develop the marina( yes on the Humber a tidal river its always a laugh to see boats disappear up or down stream when they get caught in the current)

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58 minutes ago, Roundtuit said:

As a Beverley lad, born and bred, I've enjoyed many a night out in Hull (and Scunthorpe)!   Wouldn't go there sober mind...?

 

When up there years ago, the two of us went into Hull one evening, really so my mate could show me the "delights" of Hull on a Friday night.  I've never forgotten it, mainly because of the delightfully polite and ladylike young women, out en masse for a drink or two...............

 

(In reality the place seemed full of pissed slappers who'd make a bunch of football hooligans look like gentlemen.  It's the only place outside of Redruth, Cornwall, where I've seen women pissing in the middle of a busy street and no one taking any notice).

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She is a Good Girl, and still doing it.

 

Got roped into taking a workmate's girlfriend's friend out on a date once.

She got very drunk, dropped her trousers in the high street and widdled.

That was in Thame, Oxfordshire, and it was only about 7:30 in the evening.

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2 hours ago, dogman said:

I lived in hull for a year in 1979 loved it. They were just starting to develop the marina( yes on the Humber a tidal river its always a laugh to see boats disappear up or down stream when they get caught in the current)

I'll add another in favour for Hull. My partner lived there for a year when he worked at Reckitts - I thought it was a lovely city, great museum quarter and lots to see and do. Admittedly we don't go out on the town!

 

He stayed right in the marina @dogman, in Warehouse 13 :) 

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Now people are being nice about (Hull pronounced ULL, no H in East Yorkshire or is it Umberside no its the East Riding)

My family as far back as we can trace are HULL born and bred

The thing i remember was a night club on 3 floors right on the old dock that became the marina, and yes it was those Hull girls that attracted us.

@JSHarris has obviously not experienced Newcastle on a Friday night (my stomping ground in the 80's) imagine 3000 Cheryl Coles tanked up on newcastle Brown with their never ending sun tan mini skirts and white stilettos 

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I was introduced to them by Jack who had researched them alongside Pazen (another brand I'd never heard of). Gaulhofer have a reseller in UK who both Herb J and I used.

 

Im my case, they were the only firm that could offer a decent integrated blind to the external of the window (not the internal blind that Internorm have). It's a 3rd party product (Roma) but is really coupled well with the window and is shipped attached as a single unit.

 

I also liked their inline flush style and budget wise they were coming in lower than Internorm at the time. The reseller also had a local installer who was very experienced and made a great job of the install, using high quality foams and tapes and also organised a repair after one of the frames got scratched during rendering.

 

We also looked at Norrsken but found them a bit haphazard to deal with, although their prices were keener. They were not able to offer installation to meet our timing which was another negative.

 

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31 minutes ago, Triassic said:

Out of interest where did you come across Gaulhofer? I've never heard of them until I read your blog.

 

I was given their name by MBC as an option for passive windows. 

 

I believe the guy (Thomas) who runs the UK distro used to work for an Internorm distro. Their product is very, very similar in terms of performance to Internorm. 

Internorm are very keen to beat Gaulhofer pricing and visa versa so it is very, very useful to mention to both that you are getting quotes from both!!

 

For us they weren't as competitive as Internorm but there wasn't much in it by the end. 

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On 23 February 2017 at 16:26, JSHarris said:

 

I bet you were even more delighted that you didn't have to go to Hull to pick it up............................:o

Apparently,Storm Doris caused Hull several million pounds worth of improvement. 

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Don't forget that some of us have installed Hybalans semi flexible MVHR ducting from Holland (and higher spec MVHR Units than are avaible in this country); sanitaryware from Duravit, Keramag and Villeroy and Boch, (all of whom have mind-bogglingly extensive ranges and appear to be buying up the remanants of the UK sanitaryware industry), boilers from Vaillant (because their quality appears to be the best), and lightswitches from Nico (because they offer 24V DC compatibilty).

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41 minutes ago, Fallingditch said:

[....]

and appear to be buying up the remanants of the UK sanitaryware industry

[...]

 

Very few of the old names left now - Twyfords is now part of Geberit so it will be interesting to see if that makes all the Twyford stuff standardised on Geberit internals.  

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