Just remortgaging with Woolwich for a 1.9% fixed for 2 years. Some cracking deals out there, we’re using local adviser, the affordability stuff took 30 mins.

.. additional thoughts.
We didn’t hire a car, but had a few trips out by tour which were all good. Tea plantation and sugar cane / rum distillery both interesting.
Roads are fine and traffic way easier than the UK so I’d consider a car myself if I went back.
Had an afternoon out on a bike with a guide going around local villages and coastline which was great – loads of stuff you’d miss without some local knowledge.

J

Wife and I went last year. Stayed at the Maritim hotel.. was the best holiday ever. Food great, people were very friendly everywhere we went. We went in September which isn’t the hottest, but it was supposed to be one of the drier months. It does rain a fair bit, but wait 5 mins and it’ll probably be sunny again!

Jeff

I tested the FR against the VRS octavia. Bought the Skoda. Haven’t regretted it. Just seemed a little more grown up and the boot a better size.. The Leon was good though.

I plumbed in a shower for our main bathroom and almost flooded the loft when the 22mm hot feed I cut in to wasn’t as isolated as I thought. My speed-fit plumbing was indeed speedy.
Oh, and walked the dog twice (springer) – didn’t touch the log burner.. Not cold enough on the south coast today.

J

slowpuncheur hits the nail on the head for me..

Jeff

I’ve just picked up a VAX 2500 W washer as with their sale and a discount voucher managed to get it down to 140 quid. Early days, but it’s pretty powerful and came with a huge range of attachments – and long hose!

If you end up going for a Karcher, they are currently 20% off at Homebase.

Jeff

If they’ve been bent, dinged or otherwise deformed then possibly yes.

J

Sludginess you say….

Could it be.. full of sludge?

I’d certainly want to empty out a rad or two before shelling out for a new pump. There are some good vids on https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwF8vOEatNvJUiXXJtDx-zA if you’ve never tried it before.

J

To the OP – Yes there is a chance it contains Asbestos and the only way you’re going to know is to get it tested.
I have a positive result from a hessian backed tile that looked just like that the other year when refurbishing an office.
Once you know you can decide what to do about it.

If it’s a positive..Removing tiles is generally a non licensable task and an excellent guide is produced by the HSE http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/guidance/a23.pdf.
If you’re not happy with that then I’d recommend getting the professionals in. This kind of task is not as eye-wateringly expensive as other asbestos removal jobs as there’s no enclosure to build – worth getting a quote or two.

Regards

Jeff

Small & cheap point.. but can we have USB charging / connection points including one on the top of the dash for powering satnav? Saves having cable dropping all the way down to near the gearstick getting in the way.

and +1 for doge!

J

if you have a smartphone then subscribe using a podcast client, I use the podcast Republic app on my android phone. If you want to listen on a pc I suppose you could install iTunes and subscribe / play them on that. I’m sure there are other alternative clients.
Once you’ve subscribed the general plan is that your client will automatically download new episodes whenever they are released.

+1 for Friday Night Dinner.

Found it on Netflix having totally missed it on tv.

Jeff

For those that don’t live on the South Coast..

Took that from East end of Lee on Solent on Sunday..
Quite a jaunty angle and we’re expecting high winds in the next few days so I hope the anchors are secure!

Jeff

Shocked and very very happy..
Wife expecting our first in May. We’d struggled for years with an early miscarriage and no further success conceiving. We were about to start first round of IVF and really wasn’t looking forward to the stain it was going to put on us, when we realised we’d managed naturally..

Jeff

Just the usual things loddrik, get them vaccinated and then get them socialised.. the early weeks in a new home are the time when they learn about cars, people, kids, other dogs, cats, the hoover etc etc. The more they experience and file into the “not scary” category the less issues you’ll have later.
My springer was a little biter as a pup, but thankfully that totally stopped once her puppy teeth fell out.
Get a crate, make it comfy and get puppy used to it as a safe house.. not somewhere to go as a punishment.

Jeff

Leather cross belt would be an officer of the Royal Artillery. It’s not a sam browne belt as there’s no waist belt bit.

Jeff

Beautiful pup!
My springer is 2 1/2 now but I remember those first 6 months well. Think they key is to socialise and expose to as many different experiences at a young age.. We concentrated on this in the early few months and she’s pretty unflappable now. Guns, fireworks, kids and other animals are all non scary to her.

We have really benefited from a good training class and we still go for 30 mins each week. Helps with expose to all sorts of dogs, some friendly, some more grouchy.

As has been mentioned, don’t try and over exercise. While mine loves a walk, she also loves her bed and cuddles on the sofa. We tried to go too far in those early weeks and she let us know by nipping our ankles when she got tired and asking to be carried!

Good luck!

Jeff

+1 Sketchup

J

Engineer or Building Surveyor to design + builder.

Jeff

52mph down from the top of Hartside in Cumbria on the Coast to Coast many many years ago on a rigid Claud Butler MTB with slicks, a rear rack and pannier.

Think I managed 48 on the FS in Hexhamshire with offroad tyres on.

Jeff

(is disappointed no-one has done the obvious jokes yet)

I had a gag about prawn rings all ready…

Jeff

The Fire Extinguisher one is genius. Already put my order in with our facilities team to swipe the next out of date one that comes up!

J

I’ve just got a Z1 Compact as a replacement for my 3.5 year old iphone 4s. I’m quite pleased with it to be honest. It’s definitely not as slick as an iphone but it’s far more customisable. There seems to be an app or wigit to replace everything I was missing from the iphone (like DND mode).
Really good not to be tied to itunes which I really hated. Stuck a 20 quid 64 gig memory card in, so all in, less than 400 quid for sim free phone with over 70 gig of storage.

Jeff

Commencal Meta AM2 650b 2014.
Within your upper limit from CRC.

Jeff

Length of flashing down the slates would depend on the pitch of the roof. That looks pretty shallow from the pic, so prob at least 200mm, but integrated with a capping over the top of the wall head as there’s no way you’d be able to cut in to fix a flashing in the vertical section.
Min of code 4 lead, max 1500mm length between joints would be my guess but it’s years since I knew the lead sheet manual inside out.

Jeff

There are a few bike shops on the Shields road in Byker. Edinburgh Bike Coop at the top or a few others a short stroll down the road.

tomaso

Bummer about the bikes, but at least you seem to be insured.
As others have warned, don’t mess with the asbestos yourself. Although it’s by no means one of the really nasty asbestos containing materials and doesn’t need a licence to remove it must be done by someone who knows what they’re doing and sent to a licenced tip!

The HSE guidance for removing it is here. Be wary of anyone appointed to carry out the works by your insurer who doesn’t follow these guidelines as it’s not just their own health they’re risking!

Cheers

Jeff

As one of the types who sit and design refurb schemes (I work for a University – and very rarely wear a tie) these kind of omissions are quite common. Strangely enough I’m not perfect and will miss things off drawings or from specifications. I usually work with contractors however who are nice enough to let me know so I can issue an instruction to correct it.

J

Wife and I both work full time but we’re both pretty flexible on hours, so she starts later to give the pup (Almost 2 year old springer) a good run out in the morning and I’m usually home soon after 5.. We do have a dog walker though for days one of us isn’t working from home so pup will be out of the house for a couple of hours around lunch.

Wouldn’t be without the dog walker to be honest. Best tenner a day ever. Really good for socialisation too as she’s walked (off lead) in a group of 4.

Dogs are awesome. Pup has improved our lives in so many ways.

Jeff

wtf is a banjo in culinary terms?

Imagine you’re biting into a nice fried egg roll.. yolk nice and runny.. it runs out of the bread onto your shirt… the sweeping motion you make with your hand to clear the egg runoff is what makes it a banjo.

Jeff

It’ll be fine.. until the next security update for Win 7 & 8 when they’ll reverse engineer the patch, find out what hole it was plugging then test the exploit against WinXP. If it’s good, it’ll be all over the net targeting those who haven’t upgraded.

So yeh, if you disconnect from the internet you’ll be fine, but otherwise you’ll be increasingly open to attack. You don’t have to visit “dodgy” websites to get exploited.. just look at the ongoing stuff with Singletrack’s ad platform serving up malware..

Jeff

Live just East of Titchfield, work in SO. Support Newcastle, closest team to my place of birth. Think Fareham’s more Pompey than Saints though.

Jeff

I’d try and work out what the metal is first.. could it be a metal conduit that’s shielding electrical cables? Not got a socket in line below perhaps?

There are plenty of dry lining systems that use metal brackets to mount the PB on.. either screw fixed into the structure of fixed with plaster dabs, would think it’s less likely though on a newish building (I usually use them for refurb of old uneven walls). If you actually have a solid wall behind that small cavity, then a longer screw with a decent masonry wall plug would work fine. You won’t burst through as you’re spreading that tension force over the whole headboard area.

In the end though, those fixings will probably work, a headboard with a large area like that will have a low “pull out” potential as the force should only really be a shear force along the wall face.

Regards

Jeff

Because their horns don’t work….

6’4″ on an XL 2010 Commencal Meta 55.
Spot on.

Jeff

I’ll chip in as I actually have an Exeo ST (2010 plate, SE Lux with 143ps CR tdi)

Good
Pleasant to drive.
Comfortable – ride’s firm enough around the twisty stuff but v smooth when it gets rough.
Xenon lights are nifty
Storage – lots of cubby holes around the cabin and load area – they don’t charge you 90 quid storage bin (Looking at you Volvo)
Toys, cruse control, bluetooth phone with voice dial all great.
Decent grunt
Flatish lip to boot area, so dog / bikes are easy to get in.
You’re not paying for a premium badge

Not so good
MPG not great. 38mpg commuting, mid 40’s on a motorway if I’m not pushing it.
Some toys dated (may be different in newer models) eg, no bluetooth media steaming to audio in mine.
Quite a few rattles from the back of mine – but I do treat it like crap

As a bike transporter it’s ok.. My XL Commencal Meta goes in with front wheel off and the seats down but certainly not super spacious. I’ve ended up with a couple of carriers on roof bars.

Regards

Jeff

+1 what slackalice said

I’ve done a few barn conversions in the past, the key is getting it repointed well in lime by someone experienced in the material (I see so much terrible repointing as a surveyor).
Had a very successful job with lining walls with gypoc frame system, either independant or onto rails fixed to the walls, then gyproc thermal board and plaster skim over. The thermal board is a kingspan like closed cell insulation with a plasterboard face.

Cement generally does more harm than good in stonework. Steer well clear of breathable paint bollocks too, all you’ll do is limit the breath-ability of the stone and trap moisture.

Jeff

In my view, part K (Protection from falling, collision and impact) of the Building Regs would not permit this. It probably also falls foul in other areas.

Landings
1.15 Landings should be provided at the top and bottom of every flight. The width and length of every landing should be at least as great as the smallest width of the flight. The landing may include part of the floor of the building.
1.16 To afford safe passage landings should be clear of permanent obstruction. A door may swing across a landing at the bottom of a flight but only if it will leave a clear space of at least 400mm across the full width of the flight

Conqueror, there’s no way to tell unless you sample it and have it tested in a lab. They’ll need to take more than once sample as this stuff was usually site mixed and the asbestos fibres may not be even throughout the mix. Testing however is cheap, bulk costs are about a tenner a sample. Ring a few local labs and get a quote, they’ll probably have a flat rate for this kind of householder test.

If it’s positive and you want rid (rather than skimming over) then you’d probably want the ceiling taken down in manageable sections then reboarded and skimmed. This is not a licenced job, but needs to be done by someone who’d competent and the material removed as Asbestos Waste.

Risk from Chrysotile (white asbestos) is massively less than other types, however sanding to remove (often done in times past) is really dodgy.

Jeff