As previously billed in my what sort of doors thread but now general questions as that thread was closed.. I have some layout questions..

Seating
Most layouts have a second row of seats at the back. I can see why this when the van is camping mode but with kids, having them closer in transit where the passenger can pass stuff to them is useful. Also feels better when using it as a school run vehicle. Are there any options with the seats closer together in transport mode but then still have a living space when camping.

Also if loading the van with a lot of stuff it would end up being piled in front of the passengers such that they have to Wade through it to get in and out.

Beds
Loads seem to have rock and roll bed. is this because it is the best – RIB looks like it would be better at not having an undulating profile. I’ve also seen some articles saying that rib is bolted to the chassis and so safer but not sure why they would be attached any differently.

Cooking
in a small van do you cook inside it much rather than say under the tailgate?

Sink
This feels like it would be handy..

Extra space
Awning does this need to be drive away? so that you can leave it in situ when wanting go somewhere that isn’t packing everything up and going on.

LWB or SWB
There aren’t as many lwb vans as swb for sale. Why’s this? I was thinking that the bigger the better..

What other layout questions should I be thinking about?

Thanks all. lol at some of the comments. Not sure about the guardian readership – a high proportion of those for sale, door agnostic, seem to be lowered, on 20 in rims and with some sort of body kit and private plate! No idea what a guardian reader drives but I wouldn’t put them down for many of those except maybe the last one.

The thing about being able to pack the back space with barn doors, what do you do with a tail gate. I have this problem in a car- the top of the last bit of the boot is hard to pack as it tends to fall out. Imagine even harder with a taller space.

I did realise after posting I need a new thread, “I have van lay out questions.”

What is going wrong with it?

What brand are the windows- open one and see if it says on any of the mechanisms or perhaps on a door.

There is also an interesting dynamic of a windows efficiency (u value) is based on the extruded frame before it is made into a window and so whilst the extrusion might have a good u value that doesn’t mean the window does. For example in metal windows there is often a bit of foam in between the inner and outer skin that is placed around the edges but this is removed for drainage at the bottom and air flow at the top if trickle vents. This compromises the thermal efficiency.

She might well be right.

Albeit it might not be the windows rather how they have been installed.

The windows:
Are they thermally broken. Steel is a conductor of heat so if the outside of the frame connects directly to the inside it will conduct all of out warmth and get very cold. A thermal break is a bit of plastic sandwiche in the middle of the frame between the outside and the inside.

I would have thought to meet building regs in last few years it would have to be thermally broken.

The installation:
If they are thermally broken, have they been installed in the correct place over the cavity.

Is there anything filling the gap between the window frame and the wall. Often it is just air which will get cold. There should be un broken insulation with no gaps. If there are trims remove a bit of one on the outside and have a look. Similarly you can knock a little fillet of mortar from beneath the sill and look in.

is there such a thing as a local supplier for gas (and electricity) now?

I could contact the electricity supplier though.

Dancing clubs – I believe they tend to have a greater portion of females than males. It also forces you to interact with others in a safe but not too forced way as a lot of them require dancing in pairs.

Having experience Of neurodivergent children with similar characteristics to those which you describe I can sympathise with your decision.

As such i suspect you hit the nail on the head with “– a scared, lonely and confused child.”

My conjecture would be that if he is neurodivergent then he wasn’t doing the things he did voluntarily and so the learn from cause and effect thing doesn’t really apply.

As suggested on your previous threads some neuro divergent approaches are probably needed – maybe suggest to the next foster place they consider this even without a formal diagnosis.

Hats off to you for trying to help a vulnerable child though.

Toilet – fabric conditioner bottle. You can get a wide mouth proprietary variant for her.

Lots of cheap new bikes so people buying them and selling old ones?

Old ones not selling as lots of cheap new ones

Disparity between buyers and sellers expectation of what is a reasonable price given supply/demand curve

People waiting for the market to fall further so not buying

Thanks all – yes it’s Mtb gearing. lol not a stealth post. Even expensive 12 speed cassettes will be a drop in the ocean of a new turbo. It’s a fairly dated drivo but enough for me I think.

I find that being static also exaggerates bad saddle fit as it’s blooming uncomfortable. Tried a couple but no improvement really.

Whilst strengthening all muscles to ensure balanced forces on the knee is a good idea, be careful with exercises that put a lot of strain on the knee. Some of those suggested will do that.

How does using pogies fair when bike ceases to be rubber side down? Hands come out easily?

In general I think using your hands/arms to break the fall is preferable to your head.

Do they go in your gloves or something to clasp when stopped?

I find once my fingers get cold it takes a long time to warm them up so looking to try and stop them getting cold in the first place.

As others have said don’t go too old. We’ve been nursing an old iPad Gen 4 which basically only runs FaceTime and apps installed previously.

I thought I’d get the same vintage with cellular for my kid to use in the car as it was very cheap. But the iOS whilst showing ‘family sharing’ doesn’t actually support it properly. Plus as others have said it won’t take any apps.

Thanks @dove1 no that doesn’t seem to work. The apple logo appears after a second or two but then disappears again if I keep them held. Either way letting go at logo or after 15 seconds doesn’t seem to work.

Thanks all! What about zoom calls when it’s raining, that might give the game away?!

@alpin Yes your summary is right.

What about the implications for making a loss on a sale that @WorldClassAccident raises ?

That’s a lot more interesting (for the average punter not running an eBay business) – thread is TLDR if someone responded to it but I didn’t notice. So if an item sold at a loss is that an income tax loss or capital gain offset elsewhere in your tax return?

Government subsidy – http://www.floodre.co.uk

Frame is steel. So perhaps need a propitiatory adapter then

I think that would ideally be foul water drain.

For kids Terry nappies machine wash rinse and low speed spin cycle. Then wash cycle.

This one https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00400OMU0/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&psc=1

I think that if you have internet via vdsl or Adsl where you have both phone and internet with a phone splitter then going to VoIP is plug the phone via a box that the isp provides you into the router rather than using the splitter. I get mine soon so will let you know how simples or not it turns out to be

Orangebox – has plenty of adjustability and lumbar support. Not a budget choice though

Making my own decisions.. which could be unwise!

Thanks all. Apologies for the lack of clarity!

I’m not sure the brand but a metal frame one like the elite 3c one. https://www.halfords.com/cycling/bike-accessories/bike-bottle-cages/elite-3c-water-bottle-cage-695858.html?cm_mmc=Google+PLA-_-Cycling%3EBike+Accessories%3EBike+Bottle+Cages-_-Cycling%3EBike+Accessories%3EBike+Bottle+Cages-_-695858&srsltid=AfmBOorkWP8t7kuWBkmOgIhXCfQbSeGK0uyenCfyPEMv4Eipglc021v8BZw

Can you not turn the cage so it’s the right way up?

Only if I fall off and the wheels are in the air..

The only cages I’ve seen have the mounting point in one place. The bolts in the frame are on the underside of the top tube, so the bottle weight is acting to open the cage up. 

 thanks all! I must confess that whilst I’m a coffee drinker. I’m not a connoisseur. Mrs MJ is the one who stopped using the aeropress.  Sounds like I need to find out why it was deemed to much faff. possibly the two cup issue. Or It might be that the faff is at the time of each cup (her) whereas a machine is a separate cleaning faff (me!)

@sui how do you find the faff and propensity for mess with the melitta?

I have an aeropress but there’s too much faffage involved in operating and cleaning it so it doesn’t get used.

I was looking at the melitta 1021-12 filter coffee machine with grinder that’s around £100 not really looking to spend masses more but equally if the low faff option is more pricey then I will have a look; no point buying a cheaper item and then not using it.

They vibrate a fair bit (our cheap screw fix one that’s several years old does anyway) so unless you’ve a lot of sound damping, you’ll likely hear when it gets full and cuts off. 

what about brake disc corrosion? On an infrequent use car I just had to replace set of rear discs and pads due to corrosion ring in the centre of the disc so the pads wore out faster than they should have. If doing a weekly run with some firm braking that may do the trick I guess but any other means?

Normal anti corrosion treatments being less ideal on brakes!!

Thanks all. I have a corner ikea already so would be a leg swap if sticking with ikea.
The e7 looks as if it might be higher and I am tall so need to try and work out if the extra few cms is needed! @datsunman what is the dimensions fully extended, the website seems to show two different ones.

yoyo looks to stop quite a bit shorter so think that might be out despite being the cheapest!

Albeit the monitor height vs keyboard height issue is that not the same standing vs sitting? My monitor is already on a plinth to raise it above the desk quite a bit.

Some children are neurodivergent.

I’d say yes if you have lots of condensation on your windows and squeegeeing with a plain squeegee would result in water in a place you don’t want it. From memory the karcher one needs to be upright and doesn’t work overly well sideways and not at all upside down(squeegee at the bottom, motor and tank at the top), which can make getting condensation at the foot of a window tricky. 

Orange pekoe as opposed to broken orange pekoe maybe what you are after. The former is more refined taste and the latter a stronger cup of tea..

Wobbly, it’s a square taper. I fully accept I could have done more to inspect but didn’t notice it. I guess based on the description and a child’s bike I  Had my guard down. Not a massively expensive bike but still a Bit peeved and will replace it but was just interested.

Stealth ad, I have a frog tadpole mini in green. PM me if interested.

I think you have it- get him to speak to a mortgage broker. Several online ones that don’t charge a fee. I used one for our last mortgage, I might even have a code to get a few extra quid cash back for him if he goes ahead with a mortgage. The one I used was whole of market so effectively looked at all deals there were and had to recommend the best.

Edit: wot he said, beaten to it