The House Projects Thread

[Swervin_Mervin]

I do make a tip run once a month, usually with cardboard.

This was my initial solution too, but when I had nothing other than excess recycling it started to wind me up.

That's fair enough. It's not far for me and no pre-booking required (yet). It winds me up far less than the 4 bins do, hence why I wouldn't want any more.

[Mito Man]

Think outside the cardboard box to find freedom from the cardboard.

Add boiling water to cardboard

Allow to cool and inoculate with mushroom spawn
Wait 4 weeks

Shrooooms

[mik]

Mushrooms ?

Can you get it to make some chicken schnitzel?

[Mito Man]

Oyster mushrooms as pictured and shitake are easy to grow. Can’t make chicken schnitzel but surely it’s only a matter of time

[V8Granite]

Our bins are every 4 weeks. Must be clean cardboard and paper in 1. Plastics in another, normal waste, garden waste and food waste.

We fill maybe 50% of the paper in a month, plastic is normally full, normal waste maybe 3/4 full, food waste we have zero so won't use it and garden waste maybe half full in summer as we don't have much grass to cut.

Its good council waste to make them feel better.

Jobbo, I thought I'd hid my first body well, must try harder.

Dave!

[dinny_g]

Ours works out pretty well to be fair - Household waste and Garden Waste are collected weekly with mixed recycling and paper / card alternating every 2 weeks.

[GG.]

Yeah, I think I'd be tempted to lose a few of those bins. Who tf needs two of each?

If they're collected, you have a good way of disposing of the extra waste at Christmas etc - I bet there are many people who would kill for extra bin collections.

I see @V8Granite has started to implement his plans in Coventry: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cr73g20x845o

Unnervingly topical

Yes I don't think there is a charge for additional bins (other than brown bins) so would be worth hiding them away somewhere even if to just to bring them into play at Christmas or when there is family round. There is loads of underutilised gravelled space right behind the garage (as per the pic below) so it is quite puzzling why they wouldn't hide them away other than merely the hassle of dragging them down the drive on bin day. Its always these instances where the current owners do something seemingly illogical that makes me think "what's the hidden issue"...



@Mito Man I am getting somewhat itchy feet with the 911. It is getting used pretty rarely and my wife generally wants us to take the RR on longer trips so that is pushing me toward something less practical and more of an experience to drive around even at 20mph. That goes one of two ways really - something with 10 or 12 cylinders or a classic 911 of some description... Anyway the frightening cost of moving / larger house may put paid to that for a while anyway...

[mik]

[Anyway the frightening cost of moving / larger house may put paid to that for a while anyway...

Console yourself that you don’t have to pay the Scotland bastard non-equivalent of Stamp Duty

Plug your numbers in here for your amusement. (And before anyone points it out - yes I know houses in Londonland are more expensive).

[Jobbo]

[Anyway the frightening cost of moving / larger house may put paid to that for a while anyway...

Console yourself that you don’t have to pay the Scotland bastard non-equivalent of Stamp Duty

Plug your numbers in here for your amusement. (And before anyone points it out - yes I know houses in Londonland are more expensive).

I have remained blissfully unaware of the level duty had reached in Scotland. Just for fun I plugged in our purchase 2 years ago - which was initially an additional property because we sold the old house a few months later. I then plugged in today's date rather than the purchase date and the additional duty was higher. Can you reclaim the additional duty as you can in England?

[GG.]

[Anyway the frightening cost of moving / larger house may put paid to that for a while anyway...

Console yourself that you don’t have to pay the Scotland bastard non-equivalent of Stamp Duty

Plug your numbers in here for your amusement. (And before anyone points it out - yes I know houses in Londonland are more expensive).

I have remained blissfully unaware of the level duty had reached in Scotland. Just for fun I plugged in our purchase 2 years ago - which was initially an additional property because we sold the old house a few months later. I then plugged in today's date rather than the purchase date and the additional duty was higher. Can you reclaim the additional duty as you can in England?

Did the same for ours - looks like it would be 20% higher land tax in Scotland. Pretty horrific as it is in England - the SDLT on this purchase will wipe out 50% of the equity we've built up in our property since first buying a flat in 2014. I think ultimately in a market where everything used to go up, it all just got soaked up but where properties are flat or marginally up many many years later, the currently level of SDLT is unsustainable and must be materially supressing transaction volumes.

p.s. having a quick look at equivalently prices properties in Scotland was deeply depressing!

[mik]

I have remained blissfully unaware of the level duty had reached in Scotland. Just for fun I plugged in our purchase 2 years ago - which was initially an additional property because we sold the old house a few months later. I then plugged in today's date rather than the purchase date and the additional duty was higher. Can you reclaim the additional duty as you can in England?

You can - if you drop to a single property within a specific time period (2 years from memory).

[mik]

p.s. having a quick look at equivalently prices properties in Scotland was deeply depressing!

There are huge differences of course - prices in nicer parts in or surrounding major cities like Edinburgh/Glasgow/Aberdeen are way higher, but thankfully nowhere is even close to the insanity of London.

[Explosive Newt]

p.s. having a quick look at equivalently prices properties in Scotland was deeply depressing!

There are huge differences of course - prices in nicer parts in or surrounding major cities like Edinburgh/Glasgow/Aberdeen are way higher, but thankfully nowhere is even close to the insanity of London.

Intermittently we consider moving to a castle near Perth but remember all our jobs and stuff are here.

Although retiring in our mid 40s and living comfortably mortgage free in a little cottage somewhere is pretty tempting!

[Alex88]

Currently having some external works done. The whole chimney is getting repointed and the top section rebuilt, and the gable end roughcast render is coming off and being replaced. It was badly cracked.

I'd say we got quite lucky with the condition of the building and the beam structure!

We initially suspected it was a cement render, which was quite worrying as the building fabric cannot breathe, but it's actually the correct Lime material, which is great. But, it's still coated in layers of paints, probably unbreathable paints.

Anyway, at least there was no hidden rot or damage behind it, phew!

Need to make a plan for the rest of the render. Could even paint strip it

[Ascender]

After what seems like forever, our building warrant has finally been issued.

First step, asbestos roof sheets to come off and then we can crack on.

I think the aim will be to get the extension wind and watertight before late Autumn meaning the interior can be done in stages when the guys are free.

[Mito Man]

Question for the garagistas who have those rubber floor tiles. Do you think they would survive a car turning lock to lock on them or just get torn up? Or can they be glued down?

[John]

The ones I have are interlocking hard flexible plastic or nylon type material rather than rubber, the wheels on the trolley jack sink in with the weight of the car but they return to shape afterwards without any damage. There is no movement at all from the tiles when going from lock to lock, just lots of squeeking

[Mito Man]

I would need to cut them to fit around a central inspection pit which is what worries me as depending on the size of the tiles it could end up with a whole row not interlocking with each other and it would be right in the middle where you need to turn. Back to the drawing board..

[jamcg]

I would need to cut them to fit around a central inspection pit which is what worries me as depending on the size of the tiles it could end up with a whole row not interlocking with each other and it would be right in the middle where you need to turn. Back to the drawing board..

Could you not find a system than has end ramps like these and leave a square out, even if it’s slightly wider than the pit and edge it with those, cut 45 in the corners to keep it neat?