Number 7 on the Beaufort scale

[Feltwell]

Consumer unit. Whats that?

It's the correct name for your fuseboard:

No it's not - not if you've still got a fuseboard. Come on Penners, we can't let the standards slip round here you know, some forum members can be terribly pedantic. :wink:

 

[Penners]

Sorry, Feltwell, I just can't stand pedantry.

 

[MdB]

[Bad Word] , thats not good, what if a branch fell on my head?
I cant prune them without permission . What constitutes a dead tree? The wood was dry and light and didnt look healthy at all but whether or not its dead i dont know.
Edit - if i said to the owner he had to prune them because they were over hanging my drive would he have to? I dont see why i should foot the bill to have someone elses trees pruned to prevent them from killing me.

Ho hum... Very very Ho hum....

Lets add a little bit more the the the hypothetical question... What would the situation be if two previous trees has already fallen down (say damaging a neighbours out building) and the land owner had rather pointedly told by multiple people that there were other trees that needed to be removed before they fell down?

Now lets say that the third tree fell down damaging a car (purchased just over a month ago)? In this case, act of god seems to be pushing it just a little bit... The first tree may be but this is the third in less than 6 months.

However, is it worth falling out with a neighbour over this? There are more trees that need removing and I guess this is the most important thing to get sorted.

 

[robgil]

I called a tree surgeon today, he said it would have been an act of god many years ago perhaps but not in this day and age, the owners are liable for their trees.
I will have a word with the guy who owns them and tell him they are falling apart, i doubt they will be removed though being in a conservation area. Trees shed their lower branches when the branch becomes shaded by the canopy and starts to use more energy than it produces, but these trees are dropping a lot of big sized branches and are clearly well over the hill.

 

[Penners]

I called a tree surgeon today, he said it would have been an act of god many years ago perhaps but not in this day and age

Really? Has God given up acting?

 

[JoceAndChris]

My lean to, a Perspex roofed structure, has lost a section of Perspex roof.

Joce, you're clearly going to have to do something at least semi-permanent about roof, given the forecast time before you do a full conversion of the little annexe. We have a lobby that was created many years ago by our predecessors in the house. It's essentially the area between the house and the garage that was just roofed over in corrugated perspex. It's a bit scruffy but very useful.

I have now replaced the corrugated perspex with triple-wall polycarbonate. It's very much stronger and more substantial than the perspex, but is still translucent. You might want to think about doing that. It would probably be cheaper than having the consumer unit moved (but get quotes to be sure).

I need to get this sorted out this week, do you think triple walled polycarbonate or something with insulation (that blocks the light)? It's a very cold structure presently. Xx

 

[Flyfisher]

I can't really comment on your plans for that area Joce, but the cold won't affect the electrical bits so don't worry about insulation for that reason.
Keeping things dry should be the main concern.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Thanks FF. I just wondered if we'd get a warmer house if we created a temporary roof of asphalt and Kingspan. The cold of that annexe seeps into our bedroom and kitchen.
But, it would be very dark if the roof were that way which might make the whole annexe even more dangerous ( it has steep stone steps with a sunken well at the bottom of them and a strange platform you have to clamber on to reach the consumer unit - all that in the dark might be too much even for us.)
I think we've decided to go for Penners' excellent suggestion until when/if we can remodel the annexe and create a roof with Swithland slate, or something similar.

 

[Gervase]

Really? Has God given up acting?

He's 'resting' now, which I think is the polite term for working the coffee machine in the Jerusalem Starbucks.

 

[philpjuk100]

I can't really comment on your plans for that area Joce, but the cold won't affect the electrical bits so don't worry about insulation for that reason.
Keeping things dry should be the main concern.

That is corect ff the electrical bits are able to keep themselves warm!

 

[Penners]

Thanks FF. I just wondered if we'd get a warmer house if we created a temporary roof of asphalt and Kingspan. The cold of that annexe seeps into our bedroom and kitchen.
But, it would be very dark if the roof were that way which might make the whole annexe even more dangerous

The insulation value of triple-wall polycarbonate will be significantly better than your old corrugated perspex, provided the proper "closers" are fitted to ends of all the cells, to capture the air in them (your installer will know what I mean). But it's not really going to make a huge difference to your kitchen. Insulation only works if there's heat for it to retain!

However, I suppose the improved roof will perhaps help to reduce the flow of cold air through that annexe, which must trickle down those steps to your kitchen.

I do think you need to ensure that you have light in the annexe - particularly given the hazards of moving around it (if you need to get to the consumer unit). But if you want to install a more substantial, insulated roof, I suppose you could do so and include a couple of roof lights. But that's going to be a longer and more expensive job. Right now you need to get that annexe dry as a matter of urgency.

If it were me, I'd go for the polycarbonate as quickly as possible.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Will do! I'm hoping my joiner might be able to do it, though I'm guessing it might be a little lowly for his skills - he makes kitchens.
Thanks for the advice, I think well fitting plastic will make a big difference as the breeze blowing under that roof is enough to put out a candle! The kitchen has 2 sash windows leading into the annexe, very old draughty ones, so less breeze from the roof would be great.
It seems silly to do a slow, expensive, temporary job when what I really want to do is move the rainwater tank, remove the concrete outside the house, knock down the exterior walls of the annexe, and redesign the whole area to create a larger annexe matching the south facing one, with access to the bedrooms, plumbing and a matching roof to the rest of the house.
So plastic for now, I hope to get it done this week.

 

[Penners]

I'm hoping my joiner might be able to do it.....I hope to get it done this week.

I'm sure any decent carpenter/joiner will be able to do it. It's not difficult. But if he's never done anything like this before, the following tips and tricks might be of help:

http://www.wickes.co.uk/content/ebiz/wickes/resources/images/gil/52.pdf

 

[JoceAndChris]

What a helpful document! I'll certainly mention it to him. Thanks very much.
He's coming tomorrow to quote but I hope can make a start as well.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Of course everything is always slower and more expensive than you'd like it to be.

Then quote's come in and I'm not sure I'll bother to get any others as I do particularly like this man's workmanship, he's tidy, and very polite and gentle in his ways - rare.

I'll just run through, see if you think it sounds OK

To remove exisiting plastic corrugated sheets and dispose
To supply and fit softwood painted vertical glazing bars spaced 1 metre apart approx.
To supply and fit softwood painted facia board
To supply and fit clear triple wall polycarbonate sheets
To supply and fit black or white guttering
To supply softwood timber wall abutment with silicone seal = £1210,00
or
To supply and fit 225 mm lead to wall abutment. (£190 extra)


This roof is 6 metres by 1.50

Nice to get Penners' reassurance on price in the other thread. How about the lead abutment thingy then? Worth doing? The guttering is lined with lead and the porch roof is lead, which may be why he's suggested it?

 

[Juju]

I think the lead would look nicer. It's the best bit of our manky lean-to - which I would love to get replaced at some point.
Juju

 

[Penners]

Joce - actually I think you're getting a decent deal there. The cost of ours didn't include painting the glazing bars, fitting a fascia board or guttering. In view of this I've checked the size of our roof, and actually it's a bit wider than yours - about the same length, though.

So all-in-all I reckon the two quotes are still pretty close to identical, with yours perhaps being a little cheaper, all things considered.

Do you think it's worth paying for lead, in view of the fact that this is a medium-term temporary arrangement? I'm not sure I would. But I suppose it depends on how long you feel you will be likely to keep this roof, before you do a full conversion on the structure.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Thanks again for the thumbs up on the quote - that will go a long way towards pacifying Chris, who thought it would be half that. It's imperative a robust bit of roofing goes on up there with the consumer unit being underneath!
Not sure about the lead - in an ideal world we'd only have that structure as it is for another ten years and by then surely Chris' brother will have been snapped up by a pretty doctor and we can sell the house he's in, which belongs to both of them equally and divide the money. (anyone want a nice 30-something surgeon, specialising in stomach-stapling at present?)
But it's really impossible to predict what life will throw at you.
I'm inclined to go for the lead. I could always melt it down and refashion it as decorative strap-work on the hen-house, perhaps, or artichoke finials?

 

[Flyfisher]

How about the lead abutment thingy then? Worth doing?

The 'worth ' of the lead is mainly in its longevity (though it will probably look a little better as well) so I share Penners' reservation, given your plans to change that whole area at some time in the future. Only you can judge how long 'some time in the future' is likely to be.

Personally, I think I'd feel that £190 is neither here nor there compared to £1210 to fix a 'temporary' roof. Again, a lot depends on your eventual plans but I wonder if things could be brought forward and the £1400 then be spent on something permanent?

(My apologies if I'm just complicating the decision process )

 

[Penners]

£190 is neither here nor there

What?! :shock:

You could buy at least a dozen bottles of gin for that!