The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.

[Mrs Pingu]

He came round and inspected the chimney breast from indoors and declared that the chimney would need re-pointing.

Oh rly? X ray specs?He sounds like a keeper, not.

[Jurek]

He came round and inspected the chimney breast from indoors and declared that the chimney would need re-pointing.

Oh rly? X ray specs?He sounds like a keeper, not.

Indeed.
The slightly bizarre thing about all of this is that, since this incident, there has been no further evidence of ingress of water in the chimney breast ......

[ElyDave]

we had ingress of water into our chimbly a few years back, it was the lead flashing where it come out of the roof, £20 cash in hand job in the end.

[andrewc]

He came round and inspected the chimney breast from indoors and declared that the chimney would need re-pointing.

Oh rly? X ray specs?He sounds like a keeper, not.

Indeed.
The slightly bizarre thing about all of this is that, since this incident, there has been no further evidence of ingress of water in the chimney breast ......

I expect a squirrel ate all the pointing while it was still fresh & juicy....

[Jurek]

He came round and inspected the chimney breast from indoors and declared that the chimney would need re-pointing.

Oh rly? X ray specs?He sounds like a keeper, not.

Indeed.
The slightly bizarre thing about all of this is that, since this incident, there has been no further evidence of ingress of water in the chimney breast ......

I expect a squirrel ate all the pointing while it was still fresh & juicy....

And you can F.R.O. with your 'fresh & juicy' too.
 

[Canardly]

Condensation can be a cause of moisture in the flue as well. Need to ensure ventilation continues and not to block up opening without provision of a vent.

[andrewc]

Still poorly sick 


Saturday I felt a lot better so walked into town & had a wander around the Walker Art Gallery & did some shopping, no ill effects.  Sunday woke up with a bad throat again,  I had a concert booked at St Georges Hall with friends so walked down to that but began to feel tired & sleepy.  One of my friends has just come back from Cambodia & is feeling rough herself, the other cheers me up by saying she had 6 months off work last year with "post viral syndrome" ?     Woke up on Monday feeling shattered & spent most of the day dozing  in bed, ate some food but no motivation to read or listen to music.  Bed at midnight & slept through to 10.  Still got a bit of a cough.  This is boring now. 

[Legs]

We got a joke estimate for building our extension (other estimates have come in around £70k-£90k), so we asked for a breakdown.  This is a classic case of Parkinson's Law of Triviality. (Forgive the typesetting)

Demolition of single storey extension including support wall/new steel                                                £10,925.00
Take out staircase and replace                                                                                                         £  4,025.00                                                                                                                                             
Utility
Take out door frame                                                                                                                                         £      40.25
Pull down wall                                                                                                                                                           £    172.50
Remove fittings                                                                                                                                             £    115.00
Block wall plastered both sides                                                                                                                            £    510.60
Kitchen
Reduce size of existing kitchen fittings/make good                                                                                £    862.50
Form opening for door                                                                                                                                 £    414.00
Internal door and frame                                                                                                                               £    454.25
Lounge
Take out door and frame                                                                                                                                        £       40.25
Reduce size of existing opening, blocking up, including plaster                                                             £     460.00
Window                                                                                                                                                          £     678.50
Window board                                                                                                                                              £       43.70
Skirting board                                                                                                                                                            £         6.90
Take out door and frame, block up opening                                                                                             £     460.00
Take out window                                                                                                                                          £       40.25
Enlarge opening for patio doors                                                                                                                 £    460.00
Patio doors                                                                                                                                                                £ 1,840.00
First Floor
Take out 2 doors                                                                                                                                                       £      80.50
Take out window                                                                                                                                          £      40.25 
Pull down section of wall, enlarge/steels                                                                                                   £ 1,035.00
Stud partition x 3                                                                                                                                           £    269.10
Internal door and frame                                                                                                                                          £    454.25
Skirting board                                                                                                                                                            £      20.70
External
Porch/Entrance                                                                                                                                                      £  1840.00
Steps 1                                                                                                                                                                       £    517.50
Steps 2                                                                                                                                                            £    747.50
Extension
Floor area                                                                                                                                                       £80,251.00
Prelims                                                                                                                                                            £ 21,907.50

                                                                                                                                    Total:                          £128,806.53

[L CC]

I'm not sure that's true, Legs. That list looks like it's done by a Quantity Surveyor and probably includes things that would be additional incidentals from your other quotes.

[Legs]

It's also been done by someone who can't add up (I haven't bothered to add them up, but where did the 3p come from?), and who doesn't understand that an estimate can be accurate without being excessively precise.

[mrcharly-YHT]

I love they way they break down a ton of trivial stuff - then just put 'floor area' in with an £80k estimate and no breakdown.

Assume that is the actual building work for the extension.

[Kim]

the other cheers me up by saying she had 6 months off work last year with "post viral syndrome" ?

Autoimmune nastyness in the wake of an infection.  The effective treatment is rest, which means you have to fight boredom and/or protestant work-ethic.  Best avoided.

[T42]

the other cheers me up by saying she had 6 months off work last year with "post viral syndrome" ?

Autoimmune nastyness in the wake of an infection.  The effective treatment is rest, which means you have to fight boredom and/or protestant work-ethic.  Best avoided.

If you're lucky it's rest. Some gastroenteritis viruses look very much like beta cells to the immune system, so that you end up with Type 1 diabetes. That happened to the 4-year-old son of a friend of mine. Imagine explaining to a kid that age why Daddy has to stick needles in him after meals.

That was 20 years ago, there might be a better way now.

[ian]

Happened to a friend of mine. Had a modest bout of flu-like illness, seemed on the road to recovery, till girlfriend found him having a diabetic snooze on the kitchen floor.

[andrewc]

Thank you for cheering me up !   No gastro symptoms, just mild upper respiratory issues & a feeling of being knackered.  I've never slept so well   


Just back from the GP's after collecting another sick note & arranging a check up for next week.   Had a plate of pasta and a affogato al caffe  on the way home.   Slightly tired as flat is at the top of a long hill. 

[hellymedic]

the other cheers me up by saying she had 6 months off work last year with "post viral syndrome" ?

Autoimmune nastyness in the wake of an infection.  The effective treatment is rest, which means you have to fight boredom and/or protestant work-ethic.  Best avoided.

If you're lucky it's rest. Some gastroenteritis viruses look very much like beta cells to the immune system, so that you end up with Type 1 diabetes. That happened to the 4-year-old son of a friend of mine. Imagine explaining to a kid that age why Daddy has to stick needles in him after meals.

That was 20 years ago, there might be a better way now.

My first cousin has two children who have been Type 1 diabetics since they were toddlers. I think they are on pumps now.

[Kim]

Continuous glucose monitoring seems to be a game-changer for smalls.  Even if they're still having insulin injections, it eliminates the (generally more painful) testing.

[andrewc]

Well I went for a lie down about 15:30.   Fairly troubled sleep & now I’m a bit warm & sweaty. Time to get up & drink some tea.

[ElyDave]

the other cheers me up by saying she had 6 months off work last year with "post viral syndrome" ?

Autoimmune nastyness in the wake of an infection.  The effective treatment is rest, which means you have to fight boredom and/or protestant work-ethic.  Best avoided.

If you're lucky it's rest. Some gastroenteritis viruses look very much like beta cells to the immune system, so that you end up with Type 1 diabetes. That happened to the 4-year-old son of a friend of mine. Imagine explaining to a kid that age why Daddy has to stick needles in him after meals.

That was 20 years ago, there might be a better way now.

in my case it was a dose of flu a little under 7 years ago now, felt like crap all weekend and woke up the next week with T1D.

Been on a pump for around 6 of those years and it is much better.  Am thinking about self-funded Abbot Flash Glucose metering as I don't meet the NHS criteria for it.

[Mrs Pingu]

Interesting. Is that fairly common then?

[ian]

I couldn't find a number, it's not that common, but it is a known corollary of viral illnesses.

[Kim]

Been on a pump for around 6 of those years and it is much better.  Am thinking about self-funded Abbot Flash Glucose metering as I don't meet the NHS criteria for it.

A friend of mine is doing that, because his diabetes is hard to control and he finds that rate-of-change is more helpful than the absolute glucose level.

[ElyDave]

for me it's a case of
pump = ability to control insulin around exercise more easily
FG monitoring = unobtrusive monitoring when exercising. Frustratingly though it's not legal for driving, where you need to do a fingerprick every 2 hours

[Canardly]

We got a joke estimate for building our extension (other estimates have come in around £70k-£90k), so we asked for a breakdown.  This is a classic case of Parkinson's Law of Triviality. (Forgive the typesetting)

Does not look like a QS estimate to me. Demolitions seem expensive unless access is very limited. Any builder should be able to give you a rough estimate based on a rate per M2 of new build. I see that the area is not stated on your estimate. Is it an estimate or a quote?

https://householdquotes.co.uk/cost-of-extension/

[T42]

for me it's a case of
pump = ability to control insulin around exercise more easily
FG monitoring = unobtrusive monitoring when exercising. Frustratingly though it's not legal for driving, where you need to do a fingerprick every 2 hours

It's probably more reliable than the fingerstick but the law hasn't caught up yet - a bit like when only filament lamps were legal for cycling but LEDs were already ten times more effective.  A couple of years back I queried the accuracy of my fingerstick meter and was given a calibration solution to test it against: according to the accompanying bumph a ±18% margin of error was OK.  I don't bother testing any more unless I'm going to the doc.