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Interestingly enough I was buzzed by a low-flying helicopter a while back (it was like something out of Apocalypse Now) which turned out to be National Grid checking the overhead supply lines. Apparently they fly along the overhead wires with a thermal imaging camera, and problems show up as hot spots. They literally followed the drop wire right up to my building, and hovered above it. I didn't know whether to wave or take cover! As well as looking for faults they would be looking for stolen power running cannabis grow rooms, an isolated industrial unit where the power is supposedly off would be a reasonably obvious target, they were probably checking the entire place wasn't glowing red hot from the lamps running from a bypassed meter..... Hi, That's very cynical, you and me both. But a valid point. Colin |
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There was a case locally recently where a cannabis farm was found after a snowfall
The house was the only one in the street with no snow on the roof!
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Not sure what space you have in that loo but you may want to check if there are any regulations you need to comply with if it will be used by the unit you intend to rent regarding minimum size plus door width and disabled access, at present you should have grandfather rights and not have to comply but the 'new' unit bit may have to. The septic tank that's full of gravel, that couldn't be an old bulk petrol tank could it? The insurance people sometimes used to insist on them being backfilled before they would issue cover. If not I can't think why it would have gravel in it unless it managed to wash in from somewhere? Or it has been replaced by another one somewhere else? Chucking a bottle of food colouring in the toilet and flushing would let you check it isn't discharging straight into the stream. You could build up the outside of the toilet roof wall higher then have the rain running into the same existing gutter? I would normally say avoid internal gulley's like the plague but in this case it would gain you a bit of extra head room in the lean to and probably give the height for a shower against the new wall? When you rebuild if you don't need to reuse the bricks I would go up in high density concrete blocks - it will be so much quicker. Interestingly enough I was buzzed by a low-flying helicopter a while back (it was like something out of Apocalypse Now) which turned out to be National Grid checking the overhead supply lines. Apparently they fly along the overhead wires with a thermal imaging camera, and problems show up as hot spots. They literally followed the drop wire right up to my building, and hovered above it. I didn't know whether to wave or take cover! As well as looking for faults they would be looking for stolen power running cannabis grow rooms, an isolated industrial unit where the power is supposedly off would be a reasonably obvious target, they were probably checking the entire place wasn't glowing red hot from the lamps running from a bypassed meter..... I want to keep the reconstructed toilet as discreet as possible, because it backs right on to the neighbour's garden and I don't want to create the opportunity for any complaints. He might take issue with a new building that's higher than the old one. Having said that I will be changing the angle of the roof a little, so it doesn't slope right down to almost ground level at the back. It would be nice to have a bit of headroom. But I think I can do this in a fairly subtle manner, so it won't look like the building suddenly starts looming over his back lawn. In a way the current state of the place - falling apart, lots of bits missing - is an advantage, because nobody really knows what it looked like when it was in decent condition. I could pretty much build anything and say "That's just the way it used to be!" and nobody could disagree with me. But I'm being careful not to do anything too radical, because I need some local goodwill - and I certainly don't need a neighbour-vs-neighbour dispute kicking off. The garage never sold petrol, so I don't think the cesspit was ever a petrol tank. I think somebody just used it as a convenient dump for some surplus yard scrapings, or something. According to the paperwork it was last cleaned out in 2010, which was roughly when the occupants of the time decided to dig away the bank of earth at the front of the yard and build the wall (which they never finished). So I think they used it as a handy spoil dump - which of course is daft, because it stops the toilet from working. But then, these are the people who undermined the public highway and cut chunks out of the main roof support timbers, so there was definitely a certain amount of bodging going on at one time. I remember a story from some years back when the police helicopter discovered a suspiciously hot garage round the back of a house. So they called out the drug squad who went storming in with battering rams and full SWAT gear...to find that somebody was running a fan heater to keep their gerbils warm. |
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Jan 17, 2020 12:31:10 GMT
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Its coming along great now a vast improvement and should be a neat place when your done
With regard to the services water/electric try and get them as domestic supplies rather than commercial, all the commercial stuff is a lot more expensive on standing charges and price per unit, weve found with a farm electric supply you also don't get the choice of changing providers its a completely different set up to domestic, they will look at your contract/usage and decide if they want to take you on so weve been stuck with npower for 4 years and they are dire!
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Jan 17, 2020 12:37:14 GMT
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Brilliant thread, loving the updates. Going to use it as inspiration!
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ToolsnTrack
Posted a lot
Homebrew Raconteur
Posts: 4,128
Club RR Member Number: 134
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Jan 17, 2020 12:40:21 GMT
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Ah, how did I miss this! Fantastic, glad this got a decent write up. Bookmarked in eager wait for updates!
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Jan 17, 2020 15:50:22 GMT
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Toilets, ninja brick removal, military spec chopper searches and an ancient landrover. Cool thread mister  |
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Jan 17, 2020 18:38:20 GMT
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Thoroughly enjoying reading your escapades 😁
Would love to be brave enough (and have the money) to do something like this! Very jealous 😁.
Thanks for posting.. very well written too.
Dave
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Jan 17, 2020 18:56:59 GMT
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Its coming along great now a vast improvement and should be a neat place when your done With regard to the services water/electric try and get them as domestic supplies rather than commercial, all the commercial stuff is a lot more expensive on standing charges and price per unit, weve found with a farm electric supply you also don't get the choice of changing providers its a completely different set up to domestic, they will look at your contract/usage and decide if they want to take you on so weve been stuck with npower for 4 years and they are dire! The garage has B2 business use, so there's no way I can put the services onto a domestic tariff - at least, without applying to have the place re-classified as private premises. I want to keep that B2 classification, because it gives me all sorts of options for the future use of the building. Once it's gone I'd probably never get it back. There are too many people in the area now who retired to the countryside for a quiet life, and who I'm sure would object to any new application for commercial activity on their doorstep. I want to keep my grandfather rights! I know this means I'll probably be stuck with less advantageous deals from the service providers, but it's swings and roundabouts, innit... |
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Jan 17, 2020 18:59:48 GMT
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Thoroughly enjoying reading your escapades 😁 Would love to be brave enough (and have the money) to do something like this! Very jealous 😁. Thanks for posting.. very well written too. Dave It's been a surprisingly cheap project so far - I've known people who've spent more money on buying a new car. But the catch is that it's a long, long way from my home. And it's mostly derelict. |
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Jan 18, 2020 10:18:33 GMT
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I know this means I'll probably be stuck with less advantageous deals from the service providers, but it's swings and roundabouts, innit... I'll admit this isn't my area of expertise - but could you get put on a meter for the services? If you're only there infrequently that may work in your favour, especially water. I just don't know if it's possible on a business rather than a domicile*... *big word of the week |
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Jan 18, 2020 10:53:03 GMT
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I know this means I'll probably be stuck with less advantageous deals from the service providers, but it's swings and roundabouts, innit... I'll admit this isn't my area of expertise - but could you get put on a meter for the services? If you're only there infrequently that may work in your favour, especially water. I just don't know if it's possible on a business rather than a domicile*... *big word of the week The 2 electricity supplies have meters already, which will be read from time to time, either by me or by a meter reader. I gave the supply company a reading (from the one operational meter) when I took the place over and put the bills into my name. I haven't had a bill yet, which in a way is good - it's always nice not to get bills. But I am starting to wonder if I've fallen down the back of the office sofa, or something. They were supposed to send out an electrician to check everything over, and I haven't heard anything about that, either... There's no water meter (unless it's very well hidden), but it would be a good idea to have one, I think. I'm going to be using very little water compared to a house, or even compared to a full-time business. I'd much rather pay for the little I use, rather than find myself on some sort of sky-high 'industrial user' tariff. |
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Jan 18, 2020 11:10:35 GMT
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Put a pump in the river ? 😜
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Jan 18, 2020 12:02:05 GMT
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Put a pump in the river ? 😜 I don't have any rights over the river - my boundary line is the edge of the water, which of course means that the boundary changes as the water level rises and falls. I've got the river bank, but not the river itself. I have grabbed the odd bucket of water out of it when I've needed some non-drinking water, but I think I'd be in trouble if I did more than that. But I have thought about putting in some water butts and catching the water that comes off my roof every time it rains. There's quite a lot of roof surface, and therefore potentially quite a lot of water available for me to use, free of charge. I could even use some of it to flush the toilet - it seems so silly to pay for drinking-quality water and then just flush it away. Any old water would do that job. As long as the storage tank is above the level of the toilet cistern, it wouldn't be difficult to sort out. Something like this would do it. I would add a tap to the storage tank so I could use the water for other purposes, too. |
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Jan 18, 2020 12:26:24 GMT
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Yeah I know, just being clever, there’s all sorts of regulations about taking water from a watercourse, licences and so on,.
Probably best to stick to what you’ve got, regardless of who’s supplying it.
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Jan 18, 2020 14:16:19 GMT
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A couple of IBCs would be good for water storage for the toilets, pressure washing etc, throwing some black plastic over them should discourage algal growth
A small 12v pressure activated pump from a solar charged battery could be used to pump this water up to a 10 gallon header tank for non drinking purposes.
Flushing away paid for water that has been purified for drinking is one of my pet hates.
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Jan 18, 2020 15:35:07 GMT
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Great thread, following with interest.
Shouldn't be short of rain water in Wales so a 'free' one there.
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Needs a bigger hammer mate.......
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Wilk
Part of things
Posts: 528 
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Jan 18, 2020 20:17:01 GMT
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Could you not sink a well on your land near the river? 👍
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If it can be fixed with a hammer, then it must be an electrical fault
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Jan 18, 2020 21:24:12 GMT
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Could you not sink a well on your land near the river? 👍 That might actually work. The water table is fairly high. My fence post holes were filling up with water as fast as I could dig them... |
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Hi, You need to go down a bit more than a foot to get drinkable water. Rainwater harvesting and a good filter will be cheaper and easier.
Colin
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