Woodlover

HMRC told me a 7 years ago that I had to take the 20% of any one that I employed to work on the houses I was doing up.I only did up old houses it was not a construction site. My carpet fitter from that day on only wrote "to supply" on his invoices and not to supply and fit , this ment not paying his 20% on his labour as I was just paying for a product. Otherwise he did not want the work. My Plumber said no way he pays his own tax...So he up`d his prices 20%, and still he was cheaper than anyone else so I carried on using him. It is a system that any one man business could do with out, it cost me profit paying more to my plumber and the hassle having to pay other peoples tax was a ball ache doing it once a month, one time I forgot to pay on time and had to drive to there office in Liverpool from Nelson in order to not get fined £100 , I think it cost me close to £100 in diesel and lost wages but I would rather that 100 went any where other than HMRC. When dealing with HMRC it reminded me of the movie Goodfellas, I told them I was too busy to pay the Tax monthly...They said fuck you, pay me. I said my business is doubling its turnover every year and I cannot manage there demands at the moment without help...They said...Fuck you, pay me. I said I was ill and could not currently do the paperwork as I was struggling to do anything...Fuck you,pay me. I loved being in business and could handle quotes and invoices but my paperwork skills else where were shite and what HMRC demanded of me gave me more stress than any other part of my whole business. When I knew it was the end of my business as I was too ill to run it I just ignored HMRC for the sake of my health , £9000ish is what the £100 and then £200 fines totalled by the time Companys house struck it off. And what if a company that took your tax went bust before they paid it to HMRC? do you then have to pay it again?

There is a thing up on top of screen in the horizontal line of words in big letters "ARBTRADER" nothing to do with star wars and wood like I thought, its wood and stuff for sale...maybe there is the place you seek?

Im a bit with the promoting a company view when in one post you have always burnt seasoned logs...in another post you have only had the burner at back end of last winter, we had a good summer so I don't understand the "always" bit about burning seasonedish stuff when you say later its all a new thing?

Started selling stolen stationery at school aged 10 , to teachers and pupils. My older brother and his mates found a way into a local factory. Lasted a few months, gave me a taste for money making about £20 a week. Had a paper round at 11, had 2 by 13. Then worked in a bed showroom helping deliver ect at 14 , did this till 16 sometimes clocking 40 hours a week after school and at weekends. Also made money at school renting out vhs videos bought on family hols to Malta, even sold cigs one year at school that my parents did not know we smuggled back. At 16 I left school and got a YTS job in a warehouse ,40 hours for £40...only did it as parents said did not have to pay rent,earned more at bed shop but did not like that job anymore. Became supervisor at warehouse when 17 and got pay rise, left at 18 because a 32 year old I was supervising earned more than me and by then I was managing the warehouse as manager too busy in office. Moved from Slough Town to Burnley , got a job on a stone quarry .Sunday night got drunk , fell over trying to put keys in car door, started at quarry on Monday and by Tuesday morning I could not move, I had slipped a disc falling on the Sunday, so my quarry job ended after 1 day.Got a bit of stick for being a soft sothener for lasting one day but I had slipped a disc. 2 months later started work at a kitchen factory, did not like it and left to go and work in Tenerife as my brother was out there. Did the night clubs and day time PR`ing jobs for 6 months but after that I was shagged out and drinking a lot every night...Got a proper job at Harry Ramsdens, hol pay contract the lot,about the best job poss...Lasted 2 months wearing that stupid f-ing straw hat and left Tenerife for Slough. 3 months in UK doing an office job for an uncle,and my parents want to sell up and move to Tenerife. So at 20 I manage their bar/restaurant at night, lasts a year and they sell up...too much hard work for little return. Then I ran a Holiday Hire company for 4 years until that got sold.Delivered for a printing company at siesta time. At 25 I moved to Holland , worked in a tulip factory but season was short so was out of work quicker than expected. Worked in Carbon fibre factory which was a top secret project type of thing, had to sign sht to say could not share stuff or work in similar company for so many years.They went bankrupt 3 months later. Then I got a labours job at a pre fab cement works, loved the job which was hard but kept me fit,and the pay was more than I could spend...saved a few grand. Soon I got promoted after a year to work on another secret project involving hollow concrete piles. Loved Holland but I thought it is either time to learn dutch or go. At 28ish I moved back to Saint Annes near Blackpool, did labouring for a general builder for a year whilst living in a caravan on parents drive. 29 moved to Nelson Lancashire and worked in a chocolate factory packing chocolate bars and stuff,absolute sht job but i could get 90 mini mars eggs in my pockets at a lunchtime, they searched you at home time. 3 months later got a job doing ground work on building sites, lasted about 3 years and learnt a lot. Then did gardening / fencing for a few builders I knew...One day whilst chatting to a plasterer I asked if I could have a go and discovered I was a natural.Was a plasterer with him then for 18 months and then got an opportunity to do up houses. Did up 100 or so houses in the 3 years that followed until my health let me down, I was working 12 hour days almost every day of the year and thought I was burnt out even though I loved it...turned out 18months of pain later it was a disc in the neck. Since then I have recovered from an op and stuff and then become a father. At the Mo the misses works and likes to whilst I cook and look after the toddler. I toy with projects all the time looking for something that I can do full time without any bad side affects to my health but theres not much.I am sure once my toddler starts school I will come up with something.

If its affecting your walking you need to see a neurologist. I have 4 slipped discs (2 in neck,2 in lower back) and one that's bulging. I had a disk taken out in my neck a few years ago as it was affecting my walking ,it even started to make my willy feel numb, thank god the op fixed it... my back is ok now if I don't use it at all. The worst thing with slipped discs is they do seem to get better ,they shrink(dehydrate) in about 6 weeks once slipped so they usually stop pressing the nerve that affects your walking or balance pain ect but new pressure is put on the surrounding discs, so you think your better but in fact your body is weaker than before and its easier to slip another disc. I now try to avoid any lifting but just putting a full wheely bin out or picking up my 4 year old daughter for a cuddle, carrying shopping ect can trigger weeks of pain. I have found that complete removal of all back work makes it worse long term as when you do need to use your back your not ready for it, I had to replace our cooker 2 years ago and just doing that led to 9 months of a stiff neck and a new slipped disc. With physio it was 18 months before it was back to a normal state. Its hard to change your job ,hobby or life but for the long term future and so your able when your old, you have to do it.

In India they use a bucket full of water with a stick over the top and something spins on the stick, I think like a toilet roll, and you end up with a rat in ya bucket...You will have to utube it as I cant remember the exact method.

When I was on Building sites 10 years ago around the Manchester area , it was common site knowledge that building control where corrupt. "cross my palm with silver " apparently was a saying used my some one in the council in order to let wrong doings be signed of. I remember it well as it reminded me of the time my family built a house in Spain where planning permission was about £8000 and it could be a no , and a long wait(up to 2 years) for an answer...or...bung the local mayor £4000, start building tomorrow and collect all paperwork when complete. I could not believe in the UK it happened or could happen, maybe everyone and the bosses where full of BS but I very much doubt it as I heard it from numerous other people to.

Theres a guy on woodnet doing 20 Ton loads who advertises he will deliver within 2 hours of Macclesfeild. http://www.woodnet.org.uk/woodlots/round-timber-for-sale

14-18% is what my cheap meter reads on the old end grain.The one Ash was 20% for some reason.

I collected them from an old factory the day they came out and stored the larger ones in my log shelter for about 9 months, smaller pieces may have been slightly exposed to some weather. Can moisture meter them if you like? give me 5 mins and I will be back.

Sorry but now I can only see one 8/8 that's different to the rest on closer inspection ,all the smaller pieces and one 8/8 at 720mm looks like Ash to me.

The ones marked X have bolt holes, rest are clean.

Here is a pic of it all with measurement's.

I will get them all out of my crowded log shelter tomorrow morning and take some more pics ,and get the exact measurement's .Some are Ash I think, will take close up end grain pics as well so you can hopefully tell the species.

I was just about to cut these old beams up for firewood ,but they are too good to burn and some one must have a use for them other than firewood.They are 8 by 8 inch wide and in various lengths, 10 x 1m+ and maybe 10x 60cm+ long. They do burn very well ,hot and surprisingly slow for pine but I would be happy to swap for normal fire wood with someone who can use them . Any-one want to drop off ready to burn logs in Nelson Lancs for these ?

Don't kill your neighbour's with boring old ugly ply-wood ...Natural Drift wood is beautiful ,gives of colourful flames and will kill a lot quicker

Hand stacking the split logs in rows with gaps in-between each row works for me as a quick drying method of any soft or hard wood, providing its rain free and gets some wind hitting one side any split logs stacked this way dry in one spring/summer for me. Throw them into a heap in any good shelter and you will need longer.

When I did not use my 2 cordless drills for about a year they failed to recharge, before that no problem with continuous weekly use for 4 years or so...Looked on interweb and it said somewhere cordless batteries need to be used regular otherwise they die? so now for my occasional drill work I put up with an extension lead and my corded drill,pain in bum but reliable.

Thanks for the info...I will look into getting them certified as we are going to move in the near future and the Log Burners I think will help sell this house. But now I am thinking is my whole fire place illegal...I made it from concrete blocks/stainless steel mesh/bricks then cement render in the shape of stone, and I have never seen another before in the UK when researching the idea years ago. Cost £30 with the stone flags for hearth and 2.5 years of near on daily use there are no cracks in the render. will it pass regs?

I have fitted 2 log burners in my own house, and sweep the flues myself. I have no paperwork/certs. What would happen if I want to sell the house? Are my fires illegal? Am I a criminal for doing this work unregistered? Do I not have the right to install my own stove?

Cheers gand, but sorry I cannot see a fairy house in it, really wish I could, its possibly a well/pond but until I can build houses the gardens will have to wait....Thanks for the offer tho.

I don't have the land,let alone time...Maybe I should look further afield and go to the dreaded European land that has all this kiln dryed stash they keep sending here... before the walls start going up of course.

Thanks for the info...They do seem rare-ish,saw a good few on trees on a recent walk but all really big old trees, young trees or of the thickness I would like did not seem to have many at all. and I suppose they must be rare as I am offering close to a Grand a Ton ,at a tenner a pop... and still nothing really offered.

Only prob with the idea is insulation, I guess for the coldest of winters they will need soil all around the sleeping boxes in order to stay warm, so maybe building sleeping areas big enough to accommodate a wall of straw where the door is would be an idea.

Access from the top makes it hard to keep water proof and also will spoil the look if you are going for all turf and a natural look, manholes that I have fitted years ago are not water prof and are expensive...Why not place the sleeping box`s side by side at one edge of the mound, the edge that is least in view and just have a door on its side for access, even staple some fake turf to the door it if it is in view.I would actual put some small closable viewing windows in the door so the kids can see them in there home and you can check things or replace bedding ect.Only down side is the rabbits will have a bit of a sheer drop from top of mound on that side but something can be added to the top like a bush or rocks. Build sleeping boxes out of concrete blocks, concrete flags for roof with overhang where door is to keep rain off,covered in cheap plastic sheeting before you cover it with mud/turf.