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https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/may/16/researchers-build-ai-driven-sarcasm-detector That's a huge step forward for the human race then.....

By dry-walling you mean they can be assembled without mortar? That sounds very interesting, though there are plenty of ugly bricks to contrast with. I will look at their catalogue and see if there is anything suitable. It means more organic shapes are possible, and I only need to lift one...

Thanks for the thought - I'm pretty confident - drains, sewer, electric and gas all come in from the front of the property. Nothing on the searches at the back. Some electrics to/from the garage but I can avoid the obvious routes.

Yep, it was suggested above!

Thanks for the advice. I have ordered a long SDS drill bit and plan to drill some holes through the mortar between some slabs. This might give me some more information with minimum destruction.

Indeed. It is this that worries me and makes me reluctant to follow the 'remove slabs and dig' option. Raising the soil certainly sounds the easiest way to go. I still like the idea of removing slabs - the patio does not have enough slope and so grows moss and algae during the winter...

You are right abut the soil. We are on or near clay here, but where we have dug it is a spit or more down. I am expecting poor soil and am mentally prepared to pay to build soil. I made a fruit tree area by laying cardboard on the lawn and covering it in wood chip. Using a similar principle...

Thanks Tris, the patio area is completely surrounded by walls, so digging around the edge may not be easy. Drilling through a gap may well be educational, I have a cheap SDS drill sitting idle.

Thanks Jacob, yes, 'what lies beneath' is the big question. Removing a slab might tell us, but the entire patio area is neat and tidy. My investigations would ruin that for sure. A raised edge to the beds would allow soil to be built up over the existing base. The hole where the slab was plus...

Thanks Terry, We think the slabs will be on a compacted gravel (chippings?) layer. Builder who excavated gravel traps around the house said it was on something proper (ie proper material) that had been compacted. 'Done right' was his opinion. Whatever 'right' is. A raised bed is a possibility...

We have a new (to us) house. It has a lot of paving and we were thinking of removing some to create beds for flowers/vegetables/fruit. The paving is concrete slabs of mixed sizes (all edges multiples of a given distance so they fit together). We can think of two strategies Cut holes in...

Though if we use fast-breeder reactors we can consume our nuclear waste and turn it into energy. If we include the savings from not having to store and monitor the waste we might be onto a winning formula....... This technology has been bubbling along unfunded for quite a while...

https://octopus.energy/export-tariffs/

And local supply/demand.....

Thanks for that Robin - 15k is more than I expected - so a good reality check. Probably a measure of wishful thinking in there as well as being out of touch. That kind of cost might just be acceptable - it may be the cheapest form of 'extension' given the layout of the house. It is under 1m...

Hi all, I am toying with the idea of converting our garage into a more usable space. The garage is single-skin blocks with a flat roof, power and light. It is close to, but not attached to, the house. We have plenty of drive space and the car never goes in the garage. I am thinking about...

Another vote for Bellotta. And another vote for a grubbing mattock. I have both, though I hope not to need them anymore.

"The Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) is a charitable organisation in the United Kingdom whose aims are to challenge what it calls "extremely damaging and harmful policies" envisaged by governments to mitigate anthropogenic global warming.[2] The GWPF, and some of its prominent members...

Phew. You are more than welcome to the badges of honour.....

Leads to interesting maths, I must admit. What is 5 - 2? What is (5 - 2) - 2? Or is this only a truth for gammas?