jrpfinch

Update to my situation (this may not help you beanie, but may others) Part of our work involved hacking off the old plaster to (the damp) brick and starting again. A couple of Victorian house maintenance books recommended using lime plaster, as this is breathable so less condensation gets trapped in the wall. However, all the builders/plasterers I spoke to said I should seal the wall using a cement-based plaster. The builder I eventually used hacked off the plaster and reapplied a cement-based plaster onto the still-damp wall. Four months on it's still not dry, although it does appear to be drying slowly with the help of a dehumidifier. There are salt stains all over the plaster. I now recognise that when builders can't do something (or can't be bothered), rather than admitting it they proceed to recommend something they can do, even if it's not appropriate. There don't appear to be many builders who can be bothered to lime plaster. With hindsight, I would have carried on searching for a builder who could lime plaster, insisted they hack off the plaster, wait for the brick to dry, repoint using lime mortar and finally plaster using lime plaster. If you find a local builder/plasterer who can do this, please let me know! I'm looking for someone like these guys in Shropshire: http://www.heritage-house.org/

Mick Mac has it. In the old days, you'd meet teams like Grasshoppers in the semifinal. Having to compete against the one champion from every single country is much easier than competing against the four top teams of the strongest countries.

Last month was quieter generally because the wind was blowing easterly.

I've always wondered about the potential conflict of interest with CheckATrade and Rated People. If tradesmen fund the website, there's an incentive for the website to remove bad reviews.

FM Mangal gets a 5. So you can be cheap, tasty, independent, serve kebabs and still get a 5.

Underinsurance is not a good idea. Some policies use the concept of averaging, eg if you underinsure by 50% then any claim, even if it is under the sum insured, gets cut by 50%. The idea is that even though an item is not insured, it makes your house more likely to be burgled. Check the small print.

I imagine these award things are linked to how much revenue the paper gets from estate agents in that area. Or where the staff happen to own property.

It's interesting. Thank you for highlighting it. The East Dulwich age distribution looks like the Brunswick Park, Camberwell distribution shifted up 5 years. Did I read somewhere that all large cities have more young women than men? Single males are more likely to move away/not move in if they're not successful.

Huguenot I agree with your final paragraph and can understand why the admins might not want the bother of batting away annoying emails. I don't agree with your other statements. The reasonable person test is irrelevant. If the statement is one that an honest person might make and cannot be measured as an objective fact, then it is fair comment. You cannot measure someone's perception of taste as an objective fact. So you can equate the taste of fries to anything an honest person might have tasted. Polar bear vomit is a bit of a stretch! But human vomit almost certainly OK.

Disappointed if the admin takes notice of the owners. The Fair Comment defence is watertight. You don't even have to say "in my opinion". The burden is on the owner to prove that what you are saying is factually wrong, which is almost impossible. If I say the French Fries at McDonald's taste like Polar Bear vomit then McDonald's have to prove that that was not the thought that was going through my head, which is impossible.

all a bit pointless? Art is pointless, wine is pointless, eating out is pointless

Not been there. I will check it out, thank you. I am probably unduly swayed by the BYO at the North X Road one. Draft House is a good shout and I agree Dulwich Village generally awful for food.

On second thoughts, I like the Thai place on North Cross Road.

Ganapati is the best Indian. Sorry that's not very helpful but I can't think of anywhere exciting to eat in East Dulwich. Better for shopping.

All in Camberwell or Brixton Village: Crooked Well Angels & Gypsies (Spanish) Silk Road (Chinese) FM Mangal (Turkish) No67 @ South London Gallery Cornercopia are my favourites

Couple of points: Doesn't landing from the east mean take off to the west? I'd like to make sure night flights, if there are any, are heavily taxed to compensate for the disruption.

After receiving a number of PMs I thought I'd keep this thread updated. Local man Ralph has finished his report and it appears thorough (although the true test is whether the damp is kept away) It doesn't look great. The moral of the story is damp guarantees are largely worthless and it's always worth following up even a hint of damp on a survey before buying a house. There was rotten chipboard under the carpet along with some rotten joists. New joists required, floorboard instead of crappy chipboard New skirting and re plaster. This doesn't sound cheap.

Also, if you register for council tax they will give you your account number over the phone before you get your first bill.

Speak to someone at Southwark Council on the phone. Or ask a neighbour for some visitors permits and say you'll repay them once you move in.

We had Cambridge University Ceidlidh Band for our wedding and they were excellent. ?450. They definitely travel outside Cambridge. No idea whether they would come to London.

I am skeptical about chemical damp-proofing. I don't want to say anything stronger than that in case libel lawyers come chasing me! The chances of your original damp course having failed are extremely low. Slate, for example, which is used in many late Victorian houses should last centuries. Even if the slate has cracked, the amount of water likely to get through is small and unlikely to cause significant damp problems. The most likely causes of damp appear to be: 1) slow leaks in pipework, guttering or downpipes 2) soil level too high 3) poor ventilation As far as I can see, the only safe option is to hire a surveyor with damp expertise who is not affiliated to the damp-related trade associations (e.g. the PCA). I am exploring two options: www.dampnessdiagnosis.com www.damp-diagnosis.co.uk/damp_profile.htm The latter, Ralph Burkinshaw, lives just off Denmark Hill. The downside of hiring an independent surveyor is that they are very expensive. Ralph has quoted ?487.50 for the survey. I assume there could be an additional ?500-?1000 plastering/brickwork/flooring/ventilation costs after that. However, if that fixes the problem forever, I'm not too fussed.

I think there are a lot of tongue in cheek posts on this thread including possibly the OP. I live on the border of ED and Camberwell. I reckon Camberwell is the more natural destination for the Clapham exodus. It's pretty similar to pre-gentrification Clapham. That's not to say ED will not improve too. I just think it's a little more suburban. Perhaps more of a Wandsworth/Balham exodus destination.

It's interesting to look at Google Maps with the tube layer switched on. There is obviously a dead zone in Camberwell. The clearest way to fix it would be to run the Bakerloo line from E&C along the A2 towards New Cross. Naturally I would prefer it to terminate at Denmark Hill instead!

Thank you Alice. Sorry for my snappy response. That sounds like a good idea. One other house on the street appears to have done it. A few others appear to have a 10cm black inset surface with an overhanging lip to divert rainwater.

^^^^^^^^ err no they don't. They are members of the PCA.