Last commute for me in 2017 ... off to the continent for holiday ... see you in 2018.

Thanks for all the nice memories and Happy Holidays to everyone on BF.

That sounds so elegant, and even more so with most British accents.

Happy Holidays to you, too!

A safe return for 2018

Hey where's your house? I'd love to swing by and, uh, protect it from robbers

Probably about time for me to post my annual assess-yourself thread, but I’ve got a week to go

Haha jokes on you ... it's a construction zone and I have nothing worth stealing. Finally getting it plastered in January.

A few examples before I leave today for Xmas:

1. Joined two rooms, got the beams in and intumescently painted to pass building control (inspection), got the walls damp proofed and the cavities empties. Removed original floorboards and cleaned out about 200 bricks and one ton (1000 kg = 2200 lbs) of soil out of the "crawlspace" so that the airbricks can provide airflow. In Jan getting the floorboards in, walls skimmed, insulation over the wood, two-zone electric underfloor heating in and Swedish engineered wood installed over it. Having a carpenter install a new rear door frame and door.

2. Just had the flue cleaned and repaired for a small Edwardian fireplace ... will have the brick walls skimmed, still undecided about the floor. Will have a functional fireplace in this room.

Anyways, good luck stealing anything of value from my place

Also, getting some of this source for the countertop on top of ply and IKEA boxes.

Don't be surprised if there's family of racoons living there when you get back.

Why would raccoons be living in a heavily urbanised area? The floor has been open for a few months for building works and there hasn't be any problems. 9C/50F today in fact.

looks like it will be lovely when you're done!

Because that's where raccoons love to live. My house is also in an urban area, and there are raccoons all over the place. But if you haven't had a problem, then you're probably OK.

One thing I've noticed when I've been on your side of the pond is the quality of housing construction. In the US, houses seem like they're designed to last about 25 years. A house like yours would practically be torn down and replaced.

Have a great holiday!

This was something that came up in Germany over Christmas. In England, anything that survived both World Wars have immense value, especially in the southeast at not a lot pre-1914 is left. Thus, these places stay around as one can't manufacture character.

In fact, our house being built in the early 1900s is somewhat in the middle ground ... It's not old enough to be single-brick walled and really cool but all not a post-war build.

The proximity to the sea (10min walk or 2 min ride) has probably saved it.

Most Europeans (not British) find this part of England great but Brits hate it so it's a European haven, which is extremely nice although Chinese capital is flowing in :/

Raccoons in England?

back ... that was a nice few weeks off.