Owning your own home

You can get the basic starter pack for £50 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-Hue-Lux-Personal-Wireless/dp/B00L62JTLC/

I like the internet of things too. Financial decisions need proof they're sound...

Nest: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-35311447

I've got a Hue starter pack (hub and two bulbs) which I don't use. Should start really. But my living room doesn't have anything that they fit...

replace everything to fit the starter pack!

Again, i got it cheap with industry discounts. £70 for three bulbs and hub.
And the fact the bulbs use led's mean they will last at least 10 years. And they use far less energy than standard bulbs (not that i really care).

Oh, and did i mention they change colour so you can have bare mad disco house parties?

After using them for two months i think the £140 for the starter pack is fair (3 bulbs and hub). Extra bulbs are circa £14.99... the hub is the expensive bit, and once you have it, it can control 50 bulbs.

Working for a tech company has made me realise that fully connected and app controlled homes is the way everything is going, and people may as well start getting on board now, and start replacing things that need replacing with new tech, instead of spending money on outdated tech.

The annoying thing is that each thing requires it's own "hub" and that hub needs to be powered so you end up with a mess of power adapters near your router.

The hive hub power adapter looks like a generic micro usb, phone charger type affair so I suppose you could get a multi port USB charger and run multiples off that.

Is Hue the same?

Would still end up with a load of hubs though.

The annoying thing is that each thing requires it's own "hub"

I'm uncomfortable having a device outside of my firewall, controlled externally, acting on devices on my own property. Not least of all because if the cloud goes tits up, so does the heating...

Fake grass installed yesterday and today:

Before -

After -

Turned it from a boggy pile of worm casts and overgrown grass to a billiards table in less than 48 hours with no mess.

That includes putting down over 4 & 1/2 tonnes of aggregate & hand screeding granite dust to level off along with concreting in wooden battens around the perimeter to tuck grass over and fix down.

Very pleased.

how many dollars?

£2k all in. We got their most expensive grass (45mm pile), lovely and plush.

Fake grass is one of the most depressingly London things I've ever come across.
Baffling.

Two grand?

Fuckin' hell.

Not sure why it's depressing.

It's almost maintenance free (bar a quick leaf blowing every couple of weeks), requires no pesticides or chemicals to mainain and doesn't massively detract from the available wildlife food sources in our garden (shrubs, flowers & borders etc).

It means we can spend more time utilising the space than maintaining it as well.

I could have crazy paved over the lot instead... ;)

Anyone who thinks crazy paving is acceptable needs to skinned alive and buggered.

Quite.

Are the bushes plastic too?

How did anyone ever think it was acceptable?

Mmmm

Just viewed a lovely 3-bed flat, bang on our budget. House converted into 2 flats.

But it's a freehold flat apparently. Does anyone have any positive experiences or should I just forget all about it?

Apparently the upstairs flat is very amicable and pay half the buildings insurance and any maintenance...

Hmm. Ms Hammer wants to astroturf the attached mudpatch. Fortunately she's not going to go for it at that price! Any better ideas?

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Obviously not. Neither is the vegetable patch at the end of the garden or any of the tubs on the decking.

@levantis - The lawn wasn't perfectly good. The soil was thin with a large hardcore / concrete base underneath from when the house was built in the 30s. The drainage was flowing towards the house causing potential damp issues along with soft, boggy ground making it impossible to maintain during autumn and winter.

The hardcore now underneath provides a better drain away, sloping towards the middle / rear of the garden removing the danger of damp or flooding at the side of the house.

You could crazy pave it. @b&d knows a guy.

Does it still come with the free buggering?

Naturally.