mattH

Ok i know.. I should call a solicitor! I have a friend who is in the process of applying to the family court for access rights for his daughter. She is used to a regular rhythm of contact amounting to 1/3rd of a year. This was stopped and the fathers contact reduced to 1 hour a week in a contact centre. He applied to court. the ruling was that the contact centre meetinging would continue.. The father - from the tone of the recent E-mails believes the mother wants to allow contact outside the centre... Does anyone know if she is allowed to do this legally with the courts ruling? My Friend's English is not so good so i have offered to do the research for him. Best, MattH

To Good Liz and etta166, thanks for your thoughts.. that's a great help. Ill check out the Dawes version. Frog bikes also look good. At present i want something they want to get on and muck about on outside of the school/park run - enough to get us up to sydenam hill woods from crofton park for instance... In truth all the decent childrens bikes i have found that may be good are all fairly pricey.. I guess this is a good sign. Quality holding value.

Hello, I have a islabike balance bike for my son... I keep looking at him speeding along and think... Son you are ready for pedal power. Ideally I'd like another Islabike. However they are expensive even second hand. For good reason of course, they are a high quality piece of kit!! I thought i'd ask here if anyone can recommend any other kids bikes before i leap once more into Isla world... Light weight, easy to ride, functional brakes that are easy to use.. I think that's it.. Any advice greatfully received! Best, Matthew

Hello, I'm just posting to recommend Eddie and Pepe who have done some work for me recently, They are honest hard working guys. They've done a lot of digging and general labouring, bricklaying, easy fill plastering, painting, cutting and fitting skirting and architraves, a very nice job remaking some nosing on some risers on a staircase that look great! Do give them a call if you need some help with something Eddie: 07467606319 Pepe:07721583694 If you want to call me with any questions: Matthew 07939530699

That sounds potentially quite costly if your just going to re paint them... If you are waxing them as mentioned by someone else then yes. Get them Dipped. No professional company will remove dip strip and return in a day. That's not realistic. Not all dipping companies are the same... I've seen doors totally buggered by some companies.. One of my clients had a very nice job done on his.. 650 for 6 doors. Excellent job. I can ask them. Any decent painter like me. Brian from advanced painters. Brad from all-round renovation or jp moon will do a good job without stripping... Best of luck. Matthew

Hello, I am looking for recommendations for architects. Specifically a firm who are happy to do designs for small projects like lofts and side return extensions. I run a smallish building company are have been asked a couple of times if i can recommend an architect.. i don't as yet have a main man (or woman) with the plan so to speak! I'm looking for someone to pass onto two current clients who want plans for: a two bed loft, one super sexy side return. Generally going forward i would like for myself to be able to refer my clients to someone who has a good reliable reputation.. Best, Matthew [email protected]

Hello, I'm looking again for a reliable guy to join us on our current project - Side return extension and house renovation. work on a price or day rate basis, Regards, Matthew

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I am looking for an experienced multi skilled builder to join my team. Either on a temporary or permanent basis. On day rates and sometimes price work. A trustworthy hard working individual. All work is in south East London - mostly East Dulwich and surrounding areas. You will need tools and your own transport. Currently we are building an extension and refurbishing a house in brockley and i would like to find someone for this. I don't need someone who's good at everything. Someone who's confident in what they CAN do, I'm happy to take on board any nationality, as long as you can get the job done as asked. Do get in touch if you would like to discuss work. Of which I have lots. Regards, Matthew 07939530699

there,s plenty of firms out there who'll offer you a quote for making them. Google it!! From my perspective as a decorator my advice would be to specify a hard pine and you provide the primer - Sandtex primer or Rubbol AZ. Ask them mix the primer with 20% white spirit and some dryers and prime the putty lines. It'll dry pretty quick then. When your painter paints them specify Rubbol AZ paints or Sandtex. The Dulux exterior paint system is not as good as the Sandtex one and it's more expensive . Acryilic primers start to fail in two years. They are useless on the outside. So if you want to waste money on decorating them again and again. Let your decorator use acrylic primers. Good Luck, Matthew

Hi everyone. I just wanted to say a few words about Mr Walsh of Walsh Glazing. One of my staff had an accident and fell through a window today. Normally i would expect it to be ok to fit a board and glaze the next day. My client insisted she wanted it glazed tonight - quite difficult to arrange at 5pm. Luckily for me Mr Walsh after hearing my story was willing to wait for me to turn up with the window. I offered him another ?10 on top of the price of the glass given he'd had to wait for me. He refused. He is a lovely man and i am very happy to have found him. I've read a few good reports on the ED forum about him. This is mine. Thank you Mr Walsh. Very much appreciated. My Glazing needs come your way from here on in. Regards, Matthew

Chris has helped me out loads over the last few months, from helping me to clear my house of the last occupants gubbins (mad suatter horder...) from which i kept his number and have since used him to help me clear my sites (of buiders waste etc etc) He's a good guy and deserves to be busy! He can help with house moves, rubbish removal, furniture delivery etc. give him a call Feel free to PM me if you want Regards, Matthew Chris on: 07534777720/07508432401

Wait. It is too cold now. The paint will not cure probably and is likely to fail. You will end up wasting your money. Do it next year in the spring. Any decent painter should say the same. Regards, Matthew

Hello, I have various tasks I need doing in my house if anyone is interested or can recommend someone please let me know. I'm looking to get things done in stages they are listed in order of priority List of works to do in 17 Marnock Road, SE4 1EU 1. fit new units and doors to the cabinets in the kitchen, re fit new work top and site the sink correctly. Hang the new back door - needs to be cut to fit, and made to open out not in - (Materials not bought yet). Remove defucnt pipes coming out of the toilet wall into the kitchen. Hang a blind there. 2. Re render and replaster in the outside toilet, maybe, take the old kitchen back door and fit to the toilet. Re render and re plaster in the middle front bedroom around the fire place. Bonding behind two sockets in the same room. 3. Top hallway window and toilet window - make fit, add wood to both so they are snugg. Architrave around the toilet window. 4 Bathroom: fit bath panel, shave bottom of the door so it can close after the lino is laid. put up shower hose holder. Remove toilet pipe radiator. 5. Floor sanding - finish off in the hallway. Later? further works: 6. create a Velux to the roof, and a simple double glazed unit to allow light in the hall - at present these are just single glazed glass resting with wire attached... 7. Use sprayfoam system to insulate the slanting part of the roof? in the top two bedrooms and the bathroom. Matthew 07939530699

You may be able to get quotes yourself for the works - In my experience councils massively overcharge for this kind of stuff. you may - I don't know, be able to set up what's called a RTM - it's a management company set up by the freeholders. you then organise works yourselves. It's a simple process that will save you thousands if you can do it. Call me and I'll talk you through it. Matthew 07939530699

Hello, I am running a decorating job at present and two of my guys are not able to work for the next few days for personal reasons. I need someone who can do some basic painting - just rollering walls. The more skilled aspects will be undertaken by my main decorators when they return. You must be tidy and clean above all else. I don't get paid to paint carpets and as such we don't get paint on carpets. Call me if you are free. Matthew 07939530699

Hi, My name is matthew, I am a decorator and always very happy to hang wallpaper. I recently hung wallpaper for the set for the Glyndbourne Opera - quite tricky as the panels i was papering could not be sat together for the purposes of pattern matching - they were all spread around the warehouse. I managed none the less. I'm sure I could manage your job for you. I'm confident hanging wallpaper and I'm sure you'd be happy with the result. Regards, Matthew 07939530699

Hello, I am looking for someone who feels able to turn a bag of receipts and invoices in to a profit and loss statement.... Please PM or E-mail me if you can help. Nothing complicated I just need someone who's efficient! Regards, Matthew 07939530699 [email protected]

I would not recommend seeing what happens. This is not a good idea at all. The gas saftey cert you have has fairly obviously been signed by someone for ?40 in the pub. Or some other equivalent situation. The guy that installed/fixed the boiler couldn't correctly give you a cert there and then, because he wasn't legally allowed to install/fix the problem. A gas safety check will set you back ?60-90. My advice would be just to pay it. Then, you may be out of pocket by ?60-90, but you will have peace of mind. I'd be very happy to help write a letter to your landlord that might persuade them to refund you. I'm quite good at things like that. Then, Get out of renting from this landlord as quickly as possible. If she is prepared to send around an UNREGISTERED man/woman to install a boiler who has then arrange for someone else to sign off the boiler as safe without even seeing it. You should get out ASAP. You could do potential tenants a favour and warn them off renting from her. Penny pinching is not how I'd describe that kind of behaviour. That's just plain wrong.

Ask for Marina at Ainsworths. She's the business. I know a few homeopaths PM me if you want a few numbers

Thanks a lot for these replies, I'm feeling more settled about it now... I just had a conversation with a teacher - I'm quoting for work in his home and he told me the thing to look for in a school is the "contextual value added" score. He explained it as being a good indicator or how well the school is really doing with the particular intake of students it has... Very interesting. Worth a bit of internet searching for more info me thinks.

Bring him in the bed with you. all my sons stayed in the bed with us - they still wake up but.. your there. sorry this is probably crap advice from a man and i can't say how our nights would have been if they were in their own bed. I wish you all the luck and wisdom in the world.

All good points. It's very useful to have your thoughts.... I should have done all this a long time ago. It feels a very important decision, especially as my two sons are so different in Character, temperament and the way their intelligence expresses itself. I guess i shouldn't worry so much - the majority of my confusion was and is about how to choose from 4 very good schools.... Each good in a different way.. I appreciate the time you've taken for replying.. Best, Matthew P.S. @ silly woman, you should change your EDF name. your not so silly.

sensible. Thank you.

Hello, My partner and myself have visited all the local schools for our son. We live in Honor Oak Park. Felix - son said he likes kilmorie - two children came across the nursery to hang out with him when we visited and all looked relaxed with each other. Lots of space, all the kids looked happy - the head - a sense of vagueness, underwhelmed me... Rathfren's new head is passionate about giving children the skills and desire and confidence to learn. She is a self-assured head now running a top class school - other schools are consulting to follow their lead. All the teachers that I saw - all of them looked confident as teachers, calm classes attentive comprehending students, Dalmain - has a fantastic provision for arts and music really great. Gordonbrook seemed to be a mix of Rathfern and kilmorie Brockley School was in special measures, new head, new staff, up and coming, great art provision... quite impressed All good, our son will be fine at any of them. He would choose kilmorie, but I'm his dad and have to think of him over the next few years and his adjustment to secondary. These schools are in Lewisham. So question for you... For those of you who want your children to be well adjusted, self confident and successful (as a street cleaner, scientist shop assistant, politician, gardener or whatever) (for me above all Happy).... do I go for the school my son has chosen or the one with the fantastic teaching team - maybe with less focus on all round learning.... or maybe another.. do i go with what my heart, head or guts tell me? or what..... any thoughts greatly appreciated...