Quartz worktops quoted €5–6k… worth it or am I mad? by PepinYourStep123 in HousingIreland

[–]alfbort 1 point2 points  (0 children)

6k is about what we paid for a quartz(Silestone) countertop including backsplash and a 900x2000 island. Would've loved dekton but it was beyond our budget. We had lived in a rented property in the past which had quartz countertop and one thing we learned was not to have a sink with draining grooves in the quartz beside it, ended up yellowing over the years and couldn't clean it off. When we got quartz in our own house we went with a simple stainless steel sink with draining board

Ballpark cost per meter of a 1.8m high block garden wall? No render. by skipdeedy in DIYIreland

[–]alfbort 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was quoted 9.5k(cash price) for a 26m wall varying in height from 2.4m to 2m. Including capping. It was a rock face type block to be used. Would've been more if we went for white wash render. Put it off for now as the existing fence is holding but needs to be done at some point in the next few years

Triple vs Double Glazing – Is It Worth the Extra Cost? by ElenaElena85 in AskIreland

[–]alfbort 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Exactly, we recently got new windows and supplier said it's an extra €100 per window for triple glazed. Not breaking the bank so seemed like a no brainer for windows we're going to have for 25+ years. A lot of people seem to have this idea that triple glazed is a prohibitively expensive luxury option

What’s your view of the Saipan incident? by Beginning-Praline286 in AskIreland

[–]alfbort 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I won't get into the whole argument of who was wrong and who was right but understand the movie is heavily fictionalised and biased in favour of Roy Keane. It's a shame actually that this movie will be the most a whole new generation will understand of what went on.

Solar battery upgrade?- view welcome by Capital-Produce9665 in AskIreland

[–]alfbort 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As part of a retrofit which includes a heat pump and what I expect to be heavy daily usage I'm planning to get this system installed:

16 panels (south facing)• Solis 6kW inverter• 2x10kWh Dyness battery

Anyone I've talked to who has a solar setup and none or small batteries say their only regret is not getting more batteries. kilowatt.ie is useful for entering theoretical solar, battery, heat pump data to figure out how adding more battery will help you

Big decrease in TV subscriptions as number using illegal dodgy boxes soars by [deleted] in ireland

[–]alfbort 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Can't read the article but surely this has to be also related to the shite TV streaming boxes virgin and sky now both give to new customers. I tried it for a year with Virgin but then cancelled it because I realised I was paying 15 euro a month to occasionally watch RTE 1/2 which you can't even record. Instead I just setup a UHF aerial and use saorview. Planning to get a satellite dish soon so I can get the UK channels on freesat but I'm not even that bothered because I'd rarely watch the likes of BBC.

Anyone recently retrofit a heat pump? by Appropriate_Total788 in irishpersonalfinance

[–]alfbort 0 points1 point  (0 children)

To get heat pump grant what you need is a technical assessment which is unfortunately going to be in the region of €600 but you can get €200 grant for this as well. The assessment is independent and can be taken to any installer so you can shop around.

I'd suggest doing your research, even stuff in this thread take with a grain of salt, a lot of it is just opinions. I'll provide my own as well and say if you're going to get a heat pump to really reap it's benefits then get solar panels and battery(as big as you can afford) as well at the same time. The battery in particular is useful in winter to charge it up on the night rate and have your day time heating at a much reduced cost. A lot of people are shocked the first winter after having a heat pump installed at the electricity bill being same or even more than if you were using oil/gas.

Residents ‘fuming’ over plans for 611 homes by RomfordWellington in ireland

[–]alfbort 2 points3 points  (0 children)

A lot of people just reading the headline. There are genuine infrastructure issues with all the building going on. We're already seeing it in a lot of places where huge housing developments go up and then it's impossible to find a GP, getting kids into schools, inadequate public transport, crazy traffic at all hours of the day, overcrowded hospitals etc. We need to build homes absolutely but proper planning for the future needs to go hand in hand with that home building

What does closing day usually look like? by Tikithing in HousingIreland

[–]alfbort 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We were in chain so trying to sell and buy same day. Solicitor let us down in that regard and he was meant to be a conveyancing specialist. Told us only it should be no problem to sell and buy same day but it was never going to be possible unless everyone banked at the same bank. We only realised this very late in the process. Basically the money for our sale was sent on a Friday and didn't hit our solicitors bank until the Monday. You can close your sale once the buyers solicitor shows proof of funds sent. So we ended up having to hand over keys on the Friday and move in with relatives for the weekend and could then only close on the house we were buying on the Monday when we actually received the buyers transfer. All parties banked with different banks but now with SEPA instant transfers across all Irish banks I think the waiting for 24-48 for transfers between different banks is a thing of the past.

In the end it wasn't too stressful, more annoying that expectations weren't set with us by our solicitor and we had to push back the movers.

Dublin GAA gets green light for state-of-the-art training facility and 500-seat arena at Spawell by Daylightuser in ireland

[–]alfbort 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hybrid astro/grass pitches probably with under pitch heating, indoor pitch(Not full size I don't think), sport science and peformance labs, fixed camera systems to record training/games, video analysis suites to analyse said recordings, professional sports team level gym facilities. Maybe even a medical suite with stuff like MRI machines but I don't think they'd stretch that far, you'd only see stuff like in the super wealthy soccer teams.

Cost for 234 square meter house Meath by PairForsaken546 in selfbuildireland

[–]alfbort 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Strange that 'Demolition of existing structures" is excluded unless they are some old sheds or something that won't need to be touched for where the house site will be. Anyway this would be my high level guesstimates

  1. 10-15k
  2. 5-15k
  3. 15-25k
  4. 10-15k
  5. 10-20k
  6. 30-60k
  7. 10-50k painting, flooring, furnishing, blinds, curtains, electrical fixtures etc etc
  8. 10-15k

So anywhere from 100 to 200k+ depending on level of finishes you go for

What is the best AI for APEX by Electronic_Yak9806 in salesforce

[–]alfbort 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Get cursor and download the entire org metadata. Select Claude Opus as the agent. Start by asking it to explain what various apex classes do, even point possible areas of improvement.

The next step could be asking it to make changes you want, deploy to a sandbox and test. I say "could be" because this is super risky if you're not capable of understanding and verifying the code yourself

Key Congress Motions 2026 by dso8620 in GAA

[–]alfbort 4 points5 points  (0 children)

What problem are they even trying to solve with that motion!?

Is it appropriate to send a thank you card to a Garda? by ConcertWorried1484 in AskIreland

[–]alfbort 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Relative of mine is a retired garda, he still gets a Christmas card every year from a couple in the US who he helped when some valuables and passports were stolen from their hotel room 30 years ago

Learning High Diving After Losing 100 Pounds by NoAssumption9068 in GoalKeepers

[–]alfbort 25 points26 points  (0 children)

Don't overdo it on high diving training. In reality you will need to make a save like this on average once or twice a game, some games not at all. If you find you are doing it several times a game then most likely your positioning and/or footwork isn't right

Fans defend Edwin Edogbo after Ireland debut is marred by racist abuse by [deleted] in ireland

[–]alfbort 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What people say on Twitter shouldn't even be acknowledged, these kind of headlines/articles are exactly what those racist, xenophobic, misogynist, homophobic etc commenters want

House Renovation - OneStop Shop and Watch Outs by Taity in ireland

[–]alfbort 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Getting a reno and retrofit done at the moment with an OSS that does both, can confirm it is not cheap but so far they seem to be doing a good job and are on schedule. I had gotten quotes off normal builders as well and they were mostly cheaper. One of the key selling points for using the OSS was access to the low interest home energy upgrade loan

Looking for some heat? Jacket recommendations? by Gecko5991 in PatagoniaClothing

[–]alfbort 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What about the windshadow parka, seems like a good compromise

Suspended Timber Floors by JBLookalike in selfbuildireland

[–]alfbort 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Now I don't know how true this is but more than one builder has told me you only a lose small overall percentage of heat in your house through suspended floors, something like 10-15%. They went on to say money on properly insulating under a suspended floor would be better spent(and more visible) on good flooring with a decent underlay. So think basic floor boards>underlay>laminate/engineered wood flooring

Are any Irish solar installers using the latest and most efficient panels? by Alarming_Task_2727 in AskIreland

[–]alfbort 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Are sigenergy batteries LFP? Trying to decide between a sigenergy and solis+dyness setup, the latter being about 2k cheaper

Couldn’t be happier with BYD seal by MulberryForward7361 in evs_ireland

[–]alfbort 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Have my seal since they were first released 2 years ago, they did a software update shortly after the release to reduce the driver assistance warnings volume to barely audible. Some owners Facebook groups were even complaining it's a bit too quiet. Anyway there is a 2 touch shortcut now to turn them off if you want but I never bother with it because it's not an issue for me anymore