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I’ve done these types of jobs hundreds of times over the past 35 years, and defo zeto need for a stainless plate; I think that would make the repair fail again. Do as you suggest, clear the trough and hoover it all out. Prime (saturate) with 50/50 PVA/water, applying copiously until you don’t see it being sucked into the concrete any more, and then pour in some of this: Will be right for life after that goes in there. Mix it with fresh water and to a consistency a-la a thick gravy. If the pipes are bare copper, try and tape these up with gaffa / duct tape. Lay it directly on to the soaking wet PVA mix and don’t fear that being any compromise to it, it’ll be fine.

Seems we all do. Maybe the electrodes on @Pocster's nads will prove it to the doubters. Babies are born with the neural foundations for maths Brain recordings from newborns reveal the first neural evidence that humans are born with an innate sense of numbers By Helen Thomson 30 June 2026 We are born with an understanding of numbers, which has probably given us a huge evolutionary advantage Marc Calleja / Alamy Babies are born with an innate sense of numbers, and now the brain mechanisms behind this ability have been identified for the first time. Within days or even hours of being born, a group of babies could distinguish between four and 12 stimuli, with their brain activity showing how this rudimentary sense of numerosity is in place. “Extracting numerical information from the environment is just like seeing the world in colour, for most people,” says Brian Butterworth at University College London, who wasn’t involved in the research. By which, he means that having a sense of numbers is part of our essential “start-up” toolkit. Just as you look at a bowl of pears and perceive them as green without having to reason, the brain is also primed to extract an approximate quantity from a scene. Marco Buiatti at the University of Trento in Italy and his colleagues wanted to examine the brain mechanisms that support our innate sense of numbers, which isn’t acquired through language or culture. They fitted 21 newborns aged between 0 and 3 days old with an EEG cap containing sensors that monitor electrical activity across the brain. Studying cognition in newborns isn’t easy, says Buiatti. “They open their eyes for a minute or two, and that’s all. It’s complicated and slow, but so rewarding when we get results.” During moments of alertness, the babies listened to a 90-second recording of a voice repeating sounds, arranged in groups of either four or 12 syllables. “Something like: la, la, la, la,” says Buiatti. The researchers simultaneously showed the babies a visual stimulus containing either four or 12 dots, for up to 50 seconds. They found that electrical activity in the babies’ parietotemporal area – which perceives and organises sensory information – decreased when the number of dots matched the number of syllables being spoken, but not when an incongruent number was displayed. This fits with what is known about the adult brain. When we sense a repeated stimulus, our brain reduces its response to it in an adaptive process known as repetition suppression. This allows the brain to work more efficiently, without having to process every repeated input as if it were new. When a mismatched number of dots was presented to the babies, their neural activity rose. “Seeing a new number of dots releases the brain from this adaptation effect,” says Buiatti. “It’s the first time we’ve shown a neural mechanism for this innate sense of number.” This innate ability has clear evolutionary value, he adds. The rapid ability to distinguish between one and many predators, or one and many food items, say, would have given an important survival advantage. We also know that a child’s number sense at 1 year old predicts their maths skills several years later. Understanding the brain mechanisms involved in this sense may help researchers identify children at risk of dyscalculia (a learning difficulty that affects a person’s ability to understand, recall or use numerical information), says Buiatti. “Studying the neural implementation of number sense at birth is important because it is the basis for the development of higher math functions later on, and with further research this result could help in the designing of an early neural biomarker of the risk of developing dyscalculia,” he says. Reference: bioRxiv DOI: 10.64898/2026.05.08.723896

1) Fit and forget 2) Never let me down 3) Tried and tested CT1 or Ever build Stixall, which I think is the same stuff / different packaging, but as we realised on site 2 weeks or so ago, Ever build stuff is a 1/3 of the price if you hunt it down online; ergo I’m 2 of 3 boxes of EBSA down, 1 to go. I failed to put up an argument for CT1 for bulk mastic work (such as topping up where the Norrsken fitters left off), but for the wetroom shower former / waste / trap etc I won’t use anything other than CT1; as I am employed by clients to do things, I cannot (point blank refuse) to compromise on stuff that my names going on (plus I am obvs then liable for too). As principal consultant I could not, however, offer any good reason to use CT1 on the many large doors and double height gallery windows etc, as there was (still remains) a huge volume of ‘goop’ that is anticipated to be needed to complete that specific task, so calculated bean-counting had to be on the table for discussion.

You can get trim plates to cover gaps

Hello everyone, I'm looking for some professional advice regarding a floor repair issue in my kitchen. Approximately 10 years ago, a plumber completely redid the plumbing system in my house. To install the new pipes, he cut through part of the concrete floor, routed the pipes underneath the floor, and then backfilled and repaired the area before reinstalling the flooring. I've noticed that a small section of the floor (approximately 25 cm x 25 cm / 8–10 inches square, under vinal adessive tile) has started to sag and crumble. This area is directly above the plumbing pipes. My suspicion is that the concrete or repair material placed over the pipes was too thin, or that the fill underneath has settled over time, creating a void. The floor has not yet completely collapsed, but it appears to be heading in that direction. One concern is that this area is located in a regular walkway. If the floor eventually gives way completely, someone could step directly onto the pipes, potentially damaging or breaking them. A few additional details: The finished floor is covered with approximately 2.5 mm vinyl flooring. There appears to be only about 20 mm (3/4 inch) between the top of the pipes and the underside of the floor/concrete above. I do not currently know whether the pipes are PEX, multilayer, copper, or another material... probably copper. My current repair idea is: 1. Remove the vinyl flooring. 2. Remove all loose and damaged concrete/fill material. 3. Inspect the pipes and determine the extent of any void. 4. Fill any voids with a non-shrink structural grout. 5. Install a 4 mm stainless steel plate extending beyond the damaged area and bearing on sound concrete around the perimeter. I am not sure if this step in needed.. any thoughts? 6. Apply a thin layer of repair mortar above the plate. 7. Reinstall the vinyl flooring. My objective is to distribute foot traffic loads onto the surrounding concrete and protect the pipes from direct loading. Questions: Does this seem like a reasonable repair approach? Would you recommend a different method? Is the stainless-steel plate unnecessary if the void is properly filled? Are there any concerns with using non-shrink grout around plumbing pipes? If only 20 mm of cover exists above the pipes, how would you repair this area professionally? Is there a better material than a steel plate for this application? Any advice from plumbers, builders, or concrete repair specialists would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Both useful suggestions. Thank you. Does the insulated sleeve get cut back to the external face of the OSB then taped? What happens as the twinwall passes through the battening void and then the timber cladding? Presumably there would have to be a 50mm gap from the edge of the flue to the combustible cladding.

I framed out where the hole for the flue went through our roof (your wall in this case), using PIR insulation. The size was slightly larger than the distance required from combustible material. This left a closed void. Then filled the void after flue installed with Rockwool as it's a none combustible insulation. Then to get the airtightness back I used a flanged flue rubber diaphragm and taped to the the airtight membrane.

I found an "insulated sleeve" for the purpose when I bought my flue. It is designed to clamp onto the outside of twinwall flue so must be non combustible to be able to do that, and is 50mm thick which then leaves anything that is combustible >50mm from the flue. The reality is my 5Kw stove even burning full tilt, the outside of the twin wall flue where it passes through the roof is barely warm to the touch.

Apologies if this has been concluded elsewhere on the forum - I've trawled and was unable to find a solution. My timber frame is up, windows in, roofing on, cladding commenced. I understand the sentiment surrounding log burning stoves being an expensive folly in a well insulated home, but we are determined nevertheless. The issue is that I cannot seem to find conclusive advise on the detail to pass a twinwall flue through the external timber frame wall at a 45 degree angle that satisfies building regulations and hopefully prevents the insulation from melting and the house bursting into flames ...which would be a bad thing! I've found Schiedel products such as the Ignis but the diagrams and discussions never seem to match my build up which is: AI helpfully suggests a gap between the flue and combustibles left completely empty with no insulation or airtightness!!! Can anyone help, please? Preferably with a solution that has actually been installed and signed off by building control. Thanks

I was surprised at the total collapse of the twin towers of 9/11. I would have expected the fire compromised floors might just have collapsed down leaving the largely undamaged floors above and below intact. I can only guess that when one floor collapsed, the momentum of the structure above put too much force on the floor below when it "landed" on it and so a chain of events started.

Or get a normally closed contactor.

Definitely a first world issue discussion - need to streamline my phone charging procedure. It to hard plugging it in to a lead! I just plug my phone in next to the bed, it charges and the alarm goes off when it's time to get up. Rarely need to charge during the day. Even if I did need to charge, the last place in the house I would bother charging it is in the kitchen.

So was Nerys Hughes

Can you explain a bit more. I assume it is exposed surface area that needs to be reduced or protected.

There is a great documentary about RP. One of the contractors still found it funny how they got paid more to put less bolts in. Wankers. Wish I had known that was a 'thing when I was studying engineering. It would have been a hard sell in some companies I have work for, but the opportunity to build models and then destroy them would be great.

Not a pretty sight. And then there is getting out again. How did I know it would be CT1? Or Snibbo as it used to be called.

" it’s a steel frame building, so it would not be a total collapse. It would be more of a localised collapse. " Wishful thinking perhaps, or some words to keep the shareholders and banks happy? Steel buildings can collapse. There is an inherent ability for them to crumple and come to some sort of stability if there is a localised failure. But I don't think this was designed for back in 1960. in Europe we have to design to prevent "disproportionate collapse" ie one failed element, eg from a gas explosion, would cause only local damage. see Ronan Point 1968 That's a fire officer...

It may sound daft but the seemingly trivial difference between having an annoying and unsightly trailing wire, plus the extra effort of having to plug in and possibly pull a lead out of a draw, does seem material to me. At least with a charging drawer you can permanently wire a charging pad into it out of sight. I have just found the charging pad in my car so helpful, pop it on every trip, grab and go. Tells you it is charging with a simple light. Whereas before it was fumble about finding the end of the charging lead, plug it in, sometimes have to reathenticate to the phone before it would connect, similar fumbling when getting out. Currently considering this one...? https://www.master-charge.co.uk/products/shop/

These are OK, but are poor on an ASHP vs gas boiler. If a horizontal is used with an ASHP you should install a stratification pump across cold in / hot out, to ‘stir’ the contents of the cylinder and max out the heated volume of water. The pump is energised by the cylinder stat, so comes on with DHW reheat cycle only. @Stu789 assuming room sealed / external air fed WBS?

From the article linked above "Metroloft’s managing principal and founder told the New York Times the collapsed columns were likely not reinforced properly and could not support the weight above. He added: ‘This incident is nothing more than a typical construction mishap.’"

We have no restrictions or conditions on our ridge height in the planning approval. we have no adjacent houses as it’s a detached property on a fairly large plot the neighbouring property is about 20 metres away and the road slopes down. no street elevation was requested or provided for the planning application. we are still going to be lower then the nearest adjacent neighbours house due to the road being on a slight slope. We had a topography survey done of the exiting bungalow which shows the FFL of the bungalow. We are going to be just under 0.2m higher on the new FFL if we decide to go down the route of raising to make the drainage work (we are looking at alternatives with the drainage also). the property size/dimensions/height relative to ground level will remain unchanged and in accordance with plans. the FFL is being increased potentially for technical reasons for the drainage falls to be with in tolerance. I will look in to the drainage speak to designer to see if shorter routes can help

Typically these are still at the old 7” off floor to centre dims, to sympathise with retrofit. They just raise the rim, and the rest of the pan stays put.

Lifting the legs up one at a time, and then setting them back down again into a blob of CT1 (10p piece sized is fine) will be ample over the number of legs. I’d say you’d be fine doing this with just the front legs, so easy to do / easy to reverse without going commando on your belly.

One of these, and have a piece of 50mm pipe dropping through it with a 100-150mm tail, as this will be more forgiving than a solvent weld joint; given you’ll be fiddling with it and working around it as you lay the new 50mm pipe. Set the falls in place with off cuts of PIR insulation or plastic packers, then foam into place and leave to cure for a few hours / day. When cured you trim it square with a handsaw and then butt your sheet PIR up to that. Make up any deficit with more foam, job done.

As above, just reduce to 50mm and move onto the next part of the build. Do NOT start savaging the slab!!!!!