Leaderboard

Thats it the last pour this afternoon. As usual, there's a twist..... We (Debbie and I) had about a tonne of concrete to mix, haul up to the parapet and pour by hand to finish the house. As usual it took longer to prepare for it than to do it. But hey, used to that. All tested, all checked. Thoroughly. It rained last night didn't it? Tidy drop of rain in fact. The rope on the pulley was wet. Hemp rope. Got a suspicion yet? Me, up on the gantry, her indoors hauling the pulley (I'm not stupid) First 50 kilo bucket hauled up by one of the fittest wimmin in Lancashire. Helluva lass. On an Italian pulley system that automatically locks when you let the rope go. Well bugger me, 50 kilos of concrete went straight back down from whence it came. Cue old-fashioned look. Cue lively discussion. Several hours later, it came to me why the brake system wasn't working. The rope was wet. I'm really quick like that. The big big BIG mistake I made was, just as we were finishing the job, to tell her why the pulley brake wasn't working. Anyway, doesn't matter, no more concrete to be lifted. Might have a drop of giggle water tonight.

Is it just cracks in the walls or have windows started to crack and doors not closing properly?? Has whoever done the investigation dug down where the cracks are heading to see if the concrete founds have cracked?? Is there any equipment on either side of the cracks to monitor the movement?? It isn't going to be a quick fix. The insurance company will want it monitored for maybe up to a year to see how much it's moving. During this time they will do any cutting down of the trees and will be able to see if this is enough to stop the ground shrinking. As it will be going through an insurance company anyone who goes to buy the house will have this flagged up to them so might cause a problem.

Mo Mo Mrs Mo still doing a fab job Husqvarna running a charity auction to win a special pink 450X robo mower (the top of the range model): http://fundraising-auctions.bid/auction/husqvarna/husqvarna

Hi It seems like you have explained it pretty accurately already. If the foundations were deepened due to the trees I would have expected to see something like "Claymaster" :- https://www.jablite.co.uk/application/claymaster/ on the inside of the foundation trench. Otherwise the heave of the clay within the house extension footprint will potentially split the foundation as the clay rehydrates due to the tree roots now been cut off. The claymaster would collapse and prevent damage. It is possible that if claymaster was used , but the heave was much greater than predicted, heave damage could still occur. I have seen this where there was a large row of Poplars on a golf course boundary adjacent to a house gable. The clay expanded so much, it crushed the claymaster and lifted the house off its footing, breaking the house in two.

If its gurgling when the WM and DW are draining then its probably air being drawn through the trap making the water gurgle. You could try the following: Anti Syphon trap - designed to stop the water being drawn out Mac Valve - uses a "Silicone Valve instead of water Vent the pipework to a soil stack or try a small AAV.

They also look like soakers to me as well, so another piece of lead needed cut into the face of the stone and dressed down over the soakers, groove in wall should be 150mm up from roof finish to allow for rain bounce. Should you not have a cavity tray in that location and weep holes??

They’re only the soakers ar each course of slate. Lead cover flashing (longer length, approx 1~1.5m) still needs fixing, chased into wall.

Are these soakers that go under the slates, with a lead flashing that gets cut into the stone and dresses down over these? If so, it is probably OK.

Should be a lead tray built in as they went up. Or you run a Saw up and push the lead into the cut. Then seal it up. What's there won't do jack to stop any rain running down the wall to the room below. Don't accept a slap of silicone or lead mate to patch it in.

Looks wrong to me. I'd have expected the lead to go into a slot.

That looks totally wrong to me. The lead should go on before the stone. They look to have put the lead over the face of the stone, and water will run into that gap. That is the way you do it if you are then going to cover it with render.

Thanks, nothing out of the ordinary a fairly simple 3 story timber frame build (room in roof). after browsing the forum for weeks, im currently exploring ways of improving the current planned building regs compliant insulation/airtightness without blowing our already tight budget ? Its all part of the fun it would seem! Thanks all for the welcome.

I thought this might be useful for people looking for fitted wardrobes. Most of our bedrooms have wardrobes with the same doors as the our room doors, but our bedroom had a dressing room that needed fitted furniture. I see this all the time in various show homes but didn't know where to buy it. As we struggled to find it we did get quotes from a couple of people - Sharp's and someone the builder knew. These were roughly £11,000 and £10,000. I just wasn't prepared to pay this, basically it is 4 double wardrobes, 2 singles and 2 chests of drawers (I changed it to 3 when I built it). No way was I paying over £1000 per item, it is ridiculous. Anyway I had found two companies on line that allow you to order fitted furniture cut to size. I was a bit concerned about using these as I wasn't sure about the quality and particularly I was worried about getting the measurements wrong. In the end I just decided to get on with it and the builder's joiners fitted them. They look great and they cost around £6000 compared to the £10000+ quotes I had, still not cheap but a lot more reasonable. That's about £4500 for the cabinetry and then the fitting, I could have done most of it myself but simply don't have time. The company I used was https://www.diyhomefit.co.uk The other one I found was https://www.larkandlarks.co.uk The second would have been a little cheaper but I just felt better about the first and they were a little more flexible. They also had 2400mm tall wardrobes that I thought would fill the space better. It is very heavy, the drawers and wardrobe backs are all 18mm board. The handles still have to be fitted and I decided to get some kind of granite top to finish it off nicely.

Good Morning All, I am new to this forum and English is not my first language, so please be delicate... I decided to buy one of this IVT ASHP (PUHZ-W90) - awaiting delivery. Of course I will get it with same controller as you guys shown previously. In the meantime I went through all useful info you guys wrote in terms of controlling this unit. Digging over internet I found that initial controller for PUHZ-W90VHA must have been PAC-IF010 or PAC-IF11 (not sure about this second model). Interesting info which I found reading manual for this controllers is, that there is and option to set it (leaving A1, A2, A3 inputs open) to run external unit in AUTO mode. I was not sure what AUTO mode is, but finally found leaflet where AUTO mode is explained as mode where external unit (PUHZ-W90 it self) reads the temp of the air at the inlet to the unit, and sets the speed of the compressor accordingly. I`m think this could be more effective way of using this ASHP, having such mode active. In my understanding this have something to do with A4 terminal. Please correct me if I am wrong. Attached manual. Please ref to page 18. Mitsubishi_Electric_Air_to_Water_(ATW)_Heat_pump_Eng.pdf

Brush a bit more tanking on and chill.

That is the sheen from an anti-graffiti product which means graffiti can be power washed off and then just repainted with the product. That prevents any graffiti being absorbed. That wall backs into a public footpath between backs of gardens which is not overlooked, and has been graffitied twice that I can remember. Ferdinand

What is the outer skin? If it is brick you will still need DPC and 150mm externally. Even properties with basements have DPC. The level thresholds have a drainage channel in front of them and this helps prevent splashing from rain. Also it is windows and doors in these locations and they do not soak up water or stain like brickwork / stone. You can reduce the 150 to 120 without any issues as long as the surrounding surface drainage is properly designed. You can always have a doorstep apart from the main entrance.

Time for the sign to go up?

I suspect it is not TNC-S. Since N and E are the same cable and usually even the same terminal at the supply head, it's virtually impossible to get a difference between N and E. What usually happens with a N break in a TNC-S is the whole installation rises to near 230V but you bizarrely don't notice it or get a shock from anything as everything has risen so there is no potential difference. Last one of these I found, the DNO then spent days digging up the guys drive and a lot of the street until they found the fault. I am really disappointed the electrician who has already been has not found the fault. I suggest the next one measures Phase to neutral voltage on all phases, phase to earth voltage on all phases, and neutral to earth voltage. He also needs to measure Ze on each phase, and also do a phase to neutral loop impedance test on each phase. This is one aspect of the wiring regs I disagree with. They are fixated with measuring Ze which is the loop impedance from phase to earth. If this is a TNS or TT supply, that could still measure perfectly fine with an open circuit neutral. I think it is very important, particularly when looking for a fault, to measure phase to neutral loop impedance.

buy an Austin seven, simples.