Canski

I used blue squints AN 1.2 on the front of my bays. Contrasting brick but the match the soldiers over the windows. I took one of my bays down after building it because I wasn’t happy with it. The designer hadn’t worked the return to the bay in brick dims so it was a pain in the arse to get right.

A very clever use of space. Well done. you need some sun on those legs though.

Splayed bays are very difficult to get right without the correct materials. I have ripped one of my own down recently because I wasn’t happy with the end result. Having said that the one I took down was better than yours. Have you checked that the dimensions and angles on the splays are equal ? It doesn’t look like it from the photos.

He may just be trying to be efficient and clearing up loose ends before he starts his next job. If so it's not really the time to punish him financially.

If you have 3 courses of blocks on top of the lintel to wall plate then best to get the pillars level all the way through then the next bit is easier. Straight block courses and no cutting.

Cut the whole top course to be in line with the others.

It looks like mineral felt to me.

It took me nearly that long to get a quote from the DNO.

Hi sorry I missed this. This is the system that I used. I have used it several times before with no issues.

How do you get on to the drive ?

The contractor admitted that they added water. I’m still waiting for the delivery notes which ‘they say’ are with the concrete supplier that they engaged. They asked what I’d like as an outcome from this. Well 🙄🙄 supply and fit ditra to the whole ground floor and some sort of finish to my garage maybe ?

Thanks. Yes I have asked for the delivery receipts and asked them to pop out and take a look. Underneath is a beam and insulated block floor. Litecast GT12

and it still wouldn't work on an insulated beam and block floor

Doesn’t work as a structural topping unfortunately.

Good morning everyone. does anyone have experience of moling under a highway ? I need to get services from the other side of a quiet road to my houses. The connection costs have risen sharply during the time that the invisible bats have been causing me grief. If that wasn’t bad enough the roads have still not been adopted by the council and are still the responsibility of the estate developer. The nasty developer has scared me a bit by telling me that it’s going to cost a fortune to resurface the road after a trench has been dug ( another unexpected cost without a figure) and that I would have to agree to resurfacing 15 meters of the highway after the trenching work has been completed so I was wondering about the possibility of providing the utility companies ( water and electric) with a duct that is moled across the highway to a pre agreed position. I asked Severn Trent if they could mole the pipe and they said it depends on the services in the road. My drain inverts are around 1.3 m deep so they shouldn’t be a problem in the road but it still seemed uninteresting to them to organise moling.

I had two identical floors poured on Thursday. Both with Agila 75 mm thick with fibres. The first was fine but the lads struggled with the second due to the heat and the concrete going off very quickly. It was a separate load of concrete for each floor. The second floor is riddled with cracks. I’m not a happy bunny.

I have just excavated 1m below ground level and filled it to 600 mm below ground so 400 mm of concrete and LABC and the warranty inspector were happy with that, then had 375mm to the underside of insulated beam and block then 300 mm of beam and insulated block leaving 75 mm for cemfloor screed over the top to DPC. Like Dave says work from the top down.

No we are all lazing around in the Caribbean then waiting for it to warm up 🙂 Get your m2 areas of your brickwork and blockwork quantified. Measure extras like lintels , feature work, insulation etc. Draw up a list of any special requirements you have then start contacting some bricklayers for quotes.

You really wouldn’t like to see the one I was working on today. Biggest pile of shite I have ever seen. 2 identical frames each with a ‘leg’ 75 mm higher than the other leg on the same opening. Both angles are different and the roof timbers no where near the same angle as the apex frame. I’m only doing the brickwork and it’s for a friend of a friend but I really had to point it out to the client. If it was mine I’d have it all taken down in a flash. Oh I almost forgot the line of the vertical section is inside the brickwork opening so I had to cut every brick up to the steel to keep the brickwork opening plumb.

Both plots are ready for the oversite pour now. It was planned for last Thursday but due to the heavy rain that was forecast I postponed it. There will be a small cost involved but better safe than sorry. It’s not going to cause any delays as I had planned to get all the foul drainage in next week (I’m still waiting for my sky plastics delivery after 4 weeks) and to stone the site up ready for brickwork and scaffold. It’s also a shame the supplier of the hardcore has re discovered the beer glass and has gone awol. I’m on to plan b with a more expensive supplier. This has been a frustration since demolition because the demo contractor was supposed to leave me 100 tonnes of crushed brick as part of the deal. I’m now learning that many people don’t do what they promise. I need to go back to some paid work for a few days ( for a rest mainly) today is my first day off in 5 weeks.

Yes plenty I would have thought but what blocks are you using ?

Most blocks these days are 95 mm not 100mm It all depends on what you are using

That's not bad blockwork for an amateur. Line pins ( footprint) and corner blocks are your friend. Not expensive but essential.