8ball

Cheers PeterW, Would that ratio mix be soft enough to use with a mortar gun so as to push the mortar into the gaps?

Could anyone shine some light on a good mortar mix/ ratios for a lintel install? should I buy pre mixed? good brands such has Blue Circle? I have never mixed mortar before so even the simplest tips are good Cheers

So its OK to use class B engineering bricks as padstones, happy days Thanks Mr Punter

Hey Mr Punter What would be a good upgrade to my lintel choice? I am happy to be over cautious. I was going to use engineering bricks but couldnt find any online at Wickes, TP, Tradepoint....blah blah

ProDave I was just about to up my Acro rental count so as to enable your suggestion Ta

Hi guys I am installing a concrete lintel in a single skin block work load bearing wall and just wanted to run through with you guys how I am going about it just to make sure I'm on the right tracks, I have searched google for most of my info but every project is different so I thought I would run it through with the Buildhub crew. 1st off background details: I have a house - pic below The footprint is width 7m x Depth 6.32m - see pic below The trusses run front to back of the house and there is a Block work central wall which runs the entire width and this is where I want to create a new door way - pics below Above the ground floor load bearing wall is another block work wall that kinda follows the same path and creates part of the 1st floor rooms and above this of course is the roof. So that's the background info out of the way and here is what I have made decisions on so far. Lintel to be a expamet pre stressed reinforced concrete lintel as in link http://www.diy.com/departments/expamet-pre-stressed-reinforced-concrete-lintel- l1200mm-w100mm/150791_BQ.prd Lintel specs: Height 65mm Length 1200mm Width 100mm The existing hallway door which sits in the ground floor load bearing wall also has a reinforced concrete lintel so I made assumptions that that would also be adequate for the new opening which is by the way a standard doorway with a planned cut out width of 82cm. Moving onto the pad stones, I plan on cutting one of these to create the pad stones http://www.diy.com/departments/expamet-pre-stressed-reinforced-concrete-lintel-l900mm- w100mm/150788_BQ.prd I decided this route for the pad stones as the pre made pad stones came in at nearly £30 each and the to be cut up lintel is only £9 I will seat these either side for the lintel on a bed of mortar and as these are only half the height of the existing blocks so I will have 2 each side. Mortar mix - should I buy pre mixed? Should I buy a Mortar Gun to force the mortar into the gaps, have read that mortar needs to be quite thick for lintel installs so may not apply very well from the gun? I have read about packing the space above the lintel with slate so I plan on using the following https://www.travisperkins.co.uk/Estillo-5-Prime-Spanish-Slate-6-8mm-x-250mm-x-500mm/p/763823 I will be using acros with strong boys as my set up for supporting the above load although the only location for the spines is quite close to the ceiling so its going to ruin my coving but hey. I'm using a reciprocating saw with a giant masonry blade for the cutting of the hole. That's it so far but I'm sure as I get closer to the job in a few days I will start doubting other ideas as I always do. Ta guys

Thanks Nick

I am planning on replacing one toilet in a bathroom upstairs and also creating a downstairs loo and have started looking at the vast choice on toilets on the market. I have spotted a brand called Pheonix who do a qube design close coupled flush fit toilet which I like a lot but am weary about quality. The toilet is £363 per toilet on the Pheonix site but have seen it for £224 so am quite interested. I am planning on staying in the property for a good few years and will be fitting a water softener so as to enable my newly fitted items a longer life due to being in a hard water area. Just wondering what you guys think?

Come to think of it there only seems to be stud and plasterboard on any areas of the house that have been modified since when it was built in 1985, as you say maybe lifting the floor boards upstairs will give a clearer picture of whats going on. the airing cupboard itself is built entirely of breeze block as are the bathroom walls. Where the arch is in the hallway downstairs used to be a door way and I was suspicious of why it was not completely removed when the layout was changed, maybe they just liked arches as there are another 3 made of stone like the one in the background of the 1st piccy. I will be removing them ASAP as I keep knocking my head on them and ruining my handsome looks. Ta Dave

Hello fellow "buildies" I am planning to open up my stairs in the near future but have a few questions regarding its structure and surroundings. hopefully below you can see a picture of what is to be removed and also a floor plan. I would supply better pics but I am away from home at the moment. So when I first started thinking about removing the wall I thought it would be simple but the more I think about it the more unsure I become. One thing is for certain is that the floor joists run from the front to the back of the house so only 1 joist would be resting on the wall. The things I am concerned about is the fact that the wall is breeze block, why the need for it to be so solid? at present as you can see from the floor plan it has a small bedroom above it with an airing cupboard holding a small water cylinder which would have some weight to it but joists run front to back so should be good. So the house on the ground floor has an internal load bearing wall stretching the length of the living room and then stretching through to meet the garage but up stairs the load from the joists in the loft are only supported about 2/3 of the width of the house by the wall inbetween the 2 larger bedrooms as the landing and stairs create a large gap so I was wondering if the small bedroom wall near the airing cupboard are load bearing and transferring down onto this breeze block wall at the stairs. ****The kitchen and half of the family room at the back of the house is a single story extension with nothing above it***** Any thoughts from you guys would be really helpful but I am leaning towards getting a structural engineer to do some calcs. Ta guys - Neil

Thanks so much for the info everybody, I think I'll be leaning towards the Manrose that ProDave recommended but minus the flexible ducting that's included in the pack and look for some solid duct. As always cheers guys

I am planning out a new ground floor toilet / utility room which will have a toilet, washing machine and self condensing dryer. The room itself has no outside walls so I am struggling with the extractor. The best route I can take is through the wall into the garage and then outside but most of the extractor units I find are designed on the assumption that your toilet is on an outside wall and do not support running a length of 100mm ducting for a few metres. I stumbled across a Airflow Aventa In-Line Mixed Flow Extractor Fan 100mm which allows for up to 6 metres of flexi pipe, is there any reason why I could not use one of these instead of the standard units. http://www.rselectricalsupplies.co.uk/airflow-aventa-inline-mixed-flow-extractor-fan-100mm-9041085_9318?gclid=CJqp7__Oj9ICFYeT7QodMK4AYw Am I heading in the right direction with this unit? Cheers

Thanks Ian, I had read through most of that 69 page document but as usual I get lazy and skim read. So many if buts and maybe's in those regs to drive any sane man crazy.

Thanks JSHarris I'll pop them an email and see if I can get a clearer answer.

From the reading and research I have completed so far I understand that I have to submit a Building Notice Application, this does not require any plans to be submitted but does require inspections by building control.

I am creating the toilet /utility room from scratch as I don't have a downstairs loo at present

I am creating a new downstairs loo/utility room and plan on submitting a building notice application, I have just started reading through what regs I will have to abide by and came across the wheelchair access which puzzled me

So I understand that creating a new downstairs toilet in my existing home will need to abide by some building regs one being in Part M that the door needs to be wide enough for wheelchair access(1981 x 838 x 35mm). What I am struggling to understand is the requirement on the existing doors that lead through to the toilet as these are all 1981 x 760 x 35mm. I don't see any point in having the wider door at the toilet if the doors beforehand are narrower in size, have I missed something whilst reading through the 69 page document. Ta guys

Meh....So I have spoken to a few estate agents about my plans and as I suspected I would be making my house too large and too expensive for the area I am currently in plus the risk of the neighbour doing the same thing and actually devaluing the property. Anyway guys just wanted to say thanks for all the advice leading up to my decision not to go ahead, I,m reverting back to the removal of a wall in the kitchen that I never got round to doing nearly 2 years agohttp://www.ebuild.co.uk/topic/15763-is-it-load-bearing-it-doesnt-seem-so/

I have never mixed epoxy mortar but over the past few years I have ordered resins and various other items from CFS Fibreglass. The guys who work there will give you all the info you need regarding your question about epoxy mortar. They have a big website with lots of products and are generally quite well priced. At present if you also go to the Facebook page of the company they have a 10% code for all purchases.....just got the email today. Bye

Why an earth did I not see this, if it was a snake it would have bit me.

Thanks for the above info AliG, I understand I need insulation which I cannot see in your example or have I misunderstood guide lines? Ha you read my mind regarding using the smallest of the 3 existing bedrooms for a bathroom or an en suite of the largest but my floor layout wont allow it without some serious shuffling around and £££. The smallest room is the furthest from water+drainage and the biggest bedrooms shape does not help at all with an en suite. I'm going to have a good think today and see what I can do, sometimes a bit of thinking space does wonders for ideas eh again thanks AliG

OK so i have a concern about the width of the bedroom as the total inner width of my garage is 2.6m, I am figuring on running steels front to back and building up from there with SIPs and brick slips as a cladding to try and keep the construction as narrow as possible giving more room internally. What I am starting to struggle with is getting a exact SIP wall thickness so I know how big the room will be, obviously if its too narrow then I wont go ahead with the project. I have spent a couple of hours online looking at diagrams of how a SIP build is layered but they all have diff methods and thicknesses, can anyone who has used SIPS point me in the right direction with my calculations? From the outside to inside I think I will have the following: Brick Slips Cavity with battens Vapor barrier SIP Panel KS Thermawall insulation Cavity with battens Plasterboard Is the above correct in terms of layers? and secondly as an estimate what thickness would I be looking at, I feel as though I'm getting other people to do my workings but I'm just getting so confused with the available information online. As always help is much appreciated guys

At the moment we get on OK but see what happens eh, I don't wont to sound mean about it but making it easy for them to do the same at a future point wont be planned as this will devalue my home. Its a link detached at present and still would be with the extra bedroom but if they did the same it would make both houses Semi detached thus lowering the value. This has already been mentioned previously in the post. The caravan idea is good as I could do a cantilever (Caravantilever) design and make it all modern looking BUT from past experience with caravans the best place for them is................................................................... Cheers Onoff