machtucker

Thanks everyone. Got them from The Timber Group in Ascot in the end. Seemed competitively priced and reasonable delivery. E

Hi everyone, I'm now turning my attention to getting hold of oak sleepers. A lot of the places I've seen online have a fairly hefty delivery fee to GU51. One place which showed promise was OakMax. They had a very good price for the sleepers but then a £119.76 delivery charge. I'm looking for x 6 1.8m and x1 1.2m Any recommendations for good value oak sleepers? Cheers, E

Not a million miles away from there. About an hour. I've managed to find somewhere in Hemel Hempstead which does PSE and I can pick up. I'm now trying to find somewhere that does 200 x 100 mm Oak Sleepers that delivers to GU51 for a reasonable price. Any ideas? E

Hi everyone, I'm now thinking about starting to build a cedar corner bench for the garden which will complement the cedar screen/pergola thingy I've already built. I'm looking for 7.2m (total) of 18x44mm planed square edge battens. I have found some online but they are miles away from me and wont deliver or if they can deliver it's a fortune. I'm on the Hampshire/Berkshire/Surrey border. A lot of timber merchants have chamfered battens as they are a stock item but I need square edge. Can anyone recommend somewhere near me that might do it? Many thanks, Ed

Yes I realised that raking MOT type 1 doesn’t work the first time I did it. In the end I made some wooden fencing for my garden rake which did the trick. I will shovel/barrow most of it. Can you get a rake with a flat plate head? No prongs?

Hi, I'm about to come to the part in the landscaping build where I will have lots of MOT Type 1 subbase to shift and rake into position. My previous garden rake broke so looking for something up to the job. Is there something with a normal rake on one side and builders rake on the other? Cheers

Ahh yes that may be an idea, although there maybe a mm or two in places. I will have a look when I get home.

Hi everyone, I have a set of steps which I’ve had rendered with sand and cement. I have subsequently laid the Indian sandstone slabs. I have mortar at the front of each step which has spilled over a little onto the rendering. I’d like to be able to sand it flush with the render before touching up with primer and masonry paint. What is best to use to sand the mortar? Cheers, Ed

Hi! I’ve just had a small retaining wall rendered. Need to paint it now. Do I just use masonry paint and put two coats on or should I be using a primer? I’d like to be able pressure wash it a bit. thanks.

Hi everyone, I’m having a small retaining concrete block wall rendered soon. Once it’s been rendered I will need to paint it. One of the chaps who came around to quote mentioned that I should prime the wall with a product before painting it as he said it will make it easier to clean. He even said you can use a pressure washer on it. Any ideas what the primer might have been or any other suggestions before I paint it? Many thanks, Ed

Yes that’s what I thought. Only have one quote for comparison, trying to get others. I’m on the Surrey/Hampshire border everything seems pricey here.

Any thoughts on the quoted price?

Hi! Well I’ve had a quote to render the wall and step. £700. Is that a reasonable figure? That is to render the full front face and one block of the back face with sand/cement. Cheers, Ed

Just checked that site out. Looks good. Thanks for the recommendation.

I’ve found these from fast build website. I’m guessing they will be OK. Any experience anyone?

Yeah I saw the screwfix deal. Looks like it'' be fairly pricey just for the beads. I've worked out I need about 42m of 10mm corner beads and 19m of stop beads.

Can anyone recommend the best place to get 10mm plastic render beads from?

Should I drill the holes through the blocks for the lighting cables before the render is applied or after? Many thanks, Ed

Thanks very much, that wall is very similar to the one I have. I had a chap come around yesterday so I'm interested to see how much the quote is.

I've got someone to come and quote tomorrow to do the rendering but there's something in me that's telling me to have a go myself. 🤦‍♂️ If I did go down that route I'm guessing I will put beads around all the edges. Should I put a stop bead at the base of the wall? If that's the case then ruling off will be easy as I can just get a straight edge a run it over both beads which (should) make it perfectly flat, right? I am planning on installing so low voltage lights by Techmar on the wall too. They require a 10mm hole for the cable, should I drill that before doing the rendering or after? Many thanks, Ed

For £2-300. That sounds like a much better idea. I don't mind it being perfect but it sounds like a bit of a pain.

Yes, I will get some quotes. How much would I be looking at to get someone in for this?

Wow, that sounds pretty complicated. Why is rendering so complicated! I was expecting to whack some beads up, put a scratch coat on then a final coat but this is what I feared. Maybe I’ll look into getting someone to do it for me. Would be a shame as I’ve done everything from scratch myself up until now. YouTube has been my friend.

Good evening everyone, My next job in the landscaping project is to render the retaining wall (see photo). Is there some info online that provides any info? I've watched a few YouTube videos etc but wondered if anyone has any nugget tips? I will need to get some beads for the corners and some stop beads for the back of the wall as the render wont go all the way down there as I have damp proof membrane and soil against the bottom portion. Any recommendations on what beads to get? My block work is probably not complete plumb or level so there may need to be some adjustment of the beads to get them level, how would you recommend attaching them? I know I will need to do a scratch coat and then let that dry then apply a final coat. Any recommendations on render mixes? Should I use sand and cement buy a special render mix? Many thanks in advance. Ed

Thanks for the info. I had planned everything without the fall on the lower level but it could be done. There is already an existing French drain which I’ve highlighted in a blueish colour, so I could put a fall towards that. Or… I could just make it level and see what happens 😬