gOBO81

Took the gun down to a local nail gun supplier who let me test fire a strip of 34° nails into a pallet before purchasing. As suspected there were no issues. So if anyone else comes across this with the same question I can confirm this nailer accepts 34° nails.

Hi, Just recently purchased the Hikoki NR1890DC to go along with the finishing nailer I already have. The manual states it has an angle of 30°. 34° nails seem a lot more common to pick up locally or next day with amazon. I've seen one retailer recommend 34° nails for this nailer so I presume it can accept 34° nails. Can anyone confirm? Cheers

Well, after a long saga having our defective Aga stove replaced due to rust on the door i'm just getting around to making a start on this. Below is a pic of the underside of our boxed and lipped back hearth. I have a bag of Mapei Keraquick flexible addy and I was just wondering how exactly I should bed it down i.e. a full depth and complete bed OR maybe laid in some slightly higher ridges with some troughs between to allow the addy to spread out as the hearth is laid on top. Any pointers before I tackle this tomorrow would be great. I'm just applying 2 or 3 coats of SBR to the back throughout today, giving it time to dry between.

Thanks fellas, puts my mind fully at ease now. I dare say I'll uncover more of these as works progress over the next couple of years. At least now i know. It is a bit of an odd shape i.e. not completely round. Appears to have a flat bottom.

Definitely appears to be long since silted up but with the state of that butt joint I don't suspect that would have taken too long, in any case. It doesn't appear to be connected to any downpipe, at least not at the rear of the property where it exits the foundation. That's not to say it couldn't be serving downpipes at the front of the property and the pipe travels under the house from front to back, but wouldn't that be odd - to run the pipe under the property? It's fairly secluded property built on the grounds of an 1800s coal miners estate. I believe there used to be three tennis courts here at one point, so maybe an old land drain that was discovered while laying foundations and they've built over it. I guess i'll take a hose pipe to the front of the property and aim it down a downpipe there. If it backs up that could be it, otherwise who knows.... Maybe

Whilst digging a trial pit today for our structural engineer, for proposed extension works, I hit and cracked a clay pipe coming out through our foundations. I guess that's what those concrete blocks I removed prior were warning me of. As I exposed more of the pipe I uncovered a "joint" where the pipe was merely butted up against another section of pipe, and misaligned. This led me to believe this isn't a fluid carrying pipe and maybe just a duct. To double check I flushed all the toilets and emptied a bath to check for the sound or vibration of water flow - nothing. As the pipe was quite badly damaged and needed repair regardless, if in use, I broke off a section to inspect it internally. The pipe was choked full of silt/mud and felt like it may even have been blocked with cement as i poked back into the direction of the foundation. With the absence of a cable or pipe inside it doesn't appear to be a duct either. Inspecting under the floor inside the house there is a soil pipe that heads vertically down through the solum near where I would expect a pipe to be if it were the same pipe, but it's about 4ft away along the foundation. The connected toilets would have long since backed up if it were the same pipe. Feeling fairly confident the pipe is not in use I backfilled the hole. Now, it's obviously still bugging me a bit. Is it common to come across pipes that may have been abandoned and what about it being "joined" by merely butting up to another section of pipe? Cheers

Overthinking....me? My wife would like that comment I think in this instance the hearth we have chosen has upstands on the underside such that there will be hollow areas that will need bedded down the fill the hollows. Thanks Tony. I hear you on the sealer and it was something that was on my radar. I'll go with that then. Cheers!

I have no idea at the moment. I'll find out...:)

Great thanks. Would this be with or without the 6mm HardieBacker? Appreciate the thought Tony. The room will still have it's CH radiators as the primary heat source.

Hi folks, We are looking to install a balanced flue gas fire, this one in particular. This will be installed into a "false" chimney breast that I will construct and be housed within one of these chambers. The hearth and surround will be Agean Limestone and the issue I have is bedding down the hearth. Our floor is a suspended timber joist floor with 22mm tongue and groove chipboard. The joists run parrallel with the wall the fire will be sited against and there's about 5ft between floor level and the ground underneath. Ideal for running services in under there but not really possible to build up a solid base if there was only a couple of hundred mm under there. As chipboard is far from the best substrate my initial thoughts are to bed down some 6mm HardieBacker boards, cut to the exact size of the hearth, with a cement based flexible tile adhesive before screwing down. I could then bed the hearth onto this with the same adhesive (or sand/cement? not sure which would be best?). I would aim to strengthen the floor prior to starting any work by adding dwangs/noggins under the fireplace to aid minimising movement in that area, and screwing down. Any thoughts or advice on this approach would be greatly appreciated. Rough SkecthUp below minus any additional dwangs. Cheers

Hi all, Just a quick introduction. We bought this bungalow in the Glasgow area late last year and are working our way through renovating the entire property. The previous elderly owners had understandably let the place go somewhat and we've already uncovered a few surprises. I'm a sparky to trade and pretty handy at most stuff so will be carrying out as much of the renovations myself where possible; handing over to the pros where necessary. We have an extension proposal sitting with planning just now to extend out from the rear of the property to create a large kitchen dining area with glass gable, and also to convert what used to be the integral double garage at the front, into a master. The previous owner had previously converted this to a home office and built an external two storey double garage, but it doesn't flow well with the rest of the property. Some drawings attached below of existing and proposed alterations and one of our renders. Hoping to add to the forum where I can pick the brains of others when i'm stuck Cheers