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ToughButterCup

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Everything posted by ToughButterCup

  1. ToughButterCup
    I bought a puffer as you advised some time ago. But this time, I thought I'd be a smart-arse and get a compressor (my mate was selling his) and so it was 'any-excuse-to-use-it' time. From now on it's Drill Compressor blow Brush out Compressor blow Brush out Puffer In fact, just like it says on the tin. In pretty pictures for idiots like me who don't read. I think I'll adapt a resin nozzle for fitting on the end of the compressor gun so that the jets blow sideways too. Lesson learned. You could get a part time job as a teacher @Onoff.
  2. ToughButterCup
    Welcome indeed. You'll be aware that getting rid of water is the key to any build: all sorts of water: from interstitial condensation to foul waste. We'll follow your story with interest. Ian
  3. ToughButterCup
    Knowing which one to use and why, and much more important, why not to use the others. I'm thinking about (say) a BCO asking me which chemical anchor I have used - and being able to respond to the challenge 'Why didn't you use [xyz]?' And trying hard to avoid the @ProDave scenario outlined above. I've got a few chemical anchor jobs Wall plate for the main roof - (likely the glass capsule idea you outline above) Threaded bar for the edge protection fittings (M12) - might well drill right through the concrete, bolt and plate both sides instead. (Foolproof) Threaded bar for the rim joists (M14 / M16) In terms of making holes in concrete and using chemical anchors , I remembered @Onoff's advice to clean out the holes properly. So I bought a compressor and blasted the holes out thoroughly. Or so I thought. Debbie, bless her, suggested I clean the hole out with an old toothbrush as well. Cue embarrassment. Loads of secret crud came out. Further blasting, more crud still. @Onoff, thanks for the nudge about the pull tester. If I can hire one, great. If not I'll just drill right through the wall and put a large washer under a nut and lock nut. Overall, that'd be cheaper. Thanks very much (as always)
  4. ToughButterCup
    Thankfully SWMBO did ours the other day. I would now have been dead had it been the other way round. Dead. Has been. Ex-alive. Watching with interest
  5. ToughButterCup
    Man riding ? Auto-correct has a sense of humour ?
  6. ToughButterCup
    To date, I've only used Fischer. And I learned the nozzle game the hard way (geddit?) : planning to use a whole tube at once is a bit of a dark art isn't it? I'll look at the Hilti stuff and maybe try some, but I bet I end up taking @JSHarris advice. Our concrete is all bone dry. I know, it's just me: I like to know why I'm doing what I'm doing, and why I'm not doing what I might reasonably be expected to be doing. And that's not a recipe for an easy life.
  7. ToughButterCup
    Or perhaps I should have written: Choosing the correct one isn't easy I need to embed threaded bar in non-cracked concrete. That's why SEs and others say 'You need a chemical anchor'. Have you looked at the range of them on offer? Which does what for whom under what circumstances isn't made clear at all. So it's off on yet another electromagnetic adventure: and apart from suppliers websites (which I automatically distrust) there's precious little to engage an interested but skeptical customer. True enough, I did find this . But the authorship of the site isn't made clear and there's a lengthy disclaimer. (at the bottom of the page). I trust that just about as much as I trust Donald. Screwy's , TS, and local BM sites and others aren't interested in anything other than sales. Fischer do a technical support site (just a phone number), but they only focus on .... you guessed it. Why does styrene matter (as in styrene-free) ? Is generic stuff just as good as branded ? Who or what is Vinylester? (yes it's is a resin produced by the esterification of an epoxy resin with an unsaturated monocarboxylic acid. but what the Hell is that? What's the difference between high performance and normal stuff? Why is there such a price range? Cheap = bad, expensive = good ? What's good enough (for my job)? Does anyone know of a site which simplifies this mess of advertising claims erm, (sorry) , information ?
  8. ToughButterCup
    Scaffolding, with buried HERAS (rubber block) feet, scaff clips and effort. The key word is temporary isn't it? I'm assuming the end in mind is the Habitation Cert; pretty, nice later. Bury (fairly deep) HERAS feet at suitable intervals (second-hand £5 each) , and slot the standards in the central hole of each HERAS foot. Backfill the hole: no need to use concrete. Clip the ledger (handrail) as appropriate. You might well need brace the standards. That way, everything can be made to disappear (Kerpow!) later.
  9. ToughButterCup
    Since you are going to need scaffold later, try a bit of kwikstage. Buy four casters and you have yourself a mobile platform, like this.
  10. ToughButterCup
    @readiescards, how much time do you have? We are on Glacial Till overlaid by Made Ground. We like you are also on slope. The first thing I did with the digger I bought was to dig a deep hole (as deep as the arm would reach), mark and cover the hole with railway sleepers. And left it for a year. Each month, I'd take a photo of the water level in the bottom. As @ProDave suggests above, that job established the winter and summer water table. (For that year only: but it gave an indication of an average level at that location) We did the same at another location and the level was a little bit different, but not much. That exercise provides us with fairly hard evidence of where to put in land drains: and where to duct the water. On the basis of those results we have a plan for a 'wet area' for our GCNs. When that overflows, it'll trickle off into the surrounding fields.
  11. ToughButterCup
    Given that I'm deeply into the full-on DIY experience and DIY kwickstage experience to boot, the next practical challenge is to reduce the number of solo trips up and down the staging I have constructed. Which makes look interesting. My first thought is 'weather' I'm thinking of being creative with an suitably adapted empty plastic barrel pressed into service as a housing. But I bet someone has solved the problem before.....
  12. ToughButterCup
    The only reason I can see to replace my current helmet with another one (dropped and deeply scratched) is the slots which allow ear defenders to be 'parked' on the helmet, and visor be slotted to the front. I love the bump cap I bought for Debbie. Don't tell anyone, but I wear it when shes not on site. And nobody points and laughs. Mostly the bump cap does what it says: stops me bumping my noddle on the scaffold. Whereas my helmet is just big enough to make me duck a bit more than I normally do - slips around when I don't want it to; and while its quite light-weight its a bit of a pain. Mostly I'm on site on my own; mostly I nut myself gently (but painfully) on bits of scaffold. And nobody is going to drop a spanner on my head. Cap or helmet?
  13. ToughButterCup
    Well, ya learn summat every day
  14. ToughButterCup
    Yessir! I'd better get into the Regs hadn't I? Oh Gaaauuuud it never stops does it? Ian
  15. ToughButterCup
    Yes. Presumably they don't dwang in Wales? (This might well go downhill from here....)
  16. ToughButterCup
    Get yourself a twisting tool as suggested by @JSHarris. I have had one for years and I use it regularly. You can more than double the strength of wire when you use it to twist a long length, or just tie off the short ends super quickly. It takes a bit of a knack getting used to, initially you break (over strain) a few strands, but you soon get a feel for when you're going to break the wire.
  17. ToughButterCup
    At the risk of sounding like I know what I'm talking about, should I dwang my joists? All those in favour say 'Aye', all those against say 'Nay'. Where's he dug that up from then? Here This is the relevant passage. '... The slimmer JJI joists have been plated at their ends and dwanged (horizontal braces) to form a rigid structure. Two thicknesses of 12mm plywood will cover the ends, followed by the green vapour membrane being folded up over to give a vapour barrier. Insulation board of 140mm thickness will be fixed on top of that to bring it flush with the Durisol blocks below.... ( https://edinkist.wordpress.com/diary-of-the-build/)
  18. ToughButterCup
    Thanks very much indeed. ..... Ian
  19. ToughButterCup
    Yer a star! Cheers! Ian
  20. ToughButterCup
    Sometimes you bump into really interesting stuff online..... like this (scroll down to the section headed Wall-Plate) Here's the relevant passage '...In order to make the house air-tight, the wall plates have been installed over a polythene membrane, which is shown tacked down until the construction has proceeded to the point where it can be folded up and over the plywood which will soon cover the ends of the joists. Ultimately it will seal against the plywood decking which will be laid on top of the joists....' (https://edinkist.wordpress.com/diary-of-the-build/) To ensure air-tightness at the wall-plate roof interface, is this method (putting the wall plate on top of a polythene membrane) common? I feel some phone calls coming on.
  21. ToughButterCup
    I never let that stop me
  22. ToughButterCup
    The Durisol rep dropped in on his way to another customer yesterday. He (says he) has work booked until November next year. And can't both recruit and retain staff. Unless, like him his family are fully involved, in the Gig Economy, you have little chance of keeping good staff. That's what'd kill off the notion of a career. Off out now to have another dose of the full-on DIY experience. (Pssst, know a good roofer who'll work for next to nowt? )
  23. ToughButterCup
    Here you are.....
  24. ToughButterCup
    Thanks @Alexphd1; here as a direct result of your post earlier is my little mobile work platform. Thanks very much indeed. I cannot tell you how much difference having a mobile work platform makes to our work schedule, and my confidence in getting the job done. It is already clear that having mobile work platforms will have a significant impact on the build. I am going to build four. Thank you. Ian
  25. ToughButterCup
    Depends what you call a career. The turbulence to which you refer has hit us almost as hard as flying a small microlight downwind of Preston on a hot Summer's afternoon: the thermic activity there can be vicious. Two building business owners have spoken to me this week of the rate of staff turnover in their small companies: both laughed outright when I told them of our woes in terms of reliable staffing 'If we cant get the staff, then you'll have a really hard job' So now, I have a second (fourth?) career. Building a house. I didn't think I could drive a digger: now I can (quite well, I think). I had no idea about planning: now I do. I had never mixed concrete before: now I can do all sorts of stuff I never dreamed of with it. H+S was a closed book to me: it still is mostly. I hadn't a clue about scaffolding: now I have about £7k's worth and have a sensible, safe structure to work from. I had no idea about levels, @nod came and helped me out; now I can do it for myself, I hadn't worked outside for 21 days at a stretch since the 1970s: now I often do. I had no idea how to build a roof, until with a bit of help, I did (still un-tiled). Another roof coming up. I had no idea how to build a Durisol wall: now I can do so and take pleasure in doing it right. I feel sure that I am going to be able to put in our first floor - never done so, but in a month or so from now, I'll have everything in place to do it well. In doing all of the above, I have saved a good deal of money - at a conservative guess, about the average UK salary. A career? Nearly.
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