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ToughButterCup

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Everything posted by ToughButterCup

  1. ToughButterCup
    The issue with both of them is running costs. Life has moved on since they were 'normal' (Posy Simmonds, Tresodit , jus' douun 'n road from @SteamyTea) But man, for your place (palace) it suits the image. You can slow roast a Gremlin in one: indeed my mum once forgot she had put the best part if one of our billy goat kids in the slow bit for a complete day and night: nowt much happened as a result. It was delicious. And there'd be no need in your place for any other heat source.
  2. ToughButterCup
    Hey @Onoff, I'd never heard of Gruffalo Board before. That's some stuff innit? Price to match too. Well, @Thilo, if you're a good enough welder ('Shume shay I'm a Welding God' not bragging or anything) you could weld a bit of chequer plate in the right places..... maybe?
  3. ToughButterCup
    Welcome! An independent craftsman. You've got me hooked. The word Craftsman. Being of German extraction, I know that they identify craftspeople by category: so for example you have [directly translated] 'Trained Chimney Sweep' or 'Trained Table Maker' . There, crafts people are highly regarded. But for all that 'attention to detail' there is a tendency to inflexibility. Some you win, some you lose. What would you say your craft is?
  4. ToughButterCup
    Wot, no pics yet?
  5. ToughButterCup
    You know what you are doing. I don't.
  6. ToughButterCup
    But the industry has transformed me. I am never going to pay promptly. I have Debbie to thank for not paying the invoice as soon as presented - I'd have been out of my mind with anger had I paid the bill. I am going to trust my instincts more, and, if I even smell a hint of poor practice (very politely and carefully), I'll canvas a range of opinion on the quality of the job done. Debbie and I would rather camp in an unfinished house than put ourselves through the poor practice mincer again. Thank God for @Stones advice on Brinno cameras. I have easily presentable evidence to anyone that wants to see it. (I'm thinking of putting it all on a YooChube Channel a la @Construction Channel, and linking to it here.)
  7. ToughButterCup
    Very loyal of you Jack, but what really happened was..... We went on a days training course, architect, the boss and me, and weighed the job up. We decided on paying day rate because it felt more fair, but that we would review that decision weekly. Which for a time we did. Durisol came out and did a days training on site with the whole team. In the trainer's view some of the lads 'had it', others didn't. So far so normal. Add into the mix a boss who, at key points decides to go away on his own - for hours and sometimes days at a time and you have a staff who are getting 'restive' . He was incommunicado. Then twice in quick succession the whole team went away for a fortnight; and on one of those trips the wind blew. (the wall down: the sole cause of the wall falling down was in my view, the exceptionally turbulent easterly.) On their return, they all got a huge evidence-based bollocking from me about standards. That set teeth on edge. Because (as @SteamyTea hinted) they didn't want to live with their mistakes. I pointed out that I expected mistakes, and that's why they were being paid day rate. The boss promptly left the site; the lads were seething I think. To hear 'We don't do Durisol' as a response was a tipping point. It was three issues occurring simultaneously; the boss leaving , his '' unreachableness" the unfamiliarity of the material, and generally poor personal standards of workmanship that all worked together to get them sacked. They'd also left a job in Cornwall the night before and had got here at 0300. So, no sleep either. South Lancashire does what it does, without much thought for change. Certainly no appetite for change and novelty. It's too comfortable. Not on my cash. That rather large invoice can remain on the table, unpaid until I can be, on the basis of evidence, convinced otherwise.
  8. ToughButterCup
    Moving on is the name of this game isn't it? No sooner has one issue been fettled than the next 2 sit there leering at you. I haven't quite lost touch with how lucky we are to be able to build. I am reminded every day by my neighbours who have been refused permission to build. It must be galling for them to see progress on the plot next to theirs. And official refusal for their own hopes.
  9. ToughButterCup
    Frankly, I'm not surprised. It's the only place -in the world- where, showering after a lengthy saunter underground with the club members, that the blokes were (still are perhaps?) joined by the girls in the showers (1973). Nobody even flickered the tiniest reaction. I kept my back to the wall. And my eyes to the ground. I lathered up as much as I could. Reprobates all.
  10. ToughButterCup
    Thanks for the offer @Pete, mine was sourced from just round the corner.... Hope all is well with your build Ian
  11. ToughButterCup
    Sod it. Found another leak in the container today. @Ferdinand came round on a visit : looked at the container and talked soft, soothing things - like " It's perfect for ventilation" He may have a point. So I went off and practised welding the phrase: "I am a Welding God" on some spare bits of angle iron. And got some super-heated spatter stuck between my boot and my foot for my trouble. This Darth Vader swore loudly. People walking past were treated to the view of me sitting on the edge of the container welding, both feet dangling over the edge: one foot with a boot on, the other bare with a stonking blister on my sole. I couldn't see their reaction in any great detail. But they'll be talking about it in Forton for years to come.
  12. ToughButterCup
    No pressure then.
  13. ToughButterCup
    That's plan Stan. And since according to some on here, I'm a lightweight welder, it won't matter will it ( @Russell griffiths)
  14. ToughButterCup
    I'm on my way to godliness, one failed weld at a time. So far, on this job, I have managed to burn my wrist and get some spatter in my T shirt , and coat my watch glass with small flecks of something. And weld nothing. Because it started raining. People (well, little boys) walking past (the container is very close to a small lane) seem to think its OK to talk about an eejit sitting on top of a container with a welding mask on and say, "Look mummy there's Darth Vader"
  15. ToughButterCup
    Yer just jealous aren't ya, Face it.....
  16. ToughButterCup
    If I could find a sodding wheelbarrow with run-flat tyres, they are always going down on me. And that means I just buy a new wheelbarrow......
  17. ToughButterCup
    Mmmm, just foam won't do then will it. Pity. And it's piddling down here now...
  18. ToughButterCup
    Ha! That's tomorrow morning sorted, then. Thanks.
  19. ToughButterCup
    Well, I use a cart already and I'm sixty something. It's brilliant. It can take 100kg, has flop-down sides, and front or rear (depends how you look at it ) steering, just the ticket. If it was stolen I'd order another that day
  20. ToughButterCup
    I got some inspiration from you all....... I bought another container yay! Trouble is it's a bit rusty in parts. So, scorched by the heat of my own brilliance at welding , I got the grinder out and had a happy half hour getting this far.. Now even I know that ain't good enough, level enough, bright enough, so I chickened out I am deeply ashamed and am off to the pub early to drown my sorrows and incompetence. Thing is, do I cut a piece out, and then weld over the top? Or do I just grind away until there's enough bright metal to which to weld (I'm stick welding)? Please tell me foam will be fine. Have a productive weekend. Ian
  21. ToughButterCup
    There is absolutely nothing wrong with Durisol. If an idiot uses it badly, it breaks. Just like a BMW breaks if you smash it against a wall. A disaffected oaf beat the hell out of the blocks to line them up instead of laying them carefully in the first place, or relay them properly. When I challenged him, he stopped belting them for a few minutes. I have video evidence of him beating the hell out of the blocks and of me telling him not to and, subsequently when he thought I was not there, of him ignoring my instruction. He knew he was being videoed as he had had been videoed every day he came to Salamander Cottage . He just couldn't have given a toss. Thank God for @Stones advice about Brinno time lapse cameras. Properly laid and handled Durisol is fine. But if you beat the shit out of anything for long enough it will break. When the oaf told me directly "We don't do Durisol" and refused to lay blocks to a line, I sacked him on the spot. And sacked the company the next day. If Durisol was unreliable, the product would have failed long ago. There's just about nothing anyone can do about the coincidence of an absent, uncontactable MD and a disaffected, idiotic member of staff. What he did amounted to criminal damage. Cost overall? 2 weeks' delay and a few hundred quid.
  22. ToughButterCup
    Well, there you have it. Worry-free and expensive. Or cheap and potentially ruinous. Ian
  23. ToughButterCup
    Pretty standard stuff. A few of us on BH use pumping stations; use the search box and look for posts that contain terms related to pumping, or pumping station or similar (put in the odd deliberate spelling mistake) Whatever you do (and the pun is not intended, but it's apposite) bottom this out before submitting an application. It is not uncommon for people to build without giving too much thought to their foul drainage because it stinks. And so place themselves in a world of soft and smelly stuff. It stinks not to think it through that's what. You have to follow the  General Binding Rules. Take it to bed with you and read it thoroughly, read it on the loo, read it on the train, read it on the bus, read it on the beach, and be sure to refer to it closely when talking to company reps. That'll keep everything smelling sweet. Ian
  24. ToughButterCup
    Caution, caution, caution. Interesting issue to get my teeth into when I have a spare few minutes today. To start with I'll ring my scaffy's boss, and see what he has to say Get back to this sometime today Ian
  25. ToughButterCup
    Woofers here
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