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ToughButterCup

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Everything posted by ToughButterCup

  1. ToughButterCup
    It's right on the roadside for God's sake. Wouldn't want the newts traumatised would we?
  2. ToughButterCup
    I haven't forgotten @Russell griffiths...... just wait, revenge is on its way
  3. ToughButterCup
    What, my weder can cut tooooooooooooooo? How? When? How much? Honest? No, I mean really.......
  4. ToughButterCup
    God, don't encourage her lads..............
  5. ToughButterCup
    Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we decided not to trust even one block laid by the original builders. And that means treating the Durisol like, well, the wall at Blackpool sea front. I know, it's tantamount to an admission of defeat. But do we want a wall we can trust or not? Short of scanning each block for integrity (well nigh impossible) there's nowt else we can do. Have a look at those lovely lengths of threaded bar fastening the OSB to a similar support structure the other side of the wall. My God I can cut and trim threaded bar to size at speed now. And in doing so have presented myself with 60 cold bridges. Poo. Here are two ideas that we have come up with to fettle the issue. A few hours after the pour, undo the nut on the outside (insulation side of the ICF) and tap the threaded bar back in (say) 60 mm, and fill with foam. Allow the concrete to cure. Remove the sheeting, and drill back the bar from the inside this time. Fill with foam. Leave it. Allow to cure. Drill out 120 (both sides of 60 bars) to a depth of 60 mm, fill with foam Has anyone got any bright ideas? Please? Hope so Ian
  6. ToughButterCup
    Mum's the word.
  7. ToughButterCup
    That does it.....
  8. ToughButterCup
    The purpose of a Phase 1 study is to assess whether or not to do a more thorough survey. By another name, a cost reduction exercise. You may find precisely nothing needs doing. Let's hope so. But why would you want to submit an application for a lead-soaked patch of made ground? Or landfill that leeches cyanurates? I am lucky enough to live on a heart-breakingly beautiful patch of land, that was filled with damson trees. On made ground. (Hear the warning bells "Made Ground") On a row of four workers cottage built to house the families who built the local canal. A tiny hamlet straight off a picture postcard. Our Phase 1 survey found Weak made ground Glacial Till So, we had a Phase 2 study done. Why? How deep was the Made Ground on top of the glacial till? Were there any other issues we needed to know about? As it turned out we had lead to deal with too. Not much, but lead is lead, and I don't want that in my lettuce. Yes, I can. Get several quotes and do it. Just do it. Here's what doing the soil survey 'did' for us.... Enabled us to send two charlatan Would Drainage 'experts' packing when they tried to sell us a drainage system based on an inadequate Percolation Test I knew exactly what was under the ground. Bastards. Helped us dismiss several Piling 'Experts' when they turned up chanting "£22 thousand pounds mate" while deriding the relevance of soil surveys "Buuuut ah'll tell thee what meeert, 'ahve gorra contact as'll do yer wun fer next ter nowt". Bastards Took the wind out of the company we eventually used for piling when I told them we already had the detailed Phase 1 and 2 reports along with a soil profile: the piling company wanted to charge a good deal more (because they needed their agency cut for their 'partner' company) Eventually we paid £6,500 for piles - most companies wanted at least £15k. Bastards. Told the ground workers exactly where to get off in terms of describing exactly where the water table is. Teeth sucking estimates about how dodgy it is 'roun' yer' Bastards Identified exactly where to put our soak away Happy Chappie A soil survey is a risk reduction strategy. It isn't foolproof. But it helps you plan, and it helps weed out the inevitable charlatans (bastards) that home-in on self builders. Just do it. Ian
  9. 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.
  10. 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?
  11. 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?
  12. ToughButterCup
    Wot, no pics yet?
  13. ToughButterCup
    You know what you are doing. I don't.
  14. 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.)
  15. 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.
  16. 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.
  17. 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.
  18. ToughButterCup
    Thanks for the offer @Pete, mine was sourced from just round the corner.... Hope all is well with your build Ian
  19. 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.
  20. ToughButterCup
    No pressure then.
  21. 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)
  22. 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"
  23. ToughButterCup
    Yer just jealous aren't ya, Face it.....
  24. 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......
  25. ToughButterCup
    Mmmm, just foam won't do then will it. Pity. And it's piddling down here now...
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