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ToughButterCup

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Everything posted by ToughButterCup

  1. ToughButterCup
    Self interest requires self control. At so many levels and so many ways in this entire affair, self censorship has failed. It is too much to ask. The argument for independent high-standard regulation is compelling. Time to admit we got it wrong.
  2. ToughButterCup
    The company is indeed Helical Systems. Very helpful and prompt when last I contacted them.
  3. ToughButterCup
    I'd forgotten that sketch. In my case it wasn't the breaking top rail, rather the second rail, the below-knee-height one that did for me. And if I remember correctly, she did look after me well. But, at this remove, maybe that's fantasy.
  4. ToughButterCup
    The pilot drill size is critical Pete. Got it wrong once and the roof (lean-to) got wrenched off. There might be guidance somewhere about the correct pilot hole size.....
  5. ToughButterCup
    Wooden posts are fine for a couple of years; after that, you forget them and then, when you least suspect it, leaning on that particular wooden fence, drink in hand, romantic interlude warming up well, your eyes looking into the depths of your partners' , the thing breaks and you fall into a gorse bush. Not fantasy in my case. Fact. Gimme concrete every time.
  6. ToughButterCup
    Simple question: simple answer. Concrete posts. If ya wanna get fancy, then paint them.
  7. ToughButterCup
    I was also struggling to see what was complicated about it. But then, I'm only a Domestic Client ....
  8. ToughButterCup
    Our Winter Garden - outside the heated envelope of the house - is a steel-framed construction. It will be open to the elements, and intended as a filter for the light from the south: all the rooms open into it or have a window onto it (except two). Debbie's keen on gardening. Me? Hmmm. Lots of people have been round to poke and stare at the build, among them a couple of local builders..... Talking about the Winter Garden, I mention we have been told that the steel frame for the garden needs to be built by a CE marked and Certified company. Cue snorts of derision, sucking of teeth and pithy Lancastrian. Who's correct? The builders or the ones with PII (Professional Indemnity) cover? WinterGardenIllustration.pdf
  9. ToughButterCup
    Hmmm, bit like the Internet cabling which is alleged to be all copper. I have it on good authority, that aluminium is a common substitute.....
  10. ToughButterCup
    Occasionally we employ a local lad to do odd jobs round the site - help clear up, stack palettes and so on. Its been a couple of weeks since he came to work. On seeing the newly built house he asked what the blocks were made of. I explained they were made of wood chips, cementified and then pressed into shape and dried. Then they were stacked and filled with concrete. "So these is wood, is it?" "Yes" " Hmmm, aint never seen a log cabin built like that" Got any similar pearls of wisdom ?
  11. ToughButterCup
    @NSS, that looks really well. Dog's Gonads in fact.
  12. ToughButterCup
    @dpmiller, @JSHarris, @jamiehamy, @Peter M, @Onoff, @Bitpipe, @Crofter, @Temp, @Barney12 and all of you: you speak in tongues. Piccies, gimme piccies of what you's all gabblin' about; please!
  13. ToughButterCup
    I can't believe I gave mine away to my son. What a STUPID thing to do. The chances of me rescuing it now are zero. I could easily pinch it back, but it wouldn't be worth the years of grief. However, a Christmas Present plan opportunity presents itself: maybe it's not all bad....
  14. ToughButterCup
    Don't worry Faye! @Mrs Construction Channel, we're on your side.... we'll come and set you free!
  15. ToughButterCup
    Yes, I could tell that you were going to enjoy that: 'sod-it-I'll-do-it-myself' writ large all over that post a couple of weeks ago.....
  16. ToughButterCup
    Strikes me there's a good bit of doom and gloom about..... So, what are you most pleased about in your build or refurb? Not the place for moans. Not the place for groans. What puts a grin on your face when you go on site?
  17. ToughButterCup
    Whatever you shred wont need to be skipped will it? You can suppress weeds with the mulch. So £400 could be seen as a bargain, provided you stick to shredding. I find the only way to do that is to employ a teenager: I can't stand the job.
  18. ToughButterCup
    The thing that hooks me is the rye bread. I wish, however, they'd increase the range of cooked meats - mehr Wurst bitte!
  19. ToughButterCup
    It's the use to which anger is put that's important. The more creative, the better.
  20. ToughButterCup
    Frankly, I admire the tone of your post. I would be fizzing with anger. Ian
  21. ToughButterCup
    I must have spent an entire working week ferreting out errors of various sorts from the schedule, the drawings, the changed nomenclature, and the requirement that my quadriplegic mate WILL be be able to scoot around in and out of our house on his own without skinning his knuckles. Luckily @craig was sympathetic to that issue. But it only takes one cog in the wheel to make the odd simple error -typo- -poor transposition- to @arse the whole thing up. And I'm spending over £30k. As @Construction Channel points out, some disciplines within the building sector treat the trades with what -at my level- appears to be disdain at least on a par with this.
  22. ToughButterCup
    The number of little things I have picked up because of simply walking round, sharing a laugh and a joke, handing out iced water.... bit of encouragement, fetch, carry. Works for this team, might not for others
  23. ToughButterCup
    What a good idea! Good luck with the fitting. Ian
  24. ToughButterCup
    Our windows order is important partly because of the value of the order. And so the scrutiny of detail, intense. The whole process of creating an accurate order has been made so much more difficult because of the lack of attention to detail on the part of some involved in the administrative process. Notably not in the case of our supplier. Austrian company - nuff said. I am keen to reduce the sources of error, and, among other things I have decided to spray the window designation on each structural opening. With any luck when the company comes to fit the windows, the fitters won't have to ask which window goes where...... Which simple site-based practical strategies have you used to reduce the potential for error? I'm not thinking about high level stuff like Prince2. Just nuts and bolts practical stuff.
  25. ToughButterCup
    Thats exactly what we are trying to do. Its hard getting the paperwork out of our contractor, though. And as @Alphonsox says promptness 'pays' in terms of commitment to a longer term relationship.
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