ToughButterCup

The business case for self-build scaffolding (like Cuplok - other brnads available) is compelling. I've had mine for eight years now. While we're getting rid of building kit slowly, I'm loathe to sell our scaffolding. We have two indispensable stillages made out of the stuff. And its in use today because we are at last rendering. Read @Conor's last paragraph immediately above. If you've mastered the trick of lining everyone up and you are ready to go - fine - hire. But if not, put a few thousand aside.

If only I had just one job to do, I would/ could/ might/ should. But I'm still thinking about it. And Mishal ...

Bet the window cleaner doesn't charge much .....

For that job spec, hire one.....

Yes @joe90, I'll try both methods on the Piggery before I do it for real on the house. To Infinity and Beyond !

When work delivered is what they know to be below par, they don't derive any professional satisfaction. They deliver a detailed glimpse of themselves -their behaviour- to all who are willing to look at the signs. And because most people don't care to look, let alone form a valid professional judgement on the work presented, some trades folk - not all - simply don't bother. All the while forgetting that their work is what they are. For all the world to see. Doctors, plumbers, chefs, lecturers, typists [...] Thats the rationale for Professional Peer Review. Healthy, challenging, supportive when necessary. We all need a nudge sometimes. God knows I did (do). Which is one reason why I submit my cock-ups for examination here.

In this case @joe90, all the insulation is on the outside (about 200mm) , and therefore there is next to no chance of the drill being deflected. Inside start I think ...... 110mm of concrete 40mm beyond the outside of the block.

You Bad Boy . Everyone else..... he's just winding you all up. The chances of that ('...invariably...' ) being the case, is close to negative infinity.

Gonna over-think that one......😉

Boys, boys ...... here it is...... and joy of joy the instructions are in English! Legible, readable, well written English - wiv pictures, proper pictures taken by a photgrapher.... one with a camera and lighting system. Godda be grateful these days Thanks @Conor Less need for a pillar drill now.....

and It doesn't matter. Every thread generates a reaction in the original author's mind. And it's up to the thread originator (OP) to evaluate the responses. Even 'wrong' contributions -provided they are relevant- could well be useful . It's irrelevance that sometimes grates.

I suppose I mean that Self-Building makes the need to Plan For Failure very clear. Maybe not planning in a formal sense, but this thread shows the power of just asking others for an opinion (or plan) . I went from a state of 'Shit how am I going to do this ?' to -now- quiet confidence that I'll get it done resonably well. Just because the risk has been shared a bit.

I need to add another 'type' Just met an old geezer in his van. The conversation went like this .... Red van pulls up outside our place while I'm taking a delivery: the lorry is blocking the road so the van has to stop. Driver: (65 + , overalls, dusty driving cab, loads of half empty coffee cups on the dash, 3 days stubble where he consistently misses while shaving, invoices everywhere like confetti). Never met or even seen him before. Window winds down slowly (by hand) "Av yer had yer 'ip dun yet ?" I grin "Which one you on about ?" "Wa?" "I've just had my second one popped in .... end of March" "Me 'n all: in Kendal (hospital) wi' Mr Stewart" (The Worlds Best Orthopedic Surgeon) [....] "Aye lad, ah jus need me prostrate dun now 'an ah'll bee reet". Roars off using the van's clutch as an accelerator. I'm holding on to my withers laughing, and trying not to wet myself. Type? Lovely Old Tradesman Geezer

What I like most about her is the disarming way she skewers some Ministers....

That was a cruel post @SteamyTea, cruel I tell ya. I'm damaged for life now.

phone calls trips to the BM networking administration the costs associated with the mental stress of building research time the stress imposed on partnerships the effect of the build on children the time wasted on Build Hub 😉

Self building is as much a test of character as anything else. We can't control everything , so we have to keep up the pressure on ourselves to perform well. An impossible standard for others to match. So in attempting to work with others, disappointment is built-in to our job. Normal therefore. So we can plan for it. That's the theory anyway 😔

@SteamyTea, I didn't know that you are brilliant. Is it natural or did you have to work at it?

Here's what I have written about Durisol. There are 189 hits on this search (Search> Durisol > author search> @ToughButterCup ) - so I think it's fair to say I know my way around a Durisol block. I have made every single error there is to make on the system, from simple sloppiness, to under-ordering - to allowing a complete wall collapse. Blow-outs, some spectacular, others piffling. But it's hard to separate my initial incompetence and naivete from the merits or otherwise of the build system. I now - after eight years with the stuff - have absolutley no doubt whatever that an experienced builder who has built a few houses in the system can build a very airtight, highly insulated house with Durisol. No doubt at all. The principal issue is that the system is marketed as suitable for first-time - (and likely once only builders) I was (but am no longer) the very weak link in the chain . The cost of that experience has been bourne by my long-suffering family who have constantly believed in me, grinned and bore the substantial errors and ommissions, and continue to sing

OOOoooooffff keep calm Ian, keep calm. Shut yer eyes man, and recite the nine times table. Backwards (All my year 2 children could do that at the end of the academic year)

👨‍❤️‍👨 Working for you would be worse though..... trees are heavier than mortar

Hmmm, yes, I thought about that. It strikes me that I'll have the opportunity to make a deliberate mistake with a small diameter drill and then see how easy (or otherwise) it is to correct it. I'll drill some experimental holes on the piggery to see what happens.

Yes, I've seen a video of that technique. There's another similar video of someone who suspended a large open-faced hook on the drill shaft; lean one way and the hook travels towards the wall face, lean the other and the hook slides towards the drill. That's a good quick check, useful for things like large fence posts - but it has one disadvantage: it can't check for lateral accuracy. With all this excellent advice, I'm going to have to drill some perfect holes aren't I ? I'll drill some test holes as soon as I get the jig. And post here..... Thanks very much everyone.

Anyone ever told you, you're a genius? I'll need to think of a simple quick way of holding the threaded bar in exactly the correct alignment. How hard can that be? Yep, overthinking again I expect. But it's fun. Stops me feeling sorry for myself having worked as a renderer's bitch all bloody day yesterday. My back is Killing me. You assume @Iceverge that the wall is perfectly vertical in all eight ( two balconies) drilling spots. Naaaah, they ain't. Its the obious quick answer though. Thanks.

Exactly. I want to mitigate the potential for error by drilling from inside - out. The block has 40mm of 'wall' and then 110mm of concrete, the rest (on the way out of the house as it were) is insulation and so won't be likely to affect the direction of the drill. I've made an exact template of the glass juliet balcony, so all I have to do is to line up the centre lines of the door (currently a suicide door) and the glass balcony: and drill ..... Thanks @pocster, thats the principle I feel like using: mark out using the template fix a decent jig to the wall (the drill-guide as @Conor above suggests) adjust the drill guide for level and direction (torpedo level; thanks @TonyT and @MikeSharp01) take my prayer-mat out, face east drill swear repeat