ToughButterCup

No @Pocster, wash your mouth out. Rong. Not paying attention to @SteamyTeas post. Bad Boy. Stand in the corner. The side with the Bevel is down . Fewer dimples. Why? Cos the bevels release the mold more easily.

@SteamyTea strikes again ..... There is a bevel folks ... A BEVEL I tell ya ! I hate it when @SteamyTea is right.

That's taken all the fun out of that one then hasn't it

Shoulda known better... Utility paving slabs often have different dimple patterns on each side because one side is typically designed as the "top" surface with finer, closer-set dimples for a non-slip finish, while the coarser, more widely spaced dimples on the underside are a result of the manufacturing process (sitting on the mould). (Google Gemini Downloaded July 2025)

Woooohooooo, big guns ( @saveasteading) . are at it now..... Time for some close-up dimple pics - The argument now is; some dimples are harder than others. Hard dimples down then... Some dimples do, some dimples don't Some dimples need a lot of wearing, some dimples don't Some do, some don't and some dimples lie .... (Apologies Racey) Pics in a minnit

Well, class of 25, I'm disappointed in you all. And as for you @TerryE, I am particularly worried at your sudden lack of nerdery. Almost as bad as that @SteamyTea fella. At least he had a (serving) suggestion - look for a taper. And why @S2D2 has the temerity to post at all is beyond me. No experience, but a sharp eye I see. @G and J concerned about how pretty it all should be. Thinks we're all going to be looking at our feet every time we step on a paving stone. So arty farty. So superficial Hmmm, must understand wimmin like my wife well. Both sides have dimples: dimples I tell you. Why the differing dimple density? It's such a simple question and yet the BH hive mind doesn't know. Ha! I'm delighted Where's @Onoff when you need him.? Or Jezza?

That's just exactly the problem both of you. Both sides have dimples. Side A has more dimples than side B. Or in your words @SteamyTea, they are stamped out, but the stamps are dissimilar. Why?

tell me which is the right way up for these please. Notice I'm only asking you all to decide which is the top side of any of the slabs I've just had delivered. Because given that, even I can just about work out which face should be on the bottom There are no indicators anywhere round the edge of the slabs. This one (A) Top - side ? [ more dimples] or This one (B) Top side? [fewer dimples] And because I'm a teacher, please when you respond, show your workings for more marks. And a biscuit if you agree with SWMBO. 😜

Butt. Because a butt joint was complicated enough for me.

Government Services (any services) involve making judgements. That means applying a decision making process. People make decisions. And errors. Erroneous the outcome might be, but it's still a service. Errors are normal. Hence Risk Analysis.

And how long does the average applicant take to obtain Planning Permission?

And someone forgot to test the seals at the temperatures that were to be expected on the 1980s rocket launch (Challenger 1980s ?) On that cock-up, people died. Whatever the discipline, thinking systems through properly takes talented people lots of time to get things right. And everyone makes mistakes. Its just that some fooketyfookups are more visible than others. And its great fun kicking Local Authorities. Newsworthy. Try underfunding your business to the extent that LAs have been over the last decade or more - and then see how many wheels fall off your wagon.

The is such a thing as leaks which , although actually a leak - isn't leaking visibly. In other words a leak which is not-a-leak? So the word you are looking for @Pocster is - yet - Its good fun messing with your head. You seem to take it well.

No. But pay something - I'd feel like £200 is enough. List the problems in detail. Get a (proper) estimate from a builder on how much it'll cost to put it right. Not just a 'sound-of-air-being-sucked-through-teeth quote' ( Because the original builder will think you're lying) Show that estimate to your 'builder' Negotiate. The workmanship is dreadful.

No, you aren't. Don't confuse disappointment with failure. The one thing you can't do is un-know the idea that's walking hobnail round inside your head ( and will do for a long time yet) . Nobody can take the idea away from you. Not even you. Our place was built 35 years after the initial intention to build took hold of us - a mere 10 of those years actually building the fabric of the place. ie. a 25 year wait, a 25 year ruminate, a 25 year marinade, a 25 year itch So you are NOT a failure- yet. Plan.

Yeah ... right. 🤔 I give you 10 days at the best Next build being planned I bet ....

A picture is worth a 1000 words - helps us to help you....

Morning. ...daunting...? Naaah. 'S easy. Just start somewhere and keep going to the end. Easy. And if you need some walk-on glazing, you'll soon know where to go. Brizzle. Just note my signature line eh....... You are very welcome

Bugger. Yes. Whats it called?

No. It took me ages to work out that the only thing that matters is focus..... focus on the leading edge of the bucket. Vertical or not doesn't matter. Grading is the one of the hardest skills. And 10mm gravel is far harder than 2" stone. Good luck.

Exactly. The course you refer to is about ticks on a permit - required not by employers, but their insurance company. I'm ten years in to digging with a digga. The biggest single revelation came from the difference between a cheaper digger (that I had bought) and using a different (hired) machine - but one with proportional controls. Suddenly smoothing a dug-over surface was easier: inching a heavy weight more accurate : knocking a fence post into the ground a breeze. Old, cheap machines teach you in the same way that a student-bought car teaches about driving. It's 'hard work' switching the windscreen wiper on and off when there's drizzle but no rain. Slack gearing and slop in an old digger makes everything harder. But it teaches. So @Alan Ambrose you are right, you will. By the way, I had a succession of mates all coming round to 'play' on my digger. So I set them some challenges ( because they'd ruin any real work) - pick up a garden gnome was fun. In a weird way

I couldn't agree more. The right tradespeople who are - trustworthy, open, experienced and handle communication well make the difference between a hard slog and getting on with it. It's finding them. And there's your time budget ... ticking away - the most silent of thieves

Not a bad estimate of what has happened to us - stretched over ten years. But we have the house of our dreams. (nearly) 🫣

Your project (any project) has four main aspects (sometimes called 'pillars' in management speak) Scope, Time, Cost, and Quality The only one not mentioned above is Time. Your question is this doable is YES. Stretch the Time aspect above and you can do anything.

The problem is not the plan : its the word 'best '. Best for whom? You? The buyer? Both? Only you (both?) can decide. The process of making that decision is difficult and requires lots of work - lots more than I had ever imagined. Because - I have learned - people 'see' things in different ways. Not everyone is comfortable with a plan. Not everyone can understand a 3D plan. Not everyone bothers to read words on a page and think about them. Some can only say whether they like something when they see it for real for the first time. Some like images from magazines and can say 'I like that ' . Some can point at a display at an exhibition and say 'Thats for me' , but be 'unseeing' until then. One way to start the decision making process is to list the things that you do not want.