Onoff

Tonight's mistake! Fitted the amber warning light that will flash as the gate opens. The black ring is 3D printed PLA, primed and sprayed black. The actual flashing beacon is nigh on the depth of a brick. I didn't like that, looked far too "council gritter". Probably shouldn't have stuck it in with CT1...bulb changing will be fun! Why did I do that? Didn't have any cheap clear silicone, could have got some tomorrow...by the same token could have re-printed in black PETG...sometimes I'm so impulsive! Still, it looks nice and pleased with the sheen on the bricks and flints from where I sprayed the concrete sealer on yesterday.

I've ordered some "bean string" to tie on the metal frame. Still in two minds as to whether to surround the patch with sleepers. Worried I'll create this dug over, "sterile"patch the slow worms won't be able to hunt in for slugs.

Just gerbils now?

Looks a good workspace. What's the story with that amp then, spec etc?

They are gorgeous here. The babies I found the other day were pure gold in colour with black around the neck. The bigger, older ones vary but generally a dark bronze. Not sure if there's different sub species etc here as we're in a bit of an isolated valley. Found a dead one a while back and it was silver like it had been sprayed from a can. Neighbour found a baby grass snake the other day and brought it in a bucket to show me as he wasn't sure what it was (ex inner city boy ) That was really cute. Vivid colours.

I was debating nematodes but the place is crawling with slow worms. It's like bloody Tremors here with them (and snakes). I didn't want to deplete their food source as in the slugs.

Rabbits, the odd hare, deer, badgers, possibly feral pigs. The puma is likely a rumour...

50 beans in little pots, in a multi purpose compost today. Good / bad, who knows? Aim is to grow them until end of May / the last frosts:

You can cut some say pir to the same size as a brick / block and build that as part of the wall. Then later remove and it'll give you access to the steelwork inside. Tbh I'd be fitting the hinges now and blocking around them.

Yeah, no doubt it'll grow in the telling and that the charge was in fact "Going well equipped".

Is it true you were apprehended in a Bristol city centre gents with a cordless drill and a set of these? Charged with "Going equipped!" wasn't it?

Yeah, at 200mm off the ground there's still a chance Tiny Tom could slip underneath I suppose...

I wish. They're recesses for photocells (meant to be surface mounted but I couldn't resist delicately cutting neat rectangles in the bricks). There'll be two horizontal beams inside and out, one about 200 and the other 700mm above the ground.

Reckon that's as clean as the pillar is getting. Chiselled off some stubborn mortar splatters and used some neat Disclean. Did the front, side and back. Fence side I'm not too fussed about. Did a trial fit of one of the lanterns just for effect. Thinking I put the video intercom too high now. Still, it might deter short trick or treaters come October! When it's dried out from it's acid wash & rinse I'll apply some of this, hopefully by spray: Got to cut 2 or 3 brick slips for around the control box too at some point.

It just is. It's not "fibreglass" like an old Robin Reliant that would burn like a torch. That had the glass fibre matting bonded together with highly flammable resins. Fibreglass fire rope is spun and weaved glass fibres. Think how a pane of glass won't catch fire, it's primarily the same stuff i.e high silicon based. It won't catch fire per se but periodically goes brittle and needs replacing. Have a read here under See full description of the "how to": https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224525996010

Decorative Cat 6 LAN cables...1st world problems eh! 😂 Decorative heatshrink?

How about a nice old train carriage?

It's 8.5 / 9kW... Why haven't I connected that? Well, she's filled (and I mean filled) the loft space where I need to run the conduit to the cu. If I bring it up it's "Can't you work around it?" "No, FO!" It's a big deal to move it out of the way apparently. Moans like f*** about my tools being in the house but won't commit to me building a decent workshop. I think it's a control thing. If there were no tools she'd have nothing to moan about. Imagine everytime I want to sand something I have to shift a pillar drill, band saw, drill boxes and welder just to open a site box. Her poor old man longed for a decent shed but the MiL always vetoed it. Like Howard from Last Of The Summer Wine but with no Marina on the horizon!

Nobody uses the bathroom, it's still too cold in there!

'Cos she's mental like her late mother. I want to dig the floor up in the stairs room. Can I just do half the floor she says! Given a clear run just watch me!

It's all about the journey & the Devil's in the detail!

Some thumbscrews in black PETG with little removable covers. Ordered some M5x16 A2 bolts to go in them. I popped the cover on and rubbed down on 120 then 80 grit wet and dry. They're to hold some decorative cover panels on the gate pillars that cover the electrical boxes. Shape wise, a nod to the Celtic Cross stainless bits a guy on the MIG welding forum did me a while back:

You don't understand! Clear the room, any room, back to bare bones and it should be easy and quick. Like the bathroom...

Can't you look at cladding that wall in a non combustible material like cement board cladding? Think that gets around it?

This one starts from a point of conflict! Bear with me whilst I have a rant! SWMBO has decided the youngest needs a chill out zone / room. (I don't btw disagree). This is destined to be the single, large 'ish downstairs bedroom circa 4m x 3m on the North corner or the house. Currently known as the "playroom", it's stacked to the brim with the kids toys, floor to ceiling in crates and on shelves, it's just been building up like an American hoarder's dream for the last 20+ years where she throws FA away! They haven't been able to play in it for years. It also smells like there's a dead mouse/rat underneath in the floor space. The original carpet in there is basically dust when you lift it up and there's I think two double sockets and that's it. The room is in fact larger, probably 4x4m. There's a stud wall been built forming a corridor with a wc at the end. This is what I have: Not shown above is that you can in fact walk straight from the hall to the WC corridor. Playroom door to the immediate left in the stud wall. This from way back when I had to replace the water main and re-route the single pipe CH around the bathroom refurb. This taken standing in the hall looking up the corridor: My plan was to gut it. Ceilings down, suspended floors got shot of, corridor a tad wider, build back up with UFH, internal wall insulation, new electrics etc. Then a new doorway in from the hall, block access from hall to corridor. Then divide the corridor into an ensuite possibly with shower and walk in wardrobe. So it'd look something like this, new doorway in from the hall: Considering this will likely become our bedroom as we get older it seemed like a good idea but oh no! I'd take too long, blah, blah, blah. Usual b@ll@cks. Instead of having some vision and idea about futureproofing we're doing things piecemeal! Instead of sitting down, budgetting then just clearing the place out and going for it in one hit..... Rant over.....we're going with her plan. I couldn't really give a to$$ as she's turning into the MiL but here goes: 3300mm between walls. 2650mm top of floorboards to u/s of ceiling. Rough plan is to drop a little framework screwed up into the ceiling joists above and have 2440mm high, 18mm thick MDF doors. A shhet weights just over 30KG. I need some cheap door gear and rails, any suggestions as to supplier? Is top hung / suspended or rolling on a bottom track best? I do actually have some old rollers of a sliding lorry curtain...wonder if they would fit inside some Unistrut. This needs to be quick and dirty so I can get up the pub: