Onoff

Throw nothing away! I knew that bag of yellow painted, batten off cuts would come in handy when I put them in the existing shed, (to take up space), 10 years ago! All level pegged, I'll get a nom 3" of hardcore in there which I'll whack down. A couple more barrows of soil to be taken out from off the high spots.

More piddly little bolts in shear! ? Tipping loop to be added next, fire up the Hilmor!

I don't think tentative tiptoeing on bloodied feet will cause much to loosen. I'm referring to those lucky enough to escape, only to be haunted by a lifetime of memories of what went on. (I still wake up screaming). On a serious note.....I have frequently seen water get in and around the expansion anchor, freeze/thaw etc and go loose. Could be an issue in that side wall. Usual to put a good ring of silicone around the bolt then push whatever you're fixing onto it.

Ta. Conscious of that. Getting a hankering for beer which I imagine is a good sign but doubt I could taste it. Dosed a tuna & cheese toastie earlier with extra hot chilli sauce. Couldn't taste a thing, just texture is all you get. Going to do a blind test with some crisps in a while. Just really cos I like crisps. Results to follow! ?

Just done the half bag up the slope, did I say half bag? ? Sweat pouring out of me, gasping and my left side chest weakness saying hello! What doesn't kill me etc! Bloody trooper I am! Suppose I'd better check for levels, dig out a bit if necessary and find some shuttering. To some extent that's going to be dictated by what I make the walls from. I'm rather tempted to shutter and cast the dwarf walls once I get the base down. Or I could hunt round for some stainless bolts and resin some studs into the old slab edge.....

The 13mm hole goes all the way through the post? Drill it at 13mm and if it's too hard going in whack the pointy end from the other side using a 12mm bolt or bit of studding as a drift.

I'm going to cast a base. It'll be done with integral waterproofer and a sheet of A142 mesh I have here. Is there any poor man's technique to do a water bar detail? If I leave a groove in the slab where the dwarf wall is going? In all honesty I'll likely just leave a 6" gap, stick a membrane against the dwarf wall so it goes down past the slab and back fill with pea shingle.

...oh and the mixer stand is still knackered.

Still banished. I tested positive Tues 14th still. I'll do another test today. Still waiting for the PCR results. Still don't feel 100%. Annoying cough last night that did go, woke up a little snotty with a mild headache. I wouldn't recommend it tbh. Still, today I've to barrow half a jumbo bag of ballast 150' (I measured it) uphill to the base. Then my neighbour is going to back his trailer up to our adjoining boundary and I've got to shift 8 bags of dust and another metre of ballast to my side. Then knock up some shuttering, resin in some studs to join the existing slab etc. Should keep me out of the house!

Sorted. Pretty good with just that brace across the rear. Spanish winch:

Not sure where I'm going but I've started getting ready. Got a jumbo bag of ballast and 8 bags of dust. Mixer needs some work...

Worst case they'll f**k up and spin in the hole. Then, drill out to 14mm, clean the hole...and use resin! ? Edit: If you can get the spinning anchors out of course.

The FFX ones say fixing thickness 6 - 25mm. The RS data sheet says 10mm for them. On that basis go with the FFX ones. (Resin is so much easier! Sure you'll waste a bit and go thru a few mixing nozzles until you get the hang. If you were nearer and I didn't have the dreaded Covid lurgi you could have borrowed my gun, brush, puffer etc).

Probably don't want to pay for Gr80 stainless fixings so they're akin to 8.8 for tensile strength! Shareholders etc.

Talking ball park then to achieve similar tensile strength to a mild steel 8.8 you want to aim for A2-80 or A4-80 if using stainless. The 80 bring a higher strength that 70. A2 and A4 refers to the corrosion resistance properties. A4 basically the best, for marine and harsh chemical environments. Those fasteners I linked are 316 which is aka A4 so top flight corrosion resistance. They'll be good.

I'm sad that I look at railway stations and car park barriers, handrails etc. A nice stainless feature fixed with mild steel studs, leaching rust everywhere!

Fyi these are all galvanised fixings a few years old. The one on the left stamped 4.6 a lower tensile grade that the 8.8 on the right. Treat any unstamped bolt as the lowest grade unless proven otherwise. You can see some have a little rust on them. Periodic spannering may damage the galv coating on the head. Similarly you can see rust where a couple passed through other steel plates and moisture would have lodged. These are bright zinc plated bolts, much shinier, not as good as galv: You can also get a "yellow zinc" finish. Slightly better than bright zinc plated...but still w@nk for this! ?

Does one stringer sit flat against the wall or is is spaced off in any way?

It's deliberate so he can listen for escapees.

I think they're w@nk. For the few quid it'll cost I'd go stainless. https://www.orbitalfasteners.co.uk/products/m12x7075-sleeve-anchor-stst Then what do I know having worked on all forms of holding down units for man riding equipment, staircases and ladders etc for 40 years? ?

Are the fixings they supplied with the stairs stainless steel? On the head of the bolt it'll be be stamped say "A2-70", best is "A4-80". If mild steel then I would hope they'll be stamped "8.8". Similarly I'd expect galvanised fixings rather than bright zinc plated for this.

If your fixings are stainless they'll likely say "A2" on them or the packet. You can tell if they're stainless pretty well by putting a magnet on them. If it sticks they're not stainless. Is it painted to a particular RAL number? Best start is to get some polyester powder coat touch up pens or better a pot of touch up paint from whoever did the PPC. The use the same paint powder in a solvent so it matches exactly. You can get it from 3rd parties online but they expect you to have some powder. Some of course will sell you the powder. The touch up paint pots have a little brush in like for solvent weld. If you just want to get on and do it then drill your hole, small brush, zinc rich primer and let it dry for a bit. If you go brush then any anti corrosion primer ideally with a zinc base. I see TS do a Rustin's one. At work we'd use Galvafroid generally on steelwork or Zinga sometimes. I say brush rather than a spray but I use the Pro-Cote Cold Galv Spray from Toolstation a lot for my various mad projects and garden repairs (at work too tbh). If you feel you can spray in the holes accurate enough without overspray (or mask up). I'd still probably spray. For this I might even splash out in some Zinc 182 spray (Halfords do it). It's good stuff. Let it dry in the hole. The Pro-Cote stuff dries real quick btw. Slap some grease in there, nut it up with a smear of anti seize on the threads. Go round later and wipe any excess off if it annoys you. For ongoing protection around the fixings a squirt of ACF-50. Periodically check the torque too.

With the top lip I was getting at there don't appear to be any pre drilled holes for fixing to the lip. If you drill anything powder coated you'll break the skin and water will get underneath. I've seen it so many times, PPC just lifting in sheets and rusty steel underneath. If you do have to drill extra holes @pocster then you need to clean the steel where you've drilled and touch up the coating. They may have given you a touch up pot? Tbh I'd pack round the hole with grease and just wipe off when nutted up. For all other fixings I'd be smearing the threads with aluminium based anti seize paste and dropping the torque settings a tad.

Doesn't the above "hook" over the concrete lip at the top? Are there any holes so you can fix in place? The stringer tops then connect to those slots don't they? What's the finish? If powder coat over plain steel without the steel being zinc flame sprayed or galvanised then that's not the best finish for longevity.