Onoff

I could buy flint panels off the shelf, trim them down and fit those. However.....all of these flints going in were collected by SWMBO's late cousin, a keen amateur geologist. He saw something in each be it a fossil, quartz etc. They're thus being used for sentimental reasons. To be referred to as "Martin's Flints". The fact I've never played with lime mortar is just a bonus!

Debating sticking at 2:1 and adding some buff coloured, lime resistant mortar tone.

Taking you a bit off track here @zoothorn but in the States they're quite big on using "expanding foam" for their fence posts. Available here too now, this is just one make, Sika do similar. Lots of YouTube vids on it. Interesting if nothing else though I'd never use it on a gate post that's subect to probably higher loads than a fence post. https://www.newventureproducts.co.uk/osmo-natural-finishes/424-osmo-post-fix

The: 1 lime 1.5 sharp 0.5 soft builders ...mix isn't bad colour wise but weaker seemingly than just 2 sharp. If I add 0.5 white cement to this won't it just look "whiter" (albeit it'll be stronger I guess)? I might just stick with the 1 lime:2 sharp sand and accept the contrast. Oddly it seems to have promise. You can see/feel how it will flex and self heal. All new to me this no cement lark! I think as long as I have neatly defined edges between brickwork and flint panels it might look ok. That brings me back to considering having stainless angle trim around the flint panels... ?

I tipped out the two test trays yesterday afternoon. Both still very damp of course and the mixture in both, "crumbly" between the fingers. The mixes are such that I could break the samples in half by hand easy enough. So tipped out they've been able to dry out a bit more overnight. For each sample there's half with the topside facing up and half with the damp bottom facing up. Doing the "fingernail" test and the one on the right, that was just 1 lime :2 sharp sand seems harder to dig into. More like what you'd expect on a church, old flint building etc. The one on the left, the 1 lime : 1.5 sharp : 0.5 soft (for colour), although more of a mortar colour, well it seems softer and you can gouge it with your nail easier. I'm wondering if there's an option to up the lime content (if that's what increases strength) but still make it less white? Hope that makes sense! Or should I just give the samples a few more days to dry out as in will everything just get harder with time? Cheers

That's handy, I've got miles of red sleeving!

@scottishjohn has plenty of experience of ST.

So can we go back to red and black now?

I used Icantaffordthosesoi Castmyown Stone Ltd...

Does sound like you've made it a bit too wet in that case. If it's that watery it won't set that quick so sling more in I would.

As Frankie said... Relax! Nowt you can do about it now.

Also worth trying to ensure that your eventual 2 posts will be parallel to each other and not twisted. Just put a string on the one you're doing now and drag across to roughly where your other post will be:

I usually bang the loose stones in the bottom of the hole down a bit with a length of timber to compact them.

Wtf?

Design & cast your own? I did.

Experimenting here with lime mortar mixes to do my flint infills. In the black bucket: 2 sharp sand 1 hydrated lime In the white bucket: 1.5 sharp sand 0.5 "orange" builders sand 1 hydrated lime At this stage it all looked a bit "white" to me still. Not sure if I want to match my brick mortar or contrast against it? The mix with the half of builders sand was to make it less white. I mixed both mixes up, left to stand for a few minutes then mixed again. Mixing....I mixed for about 5 minutes with the paddle in the cordless. Left for about 5 minutes then mixed again. Is that right? Little video: The mix above left, with the bit of builders sand in, is definitely more mortar coloured. This morning the tray mixes are setting but in no way firm/hard. In the plastic tray though moisture can't get out. Thoughts are maybe the mixes are too wet to set with? Planning this afternoon to drill a load of holes in the back of the pillar recesses, then put in rawlplugs. As I build the wall I'll put in a stainless wood screw to help the mortar key in.

There is an art to filing those threads square. I'm a dab hand at it! ? Brass splinters are 'orrible btw.

That looks like an issue perhaps where the trap seats inside the basin, top side. The rubber washers that come with the traps are basically generic and don't always fit the porcelain profile properly. I put them to one side and run "silicone" around the bit you push down from the top. Tighten everything up without turning the assembly, that's important as you want to compress the jollop rather than smear it too thin/out. Wipe the excess off with a baby wipe and leave to set. Done that on the kitchen sink, bath and basin. Only doing what @Nickfromwales told me! ? I've not yet settled on a "silicone" of choice for this. For the bath I think I used Sika EBT, for the kitchen No Nonsense white. When I redo I'll likely use BT1 or Forever White.

Pratley?

I'd have another Bernstein pan in a heartbeat. They offer what they term "NANO protection". https://bernstein-badshop.com/toilets/wall-mounted-wc

I wondered if the pipe is (also?) a tad too high, i.e the hole through the wall should have been drilled a bit lower? (Just like the one in my kitchen that slopes uphill a tad...don't know who did that... ?).

I'm surprised it went on for so long..... .....which is what @mrsmoldy probably said.

As in seen more than an Egyptian vet! ?

Being the operative word! It's penises btw. This one with a shelf to rest it on...

I'd have quite happily gone to the pub and sat drinking 3.8% session beer but nobody here wants to go ?. I don't want to be that sad middle aged git going to the pub on his own but it's coming! So instead I'm on this: