Onoff

Now jumped onto another wall / corner where the full height storage cupboard will be as you walk through the door: The cupboard "walls" will come off the closely spaced studs on each return. The old, now redundant, incoming water main pipe can now be taken out. This stud wall tapers due to the room being 3" out. The front face of the stud here is 195mm from the old wall behind. (It's 120mm the other end where the soil pipe exits). Originally I had envisaged putting a VCL over the front face of the studs like on all the other walls and having an access panel to get to the stopcock. But now, with this pipework going it seems a pity to waste all this space. I was thinking maybe to line this all with the continuous VCL, plasterboard over it and put shelves in there? Any ideas? Might be a tad clearer once the projecting stud wall is up.

Would it do if I could get some for nowt?

Was thinking the cellular, grey slit foam stuff would be no good for immediately next to the boiler. This type I reckon would be best:

That one wall is 9" or thereabouts (solid I think) the other walls are 4" (breeze?) with pillars. Really it needs tearing down and the boiler being left in place as it's the best thing there! As for the boiler I've replaced the burner nozzle, a couple of burnt through baffles, the burner gasket and remade the lid. And the pump motor too ages ago. Got a bill in the house bumpf, I think it's around 98 vintage. The insulation under the lid is only about 1/2". Not sure how thick the side insulation is but I think it's thicker. The sides tbh don't get that warm at all. I do know that the rigid, Rockwool type insulation board used is bloody expensive from when I bought a new sheet for the top. Half mulling as to the feasibility of wrapping the existing casing in 2" Rockwool and having my fabricator bend up 4 lipped, sheet steel sides that I could Rivnut together. Have the sides 2 or 4" higher and I could drop in a "slab" of insulation from the top and put a simple lid on. Can you over insulate a boiler? Still concerned as to whether ordinary Rockwool is as "fireproof" as the original stuff they use.....especially so on the flue which appears to be solid steel pipe and gets pretty hot to the touch. That 28mm copper pipe coming out of the top needs insulating. Guessing it can't be the foam type. I'll do all that and it'll start to leak!

So our Bluebird boiler sits in the unheated boiler room. Single skin block walls and wooden frame, single glazed windows and door. The room itself doesn't need to be heated. I got to thinking whether it is feasible to knock up an "over cover" out of a Rockwool slab to sit atop the black lid. This btw is a new lid I made: Also the flue pipe going out the wall can I insulate that? Cheers

I have to admit I'm NOT a DeWalt fan but bought one of their right angle drill attachments on a special a while back for something ridiculous like £12.99. Just bought another for a good mate (who's a die hard DeWalt fan) from FFX albeit at a higher price. http://www.ffx.co.uk/tools/product/Dewalt-Dt71517T-Qz-5035048089798-Right-Angle-Torsion-Drill-Attachment?gclid=CK_tkPflz9ACFRLgGwodAGAK-Q The reason for posting is I've not been able to find cheaper so this seems the best deal. Second, the thing is nigh on bulletproof. Not sure of the max torque it takes but I've really been giving it some beans. Seems really strongly made. It's much slimmer too than "proper" right angled drills. It takes btw ONLY hex screwdriver type bits. (I've hex ended drills, c'sink bits, socket adapters and so on I use with it ). Wish I'd bought two or more when on a special! One thing is that IMHO the bits that come with it sit in maybe a tad too far.

This side of the house is a pain tbh. The ground is very uneven and there are 3 sided old concrete footings coming off from the house. Trying to drive the mower from front to back lawns is murder. Under the "dirt" is some sort of slab so the whole area stays waterlogged. The aim is to dig it all up and grade the ground for a start. Long term maybe some sort of car port for all weather working would be good.

Cheers all. Sounds good NOT concreting as later I might take the cloak stack vertically through the floor, out under the footings and join into a branch underground. I could lose that ugly diagonal (black) branch then (Still wishing I'd hidden the main stack inside the bathroom stud work ). It's a pain trying to pack the shingle as there's no trench per se, the ground around having been dug out. Next to figure, move the 3" down pipe, add a rainwater gully and pipe to the soakaway. Not forgetting the bath and shower waste.....

To get the collar in the fittings in necessitated some "enlarging" with the chisel leaving a ragged hole. In the past I've just gone mad with the expanding foam, cut it flush and painted it later. BUT, obsessed as I am now about draughts, what's best? Foam first then cement via the mortar gun and a bit of clear silicon to finish off?

Made some headway yesterday in sorting the mess of outside soil stacks and down pipes: From this: To this: It's actually tidier than it looks! The black 110mm is new and takes the upstairs, cloak and new bathroom wc wastes. Then goes through the pea shingle in 110mm (faded) brown soil to the rubber clay coupling. The 3" downpipe from the gutter just went "into the ground" and was blocked solid about 2' at the bottom. Currently just diverting thru a bit of balanced brown soil. Its getting relocated the other side of the window. The other brown soil disappearing into the manhole is now redundant as the cloak wc is into the black stack now via the short, diagonal length. My mate reckons I should cover the soil pipe in some more pea shingle and "concrete over the top". Is that the norm? Cheers

Got the soil in for the wall hung wc. Shortened the stud wall too. Don't know whether just to flood it with expanding foam where the soil comes thru the inner leaf of the cavity and then the DPM I've put on the first 3' of the wall? That ragged hole in the DPM was when I punched through the wall. A bitch to get to now to seal around. I was thinking to neatly cut a 110mm hole in a patch of DPM then take the pipe out. Then slip the patch over the pipe and put it back in etc. Almost wants a BUCKET OF SILICON around it all!

Like stills from a Construction Channel video! Didn't he do "Ladder Between Digger Bucket And Gable End"?

FFS it's only been 3 months since the last update! Well it fits: Needs drilling thru and bolting. Then sanding and painting. Might put a groove in for his tablet at the front if the MDFs thick enough. Hands free viewing and all that.....

The only apples allowed in our house are Braeburn & Bramley.

"£259 for a bloody iPad! I don't bel..."

Gave up with the bastardised seat mount. Managed to source some 28mm OD x 2mm wall steel tube. Here it is TIG welded through a piece of 6mm plate:

Yes that's the one. I have an email off of them with that same discount code put up. 'Effin typical that I've not long bought my ducting from them!

Good point. I was just mulling over whether SBR would make a mix that would "give" and flex whilst being strong. Might be too strong to finish! So you reckon: 5 sharp 2 soft washed (sand is that?) 1 1/2 lime 1 1/2 white cement 1 building sand I was hoping to come up with something pourable almost that would negate too much finishing.

I was thinking more of a resinous mix maybe substituting SBR instead of water!

Especially when @Nickfromwaleshas our backs!

Great idea that face down in the sand thing! What mix would be best? Sharp sand maybe? Sure there was a discussion on eBuild about using a lime mortar as normal mortar would shrink leaving the flints loose.

I'm looking to make separate, vertical "clip on" flint panels that will inset into our gate pillars, akin to how stone panels are done on commercial buildings. It'll be a tray affair with the flints laid into a bed of "mortar". Stainless brackets on the back and possibly with knurled, internally threaded inserts cast in. Generally though if the bottom one breaks you need to take them ALL out from the top!

I have a pumped shower and it runs off a 25gal cws tank. Says so in the instructions that this is the minimum size. Seems to work alright.

Sorry, we're interested in your earthing system as it can impact on the new circuit. Likely to be one of 3 types. Rather than go in to chapter and verse and on the basis a picture says a thousand words you have a pm

If he's on TT wouldn't DP protection be better?