Brickie

You should see some of the scaffolds Im asked to work on. Need a wand,not a trowel.

I’d really rather not,though. Seriously,armed with extremely basic kit (a dumpy & two pieces of 4x2srewedto make an inverse ‘T’) is there any reason footings shouldn’t come in within 20mm for level?

+1. The typical detail for joists round a stack would involve ‘trimming’ as it’s known,like this,so it’s just a case of filling the void where the stack & hearth were,once removed.

@epsilonGreedy I think Russell was saying that this is what should happen,regardless of the thickness of the wall.

Known as ‘change direction,change bond.’ Applies to the garden wall variety as well-the header courses should be equidistant to each other on adjacent planes.

I tried a method I heard about,where you mark the line with a pen,instead of marking the wall & constantly putting your trowel down to walk back & forth with your level. The results were pretty good,I have to say.

Perps! Blondy iPhunk predumptank texi!

Opening it up by by 2 or 3mm isn’t going to hurt. Btw I’d insist on plumb peeps for Flemish bond-any drift off plumb shows up straight away,especially with metric bricks,where the ratio of header to stretcher is slightly different to imperials. A lot of care needs to be taken in the setting out. I’d sacrifice a day to dry bond the whole build,setting out the openings & dropping broken bond under the windows where needed to give you nicely bonded piers with header/queen closer and stretcher on top.

It’s the social distancing in canteen,drying room & toilets which is scaring the Main Contractors. Ive been off 3 weeks now. Happy to do so really-fewer journeys to work=fewer RTA’s & fewer workplace accidents,leaving the NHS to focus on this S##t show it’s been saddled with.

House had a slate dpc so just made sure we got right along the edges with the liquid membrane & into the corners,then kept the ply & the boards away from the edge by a few mm (essential in practice given how far out of true most Victorian walls are.) Floor looked fine once finished-I,of course,saw the things I’d have done differently or improved if I’d done it again but everyone who walked in just saw a slightly imperfect timber floor,as per their expectations within a house of its type.

Our last house had a slab installed by a previous owner,presumably due to rot. We put liquid membrane down,marine ply & reclaimed boards for that proper Victorian house look. We were laughing the other day,remembering de-nailing in the snow one Easter around 2008!

+1. If you’re only considering underpinning in order to achieve airflow clearance-that’s an expensive route to achieve an ‘authentic’ timber floor,which will be cold (even when insulated.)

I spoke to a mate at Condell’s the other day & he said they’re still open but on a reduced workforce.

I’ve not used Porotherm but know of people who have-one fella raves about the speed & stability achievable. The issue with openings & fixing to reveals must be common so surely the manufacturer has a system on their website?

This bit concerns me. Is the SE aware of that possibility?

Can’t argue with any of @AnonymousBosch’s points re poor communication skills. One point on the flip side,which may justify such behaviour in the minds of contractors mentioned,is the amount of times the same happens back to us from customers. A ‘definite’ diary booking is nothing of the sort,in a lot of cases.

I have a mate who has a basement company but I don’t know if sharing his details would breach forum rules. If the mods ok it,I’ll pm you his details. He’s in South London,btw.

If the volume of blues is an issue can you not just start with the superstructure facing bricks a couple of courses lower.? I’d leave the DPC where it should be.

Gotcha!

Screw them uptight under the roof? Not sure I’m quite with you. Off cuts are 400mm plus.

Hi all, We relocates just before Xmas to a 1930’s built semi with a generous loft. It has the standard fibre wool insulation between the joists but nothing in the rafters. Now,the job I’m on for the next month or two is using the Kingspan 100mm PIR boards,with a LOT of offcuts due to the design. (I kept mine for reuse but no one is bothering so they end up skipped.) Im wondering how best to make use of these to insulate the rafters,given that their depth is 100mm,as are the boards & (I believe) a 50mm ventilation void is desirable. Is there any risk or signicant loss of performance in simply cutting them in half for two lots of 50mm depth pieces? TIA

And if the bricks have a frog,turn the end ones of each 6 inwards. They tend to drop whilst being carried if you dont.

How come?

If possible,I’d set the mixer up so it’s tipping directly into the trench,with a water butt next to it & the cement bags stacked there. Much easier to barrow the dry ballast than to barrow the mixed concrete the same distance.

Be very surprised to see an internal elliptical arch anywhere other than a stately home.