Brickie

If you’re using engineering bricks I wouldn’t worry about dpc.

Not the same day though,risk of blowing the brickwork out. If you are mass filling,I’d just hang ties into the void. They’ll tie the brickwork to the concrete & make it all solid. As @Mr Punter says-the linseed oil prevents staining on engineering bricks. Only paint the faces which will be seen,and I wouldn’t vouch for using it on any other brick susceptible to staining (soft reds for example.) Might be fine but I’ve never tried it.

Just the faces that’ll be seen.

Little tip for engineering bricks-paint them with linseed oil on the day of use. You’ll need to wear gloves when laying but saves all the after care with them.

Bit busy at the mo-whereabouts are you? Might know someone.

......the Mormon School,by the sounds of it!

Had to Google him as I do bump into people when I’m back who know me & I haven’t a clue who they are:) I played football against David James as a 10 year old & my brothers were at school with singer Beverley Craven. Crazy times,man.

I’m originally from Berkhamsted,not far from there & a lovely town (didn’t think so when a teenager but who does?) Theres a Prdmier Inn just outside the town in the A41 bypass or,if your looking a bit more upmarket I think a couple of the swanky pubs in town do rooms. Amersham Old Town seems nice though I’ve only ever driven through it.

So they just repointed the dpc? Hard to give a figure without seeing but personally speaking,if it’s more than one day for one man & includes materials & clearing up/disposal of waste it doesn’t sound too excessive.

Tough one to answer definitively. It could be argued that exposing the slate (which presumably is set back at least a couple of mm for it to have been pointed over) would leave a risk of rising damp by giving rain run off somewhere to sit and track up the wall through capillary action. You could possibly ask for that joint to be redone in a strong sharp sand/cement mix & waterproof additive,expect to pay again though. Btw,a slate dpc has almost certainly fractured here & there with the creep (settlement) of the building over time,hence why we use flexible material now.

Sand & cement mortar is the only way I know of laying concrete blocks, Tell is more about this plinth and if the steel was designed to carry this load as well as the function it already performs? Ps my fave tv show ‘Brexit’ has been commissioned for another series :))

Agree that supply & demand should be the main consideration but there’s also a case that education & the desire to learn (in those who possess it) can be beneficial to society in less immediately tangible ways. If usefulness in the workplace was strictly applied then no one would’ve learned Latin for a long time. Remember the muck Hod? I haven’t quite finished the apprehensive gulp of breath I drew first time I was told to carry one up a ladder as a 17 year old :))

Is the brickwork already built? What background are you fixing the cladding to? Looks like a simple vertical flashing cut into the brick courses & dressed behind the cladding.

Not as unrealistic as you might think,with the prices I see advertised on social media trades groups. You’d need to be quick though,have a decent gang,a well run site,give the forky £100/week drink to look after you & work like a dog.

Those rates & the covered wet time suggest they’re on the cards I.e. essentially bona fide employees. NW rates I see on social media groups are around £500/1000 & £14/m2 blockwork & that’s through a brickwork firm taking a cut.

Reminds me of on old boy I worked with years ago,Farty John. He was notoriously laboured about his diy projects. He got some spare tiles for his bathroom from site & put them by his front door when he got home. Legend had it that by the time he put them up,they’d been outdoors so long that they’d weathered

@Tom any chance you could cast your eyes over the Brexit bill :))

Hi all, The sale of my late Mother’s house is close to completion but the buyer has expressed concern about the cavity insulation & wants it tested (at our cost!) Firstly,I’ve never heard of this before-is this a ‘thing’? Secondly-the insulation was done in the 90’s or 00’s under a Government scheme so surely there’s a database showing where’s been done,by whom & using what (to prevent fraud if nothing else) but I can’t get anywhere with Google. Any suggestions? Tia

Yeah @Onoff-Button it!

@MikeSharp01 whoever wrote this must be a real fun guy! (sorry,two yard tap in too easy to resist!)

Possibly-blown in beads is not uncommon on New Builds.

How about a rendered plinth,225mm (3 courses) up from dpc? Be careful not to bridge the dpc though.

From a bricklayers social media group I’m in. If you like the look of it I can ask the OP for info on the bricks & mortar.

Won’t be helping with your smoke issue,I’d say.