Brickie

I’ve never come across this myself. A timber Lintol,typically 4x2 has been used on the inner skin to span the opening on the inside,with an arch on the outside,with every single solid wall check reveal detail I’ve worked on (& there were hundreds in my demolition days.)

Yeah,the scenario you describe is a good one-system scaffolds have roses at every half metre on the standards for the ledgers & putlogs to clip to. So,when a lift goes up,you can have the inside two boards dropped down half a metre from the rest,putting you at nice height for your materials & you’re laying at somewhere around knee height. When you’ve come up a decent height,without stretching,you bring the inside two back up level & carry on the rest of the lift. Adaptions will be needed for the roofers so they’re only stepping up a little onto the roof,and on gables for the brickies. We used to have it up a metre sometimes just to finish off the peak.

Are the joist ends bedded in the outside walls or sat on sleeper walls? If it’s the latter,then I don’t see a problem. If it’s the former,maybe you could chase out & fix them on hangers,with some Dpc taped round the ends for good measure. The ventilation could be solved by installing trlescopic vents on the back of the existing air bricks.

+1 and maybe get a comparison cost from a system scaffold supplier. As long as your build is reasonably square it’s a great way to do it. Very easy to adapt for the roofers & renderers (if you have any.) When I worked in it we adapted it ourselves (though we shouldn’t have.) Once you’ve seen the guys doing it it’s pretty idiot proof.

Or,if the floor is out (or mostly out,how about putting it back in 75mm lower (1 brick course) & doing the system @Mr Punter suggested,bit with 50mm insulation instead?

There’s a product for sealing the gaps between the boards,I believe. I would imagine there’s a wall plate on top of the sleeper walls already,to receive the joists. It would be unusual for them to sit directly into brickwork (via the Dpc)

I haven’t seen one for years,probably 2003 last one I worked on. The Subbie I worked for then had his own scaffolders so wasn’t going to change his whole scaffold stock without a fight. Best Ive worked on is system scaffold,especially if timber frame. Being able to drop down the inside 2 boards is a godsend at lift height.

I had a disappointing experience at my local optician recently:- Me:You’ve got to help me,I keep thinking I’m a moth!! Optician:I’m sorry to hear that but this is an optician’s shop,you need to see a psychiatrist. Me:Yes,I know. Optician:Well why did you come in then??! Me:The light is on.

Wait till it comes down & the empty perps are filled in a rush cos the scaffs are screaming at the brickie to get finished so they can carry on striking... i can spot where putlog scaffold’s been used for years afterwards sometimes for this reason alone.

Re sleep I can recommend getting a speaker pillow from Amazon or EBay. Got mine when I was doing nights on the railway-even though I was exhausted found it difficult,stressful even to demand my mind shut down. So I got one,installed the iplayer radio app & listened to Westminster Hour,In our time or another discussion programme-anything with no big jumps in audio level & long enough that I could focus my mind on it & let sleep happen,rather than forcing it.

It’s always been dust to me (born & bred Southerner) & the finished product (I.e. mortar) is muck. Not compo. Not gobbo. Not mud (Antipodeans!). Muck. That is all from a grumpy & unwell Brickie,overjoyed at the prospect of a week’s repointing in Covent Garden with a co worker whose halitosis could rake the old muck out on its own. Good night :))

Have heard people speak of bicarbonate of soda as a solution,but I can’t vouch for its effectiveness & would urge caution & LOTS of research before applying anything. As has been said,it’s a pain but will go away in time.

I’d say rainwater has got in the cavity. In an ideal world the cavity would always be covered up but it’s not always possible if the inner & outer leaves are at different heights when they go home.

Could it be the hole you’ve opened up for s at a floor level & you’ve got concrete plank floor?

I’m in SE25,last postcode before Croydon. Believe me,the local wrong uns don’t behave any better because they’re in ‘London’ & not Croydon. At a quick glance,all the exposed brickwork is stretcher bond which would 90% guarantee it’s a cavity. Ive seen cavity built houses going back to mid/late Victorian,but they really took off after WW1,partly to make up for all the bricklayers who didn’t come back. Internal skin of brickwork could be built by apprentices with a little supervision.

20. Or thereabouts if Im pricing work :))

+1 to the worn in trowel. Im seeing on social media loads of spreads saying that Thistle multi finish has gone to the dogs lately-some manufacturing issue & they’re advising to use board finish instead. Or maybe you could use lime finish? i presume there’s no issue with using it on pb background but check first. Think you’d find it’ll be a lot more forgiving & will liven up with a splash of water to let you trowel up in your own time.

Impossible to say without seeing the design. If there’s loads of ‘meat’ in it,good access all round & standard bucket handle joint then I’d say it’s slightly high,but not that much. Also depends on your area & the demand for brickies locally-this will determine how much he has to pay his people & allow some for his profit. Rates for a timber frame or similar structure are always going to be higher than brick & block construction,as the earning potential of the blockwork,especially party walls,isn’t there.

Is that not in the technique & timing of their use though? Not a spread myself though I can patch to an adequate standard so I’m not trying to convince you you’re wrong,just interested in different spreads opinions of these new methods. Seems a bit like the profiles/build corners division amongst brickies :))

Any pictures?

What do you make of the speedskim sets & flexi trowels for the final pass?

Vijay-consider s trailer tent when the time comes. Ours is 4 berth & I can put it up in 40 mins or so on my Tod. When folded down,much harder for the local youngsters to make ‘improvements’ on the nights you’re not there. Also,far cheaper,I’d say. I see 2nd hand models advertised under £1000,check out Gumtree & the others.

Not done much commercial work myself but I know enough brickies to know what the outcome would be if you asked them to carefully embed some conduit In the scenarios you describe,I’d imagine that the back of each wall is either in a cavity with a cladding system on the outside or some internal commercial space (office,store room etc.) so the cable runs could be penetrated from that side.

Or just fold the non reflective material over! According to my CSCS test I recently took,that hi vis will now need to be thrown as it is soiled or defective. May as well strip all the reflective gear off it then & hope yellow waistcoats become a fashion trend :))

By God,there are some really greedy,opportunistic,horrible b###ards around.