markc

Not good practice but really depends what load the lintel will be taking and bearing area.

Reminds me of when we were building the Motorola building near Bathgate … ground workers scuffed a cable … big fuss … hand digging only in that area …. Less than an hour later, pick through fire hydrant supply …. Fire pumps kick in and we have a geezer a few hundred feet high … that did far more damage than an excavator or 10 could.

Depends how big the bulk bag is and how full they fill it. dry sand is around 1600kgs per cube and wet close to 2000kgs per cube. what weight do they say they sell? 2 inch is roughly 50mm so 20sq m per cube. or 10 per wet tonne

Paving slabs close to brickwork ?. Saveasteading has explained nicely, plus you will be surprised how much water bounces back up from slabs

I would say your knock down and build costs would be similar if not lower than alteration

Can you post some pics

Wrong bucket on the digger, anytime digging around pipes and services use a bucket without teeth and you can feel everything. You only need teeth in bulk digging or rocky ground

Wet vac.

What do you want to achieve? Are you looking to move the drive? Wanting to know how to go about getting services moved? Drainage? Sight lines? Etc. if you can give us a bit more info and ideas, plus a photo or two I’m sure there will be more input from others.

Hi, look for someone who does bespoke kitchens or bedrooms, your build will be pretty straightforward for them. Joiner covers a multitude of trades/skills from first fix framing to laminate flooring.

1350 outside is never going to give you 1100 inside.

I would always put a DPM between blinding layer and insulation

Baltic birch is the dogs whatsits of ply, but I would never paint it, decent hardwood ply for painting. MDF is my go-to for custom cabinets if they are to be painted. I would say that’s a 1500-£2k item as a stand alone but bespoke size.

Search dust extractor ducting, tough stuff

Yes it’s much easier to clean and needs cleaning less often. a polymer is used to fill/smooth the surface roughness effectively making it slippery.

The climate conference …. Let’s burn thousands of tons of fuel to meet up, live it up and discuss getting others to burn less fuel. ?

I can’t see a problem with doing that, you will need to lock the angled bend in place with concrete to stop it trying to work itself down and out.

Once plaster starts to crumble and come away from the wall easily it’s time to remove it. ppl get them skimmed over but they sound hollow if bumped and often fall off anyway.

Our QS has a trade intelligence index after years of experience. To quote, she said: 'Renderers are the most stupid, plumbers not far behind, electricians show a spark of intelligence.' There must be more to the league table and I wonder what the trades think of QS's? i reckon you should find a new QS, this one must be on Meds or some kind of power trip

Nice job, well done. Yes it may have taken you a while but you will have learned stuff that can be utilised elsewhere.

Ahh, I never use hi res for pics so never have a file size problem.

Click to choose files at bottom of box then select pics from your library

Semi dry mortar forced in will not shrink, wet grout poured in under a column does shrink away and allow rocking if it’s not a non shrink. for domestic and average commercial buildings the base plate sizes do not require poring grout. We used to have some columns with 2m diameter bases and portals with 1200x800 bases and often ended up with a grout thickness of 15-30mm so liquid was needed even when vibrating the plate

Hi, this comes up many times, loads of tiles and sheets contain asbestos but the likelihood of this kind of exposure causing any harm is very low. loose fibrous asbestosis a different story. Search previous threads for similar content for re assurance

@MarcoP87, I’m sure your question is serious and I’m sure there will be some constructive suggestions along shortly, for now … enjoy the innuendos