daiking

I’ve got nothing better to do in the wind and rain today so I’ll have another play with things. (if I go down the raft route, I have 5 tonnes of backfill in piles around the garden and more than enough bricks and blocks to go round the perimeter twice so should be able to prop some shuttering well enough. Keeping the insulation in the right place though...)

Need a plan B on this. It was tricky enough to get 2 blocks to form a corner and have the block level across length and width but trying to hit the same height on the next corner was impossible. I have 2 blocks laid and can’t lay the third ? Should have used bricks as I’ve got more play in the height as I build up 3 courses. Hitting one course of blocks bang on is hard work for a beginner. I have about 100 engineering bricks sat around that could be used to build the basis of my foundations and just fill in the middle blanks with blocks

@Onoff I don’t have a mixer and for under £200, 3 guys and a volumetric mixer will come round and do all the hard work for me. Just leaving me and wife to screed the surface with a plank of 4x2.

Can’t I just use fairy liquid? ? I’m only making a tiny amount

Need to get at this first thing I. The morning before I get stuck in the kitchen all day. Last week I was afraid of making my mortar to wet so it was a bit dry and stiff which meant i couldn’t get a peaked line of mortar down on the concrete, which meant I couldn’t furrow it properly and was just trying to put my blocks on a fat slug of mortar. Hence all sorts of problems keeping them straight not leaning as well as the unfortunate fall. So tomorrow’s attempt will be with a wetter mortar and trying to set a line at the correct height, somehow. I’ve got 3/4 of a bag of cement and 3 bags of sand left so I hope that’s enough if I don’t mess it up again. Would love to be able to get the concrete barrow boys in on Tuesday for the slab.

I have in mind something of a split level bar/counter thing, goal post framed akin to a kitchen island. The best value material for this seems to be Facebook Marketplace 'scaffold boards'. If anything this is too thick but I'm not paying the prices of proper timber let alone something decorative for this rustic themed project. The inset bit under the bar top will be a slatted design something like pallet slats or roof batten and I'll have a go at planing these with my new router.

I’ve also been looking at pocket hole systems as these seem ideal for hidden joint fixings

blocks - left them unlaid after last disaster for exactly that reason. was not going to put anything extra in as it should have been the right amount but still got some low slots so might have to Chuck in the aborted block mortar and extra concrete bits from the footings and some bags of sand I’ve been using as gazebo ballast. the stone didn’t arrive till 2 and the guy had the small wagon so he had to offload on the street not out drive so it was even further away. Still got all 3 bags emptied and whacked by 6 between me and the wife which was not bad going at all. We even had time to paint some fence, paint the shed and transplant a couple of Laurel after finishing digging out the pit. Done about 3 days work in a day but it has been a nice day here.

First of 3 bags down and a couple of whacked runs up down them left right

I meant it still have some to dig out. Finished now. Awaiting stone

It’s not finished yet

The ground is getting worse the more I dig ? . (expletive deleted) it. It’s getting hardcore put in the middle in the rain tomorrow and everything crossed.assuming I can fill and whack in the rain. was planning to whack the earth before putting any stone in it but don’t want to lose it in the wet mud

I’m not planning anything as fancy as a mock Georgian entrance but I have a big bar/counter and shelves to have a bash on.

Been watching home made router table YouTube videos all afternoon ?

It’s only a 1/4”

Yes, the 12 pc set is £22

Ignored the advice here and picking up a 1200W Bosch router that Amazon have reduced. looking for some bits now.

He never answers my calls, the (expletive deleted)er. People always say that because yes, its a geometric proof but he's never there when you need him to hold the other end of the line, is he? It was a lot easier this time around to get it square on something relatively level, using blocks at the corners rather than string and pound shop tent pegs over an un-level garden.

It would be quicker if I didn't (expletive deleted) it up. After marking out something resembling a rectangle playing around with sand and cement until I had something resembling a mortar that looked a bit like something I had seen on youtube I set laying the blocks on a downward slope. Lost about 10mm over 6 blocks so I had to knock them all over, clean off the mortar, clean up the concrete base, everything else I had dirtied and pack up for the day. ITs only going to be 1 block high so I can't even it up on the next row, has to be perfect from the off. I think the corners are higher than the middle of each side and I probably should have left the first block in place but its too late now. Got an idea for when I can get out next to keep it level.

I’m down to where I was planning on digging to. So only only another 100mm to go. Between work and the weather forecast it looks like today is the day I need to lay the blocks. First time for everything. I've gone with blocks as you can’t see them and it sounded easier but think now I should have tried bricks as the bond pattern would have given more strength especially at the corners. the cabin has a ‘sole plate’ of sorts. Tempted to stagger this across the corner block and fix with concrete screws to give it something extra.

exactly

Its going to take a lot more digging than that to get to "solid ground". 50mm? may as well make it 100mm if you're going to the trouble of getting some sub base and having to hire a whacker. I wasn't worried until now.

Yay, more digging. This will expose most of the footings. It’s just over 12 sq m so approx 3bags / 2.5t of mot1 will give me around 100mm compacted sub base to the top of the footings

where? I’ve got a hole down to the concrete footing, 225mm deep and planning to put 125mm of EPS and 100mm concrete into it. ?

steady on, these things take time. I didn’t think I’d get the ground level as I was digging out but tramping round on it seemed to do the job. Still masses of roots in the ground. Hadn’t thought about a ground fabric/dpm under the EPS but might put something in. You said just blind it with the thin EPS. No sand no hard core. Would you put something under it? obvs the main DPM will be above the EPS with the concrete poured on top (like my house was)