Tom

New steel, but a few rust spots coming through the red oxide in places, hence why I rubbed it back gave a spray of Dinitrol and two coats of Hammerite. It would have been fine had the decorators not covered in emulsion. Any tiny spots that would have been invisible are now visible due to leaching out into the emulsion.

Sure, but on occasion for convenience or to take advantage of a better price I've let the subbie get stuff, and then pay a small % commission.

I've got a quick question to add to the above if I may. If my builder/sub-contractor pays ex-vat, but then charges me "commission" on the purchase, eg 12.5%, can I reclaim that back as VAT? Guess not, as that would mean him having to pass his 12.5% on to HMRC?

I didn't explicitly say not to paint the steels as assumed no one would paint steels in emulsion. I was clearly wrong. The situation remains that I need to rectify it and there is over 50m of steel! Would a coat of zinsser suffice or would it all peel off eventually if there is emulsion on the hammerite?

I didn't ask the decorators to spray the steels with emulsion as I fully intended the hammerite to be the final finish. I specifically went for the satin Hammerite because of this.

A few pics...

What might be more of an issue though is the emulsion flaking off the hammerite later. I am paying a lot for the decoration and seems like this is a major mistake

Definitely rust leaching through, I'll get a pic if I can. Thanks for all that info @Nick Laslett, however these are internal steels in a heated environment, so classed as C1 I think.

Yep, internal. Not being boxed in and doesn't need protection. There were a few rust spots coming through the red oxide so I gave a spray of dinotrol where it was obvious, then two coats of Hammerite over everything. My intention was this would be the finished colour, but the decorators, in their wisdom, have decided to just spray everything with emulsion, which has now caused some rust dicolouration to bleed through. Would have been fine if they'd left it as-is. Don't fancy having to rub it all back as there are a lot of steels and a lot of areas where these spots have come through. Kind of think it's the decorators responsibility to sort TBH! What think you?

As ever two steps forward, one step back. Before the decorators started I coated all our exposed steelwork (already red oxide primed) with two coats of satin hammerite (oil based, 8yrs guarantee). The decorators have gone over everything in emulsion and quite a few rust stains have leatched through, which is annoying. Would another dab of hammerite on these work as an adequate stain block or should I try something else? The main contractor covering the internal works have suggested "rust-oleum or similar", but I need to get this right. Thanks all

Going to box out the reveals in birch ply. All interior joinery in the same. But as with every detail on this build, seems like you go slightly off-piste and everyone seems to struggle.

I agree. Just sticks in the craw a bit. Especially so when some walls are mostly window!

I did think about this but the boards have already been skimmed so I'm guessing theyd just say too late...

So @nod would you say I'm wrong to expect a reduction, albeit small, if they are no longer doing the reveals?

Exactly, so why shouldn't I be entitled to a cost reduction?

This is a bit of a boring topic unfortunately, but I'm hoping for some guidance here if possible. Our dryliners are coming to the end of their work and have added all sorts of additional costs for additional work done - fair enough, but there was one major change early on, in that I did not want then to do the internal sills/window reveals when they were initially expecting to do these. I have queried why the cost for this has not been deducted from the final bill and have been told "it is completed and priced as a block measure, so the openings are never deducted from this measure whether the dryliners complete the reveals or not unfortunately. The additional areas for openings would be used for the wastage percentage. The same applies to bricklayers and renderers". Is that reasonable? Seems every minor ammendment is costing me, but when it comes to a possible saving it's "computer says no". Any thoughts? @nod?

Sod the courses though Steamy, it's all about just giving a damn about your work

Same here. Resting pulse 10bpm higher than usual

Have to agree with Jack on this one. The guy that we waited a year for - as he was so highly recommended by our neighbours - was an absolute sh*t show. Most of the work he did needed to be redone after I'd paid him almost 7k.

Cheers buddy. Last weekend I actually picked up a second hand electric boiler - which has pump etc already so will get that hooked up soon I hope.

Was thinking the same, those ledges on the remaining far wall would probably have supported bunks. Bit of a shame to get rid of it really

A few questions for those in the know if I can: - would I need a circulation pump in addition to the one already on the manifold? I guess so, given that only circulates water round the loops - could I run one 3kW willis off an extension lead and 13A plug? Thanks all

Hmmm, no idea sorry. If it was from Amazon I'd just try returning it. eBay often has used Marcrist drills which look bomb-proof

The fitting in the right, where the core bit screws directly on to the drill without the need for a chuck, is common for a dedicated core drill - so I'm surprised the thread doesn't match the erbauer bit. Might be worth cutting your losses and just hiring a core drill for the day

Ok, understood, but I guess any temporary heating system I try and install is going to involve several weeks of faffing.