saveasteading

Man on a ladder and doing a shoddy patch up. £1k Proper job with scaffolding £3k maybe more. And all variations between. The wall appears to have old, soft bricks and hard cement mortar, causing spalling so start planning for remedial work there. The bricks appear to be shallow up to eaves level, then more normal thickness above. Interesting.

Hi. My overall advice is to not assume that these trades will consider beyond their immediate jobs. You are the project manager so you need to consider the interfaces.

Not Southampton. It was a very long time ago.

Tomorrow I may look up the definitions of hardness and stiffness. I was once given a tour of a uni acoustics dept. In the anechoic chamber they did the gun thing, which just sounded ph. In the echoic chamber it was impossible to talk. The walls weren't only parallel and super hard (stiff) but some calculated distance apart to increase the reverberation.

Let m clarify a few things. The Parish Council is only a consultee. Their decision to recommend or oppose approval is only advice to the local authority and is not what you need. Of course you can ask your parish council to help in getting contacts by all means. The planning officer can not overrule the Planning Committee, of the elected District or Borough Council. They make recommendations and then act to confirm the decision made. Even if the Officers have been given delegated powers, the decision is technically that of the committee. The minutes should be published and readily available online. If not (and many councils are being very slow due to reduced staff) , then speak to your District Councillor and ask them to gt hold of the minutes for you. They cannot charge £150 to answer an email. perhaps this is confusion with the charge for pre-consultation. anything else?

Expansion isn't a problem, contraction is, mostly for the first month when the ecreed is changing chemically, and drying. After that, in real life, the screed warms a little and cools a little and really shouldn't move much, and tiles will move with it if you have allowed expansion gaps.

Do you know it is asbestos fibres in it? It looks the sort of age when it might have been the alternative plastic fibres. It would cost £100 or so to get it tested. roof and walls. I wouldn't like to assume that the LA tip will accept this without paperwork and thorough protection during handling. eg sealed skips. This is not a case of a few bits of broken cladding, double bagged. The sheets should be kept whole. Read these instructions. You cannot take these to tip in a trailer as you ned a wste carrier licence. https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/guidance/em9.pdf https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/guidance/a14.pdf If it was me, I know how to do this safely, but I would still get a demolition contractor to do it. They have the kit already. My company stripped many buildings and HSE were happy, but latterly we found it wasn't worth the hassle and wasn't saving much, so we always used licensed demolition contractors. There is a very strong likelihood of there being complaints from neighbours, because the fear of asbestos is profound, and the lesser risk with cladding is not understood. So again, best use someone with the credentials: they are still quite likely to cut corners, but it won't be your fault. I know it isn't what you want to hear, due to cost, but try 2 or 3 companies: maybe one specialises in small stuff. It will only take them a day.

Correct. It is the hardness of the surface of plasterboard, or plaster, that reflects the sound. If walls are parallel, as most are, there is added echo. Fibreboard is much softer and more absorbent, but not usually a suitable finish. The hollowness, esp with mineral wool, aids dampening between rooms but not within a room.

That was the decision, and the approval therein will be just as the eventual document. The officer will have had it prepared before the meeting, and altering refused to permitted doesn't take long ( sometimes I think they even have it ready as an option). For peace of mind you could email or recorded delivery a message saying you have not received the confirmation but are commencing works based on the committee decision....then you are covered. The planners won't mind, they are understaffed and thick skinned.

I've had an encouraging few thoughts. I lived round that way for a few years, so i know : 1. How beautiful it is, so look af the countryside not the house. 2. Its fairly cold and wet in the winter so you'll be inside, looking out, or having a brisk walk. In time you won't notice, and you will have bigger problems elsewhere. Leaves and needles in the gutters will keep you busy.....the trees round there are enormous. £200 discount to close the matter?

I understand your pain. I will therefore NOT outline the things that really get to me, but perhaps don't really matter, or you might start seeing them. In case this discussion doesn't continue to its conclusion: the secret to disguising a mismatch is to draw the eye away from the difference. I confess to putting a down-pipe along the interface of 2 slightly differently shaded wall panels. With a gap, it becomes indistinguishable. You already have the substantial jamb otherwise it would show more clearly. You will have seen the illusions of 'what colours are this dress' and red tomato pictures that are really grey. We see what we expect to see. If you end up with the 'problem' outstanding, then having a feature in front of it will break up and reduce the mass. Bird (red squirrel) feeder, chair, shrub? The colour of the feature will also make a difference, but that may require experiment....but I'm thinking another shade of grey-blue.

This has been interesting. A few more findings. The only semi-official mention I have found of 'frog down' being maybe ok is from one brick manufacturer where they say frog MUST be up if the walls need it for structure, and MAY be down if not. Bent bricks should be laid in frowning shape, not smiling. I've found a London Common. The area of brick to brick close contact is shockingly low. As this is obviously on the perimeter, this could be a cause of faces spalling under load, where commonly rain or frost is blamed. There's interesting chat on some other forums. To summarise, most builders commenting are saying they have always done it that way, their first foreman told them so, and when you knock down an old wall it is always frog down. And they are not about to change. And everybody else is wrong, because they just are. Of course, a bricklayer is not called in if their wall spalls 30 or 50 years later, so there is no feedback. I'm used to having 15 years liability, and 30 year old buildings are still around as references Also there is a big difference if brick walls are only a small part of a whole project, so insisting on frog up is not going to lose me the job on cost. A closing thought. If I was a contractor, quoting for a brickwork package in competition, and was convinced that frog up is correct, then there would be a dilemma. Allow the extra mortar and labour and time, and lose the job to those who don't? Tell the client there are 2 options and 2 prices? I could do it wrong and be cheaper? Ask the client for instruction on frog up or down?

I'm a fixer rather than a thrower, but I buy a new chain. Titan is screwfix so their chains should slot on.

I know of what I speak. A replacement will involve another new pot of tint spray, or roll of film....and may well be a different shade again. There may be no endp to this. I learnt the hard way why our cladding supplier made all the panels on a facade from the same coil. Damage one and the supposedly identical replacement may not match....to some eyes anyway. The coatings were made by huge companies like Akzo, but varied batch to batch. What happens if they agree to change it again and you still don't like it, or are concerned that it can't be the same but you just aren't noticing. As a caveat, we are all looking at the photo you took and chose to send to make your point. Might it be worth some more from different angles and times of day? Would changing it again disrupt your conpletion programme?

If your skip company is remotely into optimising the waste, they will recycle it. Phone them, they may knock a few £ off. If you take it to a scrap yard you will get a few £. Or to recycling centre and the council will take and segregate it. If using a builder, they will take it. Or put it on top of the skip and it will disappear. Rest assured, it will not go to landfill.

Any two production runs are very likely to be different colours, all within tolerances. Or perhaps that unit is at a slight angle and reflecting differently. I have had issues with windows , metal cladding and industrial doors, floor coverings, paving slabs, that nobody else noticed ( or cared about) until i pointed it out. So to some extent relax, it may only be you. It is difficult to impossible to overcome this by changing units again. There are visual tricks, mostly distraction, so that nobody else notices this. But i fear that you will not be able to unsee it....perhaps with time and other things to think about. Yes. I'd kick up an overstared stink, prtendinb j didnt know what jve jusg said, then accept a discount. On balance, arent the windows gorgeous? Especially inside.

You can join most angles together with a pair of bends, if you have enough length. If you can't get osma bends use any other.

The British Standard is based on research and qualifies as proof to me. I need to see proof, as you say. errrm, that is reversed logic, surely. If the frog is up and filled, then there are no voids. If the frog is down , pushed into mortar, then there are likely to be voids. Between designers and supervisors instructing frog up, and brickies trying to avoid it. this is pretty conclusive too, ans surpisingly forthright. https://www.wienerberger.co.uk/content/dam/wienerberger/united-kingdom/marketing/documents-magazines/technical/brick-technical-guidance-sheets/UK_MKT_DOC_Laying of Frogged Bricks.pdf and another https://www.marshalls.co.uk/commercial/bricks-walling/frogged-facing-bricks QED I feel. I'm not trying to win an argument, I do think this is important, and I hope this is persuasive.

Bricks are there to hold the floors and roof up. Not a bad priority. Also to keep the weather out. Worrying. I don't think I've met a master builder to argue this with. Frogs are only there to save clay. This reduces cost of course, hence all common gluttony have them. The other justifications are just excuses. 'To show which way is down' is novel and rather self justifying But show me proof please and I will think again. 'Bricky says' won't suffice. British Standards are not arbitrary. Next time I see a frogged brick I will look at how much surface is lost using an unfilled frog. About 2/3 lost bearing could be a big deal. On any structural calculations there is a factor of safety for poor workmanship. Frog down uses this all up. But we should all still do it right. Go on brickies, mix up some more mortar, and fill the frogs. Architects....specify bricks without frogs to be sure.

Agreed, and i wish i could block some contributors. Sometimes it's useful to know how little some people understand, or want to understand,( Lockdown was idiotic) . Especially complex stuff like numbers. And to remember they're out there and allowed to vote.. But it's not for here I agree. Is there a way of telling the system that I don't want to see a particular discussion or person? I've only seen this because I see everything that is commented on by a person I follow.

I've been on both sides of this. Even if the contract allows adjudication, you will end up with high fees and the risk of paying his too. Have a quiet think about this as if you were the adjudicator......and remember their job is to resolve, not punish. Look at your best case on damages, and the builders best case on resisting these and justifiable extensions of time and extras. Take one from the other, allow costs, and ....I forecast that you call it quits. If the builder then decides you have gone soft and he will sue you, then you have done your homework already. Another exercise is to do the same list but with best and worst outcomes too. I have had several nasty / opportunist clients try to avoid the last payments. Even when, nearly always, the adjudicator agrees we are in the right, it all ends up costing money, time and aggravation. It cost our clients more.

Not always. Those with a hollow (frog) in one face have a right way up. The frog should be upwards and completely filled with mortar. If not, it is weaker and perhaps the voids have some effect on permeability. Some bricklayers have been known to do this wrong, for speed and to reduce mortar. Some bricks have smiley shapes on them, and they are usually laid that way up for appearance. I guess the shape affects how rain runs off. Other than these, I am not aware that there is a right way up. Perhaps the bricks haven't been mixed, so there are areas from the same batches, with different appearance and properties.

Try removing the ripples using a big carborundum stone. If they are very soft then a concrete paving block might suffice. I'm wondering if I have misunderstood. I assumed you meant hiring one oc these big helicopter bladed power floats. They are beasts to handle even in a big area. I'd fear it going over the edge in a small slab. @Canskidust....there shouldn't be any with a good mix that wasn't too wet. There is special stuff to brush on that reacts with any cement that has not hydrated. For a small area though, it is as well to use floor paint.

No you shouldn't. You would have other issues or be thinking what a waste of effort it was. What is the actual problem? Flatness, smoothness, ripples, colour differences.? All solvable. Pics? Also what proprties you want and why. Eg oil resistant, super fllatness, colour.

Well done. Anything you would do differently next time?