saveasteading

lightly off subject, in B and Q today I saw oven and hob on offer together for £295. Lots of staff standing around and not showing interest...then I found why: I asked for help and they knew nothing. I wonder how skilled their 'designer' is. Back on subject: we rented a place last week with a narrow kitchen. When the oven door was open it had to be accessed from the side. Only one person could sensibly use the space at a time.

Some photos later. Lessons learnt first. 1. Supposedly experienced groundworkers don't necessarily know a lot. But they think they know a lot so don't read drawings or take instruction. a) Ignore the gradients stated and put them in at 'on the line' of a spirit level for surface water, and 'over the line' for sewage. Or is that reversed? b) Dig the depth that suits you and disregard the cumulative depth downstream. c) Rodding junctions can face in either direction. d) Joint lubricant is 'rubbish' and detergent is much better. The 'professionals' were let go. The amateurs took over. 2. Plastic junction chambers have a drop of 60mm from the branches to the 'through' pipe. Thus there is a 60mm drop at the first junction and then at every 90 degree bend....we lost 240mm this way and that mattered a lot when digging deep trenches and the digester tank hole.. 'Level' chambers are available but not in stock. (As I didn't know this, my previously lifetime of designed drains have obviously been fiddled in by 'joining the dots', and are flatter than intended. This can be see in the ToughButtercup pic. 3. Plastic junction boxes are designed narrow to avoid children falling down them....even if screwed shut. 4. 300mm chambers have tight seals, but 450s wobble about unsealed. 5. a) constructing soakaway trenches is a pain. The membrane won't stay in place while the gravel is shovelled in. b) perforated pipes want to return to the coil shape they came in. 6. People don't understand bulking of excavated ground. (a: Leave lots of room for the excavated material. b) It won't go back in the hole however well compacted. 7. 'Nobody' puts down a proper slab for a digester, or levels accurately: according to the digger driver (to whom multiple thanks for getting the tank in the ground, through skill and experience). 8. Some pipes simply slot into the socket while others need serious force. 9. 450 wide trenches may save money but some of us can't fit in them.

Having spent 2 weeks in the trenches installing the drains, I am at your service for the differences between theory and practice. After 40 years of designing drainage, but never afraid to get down there, I learnt a few things. Also about Chemfloor.

Here is one I did, using extreme ends of the colour range from Sadolin Extra: Light Oak and Dark Palisander. The oak barely changes the colour of white pine but 'freezes' the colour for many years instead of going grey. Gives it a sheen too. Your colour is available, 'mahogany' probably. As pine will probably shrink after fixing, you should either stain beyond any overlaps before fitting, or give it a while to settle in before coating in situ, otherwise annoying 'tan lines' may appear. Horizontal (on another wall) , vertical, diagonal and overhead all on one building....Cross Referring to another discussion, I can see hiccups in this but nobody else has ever commented.

Good value at £299 and glad we bought it. Has now compacted 200m2 of sand floor base, and 150m, several passes, of trench fill. It is narrower than the similar variation at over twice the price elsewhere, but for own use that is fine, and in trenches probably preferable.

I've just been reading about this. I'm not disagreeing with the article as such, but putting a different slant. Woodland lives on very low nutrient levels provided by fungi breaking down leaves and fallen timber. Adding any extra nutrient encourages alien plants and kills the woodland very quickly, then it takes 300 years to recover. Taking leaf mould away from woodland is a bad thing. Meanwhile, leaves similarly provide negligible nutrient to a garden, as the trees have already sucked back the sugars etc. The fibre isn't that useful either but is better than throwing the leaves away, or burning them. Leaves in woodland...leave them alone. Leaves in garden: I have given up on leaf mould, and just add them to the compost, and they will be broken down by the spring.

A building somewhere in Surrey has a slight defect, in appearance only, that couldn't be resolved. The client had no issues. Some years later in passing I went to look at it and immediately saw the imperfection. The experienced site manager with me couldn't see it even when pointed out.

Some would as they understand numbers and construction. Some wouldn't as they design shapes and sculptures, and the construction (and cost) is left to others..

A very light spray of bleach will kill the mould but be barely wet, and so just dry off within minutes. The difficulty is finding a household spray with bleach , but they exist. You have to look at the small print. Dire warnings on the back are the easy clue.

Prepare for the worst, assume he is not good, and the weather is foul. There is often a reluctance to tell a tradesperson 'how to do their job'. tell him you are nervous about the shuttering (ie your skills not his) and ask if there is a way of protecting it and he will possibly be patronising, but all will be well.

We revamped an en-suite and installed an electric blanket on a very thin sheet of insulation. Tiles above. It works very efficiently with timer and temperature control and stays warm long after it has gone off. It is a luxury though, for the sake of warm feet on a tiled floor. Why? It is nice and my wife loves it. Why not? Expensive. An electric booster to the towel rail is another welcome addition. Push the button and it dries the towels then switches off, and so saves the boiler running.

In theory that can work, but beware the ready-mix driver just pouring it fast and hard, as the force from fast moving concrete is huge. That apples especially where the fixing pin is near the trench edge. Safer to have it poured into the trenches away from the shutter then shifting it along, with similar pressures both sides. Prepare for the worst and it should be an anti-climax, which is what we want.

600mm is a lot of wet concrete to support and the shuttering would have to be very secure.

I have seen that timber too. For ease of construction I think. Behind the brick will be 2 flues, and they do not seem ho be bonded together. Perhaps one was used a lot and the other not. As Mark c. Says...do you still have chimney breasts in the roomz below? A lot were taken out.

Thanks both. From further discussion, there will be no heavy load tools in this outbuilding. Yes I'm expecting another cu to be used and an earth. Not sure how good an earth spike will be in the hard but free draining sand here. In fact it is difficult to get a pinch bar into the ground...almost rock but then turns to soft sand when disturbed... maybe a long drill. But does dry sand conduct well enough for the earth? 4 to 5m each end noted. I would have underdone that, thinking just come up the wall 2m. So wall to wall route plus 10m. Looped up 5m each end ready for the electrician.

Looking to seize an opportunity to put a cable from the plant room to an outbuilding. What size cable? There will be a domestic water pump that will feed the large house. Plus workshop and who knows what else. I'm thinking the pump may be about 2kW but perhaps there is more to it. No worse than a kettle? The cable length will be 30m. Pump will lift the water 4m max. There will be advice taken from electrician and plumber but they are not fully engaged yet.

Cladco won't provide angled fillers for hips and valleys. I'm shocked. What do people use? Expanding foam or nothing? Anyway with great effort but not too much expense we have them coming. If I can find them so could cladco. Not good customer service or consideration of the final product. Ask if you want the detail for getting them.

Well spotted. The design suite doesn't have granite and sandstone. Or these interesting cracks and asymmetries. The inside spaces are all 'rendered' too which is great especially for those not so familiar with imagining spaces.

It is very helpful and inspiring to get this level of design. Current and future.

That is very deep, and suggests very thick peat or silt. What is the ground, and maybe you can get more soecific advice? I wouldn't count on that. I'm pretty sure there is legal precedent for the investigation company taking no blame. I had a project where the client provided a comprehensive report for tender, from a ground investigation company. Tarmac on stone on clay supposedly. Contract won on that basis. As soon as we started digging we hit a reinforced concrete slab, which 6 boreholes had failed to identify. We minimised the extra cost by redesigning, but the client paid and the G I co and PM got away with it. Either the supervisor was not paying attention x 6.. or they didn't do boreholes and guessed.

I found a jumper, balaclava and jemmy in a shared council attic.

Welcome both. An insurance company manager i built a office for, proudly stated how they had the lowest payout rate of any insurer. They spent money on fighting claims rather than paying. You would know the name. You are right not to be specific on this forum. Everything here is in the public domain.

I am a convert to 'no dig'. I would spread masses of manure asap and let the worms do the work. This will be esp important if droughts become the norm. Also catch all rainwater, even diverting it over the garden if that works for you. Plant nothing that is expensive. The nursery has had a difficult time growing it, and it will surely die. Gardening is a hobby. Why pay someone else to have the fun?

It was my training and job. Study the site: on the ground , the geology and surroundings. Dig holes. Look at trees and watercourses. Look at nearby projects. Design the building to suit the conditions. Other Engineers are available.

It is normal to exclude the fees to the professionals. It shouldn't be, but that is part of the scam. I have many times asked Architect and Client each to state what the budget is, and whether that includes fees and contingencies. It can be an awkward moment for both....one trying to hide the real price (or bluffing) and the other realising it for the first time. Do we know in this case?