saveasteading

B and Q has little relation to a domestic situation. On a building that size, if fairly modern, there will be a very big steel grillage near the middle. This is used over a certain size of floor (2,000m2 as a vague memory.) elsewhere there are also multiple crack induce joists, which may have a flexible filler. At the big joint there is a complete break in the floor slab. Elsewhere the crack control mesh runs through the joints. Don't concern yourself with that, except to note that it is 'a thing' that is taken seriously. They are not expansion joints, but contraction joints as all concrete shrinks, and doesn't expand again unless it gets very hot. All concrete shrinks , as yours has done. I don't know the science of your screed, but presumably the heat is forcing water out of the chemical structure that has been formed when the screed was hardening. Water is taken in chemically as a part of the new material, and not all of it has to dry. I'm just surprised this happens at your temperature. The manufacturer should tell you why this has happened and if it will now be stable or expand again when cooling and perhaps taking water back into the chemical structure. The drawing is excellent, thanks. The yellow line could have been forecast, and there should have been a contraction joint near to that point, to control the crack to a nice straight line. The red crack will not stop at mid slab, and the question will be whether it carries on until it meets yellow, dives off at an angle to a door opening, or dissipates in multiple tiny cracks. None are likely to be long term problems once they stabilise. But I wouldn't be sure that have yet. Notting nasty is going to happen, but there is a risk of tiles cracking if the floor shrinks or relaxes back to where it was.

As someone who wrecked a cylinder trying to adjust a connection...these tanks are incredibly thin copper and strong only when full of water. Unless designed for hanging they have to sit on a base (could be a very strong shelf). Spread the load as far as you can.

11 pages on, but as well as helping zoothorn's flue issues we have gone into diy hydro-electrics, torque, nesting birds and ...I can't remember now. Will the next question be as engaging?

It can always be explained. I f it matters to you, then show us a picture and we can try. I am very surprised that the screed was not considered dry after 6 months. Was the area sealed off so that the air remained cold/ humid? My guess (just for fun) is that the 'unexplained' crack is an area of least resistance to the shrinkage that has happened everywhere, and the ufh is acting as crack control...so a place where the pipes are absent , or running the other direction.

I have fitted one, and it was made specifically to slip over the flue section. Therefore it only needed some fire mastic and pushed on.

I think corten is a brilliant material, especially when used for its intended purpose in structures. As an architectural finish it has its place, but has these 'flaws' as markc explains, and with better knowledge than I. Waxed corten completely defeats the original intention of the architect. Controlled corrosion/rawness of the material. 'Honesty of the material' is probably quoted too.

A decent car parking space is 4.8m long, so that 16ft distance sounds plenty. If the budget allows, an automatic gate is a luxury that you will appreciate on a filthy February night....and every day. It also allows for the gate to start opening as you approach and click the control from 50m away , and so even a longer than average vehicle will not have to leave an end sticking out in the road.

That happens automatically, and is the purpose of corten. Once indoors it certainly wont rust any more, and sealing would not be necessary except to keep greasy fingers off it, (and rust off clothes??....if it does come off, I have stroked the stuff and I don't think any ca me off) No comment on whether it is aesthetically interesting as that is up to you.

There is a lot of built in smell in gas, so that we detect leaks. So the leak could be very minor. Still best to check it though as your gas is leaking away and there is a stink. Oldbury WM ....ahhh I remember the smell from the factory where they make the smell additive. Not as nice as passing the Wagonwheel factory in Edinburgh, or the breweries of Edinburgh or Burton, but memorable

Neither the nut nor the bolt should fall off. But if the bolt is fitted from below then it is obvious by visual inspection that there is a missing fixing. Not so easy to see if the bolt is popping through from above, with no nut. Fitting the bolt from above is easier of course, thus more likely for a nut to be omitted. A subtle benefit but worthwhile.

That stove is very cheap. When I have poked at different sources the quality to price relationship has been fairly obvious, until the very expensive ones. I assume you have done research and comparisons and this is ok.

We have just been told by the BCO that a boxed-in section of flue requires an access hatch for inspection (in case the flue is suspected of leaking. This make sense but I think is intended for service ducts rather than complete and insulated boxings. Costs £30 so we are simply agreeing. For an exit through the roof I will be contemplating fitting one of these above the vapour control. It is always difficult to seal around a round flue without these. The red ones are made for hot pipes. Then the roofer can do whatever he always does as well.

After that impeccable answer, I will have more questions about the way the world works. None for now, but this sort of thing. Why do my led bulbs glow when the switch is off , and flies circle lights that are off? How is it that a self-build project can cost half of that run by 'professionals'. (I know this one actually.) Why do 2-way lights not short and fuse? Why do materials and goods here cost the same in £ as Europe pays in Euros?

Glad to hear it. What does that mean (as simple as you like).

How strange you had the same issue. Although it was a pain, we did get paid for it. Another building had the same batch, but it was a sports hall and all the bolts were by now concealed by an inner lining of boarding. I told them this was difficult and perhaps to check the tolerances of the bolts in our situation. No. ( I think their insurer had issued a blanket instruction) Then I told them the cost of closing the facility, stripping the walls and replacing , on top of the bolt replacement. Apparently there was enough spare capacity in the bolts that it was ok after all. Good though, that the bolt supplier was so thorough, and it does provide total confidence in the product. Bolts facing down! Naughty.

That sounds clever and simple. I found this. Well done for the ability to hold on for 24 hours. Bleach mixed with water at a 1:9 ratio (i.e. 10 percent bleach) is potent for about a day (it's more unstable in its diluted form).

But try not to. This is a very serious safety thing, applying as much to drives as to junctions. The car coming at you has to see you crossing their path, react, brake and stop. In my experience the distances that seem to be excessive are sensible. An impact with an emerging car will be into the side of it, which is not nice. Relaxation is fair enough if the road cannot be used at the legal speed, eg due to sharp bends, but that is unusual. The planners have no interest in this unless they submit it to Highways and get a refusal. Generally they don't understand it. I have seen planning permission granted for a ludicrously poor sightline on the basis that a field gate was already there. I looked at it and shuddered at how dangerous it was,. Councils use the Highway Agency guidelines. Find that. and it is easy to test on google earth.

Spanners, yes, but why does a diesel engine have more torque than a petrol engine, please? Re the length of spanner thing. In erecting steel buildings there was a strict rule from our suppler not to use torque spanners, but to use 'turn of the nut'.....'after full resistance is achieved, apply a half turn'. The supplier gave up on this reluctantly, eventually and agreed to the use of torque wrenches. I think the issue was that torque wrenches were over-sized for the nut (as described by OnOff above) and generally turned up to 11. It was something I hadn't really thought of (and neither had most of the industry) that a bolt could be overtight and fail, or just tight enough and hold up a huge building. Then once there was a recall by the bolt manufacturer....change all 40mm bolts at the haunch of an erected and operational warehouse. what fun that was.

Absolutely. If you wanted, for some reason, to kill off all the activity within the tank, then bleach would be an easy way. I was looking for a spray with bleach in it to kill off some mould, and it was a surprise how difficult it was to find. Therefore it seems that few cleaning products contain bleach these days, and most are ok to use.

I think that was him.

I know more about hydraulics than electronics. A bit. Therefore before this discussion gets even more technical here is my input. I would select a suitable wheel that can run at a steady speed to feed your fairy lights, then create the waterflow to suit. Hence a spillway that feeds water from the burn into a full pipe, and then along the line of the burn or bank to the 'power station', gaining clear height. Then an outfall from the pipe onto the wheel which is above a small catchment and thence flow back to the burn. The leaves are kept out by angling the spillway so that leaves flow by but water trickles over, and then a small settlement area where sinkers and floaters are kept away from the pipe, with another weir and/ or gauze divider. Then a gauze over the pipe as a precaution in case of remaining bits. Presumably you would be far enough down the burn that the turbine is above spate level. All the above speaking as the student who caused the weir experiment to overflow onto the PhD student designing a wave energy machine below our mezzanine.

I've been doing this a long time and had not come across any such ruling (and never had a problem). But some of Yorkshire is high and exposed and perhaps it is simplest to apply a single ruling regardless of location. Southern Water though? My house water (SE) comes in at about -300 (including the meter installed by the water company) and has survived some very vicious winters (to -18C). I found this from J D Pipes. No mention of location or circumstances. Avoid freezing pipes According to 'The Department of the Environment', they recommend that pipes should be buried at least 600mm (two feet) underground. At this depth, the soil acts as a natural insulator and prevents them freezing. A deeper trench will likely be cheaper than insulation, if necessary where you are. For a long run in open ground there are ploughs that make a slit and drop the pipe in one easy operation. But I don't think they reach 600mm.

If the void is 100% filled with insulation, and the atmosphere is dry when the ceiling is fitted, then there shouldn't be significant moisture to evaporate. Also, if filled to the top, the summer heat does not have a volume of air (with moisture in it) at the top to heat.

That is technically a wee burn.

My indoor ones have rotted, so now have some in the greenhouse. After 4 days, nothing yet. I think straight in the ground now, esp in the Costa Thames Estuary area. Ruthless gardeners plant 2 beans together and cull the weaker one (if there are 2 that sprout). It seems like drowning the spare kitten so I tend not to. But outdoors they will attract slugs, rabbits etc until they are about 6 metric inches high. So pots is still worth a try, or try both and become an expert.