saveasteading

What would be the problem if the wall just continued to fall over? It is their wall?

I didn't know that energy source could be harnessed.

Because the walls are linear. Then the width of the footing will turn it into /m2. Safety factors...different factors are applied to dead/live/wind in a realistic way. As the chance of everything being at maximum*, plus 1m of snow on the roof plus a hurricane at the same time is low. * the building weight is known. Then you allow for a reasonable amount of furnishing and people. Not grand pianos everywhere and dancing. These figures are standard and published, but are changed by purpose if it is e.g. a fitness room. There are other safety factors built into the structure itself, for inferior materials or workmanship. The other thing the SE looks at is proximity of trees and the effect on the ground.

Do you have this beam already with the plate welded to the bottom? Unlikely, as we don't know how wide it is. A cross section would explain all. If your Engineer is a sole practitioner, message them....it is part of the job, and character building. If they are in a bigger practice, get someone else to answer. In my mind this will be a 10mm plate the width of the beam, 102mm, plus cavity, unknown, and outer skin, presumably 100mm, then less 25mm, as the steel is not to be exposed. Buy we should not be guessing. It should also specify the weld and not leave that to the fabricator. Then there are the plates..welded outside of the beam for some reason. I see you have to galvanise it after fabrication. Sorry, only the designer knows what is intended.

The same guy explained that they did a real fire in a test room with 2 x 2 stud and plasterboard screwed in, with no jointing. the stud charred where exposed but no worse. but as this was not the purpose of the test it was not published. With metal stud I wouldn't be so confident. So our ovens get repeatedly soft, but aren't structural so its ok?

With a listed building almost everything is subject to planning. I was reading about it only yesterday. Any planning involving a listed building tends to take longer too, however irrelevant the matter is. There has to be some limit though, and perhaps this is obscure enough to be worth the risk...after all you would be leaving the wall in place. I can't see the planners being too bothered, if the wall is not conspicuous or ancient/interesting in its own right.

as you would see, gabions were my thought too. as an easy and non technical solution. I think the planners would love it once you have eased their decicion. Tell them you would be filling the baskets with ...whatever they want to hear that also suits you. Local rock faced and demolition rubble behind (and invisible) ???? and that it allows water to pass through it, and that wild flowers will grow in it. Oh, and insects and reptiles. Are gabion baskets modern? The Egyptians 7,000 years ago used the principle with willow instead of wire. In the modern era they have been in wire at least 50 years (ie as long as I have been interested.)

You could possibly build all new on your side then fill the gap with stone. I like the gabion basket idea, possibly leaning back into the wall. No crossing the boundary required. When did the toppling happen? Following the wet weather perhaps with resultant buildup of water and soil turning to slurry?

It's probably alright. The bending stresses are nil, or close, at the end. Check that it is official though, not a whim by the fitter.

I agree. if there is a fire will it reach the beam? 1. fire in room....ceiling protects it unless there are significant holes in it plus air flow. 2. fire in void. Protect the steel, OR remove any source of fire (removing the ignition element (lights or fans) OR any flammable material. The easiest way to protect the steel in the case here will be to infill against the webs using appropriate rockwool. the remaining exposed flange base will likely be insignificant in any calculation.....but you don't want to be calculating for such a minor thing. In reality, no fire will burst through the ceiling lights or from them and get to any temperature to be of concern, as there is no air flow and little fuel in the void. I asked a professor of fire once, how much does it matter if joints in plasterboard fall out in a fire, or other exposed edges. He said , hardly at all, as the fire won't go through that way in real life. Plus, in the heat,the plaster changes chemically, and drives water out, especially through the edges.....killing fire at these points..

However much you don't want to see the 'plumber' again, you should get him back. Or is it just a bloke who was cheap, and has no company, reputation, insurance etc?

It's not fantasy but it is very technical to prove and difficult to do. How far away is the threatened house? Your insurers may be interested. Is the land beyond the wall yours or the neighbour's? Who else is involved? Contractor, Engineer, Architect?

And the answer will be in there. My short response is that I never thought of ties working in compression, only in tension. And yet there has to be a reason for sometimes using twisted flats rather than wire. Plus I had never heard of putting them on a slope. Any water ingress will be from outside to in, then it drips off the twist or bend and the problem is gone Structurally I can't see that it matters. I await the 2.00 am article.

Not a lot of people know that. As a Chartered Civil Engineer we are sworn to do what is right for the world first, and the client comes second. A Chartered Surveyor once said to me that this only applies to Civil Engineers, Doctors and nurses.....and he wasn't so sure about nurses. He showed me the surveyors' ethos....hmmmm: nothing about fairness. It probably hinders our earnings potential but helps our consciences. BTW "Civil" comes from " not military" rather than politeness.

That would be another reason for not allowing any use of leftovers. Seriously though. when the pour is complete there is usually a lot of important work to do. Gnome, or block, manufacture should not be priority. Also, seriously, there is usually something that can benefit from a few shovels of concrete and not take much time, so plan ahead.

So do tell. What is your recipe? Does cement go in as half a bag, as brickies seem to prefer?

That's the biggest danger with small quantities measured by shovel. A shovel of damp sand is much more than of gravel.

I think you have it. The first objective is to not make a mess that needs clearing later. Next is to make something useful. Concrete blocks for rough use/ weights. Hardstanding at site entrance...but the level needs to be right. Lastly. Consider it as hardcore not concrete, so the very wet slurry is best for this....but hold the water back to avoid mess. As a young Site Engineer I proposed having shutter boxes for left over concrete. The powers above explained that it would be abused as an excuse for over ordering. We got a big telling off for being mire than 1/2m3 over. The spare was spread and became hardcore. And an undersupply ( being short) was unthinkable. This on typically 20m3 of structural work.

In these cases it was easy in winter....heat an office or factory. In summer, no..?. The best I can think of is a reversed ground source heater. Storing heat for much later.but there are lots of snags in this. As a further diversion. Most cold stores are too high. Clients want the better £/m3 that height gives them, then don't use it.

I think few installers understand the science. They just fit equipment. My clients always organised this direct and I couldn't get close to the manufacturers....but I don't feel they were much interested either. So in a new food factory or warehouse, we or our client's contractor would put air source into an office and warehouse at one end, and meanwhile hot air is chucked out at the other.

The waste of heat being pumped out of chill stores is shocking. There has to be a way of heating nearby spaces. I asked a client's contractor if they could heat the offices in the same building. He said no, but I'm not convinced.....simply take the hot waste pipes through radiators or past a fan?

I have learned from this discussion. I didn't know this...or maybe I used to and have forgotten. It is the minimum weight of plasterboard that determines which boards suffice for sound insulation in a ceiling. See the bottom bit about the weight of pb from different brands. Combine this with the fire properties and it becomes apparent why a 15mm fireboard is thought to be the norm.

That's because it isn't simple. I resort to photocopying the relevant pages and highlighting the relevant clauses, resulting in a narrative. This remains to hand when I inevitably forget the logic, plus can show the bco....who is not our designer. The fire codes themselves are more complex. Eg the hp/a of the steel. BTW I have worked with severely fire damaged buildings and the steel structure was always intact.

You don't need a slope. Cars rarely leak. Commercial garages don't have slopes except at wash areas. So it's your choice. But you do need to keep the rain from getting under the garage doors. My standard detail has a ramp coming a good 100mm inside of the door, to let wind blown water run back. You can't rely on the bottom seals. It's best to shutter that off when pouring the slab, and deal with fiddly door details later.

Might even be normal pb. I don't have the books to hand. But it isn't much advertised and barely worth proving or arguing.