Ferdinand

Capiwotsits are good. The fur can be used for insulation while the meat is used for lunch.

There speaks someone acquainted with management of an Information Technology budget.

You are in need of the Medieval insult generator. http://www.azkurs.org/eddies-medieval-insult-generator.html F

Why are you using offcuts rather than 5 sqm of spray foam and mummified squirrels? Not acceptable. Could you use 10% of whoever-it-was’s unnecessary shoes? I seem to recall it was @newhome who was then gazimped by @lizzie in the Imelda Marcos Derby.

In iKea, Billy is a bookcase. *innocent face*

For some, remember that eye examinations are free in Scotland. Once a year for <16 or >60 or certain conditions, once every 2 years for 16-59s. https://www.optometryscotland.org.uk/images/docs/patients/guide_eye_examinations.pdf F

If your genny is too small but new, can you Ebay and Trade Up? They are not massively expensive items. F

This is the stuff. As recommended by our previous landlord, who happen to be a commercial decorating company. They also said it was sprayable, and it is. I think it has been mentioned on BH, but only in passing here on the "Best Value Paint" thread and here on a blog entry. Previously I came a cropper on a house renovation when Wickes told me that Dulux Easycare was sprayable - not easily, it wasn't, and it took several roller-days instead. If I was using even a different Armstead product, I would test it first now. Because the consequences of something not being suitable are significant for me. F

True, but our top coats are also being sprayed. Also the closeup comparison is raw breezeblock vs plaster which may make the breezeblock cover look less dense. They did not move the scaffolding with one on board, I believe. They had a pep talk from me on that. Photo below taken this morning after one top coat at 8:30. The top coat grey is Armstead paint and sprayed OK. Another coat has been done this am which I have not yet seen. There has been change in the tone on other walls as it goes from repaintable-dry to totally-dry. So we will see how it looks afterwards, and how it looks once the accent graphics are done. It should even out. F

What did you do last weekend? I have mentioned discreetly a few times that I am involved in moving a gym to a new unit. We finally got possession of our new unit on Friday at 5pm. This thread will have some pics and videos, which may or may not be in date order. We open again this afternoon at teatime, at least in part. The two owners are both under 30, which is good to see. I am one of the friends and family who put some finance in 3 years ago. The unit is about 6000sqft, and the gym is called Crossfit Hexis. The location is just off the A38 in near the M1 J28.. The planning and landlord-restoration process has been a saga taking almost a year; that is *after* a search which took about 18 months before that. The place is 1/3 of the front bay of a textile company known as The Sockmine. The history is that they moved some manufacturing to China some years ago, then moved it back as circumstances changed, but that still left 18k sqft of empty space, which has been largely unused since. Now we are a long term tenant (subject to Planners making silly Use Class decisions at some point) they have refurbished it to be 3 units of around 6k sqft, of which we have the first. The refurnished part is known as the Sockmine Business Park - which I quite like. I've learnt a few lessons over the weekend, which I'll point out. (Note to readers: Copyright is asserted and the pics below may not be reused without permission, licenses from individuals etc). A few pics of the unit: The new car park Our new shopfront (with boys toy) Views from opposite ends inside Shopfront from the inside. The wall on the left is new - this is a third of the larger building. Changing and showers - former dye-house judging by the number of coats of paint it required:

I will also copy this piece to the existing advice one linked above. A couple of pics and a vid of our chap doing the inside of the new gym unit (subject of a separate thread). The unit is about the same height and depth as our Wickes, but with lower eaves and 25% or so of the width. The guys in the first piccie are the two owners, who are both under 30. I am one of the people who put some finance in 3 years ago. The unit is about 6000sqft and for a gym called Crossfit Hexis moving to a larger unit. Visits can be arranged if anyone wants a better look (but you may have to do a Workout !) The sprayer is one I bought secondhand on Buildhub last year. Having the longer 15m hose of a something just into the professional range of kit is really worth it for this type of thing where the wall apex is about 10m up. That wall is about 225sqm, and was done with 4 coats in about 8-10 hours overnight from 5pm Sunday, including messing about with the scaffolding tower etc. Paint used was 40-45l. Obviously in the context the first two coats were for sealing, and the second two for finish - no piccies yet as they had gone home when I dropped by at 5:30am this morning. So we were not spraying totally for a precision finish with the white - final gym fit out etc happens today, and we open to existing members at teatime. There is also some custom logo-work etc to go on it. Speed was the priority, and most of the wall is some way in the air so will not be examined with a toothcomb. The bottom part is breezeblock a couple of weeks old; the top is fresh plaster. Overspray would be an issue (rubber mats already part down), but running polythene roll 3m back from the wall dealt with it. The bit of paint spread around by feet, wheels and hose drag will need more work to remedy - an hour with white spirit will fix that. There is also a very sweet spot between speed, paint qty and the paint bouncing back - get in that sweetspot and it is 5 times easier. I was strict on using the exact paint I have used before, as sprayers can be temperamental - we used Leyland Trade Contract undiluted. The finish coats are Armstead, so I will be able to comment on that later. (Note to all: Copyright is asserted and the pics below may mot be reused without permission, licenses from individuals etc).

Edited: Must not divert the thread.

Interestingly it was bang in the middle of the purchase price ranges for the Pet Walk passive pet doors. It was the former showroom demonstrator model at Appliances Direct in South Normanton just off M1 J28. It has been there for at least a couple of years to my knowledge, and came with a normal 2 year warranty from the Manufacturer. I am in there several times a year so I spotted it, and a new Siemens fridge at about £600 was on the agenda anyway, and the existing freezer is about 25 years old, so it seemed to be a good idea. Website price was £2362.97, reduced clearance price advertised in the showroom was £1700, and they went down another 10% when pushed to £1530, which was a hard limit at which they could not move further. Very much "computer says". Ferdinand

That is exactly the point. You don’t know. At the LBB renovation, things that could have used spare bricks have included: - replacing bricks damaged over the years. - blocking up a gas vent to outside that was for an obsolete wall heater - replacing air bricks which were no longer needed. - supporting extended thresholds put in in case I do EWI in the future Other uses I have seen recently - Repairing spalled bricks where someone had not paid attention to or noticed a leaking gutter. - Changing the design of a threshold - Repairing a brick badly damaged by a cable installer - Repairing What was left behind when an old wall mounted installation was removed It may not be for any of these, but it may well be for something you have not thought about yet. Your esteemed visitor may drive into your house corner by mistake, for example. I invite you to take the risk and prove me wrong . I am just about to block up a couple of gas vents not needed now a bungalow has had a vertical flue installed, using white bricks my dad put aside in 1967 when he build what was then a cowshed he converted into his architectural office. Since then it has been a practice office, rented out office, granny bungalow, and now a rented studio-bungalow. God knows why he used white bricks, but I am glad I still have a dozen or so. Ferdinand

It is down the hill behind the old house in the garden and the most prominent gable is at the back, which may be part of the difference.

Small but important. Put a few dozen aside now, so that in the future you have matching bricks to hand for when you need them. Then build your retaining wall from the remainder .. unless it really does undermine the design etc. In that case, get a few more for spares when you can. There is even something to be said for leaving them in a one deep pile somewhere so they weather with the house. F

@nod I think the key insight here is Don’t be a Fashion Victim. Meet the needs of the self-build customer ie you or your boss, after taking any advice you may need. You want polished brass like the Edwardian Navy; you get polished brass and enjoy polishing it. One consideration might be to make sure that you can switch faceplates later, just in case the eventual purchaser of your house in 20xy *is* a fashion victim. @lizzie How do these floor sockets in wells cope with spills and leaks? Perhaps like most electrics ... let it dry out properly and it will usually work just fine after checks if the leak wasn’t something sticky or flammable. At home I have flat metallic steel in the kitchen and white with curvy edges everywhere else, plus something nearly the same but squarer where we have added a conservatory and in the utility. I am now standardised on Hager white for everywhere in refurbs, mainly as I quite like the robustness of their Consumer Units, and that the Electrician did not come out in hives when they were mentioned. Ferdinand

Are we actually saying that @newhome is the ghost of Imelda Marcos? It is a bit suspicious ... that racing simulator and the name Marcos, who used to build car simulators out of GRP. I recall that they even had a fixed seat and adjustable pedals. And a footwell requiring small feet. (Correction needed. No ghost, Imelda M is still alive.)

@PeterW is Donald Trump standing on his head. With a chainsaw, a Landrover, and possibly a real pelt like a bear.

Thanks. Success.

Just in case anyone wants to post a cat, how to wrap it (Very resentful looking cat) How not to wrap a cat. Maybe. It sounds like a small swarm of bees.

Well, the Liebherr fridge-freezer is here, and is a stonker. . It is also an ex-demonstration one, which I assume has a battery or a capacitor somewhere as it is still in demo mode (ie refrigeration not engaged) on being plugged in and turned on. Does anyone know how to get a Liebherr reliably out of demo mode? Otherwise I will have a chat to customer services on Monday. Also about the bulb which is non-functional, and a couple of missing screws and a missing manual. Small sacrifice for the small fortune that was off the price for something I would not normally have really considered. I also need another bottle shelf as it will not hold enough wine/beer. Awesome machine, though. Ferdinand

Far too complex. Occam says the cat goes out in the evening as comes back in in the morning if it is good. Since the cat here popped it’s close clogs I now have a spare cat flap in my shed if one is needed. You will be required to supply and install a blanking plate. I will not be accepting any parcels making meowing noises.

It depends on lots of thing, and coverage could be Half of that or 50% more. One trick is to buy more paint than you could possible need and take the leftover back. Suggest starting with this thread, as it is probably the most comprehensive. Any advice I could give is on that thread, though I am having a 100-150 sqm wall spray painted tomorrow or Monday and I may post some photographs. When we are up and running and using the right throughput on my machine to minimise offspray and paint bounceback, we will be using about a litre of paint every 3 minutes or so (which is slow).

Totally up to you. I do the whole floor if the floor will last longer than the fitted kitchen eg if porcelain tiles, and if I have time to do it first. The last one I did I used a floating laminate floor up to the plinths and into appliance spots, but I put a 600 x 600 black porcelain floor tile where the tall fridge would be. F