Recent content by AnerleyBoy

Well done, Jerry. Many thanks to all contributors. My memory was faulty in several matters (big surprise!) - the Big Foot is smaller and flatter than I remembered; its neck is made to fit into a Sonotube or similar; presumably post and foot are poured at the same time.

Big Foot and Sonotube (or similar former)

Thanks, Deluks. I've had a quick look at Sonotubes' website and it's interesting stuff but not what I'm talking about - unless it's elsewhere on their site. I think the Big Upside-Down Funnel must have appeared on 'Holmes' or 'This Old House'. Bike Mike built a two-storey veranda/deck for a...

Lots of good ideas above. If the measuring system doesn't have to be portable but can be installed in the well, how about - a lightweight pipe of length appropriate to the well is capped at both ends; the pipe is fixed vertically in loose brackets on the well shaft wall; the brackets...

Thank you, everybody. For the sake of argument: (1) If the cube has Volume V then a cone of the same height and base width has volume V x (pi/12); that's roughly V/4. Of course that cube would have a bigger footprint by a factor of (4/pi) - about 25% bigger. (2) When I said, "backfill" I...

Good points, Noseall. I think the builders would say that they're employing a system to achieve consistent quality while saving labour and concrete; they score budget points and eco points. The auger is a substantial specialised machine but probably costs no more than a mini-digger, for...

You can make your portico in timber, of course. The questions are, Can you make it structurally sound? Can you make it look good? Can you maintain it? This is the bay window of a Victorian house in my road The original columns were stone; the ones in the picture are new timber. The bay...

The original bay window had stone columns; they have been replaced by accurate timber replicas made by a timber windows company.

In a TV building programme I saw a system for placing structural posts - to support a biggish veranda for a house, I think. They drilled a 1m hole with a motorised auger, put a large inverted plastic funnel in the hole, poured concrete into the funnel, pushed a steel post down into the concrete...

An inverted plastic funnel is placed in a hole; concrete is poured into the funnel; a post is inserted in the funnel.

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Yes, I'm a few years late in entering this discussion but we don't fuss about time in DIY . . . There always seems to be confusion about the two-thirds rule for fence-posts, so here's my understanding of it: The length of post below the ground should be one third of the length above the...