Recent content by martysmarty

Hi all Im considering doing my garden patio instone paving, something like either the mismatched tumbled slabs or 600x300 slabs and a rough idea how many sand/cement id use. Id really like to take it on but want to see what im getting myself into! Iv not done wetmix slabbing before, i just...

Top advice there pal just what i was looking for. Yes got a router thats a good call actually, saves me chiping it out. Nice one buddy thank you!!

Hi all Can anyone point me in the right direction for a door lining to make two internal double doors, like french doors. I am making a little utility cupboard, going to use two 610mm core doors, hinged on the left and right, they will stay shut using magnet catches on the inside as there will...

Thats it then im going to go for it. I was always under the impression corners were iffy to mess with as they are under the most amount of load and more subjective to cracks. But i guess its only an issue the wider the opening, just like a flat wall.

Il use that as a last resort then, i definitly dont want to risk that. Not sure what to do, shall i just get on with it? Stop messing about? 3 bricks at a time? I could leave a 20mm mortar gap from the face and point it up as one later once its all done.

So theres no point asking then. It was a combination of guttering and bridged ground level i believe. As for the efflorescence i am still not sure. Maybe i could get a cctv survey of the clay pipe thats left? See if theres any cracks?

When i stripped out my downstairs, i could only see damp in areas. Once i checked those areas i looked in the cavity wall and the cavity was fully bridged with as you say, rubble and all sorts. I removed it with a henry hoover. Removing a triangle of bricks every 1 meter inside the house. 8...

Thanks for the reply! Thats a good point. As it was in like for like condition as we got it. Its annoying me because i know i can do it, iv done much bigger brick jobs. (I built a pier for a 4.5m rsj). I just have this thing in my head that its unsafe as its so close to the footings and on a...

Hi all I am considering of ttying to go through my house insurance to get the brickwork looked at on our house. When we bought it, previous owners left guttering leaking for what must of been years, and covered the crumbled brick damage with smeared cement. There is also signs of bad...

Looking at this http://nhbccampaigns.co.uk/landingpages/techzone/previous_versions/2011/Part5/section1/default.htm#D8 5.1 d8 it says it just needs to be suitable and no roots etc. Its currently compacted soil thats a mix of hard soil and stones. Id say its more subsoil

Afternoon all I may have overlooked a detail on my floor i am doing. So the story is iv dug my old kitchen floor up to lay a new concrete pad, and insulation and screed. I am following the detail of my plans from my extension we have had built so that the floor is the same buildup on the old...

Evening ian. Ok, il take it easy then. Il stick to hand compacting with the stomper and use the whacker where its really needed. I suppose the fact its shallow means it wont need much anyway as long as its done carefully in layers

Evening all. Im laying a new pipe run under my kitchen floor for a sink and dishwasher. Old clay has been removed. And was badly cracked! Heres the issue. I only have 100mm of backfill coverage at the top of my run over my 110mm pipe. This is because we have dug the kitchen floor up and...

Off topic bjt just to give an idea of the factors that we can be sure of that rotted those joists, the ground level itself in this kitchen was too high under the concrete pad. Its a good job we dug it up because the ground under it was actually past the inside dpc bridging it. I have had to dig...

there was a lot of reasons the joists rotted. The membrane under the kitchen floor was missing in places and at the perimiter of the concrete it was 3 inches short in most places. We had damp issues due to external ground was bridged over the dpc line a few years back. Also the cavity inside was...