Recent content by MattPope

The tiles are gone - only got £200 for the 1000 good tiles left over. Better than a poke in the eye etc etc. I should have kept a closer look on here. Been busy building and not so much time on line! The Swallow Tile Company site is just outside Cranleigh and looks like it is being...

Hi, We're about to strip off the old clay tiles fitted in 1930 and will be replacing with new. Just wondered if there is a good place to try to sell old tiles - these are Swallows made in Surrey and probably have 6000 fitted right now. It would be useful to know what second hand tiles like...

A large number of dense blocks have appeared on the driveway so that's the way I'm going. Hope this makes some sense - just seems a bit tougher than the thermalites. Next up - decide on coping stones for the top of the parapet wall. Cheers. Matt

Just wanted to follow up on this by posting that I bought a pumice liner system from a company called Stoves Direct as recommended by other posters here. The advice and service I received from their chimney guy was exemplary. This does need to be built in as the chimney is constructed and at...

Just to close this thread. The drawings show 4N blocks but no further detail. Spoke with building control and SE and this seems of little interest. I'm surprised that this is so lax from both sides. The builders will work with 3.6N Thermalite Shields and hopefully these will take render well...

We have a 100mm cavity and full fill insulation. At present the builders are lined up to use thermalite shield blocks which seem to satisfy the structural and thermal insulation requirements and but how well do they render? Another part of the house was built from thermal blocks and have...

Extension walls going up nicely. The ground floor is brick face and the second floor will be rendered. There is also a parapet wall to be made of block and rendered on the first floor of the extension. The builders have asked which type of blocks I will use - the SE calcs simply show 4N...

I seem to have caused a stir here. Thanks for the comments though. I guess I should call our BCO to discuss what the requirements are as another matter in the construction so far has caused some issues. I must admit that I had expected the chimney to have been fitted with some sort of flue...

So I guess the question is what is going to be used to line the chimney now that the void has been built. It can't be a regular liner as these are only for relining existing flues. Part J was quite interesting but if I get it right I need a masonry or clay type flue....Have the builders got...

I'll open a mushroom farm. Genius! FreddieMercurysTwin seems confident that weedkiller is not a requirement. That sounds promising. All I've seen is that the beam and block floor manufacturers recommend it. Not stated as a requirement though. The extension is going up fast and basically...

Thanks for the comments. I raised the question as the gas pipe got split when digging the foundations and the repair guys thought it was a smaller diameter than normal which might not be suitable for a boiler and oven. Someone else I know seemed to think they were talking nonsense. The pipe is...

In the process of building an extension and needing to relocate the gas meter box and main supply pipe. The house used to have a metal supply pipe that has since had a plastic one fitted inside more recently. I was advised that the pipe diameter may not be sufficient for the demands of a...

Sorry for lack of detail Oldun - valid point! The plan will be to have a woodburning stove. At present the builders have just constructed a blockwork 'box'. What sort of liner would be fitted afterwards? I had thought there would be some sort of masonry tubing going in there as the chimney is...

We have a chimney to be built as part of an extension and I'm a little surprised to see simple thermalite blocks being used without any internal flue. I was under the impression the chimney needed to be built with a proper masonry flue. I don't believe you can just stick in a flue liner as these...

Thanks for the posts. The ground (wet clay) was not prepared in any special way - it was just built over. There are certainly no plants growing nor the chance of any growing with the soil type there. Having checked out various block and beam websites many do seem to mention using an...