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If I might add a couple more thoughts to my first reply: I learned stick welding purely by watching. When I tried it I had the benefit of the current being set to the rod size (all you can really alter) which is a big chunk of the battle, I was using part used rods which are much easier to...

That just looks like normal sand cement screed to me. What was the time gap between screed an flooring?

For years I had an old style air cooled 140A stick welder. It did a job but it was heavy and the arc wasn't terribly consistent. I picked up a set of industrial welding leads at a boot fair for £2 and that made it much handier. About 10 years ago I had a lot of stuff to do and treated myself...

Where does the dynamite go Kools?

I'm confused here. The normal procedure is that the person doing the work serves a notice on those neighbours who are affected and those neighbours give their formal consent. This doesn't in fact need to involve Party Wall Surveyors at all and indeed over the last 20+ years 90% of my jobs...

That seems awfully good for £40

I'd knock out the infill between slabs and bricks: it'll need reinstating anyway.

Yes. Simplictically more water = less strength. The hydration process needs about 20% of the weight of cement any water above this makes the mix more fluid but has to go somewhere. Some of it will rise to the surface dragging cement particles with it leaving a soft dust surface (bleeding) and...

Modern cements are finer ground than in times of yore. This means that in a given volume of concrete there are a greater number of particles of cement which are therefore closer together. The setting process is the growth of dendrites (finger like structures) which interlock binding the mass...

That's an old (>40 years) strength curve. Modern cements typically give 75% of 28 day strength at 7days. You're going to tip the barrel over long before the concrete fails even after a couple of days but if it's very cold then strength gain will be slower.

Still no drawing posted.

8:1 will do that: You've got a steel barrel holding it altogether

Those long strands look like glass fibre to me, but if you're concerned send a sample to one of the numerous testing services.

OP has stated builder won't accept a reduction.

You should expect the guy to build you the structure on the drawing: if he has to pull some of it down then so be it.

For this application you could safely go to 8:1 or even weaker: you only want weight. I would be bulking the mix out with lumps of broken concrete if any available

Did you have any sort of a drawing?

Where does cavity come from? OP has a notionally solid wall built as 2 stretcher skins which is NOT as strong as a proper fully bonded wall.

Plus one for recip: I have a new overgrown garden to civilize and mine is doing stirling service and safer than chain saw in my view. Branch cutting I always do in 2 bites: undercut first, then go through from above just ouside the undercut then a second neatening cut an inch or 2 back towards...

0.2 cube of concrete will weigh around 400kg. You could bump this up by filling the barrel with scrap steel and grouting it solid then you'd have a tonne or so at best. But: anything hanging on the end of the gate will have a 12 to 1 mechanical advantage while the gate itself will be 6 to 1 so...