"Doug Miller" wrote in message
t...
In article , "Roger Mills"
wrote:
In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Doug Miller wrote:


Interesting questions. As Churchill said, the U.S. and the U.K. are
"two nations divided by a common language."

So help this American understand what you're talking about, please.
What is a breeze block?

A building block, typically measuring 18" x 9" - used in bits of walls
which
don't show - typically for the inner skin of a cavity wall. Original ones
made of furnace ash and cement or somesuch. Current ones much lighter in
weight, and with good insulating properties. Much faster to build than
bricks since each block takes the place of 6 bricks.

Gotcha. We call that a cinder block (even though they're *now* made with
concrete), but ours are 16" x 8".

Actually cinder blocks and concrete blocks were and still are made from two
different materials. Cinder blocks used "clinkers" from coal fired
locomotives and industrial steam boilers, mixed with portland cement and
sand to form a lightweight version of concrete. Lightweight blocks are still
manufacturered for internal firewalls and such, using steel mill slag and
other lightweight agegates. They were never intended for outdoor use or
inground use. Concrete blocks used the standard sand, gravel and portland
cement for high strength and weather resistance.


What is a rawlplug?

Originally a fibre plug, inserted into a drilled hole in brickwork to
allow
a screw to be screwed in. Rawlplug is/was a trade name
- but is now used generically for any such plug. Modern plugs are made of
plastic.

Gotcha. We use the same things here, but I have no idea what they're
called.

Used to be called Rawlplug in North America when they were made of a
fiberous material. My experience has shown that plastic plugs don't hold
much at all, they are just too slippery to form a solid anchor. If you have
solid timbers in the wall use longer screws. If you have masonry building
units in the wall get some Tapcon screws or the equivelent in a length that
will solidly hold in the masonry.

What is polyfilla?

A powder which, when mixed with water, makes a plaster-like substance for
filling cracks in walls.

I guess that's a trade name, too?

Pollyfilla, still made in North America, they make floor leveling, wall
patching, spackles and other plaster type supplies. My local big box store
stocks them.


HTH!

Yeah -- thanks!

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.