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UK diy (uk.d-i-y) For the discussion of all topics related to diy (do-it-yourself) in the UK. All levels of experience and proficency are welcome to join in to ask questions or offer solutions. |
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#1
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It pays to DIY - or rather it doesn't pay not too...
Fuming today...
http://photos.dionic.net/v/public/bu...5_001.jpg.html Shows what a builder did for me, in order to move a doorway along. That's one half-width column of celcon blocks holding a lintel up. Granted there is no real load on the lintel beyond a few bricks. Anyway, I hacked that little bit of plaster off (it was a test set to see how it handled with the blocks - badly as the suckage was high). Then noticed the block column was wobbling. Then discovered I could rotate the top half of the column by a good half cm without trying too hard. Light use of a chisel had broken the side bond and half the block to block joins. I stress, this was a hand chisel, not an SDS. I concluded that it *should* have been done out of brick and keyed in properly with the wall to the left, which is how i would have done it. Next door neighbours agreed (retired brickie and his son, who has worked as a builder, now more into carpentry). Anyway, the builder refused to fix it, claiming that "it'll be alright with a bit of plaster on it". Must be from the school of structural plastering. To be honest, it I'd done that, I would class it as an incompetent failure. I'll run it past the BCO, under Part A of the BNA stuff, just to feel more justified, then redo it properly. But so far no other experienced person whose seen it thinks it's good enough and I certainly don't. --- I had a moan about the floor - more in the Arsecarrots... thread. --- Didn't even get round to moaning about the pathetic attempt to make a floor slab (2.5" thick concrete on DPM with no sand, DPM punctured to buggery, earth not compacted etc). Stupid thing is I was going to offer his partner a load of plastering work (big room, appearance matters, mine bearable but not good enough for large areas). Needless to say that won;t be happening... Sigh. Seems to be the state of Britain these days... |
#2
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It pays to DIY - or rather it doesn't pay not too...
On Jul 1, 7:36*pm, Tim S wrote:
Fuming today... http://photos.dionic.net/v/public/bu...mg_0025_001.jp... Shows what a builder did for me, in order to move a doorway along. That's one half-width column of celcon blocks holding a lintel up. Granted there is no real load on the lintel beyond a few bricks. Anyway, I hacked that little bit of plaster off (it was a test set to see how it handled with the blocks - badly as the suckage was high). Then noticed the block column was wobbling. Then discovered I could rotate the top half of the column by a good half cm without trying too hard. Light use of a chisel had broken the side bond and half the block to block joins. I stress, this was a hand chisel, not an SDS. I concluded that it *should* have been done out of brick and keyed in properly with the wall to the left, which is how i would have done it. Next door neighbours agreed (retired brickie and his son, who has worked as a builder, now more into carpentry). Anyway, the builder refused to fix it, claiming that "it'll be alright with a bit of plaster on it". Must be from the school of structural plastering.. To be honest, it I'd done that, I would class it as an incompetent failure. I'll run it past the BCO, under Part A of the BNA stuff, just to feel more justified, then redo it properly. But so far no other experienced person whose seen it thinks it's good enough and I certainly don't. --- I had a moan about the floor - more in the Arsecarrots... thread. --- Didn't even get round to moaning about the pathetic attempt to make a floor slab (2.5" thick concrete on DPM with no sand, DPM punctured to buggery, earth not compacted etc). Stupid thing is I was going to offer his partner a load of plastering work (big room, appearance matters, mine bearable but not good enough for large areas). Needless to say that won;t be happening... Sigh. Seems to be the state of Britain these days... You get a better result employing someone that knows nothing about building but wants to learn. If youre around to show them anyway. NT |
#3
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It pays to DIY - or rather it doesn't pay not too...
NT wibbled:
You get a better result employing someone that knows nothing about building but wants to learn. If youre around to show them anyway. Yes - the chap working for me for the last few weeks doesn't object to being instructed to do something my way, and comes over as pretty smart anyway (not sue why he's still doing random jobs - sure he could do better). But he's confident and can get on with minimal help once the plan's been laid out. I don't normally like working with people in such a close linked way (I hate constant management duties - not my thing), but this bloke is worth every penny and is a joy. I could have probably done everything the builder did minus the plastering for a lot less cost and better with this chap, but I was working full time at the time and subbing out the initial work seemed like a good idea... I think general purpose builders are alright with day to day work, but they can't seem to cope with problem jobs IME. Cheers Tim |
#4
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It pays to DIY - or rather it doesn't pay not too...
Tim S wrote:
I concluded that it *should* have been done out of brick and keyed in properly with the wall to the left, which is how i would have done it. Block would have been ok, but he should have used a stainless "starter" strip. That fixes to the existing wall, and is then tied into the new blockwork as it is built. Its a strong and accepted way of keying new stuff to old. http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Stru.../sd2797/p85866 -- Cheers, John. /================================================== ===============\ | Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk | \================================================= ================/ |
#5
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It pays to DIY - or rather it doesn't pay not too...
John Rumm coughed up some electrons that declared:
Tim S wrote: I concluded that it *should* have been done out of brick and keyed in properly with the wall to the left, which is how i would have done it. Block would have been ok, but he should have used a stainless "starter" strip. That fixes to the existing wall, and is then tied into the new blockwork as it is built. Its a strong and accepted way of keying new stuff to old. http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Stru.../sd2797/p85866 There's something in there, but not at the top block (cos I can see right past that), but it's not protecting it much against torsional loads on the end. Don't know if it's installed wrong, but I could get +/- 0.5cm movement out of the column light hand pressure. Heavy hand pressure would have got more - certainly felt like I could have broken it off it I wanted. When I've got the acrow in I'll see how much it takes to actually break it. I certainly can't accept 1/2 the horizontal bonds breaking and the entire vertical one showing light through - especially on a lintel support. Cheers Tim |
#6
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It pays to DIY - or rather it doesn't pay not too...
On 3 July, 08:38, Tim S wrote:
John Rumm coughed up some electrons that declared: Tim S wrote: I concluded that it *should* have been done out of brick and keyed in properly with the wall to the left, which is how i would have done it. Block would have been ok, but he should have used a stainless "starter" strip. That fixes to the existing wall, and is then tied into the new blockwork as it is built. Its a strong and accepted way of keying new stuff to old. http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Stru...alwork/Wall+St... There's something in there, but not at the top block (cos I can see right past that), but it's not protecting it much against torsional loads on the end. Don't know if it's installed wrong, but I could get +/- 0.5cm movement out of the column light hand pressure. Heavy hand pressure would have got more - certainly felt like I could have broken it off it I wanted. When I've got the acrow in I'll see how much it takes to actually break it. I certainly can't accept 1/2 the horizontal bonds breaking and the entire vertical one showing light through - especially on a lintel support. Cheers Tim Yeah, if someone barged into the edge of the opening by accident (2 people passing in doorway etc), I would be concerned the whole thing could come down. I've seen builders use nails banged into the mortar courses to hold new additions, which really does a poor job - maybe he did something like that. Simon. |
#7
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It pays to DIY - or rather it doesn't pay not too...
Simon coughed up some electrons that declared:
Yeah, if someone barged into the edge of the opening by accident (2 people passing in doorway etc), I would be concerned the whole thing could come down. I've seen builders use nails banged into the mortar courses to hold new additions, which really does a poor job - maybe he did something like that. Simon. Or just banging the door. Even if the plaster firms it up, I personally would be concerned about cracking the plaster in both cases. I really hate celcon (etc) blocks. I've never seen ones where the mortar actually bonds well to them, unlike brick. With a whole wall, there's plenty of overlap and friction to mitigate but for random bits like this, bricks wouldn't have taken much more effort... Cheers Tim |
#8
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It pays to DIY - or rather it doesn't pay not too...
Every time the door slams with the wind the plaster will crack
vertically over the brick/block joint. If there is wallpaper on it then it will end up as a "crunchy-ripply-distorted mess" and will eventually tear the wallpaper leaving a very visible & obvious "crack". You then get people trying to fill in the crack without addressing the real problem. Realise this can happen on both sides of the wall - which could get expensive if the other side is a wallpaper hallway. So D-I-Y the repair properly - the wall starter kit is the proper solution (or key in bricks since D-I-Y labour is "free"). |
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