Is there a best time to repoint (I thought Spring or autumn, somewhere between the extremes of expansion/contraction in winter/summer).

Is there a procedure, obviously I don't just cut out a 3.5m length of mortar course in one hit, and then think about getting some mortar put back in?

What happens when a wall tie is encountered?

What mix mortar goes back in?

What about the various mortar raking tools available from Scre**ix. Are they up to it?

And any tips, generally, would be welcome.

The external walls of my house have an awful textured render (like artexed painted ceilings?) up to height of about 6'. It's a 1910 brick cavity wall.

Can I simply render over this? What's the process and what materials do I need please? 

Thanks

Apologies if I've posted this in the wrong place, but I figured as I'm thinking about attaching something to a brick wall this might be the best place...

I’m a DIY-newbie. I’ve put up a picture and curtain rail but that’s about it, so I’m looking for some advice about a DIY activity I’d like to do.

I would like to hang a heavy boxing bag in my house. I don’t want to hang it outside, and the only inside option is the garage. There aren’t any decent looking roof beams, and it’s a flat roof, so I figure the best solution is to fix it from a wall bracket.

The wall I am thinking of attaching it to is a single thickness brick wall.

I am planning on attaching a 30kg bag using this bracket (which is spec’d for bags up to 100kg):

Rather than fixing this directly to the wall, I thought it might be best to fix some wooden batons to the wall first and then screw the bracket to that.

I thought a 1” (deep) by 2’ (wide) baton horizontally fixed to the wall with 4 x ??? masonry screws would do for the top two fixtures for the wall bracket.

For the bottom two screws, I was thinking of a square of wood: 1” (deep) and 1’ x 1’ (wide/high) again with 4 x ??? masonry screws.

I’d then fix the bracket to the wall, with screws long enough to go through the wood, and into the brick.

So, I guess I’m asking:

a) Is this a stupid idea from the offset?

If it sounds reasonable what size screw would be best for the wood fixing and are the wood dimensions reasonable?

c) What size screw should I use to screw the actual bracket in?

The other side of the garage has a wall that it shares with the kitchen (so it's overall thicker), but it looks a hodge-podge of differently orientated bricks and breeze-blocks – hence why I’m thinking of avoiding that wall.

Any help would be appreciated! This seems like a simple task, so think it’s best if I give it a bash, but obviously the missus wouldn’t appreciate me ripping a hole in the wall…

Cheers,

John

So, BT have been and dug up the road so bits of my house fell off prompting me to look at the ground-level rendering. Take a look

What I seem to have is multiple layers of paint over a crumbling (in parts) render. It may not be the original render though, it could be occasional repairs over the years, as the rendering higher up seems OK, mostly.

Anyway, the plan is to hack away any loose bits, PVA it to prime it, then mix up a 1:6 cement:sand+plasticiser, and trowel that on, then overpaint with a gloss black exterior paint.

Anyone got any better ideas?

Cheers

J

Just wondering if anyone has come across, or has any solutions to condensation forming on my concrete window frames.

It's a major headache at the moment, as we have to clean the frames every couple of days to stop mould from forming. We also have a baby due in next few days and could with getting it sorted.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

Any suggestions for an opaque material either glass, plexiglass, "translucent" sticker,...?

Any suggestions for back lighting? I want it to give the illusion of daylight so I was thinking I don't want the light footcandles to vary too much.

Thanks for any advice

The render of the chimney on my bungalow parted company with the brickwork. I believe that this was due to the chimney getting damp (it was unused and had no air holes at the bottom). I have now added air bricks and now must re-render the chimney. I have removed all the old render and gouged out the cement between the bricks(1/2 inch). Because I am a novice I intend to add battans to the chimney to help gauge the thickness of the render. I am aiming at a thickness of 16 Mil. The first coat will be 10 mil.

My first intention was to use a lime mix. However I spoke to a builder and he told me to use a straight forward 1:3(Cement:sand) mix using a special plasterers sand. He told me to add PVA glue and treat the brickwork first with PVA. I asked him if 1:3 could cause cracking and he said that it would not.

I want to do things his way because it makes my life somewhat easier, I can stick 16mil battens in place and approx render the first 10. Fill the rest in later and take the batttens out and fill them in all with the same mix.

Should I really be using lime to do this job(I dont like using lime because its pretty nasty stuff).

On the other hand I dont ever want to go through the pain of rendering the chimney again, so I would like it to last the next 30-40 years.

Thanks for reading this, any comments appreciated.

Im wanting to buy a 8'x6' metal shed. It wont come with a base, so im thinking it best to lay a slab in my back garden to sit the shed on.

I will dig 8'x6'x3'' deep plot and level it all out, then create a woodern frame, and poor concrete so that i have 3'' below and 3'' above ground level ending up with a 6'' deep slab. (PLEASE IF U HAVE ANY TIPS, SUGGESTIONS, BETTER IDEAS PLEASE SHARE THEM)

just wondering if i used a 1:2:4 cement, sand, gravel mix (PLEASE IF U HAVE ANY TIPS, SUGGESTIONS, BETTER IDEAS PLEASE SHARE THEM), How much of each, cement, sand, gravel i would need to do that job and where and what shud i buy? im not a builder, i do understand there are types of sand and gravel and wouldnt know what to buy, can you help?

Any suggestions on my plan please share, ive only planned this after perhaps 2 hours comprehension from other ideas on how to erect such a shed.

Thanks,

Hobgoblin

im hoping for some of your advice,

ive just moved into a new build house and the previous owner as put a 15ft long by 9ft wide slab down, Its a 4" thick slab with a sectional garage sitting on it, Ive dug round the edges to see if there are any footings and there is not, he put down 2 tonne of hardcore then wacker plated it down before pouring the slab down , there is no rebar in the slab He told me that the garage is approx 3 tonnnes in weight and the slab is holding fine,

My question is, I want to build a brick in the same brick as the house in place as i dont like the look of the pre fab garage,

Will the slab take the weight of the new brick garage with apex roof?

Cheers

He recently got a job where he is getting £600.00 per 1000 bricks laid.

He stated that this price was "Too Good Too Turn Down." which got me thinking,

What is the going rate for a bricklayer on price????????

Thaks in advance CBM

I'm building a general purpose outbuilding in my garden. It will be 5.5m by 3.75m and be of concrete block construction with a timber stud frame inner leaf and flat metal roof. Overall height will be maximum of 2.5m

The block walls will have to be built first as the site is bounded by garden walls and the building will be within a foot of those walls on three sides.

Am I right in believing that I would not require piers for the block outer leaf, which will be 100mm dense concrete blocks, as the outer leaf will be tied to the inner frame at regular intervals? Is this sufficient support for the block walls?

Basically I suppose what I'm asking is will the four 100mm concrete block walls, just under 8 feet high, be stable without piers for the period of time before I get the inner framework built. And will the inner framework be enough support for the outer wall - would I get away with 3x2 timber or is 4x2 a better option?

Also would I be safe installing the roof beams and metal roof before the inner frame?

i am going to repoint some of the stone work in my house (1860's miners cottage made of manx stone) i am going to use lime mortar, can some some one tell me what mix you use for non-hydraulic lime mortar and how you mix it as i believe this is the besr route to go down, i know some companies sell lime in tubs but this is to dear due to the extorniate shipping costs to the isle man

thanks

First of all, let me introduce myself, My name is Tom, 22 years old, 2 kids living with my partner in our new family house.

I am posting to try and gain some views and guidance to a project im hoping to start soon.

The chimney breast in my front room looks like it used to have a gas fire installed on it, with a back boiler(there is piping running down the wall at the side leading to the airing cupboard above)

The fireplace has been removed, and the front bricked up (with a vent placed on the front, that I read is to prevent against damp)

My question is, how viable is the idea of knocking the opening out, and opening up where the back boiler used to sit then once open, installing a “wooden box”, turning it into a home entertainment centre (to place Virgin Media box, DVD player, ETC..)

Is the space where the back boiler used to be going to be big enough (how deep will it go back?) am I able to remove additional brick work at the back of the fireplace to provide more depth?

I’m hoping to complete this without having to do any structural (lintels, etc...) work.

I hope someone is able to help!

Many Thanks.

Tom.

PS. if anyone needs any photos,etc.. i can provide

PSS. thisn't going to be my last post! iv got alot of DIY tasks i wish to complete in the coming few years!

i am thinking of building a conseratory, i thought i would try and save a little dosh and do the work myself, has anyone got any experiance of doing this? how did they get on, what level of ability did you need? I'm not the worlds greatest DIY'er

I also have a couple of questions about planning, i was looking on the internet and found i would not need planning permission but i had a chat with my local council and they said i would need it? seems a little confussing if you ask me.

thanks

We are currently purchasing a house that has been subject to unauthorised development.

It has undergone 2 extensions in the last 10 years. The first was a 2-storey side/rear

extension in 2000 for which planning permission was granted.

The 2nd was a rear conservatory - for which planning permission was not granted (or

sought). The vendor believed he was erecting this extension under Permitted Development

guidelines.

I have roughly sketched the original house boundaries and both extensions:

Vendor has recently applied for a legal development certificate for the rear extension,

which has been denied as the conservatory extends more than 3m from the original rear wall.

(It actually extends approx 4.5m). Vendor was under the mistaken impression that it would be

permitted as it extends less than 3m from the extended rear wall (blue line).

Local Planning has suggested he applies for restrospective planning. During the application

for the LDC the neighbours were canvassed and nobody objected to the extension so it is

assumed that nobody will raise any objections to the planning application.

My questions are:

1. As this development is now subject to full planning permission, presumably the limits for

permitted development are no longer relevant? i.e. the rule about extending no more than 3m from

rear wall?

2. Assuming no objections from neighbours, what other common reasons may lead the local planning office

to deny the planning permission?

3. Assuming the planning is denied what options do the planning office have in terms of enforcement?

Sorry for the long post. If you made it this far thanks for reading and any advice would be much appreciated.

(My partner has fallen in love with the house and wants to proceed regardless, I'm a bit more cautious!)

Thanks again,

Simon

If any one can recommend a goodn tutorial that would be good. Here's the deal.

In one corner of the garden I took down a tree and we have killed the roots with an appropriate stump and root killer.

In another corner of the garden I have knocked down a brick shed and am left with a large number of bricks some whole and some half.

My plan is to refill the hole left by the stump (but clearly too little soil is left cos stump took up space and is now gone, what do I use to fill the space?), break up the bricks and place them where the raising wall should be built. Hire a flatner crusher thing that will crush the broken bricks down level. build the fancy wall around the endge of the patio using some fancy bricks and cement I guess. Then fill the resultiung space with more broken brick bits, crush with crusher, fill again repeat till raised up and hard and level. Lay the patio on top of the crushed and leveled broken bricks using cement??? concrete??? trying my best to make sure the patio slopes ever so slightly towards the edges. Though I feel sure this I will end up raising the patio up and down foever trying to get it level!!

That's more or less it. However some say use concrete, some cement, some say use sand, some say need a crusher level tool thing some say no dont use one, some say dont raise the patio up etc etc.

Any help or advice or recommended appropriate tutorial greatly appreciated.

I am building a litle garden wall, theres rounghly 100bricks, I was just wondering how many mixes i will need at about 5:1

...and randomly does anyone know how many litle building sand bags are in a tonne? just trying to work out if it would be easier to order a tonne or loads of indivdual bags?

cheers lads

Im also wanting to tooth into a extisting extention any tips would be great.

I am looking for advise on a project I want to start for my bedroom. As this is my first post I will introduct myself. I am 22 and work in IT ( I still like to get my hands dirty) and have been doing DIY for about 2 years.

I want to add a tray to the border of my ceiling however I would like to have rope lighting in the tray aswell as my projector and projector screen. Because my room is in a extension I do not have access to all the lighting cables and after speaking to my friend who is a MT for the council he said running cables will be a huge pain and a lengthy process.

What I want to know is as I never done this before, would it be easier to rip the drywall from the ceiling and sort the wiring out and then buy new materials and insulation to add it back again? Would this also be expensive too?

I can't find much information on installing a tray ceiling from a amatuer perpective. If anyone could forward some info aswell that would be great!

Thanks