Jump to content

GerryBooth

Members
  • Content Count

    324
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by GerryBooth

  1. I am looking for someone who could knit me a Scandinavian style sweater. I did find someone on here who lived at Regents Court who used to knit but that would have been at least 12 years ago. Please pm me if you can help.
  2. The op didn’t say if they was suit cases or cases? Either way if it was an estate car the driver may well have presumed it had been ordered so the extra £5. As to why £5? Well there are not that many estate cars on a taxi fleet and if one is asked for then it maybe for suitcases that may not fit in a boot but also people take the mick and use a taxi as its cheaper than a man with a van. Also bear in mind the estate car may well have had to be brought in from another area so extra time and fuel.
  3. I was mainly plastering years ago but then landscaping. Retired now. Dennis North? I live in one of his built 1983. That was ready mixed mortar. LBC Cotwolds.
  4. Ok not a frog but an indention. What is your opinion of a plasticiser? Mine is Feb mix and other plastisizers which are air entrainers. Thousands of minute air bubbles that act like ball bearings or so that what is what the Feb rep taught us at Shirecliffe College. Negotiable whether you add it to lime or not. Some do some don’t. I do to reduce the water content, less chance of shrinkage crazing.
  5. For what its worth today’s properties have sand and cement in 5:1 or weaker mixed with additives usually called air entrainers that provide plasticity for the user and frost proofing for life. It sets hard and brittle but works. As for repointing then I was taught by the old boys that the mix should always be weaker than what is there or it will shell off which I have witnessed. My choice of mix is sand, lime and cement in the ratio of 6:1:1 with a air entrainer added, it sets hard enough if cured right. Nothing wrong with lime mortar on the old properties, sets hard enough for any weather but also remains pliable, avoiding the problems associated with modern hard renders. In 1988 I was working on a retired clerk of works house who was 80 years old who noted my modern 5:1 sand and cement mix with air entrainer added. He went onto tell me about buildings still stood today dotted around the City built out of lime mortar and how todays mortar is fast and convenient but not the best in the long term. He took me down to the bottom of his garden with my brick hammer and gave me a brick probably laid over 100 years ago and the frog was full of lime mortar. He challenged me to knock it out but I failed. All I could it put dents in it, it was well stuck but not hard. If it was the modern mortar I could have hit it once and that mortar would have come out in one piece. His point was hardness comes with brittleness, but lime sticks and remains pliable.
  6. If this company cannot help you no one can. http://www.thebrickcentre.co.uk/
  7. I will try and ask my neighbour who is a couple with a baby. We are a shower each a day and at least 4 washes on eco mode. Maybe a car wash a fortnight and I water the lawn in hot weather. Hopefully it will be cheaper on a meter.
  8. I have just received my annual water and sewerage bill for the year at £757 for a Band B 3 bedroom semi. How does this compare to someone in a Band B semi on a water meter? We are a retired couple with a shower.
  9. I go to Dunelms for a coffee. No queue, brighter and a lot quieter.
  10. Check out the ground rent and management charges. They can be ott.
  11. Think you will find it is a health and safety requirement.
  12. It will be well worth the expense. Thicker the insulation the better. Also consider what insulation. Phenolic (foam) is better 'u' value than polystyrene but costs a lot more. Also think about fitting skirting boards and curtain rails afterwards. May need some battens fitting. There is an insulated plaster called Bauwer, goes on about 75mm thick. Harder to do than insulated plasterboard but very breathable.
  13. If it is upvc then the bottom panel will come out and replace it with a new one. You will need the services of either a upvc window manufacturer or a company that does upvc door repairs. If know of someone who is handy you can take photo's and then get the panel to be replaced measured up. Simple swap over then.
  14. A rolling contract is the original agreement on a 1 month roll over or two months on the landlords side. You will need to give 1 months rental period notice so from the next 15th to the following 14th. So 14th of February. In effect 6 weeks notice, the full rent period from 15th Jan plus the time up to from giving notice late December up to the 15th January. Bit of bad luck if that is how your origanil agreement was worded. Some landlords will want to stick to the agreement others may just take your 1 months notice from you giving it to them.
  15. I have a problem with my boiler and I am hoping some engineer might have an idea what the problem is. It is a 11 year old Vailant condensing boiler but not a combi. Fine all year for the hot water system (hot water cylinder) but then when we put the heating on in October we get a noise in the system. At first it sounded like a noisy heating pump but this noise has been identified as coming from the heat exchanger which is in the basement. The pump is on the first floor and is quiet. Turn the thermostat up and it stops. Turn the heating off but not the water and it stops. Any ideas?
  16. My favourite make is Ford. Had a few and found them reliable and cheap on parts. H Most liked car though was a Renault 4.
  17. My wife's car won't let you take the ignition fob out unless you are in park. Recently the fob failed over 240 miles away from the spare one and the car needed recovering. Bit of a problem that when it is 4 wheel drive and locked in park. Not a straightforward winch job.
  18. I have a problem with my Nissan. Park it on a hill out of gear and 10 minutes or so later it can start to roll. Common fault on some cars with discs on the rear wheels. The discs cool down and the handbrake fails. I always leave it in gear. Wiley's car is automatic and you can't get the ignition fob out unless it is in park.
  19. You can buy matresses rolled up tight. The problem is when you want to take it out.
  20. I used to sleep on my left side mostly as my oh breaths on me on my right side. But in recent years I have suffered from Chronic lower back pain. Getting out of bed was painful. Then I came across a youtube vid shown by a back specialist who explained how we sleep can actually damage our back when sleep should be our recovery time. First he explained that ideally lying on our side our spine and neck shouls be straight, if not we are going to be damaging our discs. Luckily for me I had just got a new mattress and it is stiff, very firm. My spine and neck was straight. He then explained how the bottom of our spine curls down so preferably we need to have a shallow pillow for the neck and a cushion under our knees. This is for sleeping on your back. If on your side then a pillow between the knees. It took about a fortnight to get used to the pillow but it works. Not had a bad back ache since, might be a bit stiff but nothing like the constanst pain I had. Also I now do back exercises. 5-10 minutes a day. Wind down an hour before bedtime and a mug of Ovaltine. No more alcohol.
  21. Name and shame? No, because who is to say if a person says Joe Bloggs builder is a cowboy they are telling the truth? We are only human and if someone upsets us (maybe justified) we serk revenge. A builder may upset somehow a customer and that builder may be selfish or/and ignorant. But so can some customers. Lets face it, we all like getting something for nothing. As said, I have had extra's added on but getting paid for them can be impossible. Then there the customers who fabricate damages. So if SF did allow name and shaming without proof then so should it be the other way round. I did a job in the 90's and 2 neighbours warned me that this customer never pays. They was right. I simply went back and dislodged the copings so she was back to square one. Yes there was legal action threatened for trespass, yawn, yawn. I have had my fair share of customers who probably have mental health issues. Some customers are down right evil! But they are a very small minority as are the cowboy builders.
  22. Maybe an idea to indicate what area of Sheffield you are looking for.
  23. This wouldn't be the road immediately behind the Parson Cross Hotel would it? If so I know the family, harmless but all the same it doesn't look good. I have family, friends and a employee on the Cross and it is as safe as anywhere. Quite a few bought houses now and the shops on Buchanan are handy as is the Asda with a Farm foods being built. Go for it, and as said above, you will only find trouble on the Cross if you go looking for it.
  24. A E Dowse about once a month do house clearances, bereaved property auctions.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.