BIG MAC

Point to ponder...if bathrooms above ...if you have a blockage will your 'vent' be a behind the wall overflow as water backs up? Does the pipe need to be there at all if you are on a short run to a chamber which is vented? At least you should consider fitting a Durgo valve (Air admittance valve) at a higher point than the spill over level of your loo cistern...

ColdPlay 'Fix You' and With Rhianna 'Princess of China'....awesome....end of message

Yep some posts losing text on the right hand side...and on a wide screen PC that seems a bit cr4p bearing in mind that  I have 3 cm of foggy lavender either side!  

Not sure I highlighted just the one .....but this bit of Chinese Toot lookee likee ...Showwa tlay

One of these maybe?  

I bought a couple from Lidl would you believe! seem ok. I bought them in the UK as I had seen them in a French branch previously. http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?hl=en&safe=off&biw=1404&bih=668&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=ef4T655YN3TCOM:&imgrefurl=http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/thermostatic-shower-mixer-24-99-lidl-124995&docid=arNvG_c-L6PcNM&imgurl=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v152/God-speed/Misc/MixerBox.jpg&w=500&h=269&ei=4KHoT4XPHoq38gPN3L21Cg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=166&vpy=166&dur=5866&hovh=165&hovw=306&tx=214&ty=75&sig=115714427563331530713&page=1&tbnh=109&tbnw=202&start=0&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0,i:72

With the damage you have had to pipes etc elsewhere probably worth checking the inline strainers in the supplies for blockages? Likewise woth cleaning the cartridge out before spending more.

Just my take on it .... Repair the wall if it needs it Clean the wall down and anti fungicide it Install studded membrane ie. 'Delta' or similar making sure the membrane extends below the floor slab in good draining soils / gravel or to a proprietary channel leading to a sump. I will assume reasonable drainage otherwise you would maybe need to consider a sump pump. Cast floor screed up to the membrane lay a breather membrane up the walls and over lap the screed then fit a rail and montant stud wall on top of the membrane at floor level and the membrane tucked round it at chamber joist. Insulate between 'studs' with kingspan or similar then run in any gaine for services etc. in front of the insulation. Install plywood grounds wherever you intend mounting rads or similar board in 12.5 mm plasterboard leaving a small gap to floor level Tape and joint or plaster as suits. 'Gun in' the small gap below boards in silicone or mastic seal. PVA the finished walls for tiling or where being painted- prime in thinned down emulsion paint Fil flooring - tiling - trims skirtings etc. You should end up with a well insulated wall thus preventing capillary action drawing damp in....  

As I understand it there is a 'Law of the ladder' which grants a right of access of sorts however the neighbour could play all sorts of fun and games with you. I would suggest getting a French artisan to do that element of the works...the neighbour may be more inclined to help?

Phone them? I suspect that the 15mm will cut 14mm though

Next on the list will be the woodshed ....it has a large hayloft greniere to which the floor is a bit gash and wormy but expensive to replace. The cobble floor looks very sound. I am thinking of pressure washing the floor and levelling it with scalpings to a formation (except at the edges which I will leave free for about 150mm all round. then blind with sand and lay a 1200 gauge DPM ran up the walls and two layers of 6mm mesh. Cast a slab in readymix presto one floor. My idea is to build in aereated block an internal wall all the way around and tie it into the existing stone walls using stainless threaded rod drilled into the stone and chemfixed. The new walls could pick up on the chamber joists above which would allow the removal of the old irons driven into the stonework which currently hold the floor up. What do we reckon as an idea and would I need any permits to do it?  

http://www.kopex-pipetools.co.uk/accessories Happy to help

'Cable tossing' I guess that's something to get wired into.....

More to the point ....it's my 50th in August...there will be fireworks and beer...and things....in France and French people will be welcomed..I don't intend to invite Liz as she rarely invites me to her gigs. ;-)

I have responded via Lebobcoin to ads for woodburners (In French) but not a single reply...either it's my appalling French or is it possible that not fr e-mail addresses are screened out by spam filters etc. Its a shame as I am after a rosieres type cuisiniere a bois near as possible to Mayenne and there's been a few...

Traditional wisdom sees the biscuit cast circular so that it may be rolled  however The health and safety dept would set the casting box on scaffold tubes / rollers in turn sat on a sheet of 19mm ply on the far side of the well. Strike the end of the casting box then place a length of bar through the vent opening (or cast one into it at the outset) and attach to a tensioned 3 tonne rated  ratchet strap secured to a robust piece of hard landscaping or a vehicle. Ratchet away until biscuit is adjacent to the well then chock the rollers and secure the casting box either by using scaffold levers to catch the edges or by holding back using an opposing ratchet strap attached to the mould. Further ratcheting and levering from assistants will see the biscuit drawn across the top of the well and onto pre-prepared grounds.if that's your fancy. (Me I would simply cast next to well and use man / donkey power to 'flip' the casting box over and cover the well....removing the mould and dpm will reveal a smooth finish) Bon chance!  

You can use a pre-cast manhole 'biscuit' available from the 'heavy side' of Bricos. alternatively make up a  100 mm deep casting box line with DPM sit 8mm rebar mesh on small pieces of broken paving slab so that the mesh sits 40 to 50 mm into the box (ensure the edges are at least 50mm in so that they are adequately covered, then fill with a 4 (stone) 2 (sand) 1 (cement) by volume mix well mixed with sufficient clean water to form a stiff jelly like matrix. Use a long straight wooden batten to tamp the mix into the box so that the concrete is level and uniform. Leave for a fortnight if possible under a damp hessian covering. If any openings are required in the casting its easy to creat these out of timber or pipe secured to the moulding box and ensuring reinforcement is 50mm in from edge and augmented if needs be. Once mould is struck you will have your custom built 'biscuit' which should be pretty strong.

Mortar the point did I get something wrong?  

That's what I thought Theiere....I would have thought that small stones would have been wedged in the larger gaps and the 'pointing' flushed over much the same as in the UK. The stones employed in this way provide a mechanical strength  not achievable in a lime mortar alone. Cheers

Having looked at the photos..I would have suggested using powder coated containmen stood off the masonry rather than that mess.  The chase by the door is a joke when the chippie should have been able to  create room behind the architrave. The chase in the floor...WTF???...do the not have chamber joists in France?... Slap dash and cokk-eyed...why on earth once he had destroyed one part did you not ...pull the plug? Now off to his insurers for recompense I should imagine...

http://www.stertil-equipvi.fr/fr/lasociete  

Hi Pacha,   I am intrigued as I would have imagined that coarse / sharp sand would have been what was used in the construction of our buildings...certainly the the mortar where it has dislodged is very 'gritty' and I would have imagined sharp sand would have lent more 'body' to the mix? Are you recommending 'soft' sand and if so why? Cheers... Mac

Thousands of owners can't be wrong...enjoy!

Wow! your own climbing wall  

Gun grade foam is also delivered 'denser' and will best 'connect' to friable terra cotta brick. If you mask the new frame with 2 inch masking tape likewise the nearest 'clean' edges of the wall ...clean up is a whole lot simpler.