Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Discussion Area => Topic started by: Martin_1962 on 10 March 2007, 22:25:34
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Yes I have a project - I am extending the patio by 900mm and around 3700mm wide.
Currently the patio is not very nice flag stones, and I am extending with blocks :-?.
However due to flooding and rain I have to have it sloping into the lawn, which means digging down, and putting a wall up to keep the lawn from falling onto the extension.
So I will lose the dug out soil to raise the lawn and soften its slope.
Garden wall - semi structural how many rows thick - 1 or 2 - I will use flemish bond for two lots but then I would have more soil to hide.
Next project is another rabbit hutch - I built one last year also a chipmunk run.
Later in the year I will be flooring the chipmunk run due to flooding
Pictures another day - it is too dark now!!!!
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Yes it is coming to that point of the year when SWMBO is saying "sort the garden out!" :(
I can't abide gardening... >:(
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I would recommend clays and not blocks, better colurs and they dont stain........
Here is a fantastic site with loads of info.......and the guy who run its is mega helpful.
www.pavingexpert.com
I realy enjoyed doing my drive, although it did require the removal of 20+ tons of soil and concrete.....by hand.
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I realy enjoyed doing my drive, although it did require the removal of 20+ tons of soil and concrete.....by hand.
I challenge anyone else to say they enjoy moving 20 tons of soil and concrete by hand! ;D
Has to be said, it is a superb job though.
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I realy enjoyed doing my drive, although it did require the removal of 20+ tons of soil and concrete.....by hand.
I challenge anyone else to say they enjoy moving 20 tons of soil and concrete by hand! ;D
Has to be said, it is a superb job though.
I had to move 8 8yrd skips full of clay by hand when I levelled my garden. Enjoyable was not the word that sprung to mind...
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Dug out over a wheelbarrow of soil, and laid 28 blocks so far today, only about 130 to go
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Dug out over a wheelbarrow of soil
Ah, so about 30s of work done then ;)
8 x 8yrd skips took me and her about a week. Mainly because after the first 2 days, we were knackered!
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yeauch !!
I am also going to get her indoors moaning soon about this.
Got a huge back garden that also suffers from water runing - ideally it needs sloped and landscaped.
Better get on it - in about 8 months :(
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Dug out over a wheelbarrow of soil
Ah, so about 30s of work done then ;)
8 x 8yrd skips took me and her about a week. Mainly because after the first 2 days, we were knackered!
Skimmed off what turf had survived, recovered the wheel barrow, bashed through the hard core under the turf (new build). Went to computer fair to stock up on blank DVDs, then Tescos for weekly shop.
Then it threatened rain so stopped as I didn't want to do concreting in rain.
In evenings I will carry on turf stripping and digging, but will get bricks for the small wall so I can dump the soil there, with good turf on top.
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I realy enjoyed doing my drive, although it did require the removal of 20+ tons of soil and concrete.....by hand.
I challenge anyone else to say they enjoy moving 20 tons of soil and concrete by hand! ;D
Has to be said, it is a superb job though.
I had to move 8 8yrd skips full of clay by hand when I levelled my garden. Enjoyable was not the word that sprung to mind...
You need to get to know some builders with a mini digger :y
I borrowed one from a builder mate.....he delivered it, let me play with it for a week...great fun and easy once you get the hang of the controls :y
He even came to my rescue one morning when it wouldnt start.....apparently you need to put diesel in them ::)
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4000 clay bricks on mine......got through 4 pairs of gloves (clays are sharp and shred them!)....21 ton of MT1 hardcore, 6 ton of grit sand, 5 ton of conrete for the edgings....
The wiff even bought me a 14ld sledge as a wedding anniversary present so I could break the concrete drive up....best thing shes ever bought me... ::)
One diamond saw blade half used to cut them (you cant split clays like you can conretes...)
Plus I went halves ona wacker plate to do the job.....very useful.
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Well not much room and I am laying on clay - first three rows have been placed on 1" concrete
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I prefer stickle bricks.....
Perhaps not the same range of designs, more taxing mentally, but ultimately, much easier on the hands..... :y
B
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Looking at my garden I think I'm going to be needing some napalm for the next project :(
It's just more fun tinkering with cars.
Kevin
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I mowed the 40ft long lawn with my 4hp petrol mower last Sunday. Does that count?
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Well not much room and I am laying on clay - first three rows have been placed on 1" concrete
Without wishing to pee on your bonfire, that will crack like buggery, also if your using concrete its the wrong thing, you should be using a mortar bed.
If your on top of clay you should use 4" compacted hardcore and then bed the blocks on 3" of sharp sand, use a wacker to bed them in with kiln dried sand brushed in the joints .
If you want to bed them on motrar then its best to use a sand lime mix as this is more flexible, and you dont need to use a wacker plate, but the bed should be a good 2" thick and still be on a compacted hardcore.
As for the retaining wall rather than using brickwork why not use a sleeper on edge?? no footings required and laid in about 10 mins rather than a couple of hours.
If you do go for brick ten English bond in 2 4" skins with a cavity will be better and its easier to get 2 finished faces as the cavity will take up the brick manufacturing tollerances, whereas with a solid 9" wall it can look rubbish.
Just my 2p worth of course, so up to you if you take any notice :)
And if anyone says they use a cement mixer i will come round and stick a bat up your night dress, there is no such thing as a cement mixer!
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21 ton of MT1 hardcore,.
[smiley=rolleyes.gif] Thats MOT (Ministry of Transport) Type 1, less fines than MOT type 2, and if compacted correctly it goes as hard as concrete, but as you aren't road building they prob sold you limestone scalpings, which is a cheaper alternative :) ;D
You need to get to know some builders with a mini digger :y
Very handy machines, so much so that my Dad bought one 6 years ago, helped no end when i had to dig the footings and oversite for my garage and coservatory. The conservatory is 3m*8m and the garage is 4.5m*10m, thats approx 20cu m of soil which weighs about 40T stuff doing that by hand!! :)
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21 ton of MT1 hardcore,.
[smiley=rolleyes.gif] Thats MOT (Ministry of Transport) Type 1, less fines than MOT type 2, and if compacted correctly it goes as hard as concrete, but as you aren't road building they prob sold you limestone scalpings, which is a cheaper alternative :) ;D
MT1 is what it was....I wanted the very hard finish to get a good base.....I dont want it moving!
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What is the difference between mortar and cement?
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Had a nose around and a think
Dug down at least an inch more than required, ground is hard - as it is walked on a lot, and full of stone - new build.
Using sharp sand - which is recommended for this type of use but due to unable to ram them down beyond whacking with something hand held, I mixed cement with the sharp sand 4:1 roughly.
I have used similar mixes before for my shed foundations, which is where I dumped all of my rubble dug out out flower beds, this however was built straight onto the ground, just a shallow trench for the bricks and all the rubble tipped inside. Now this has survived 6 years of use including bad weather and has no broken brickwork or mortar.
The wall will be two bricks wide but only about 3 high, as it has to cover about a 6 inch step in the lawn at worst.
Parts of the existing patio are 2" deep cement mix and have survived for 7 years so far, I don't mind doing this but it looks ugly.
Anyway worst case with the first few runs will be lift up and start again, I am checking them on Wednesday for strength.
Still have a lot of digging to do first!!!!
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What is the difference between mortar and cement?
Cement is a slag material burnt to high temps and processed untill it becomes a fine dust.
Mortar is what you get when you mix cement with sand and water or by mixing lime, sand and water
The question you asked is like asking whats the differnce between dough and flower.
But the difference between mortar and concrete is aggregate is included in concrete and not in mortar
2 years at college and 3 years at university studying building will give you more details about the finer points, but thats it in a nutshell.
Another thing to remember, adding more cement makes a weaker mix, it doesn't make it stronger
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I seem to recall that the cement quantity required is related to the surface area of the aggregate you wish to bind....?
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Well not much room and I am laying on clay - first three rows have been placed on 1" concrete
Without wishing to pee on your bonfire, that will crack like buggery, also if your using concrete its the wrong thing, you should be using a mortar bed.
If your on top of clay you should use 4" compacted hardcore and then bed the blocks on 3" of sharp sand, use a wacker to bed them in with kiln dried sand brushed in the joints .
If you want to bed them on motrar then its best to use a sand lime mix as this is more flexible, and you dont need to use a wacker plate, but the bed should be a good 2" thick and still be on a compacted hardcore.
As for the retaining wall rather than using brickwork why not use a sleeper on edge?? no footings required and laid in about 10 mins rather than a couple of hours.
If you do go for brick ten English bond in 2 4" skins with a cavity will be better and its easier to get 2 finished faces as the cavity will take up the brick manufacturing tollerances, whereas with a solid 9" wall it can look rubbish.
Just my 2p worth of course, so up to you if you take any notice :)
And if anyone says they use a cement mixer i will come round and stick a bat up your night dress, there is no such thing as a cement mixer!
What are those spinny round gizmo's builders use then Phil? Sand, Aggregate, Cement, Lime and Water tumblers?
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I was always told they were a mixer......if you called them a cement mixer (well, we did mix cement with other ingredients!) then the brickies use to throw off cuts at you....which bloody hurt...
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What are those spinny round gizmo's builders use then Phil? Sand, Aggregate, Cement, Lime and Water tumblers?
Its a CONCRETE mixer, see Marks comment ;D
I'm sure Mark will confirm some of the finer points of bricklaying, the motrar is muck, cement is dust and fairy liquid is a plasticiser and if the spot board isnt clean or theres lumps in the mix there will be hell to pay
But what ever you do dont put fairy liquid in the mix
Anither thing cats love to sh1t in the sand and walk on wet concrete ::) ;D