MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
See if I was in your position, I'd ask if anyone from here could do it for you for a set price. I suspect you'd be pleasantly surprised.
Hey footflaps, I know nothing about brickies or bricklaying but have been watching this thread with interest, (sorry your misfortune has entertained others)
I hope it all turns out well for you, hopefully the STW collective can rustle up brickie near you then we can all be amazed at the wonders of this forum.........
The chap coming on Saturday built a friend's extension and so comes recommended. I'm hoping he can fit me in soon (he's waiting on other jobs to firm up), but I should know at the WE.
See if I was in your position, I'd ask if anyone from here could do it for you for a set price. I suspect you'd be pleasantly surprised.
I did get the odd email from STWers, but no one was close enough for it to make sense.
Sorry the forum has given you stress, but enough people have advised that you weren't getting value for money & considering you have to hope your shed will last for decades then a few months wait will hopefully be worth it.
I see the pics [of the brickie] have gone, I hope it hasn't cost you to much grief 🙁
I'd do it myself, think you're along the right lines there, how hard can it really be...specially with plenty experienced people here willing to give advice as you go..
I see the pics [of the brickie] have gone, I hope it hasn't cost you to much grief
Given some of comments about him were pretty rude, I thought it best to remove any photo of him as you never know who might find this thread, e.g. his children might come across it. He's a nice guy, just not a great brickie.
I think all advice has been well intentioned or just the usual mild-pisstake that happens on here.
Hope you get a solution and its built how you want and when you want.
I think all advice has been well intentioned or just the usual mild-pisstake that happens on here.
It's all been fine, just I've been a bit stressed...
Yo Footflaps, I do think we all mean well on this thread at least, and we feel for you, we really do. ANY building work is stressful, it really is!
Instead, treat it as an adventure, take as much advice as you can, pause a while when unsure: remember, its NOT a race!
It'll be really cool in the end and all this will be irrelelvant!
Get out on the bike this weekend for sure!
Rustytrowel would know if it is still possible, when I was in tech, a lecturer used to take a few of us to his mates new builds and we would fit the studding, door frames, skirting and so on. Probably wouldn't get away with it now with h&s & ins. But might be worth contacting your local collage for a team well supervised brickies.
Good luck with the rest of your build.
^^ good idea that ^^
Yeah, great idea.....unless you're the poor unfortunate in charge of a bunch of lairy 16 yr olds let out into the wild world! 😕
Experience has shown that the initial enthusiasm the lads have for these projects quickly wears away leaving the teaching staff to put right the cock ups and finish the job themselves in their own time.
You might be able to get a decent cheapish job done by a couple of 2nd/3rd year apprentices looking for some extra money and experience.
The client used to sort us with about £10 per day each and we would be marked on it instead of doing it in a class so the jobs always got done. However classes were always made up of 50/50 kids who wanted to learn and kids that were made to attend.
He also used to take us to see his mate in the local police station on the way back to take part in identity parades, yep honestly and another £20 a go.
His name wasn't even jimmy s.
apprenticeships rule!
Footflaps - where do you live?
He's in Cambs area based upon earlier posts.
Shame its a bit too far from me, would've loved to have waved my trowel at that 😉
Rusty- 50 students between 2 staff is a bit of a mere!!! Then again I'd love numbers like that we I am 😕
OK, Have a new brickie starting Monday at 7.30.
He built the extension on a friends house, so comes recommended.
Hopefully have some decent progress to show soon...
For gawds sake don't post pictures on here!!! 😆
Result. All the best matey
Ok Flaps, hows it going now with the new guy?
Hope your new brickie has been kinder in his comments about his predecessor than some of us here! 😆 ( though to be fair, for a STW thread, it was VERY MILD indeed!)
Hope all is well, and that you are another step closer to your awesome man cave!!!
An interesting thread, good that you're seeing any mistakes as learning and still carrying on project managing it. Some good advice and opinions throughout the thread on the build side of things.
I'm a structural technician working on two cycle projects at the moment, one next to the west coast mainline. My initial thoughts reading through were, I hope you've checked your house title deeds for building next to the railway and also checked with Network Rail there are no issues being so close. On the rail project, we're not allowed within 6 metres of Network rails fence line, looks like you're nearly on it.
Good luck, looking forward to seeing it finished 🙂
[i]On the rail project, we're not allowed within 6 metres of Network rails fence line, looks like you're nearly on it[/i]
More fear, uncertainty and doubt. Just what the OP needs 🙂
On the rail project, we're not allowed within 6 metres of Network rails fence line, looks like you're nearly on it
Hence I went down the whole full planning consent route, with the railway boundry highlighted. The active line is about 100m from the fence, there's an access road, some waste land, seven sidings and then the railway line proper, so even if it did fall down it couldn't hit a train.
Ok Flaps, hows it going now with the new guy?
Hope your new brickie has been kinder in his comments about his predecessor than some of us here!
He's been pretty scathing, other than mix was good. The new guy has taken the pier out and is already several feet higher on the whole wall. He reckons he'll do at least 10 square meters / day and is already on Trestles to reach the wall.
I hope you've checked your house title deeds for building next to the railway
You'd be amazed how dull House deeds are, mine don't mention access, rights of way (across neighbours property), in fact they mention very little, but then in 1890, no one bothered too much about legal details like where the boundaries really are...
Well done footflaps. I'm glad you've got someone decent in the end.
He's been pretty scathing, other than mix was good. The new guy has taken the pier out and is already several feet higher on the whole wall. He reckons he'll do at least 10 square meters / day and is already on Trestles to reach the wall.
Ah well, there goes the thread... 😀
I'll have to do photos tomorrow am as by the time I get home it will be dark. Currently Mrs Flaps is updating me as she'd working from home today, so in charge of tea and biscuits to keep the brickie fuelled!
An interesting thread, good that you're seeing any mistakes as learning and still carrying on project managing it.
Thanks to the cock up and some excellent technical help from STWers, I've learnt way more than I would have had it just gone up right first time, which means when I next to something, I'll have a much better idea about the details, reading plans, structural features, etc etc.
You know footflaps I wish you all the best with this thread - I mean build - the climax had better result in the mancave of all mancaves, especially after all the chat on here; otherwise....I dare not suggest where it might go Pete Tong.
Looking forward to the photos it would be dissapointing if this thread just petered out.
More fear, uncertainty and doubt. Just what the OP needs
Yes I did consider this before posting, but thought it was still worth it.
Thanks to the cock up and some excellent technical help from STWers, I've learnt way more than I would have had it just gone up right first time, which means when I next to something, I'll have a much better idea about the details, reading plans, structural features, etc etc.
I approach my work in the same light, theres always something new to learn
Good news that the new guy is cracking on at a good rate ! Will be finished in no time by the sound of it.
When you see one days progress by your new proper brickie, you will see why so many people earlier in the thread, who have worked or still work in the industry, sounded like keyboard warriors when they saw the pics posted after two days work by the old "brickie" 😉
glitchy bump
Amazed you've kept a level head through this build/thread. Can't wait to see the next pics.
Day 1 progress (he cut out the middle pier and knocked down one of the corners, before laying anything).
[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8050/8137809536_112f8d7f16.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/brf/8137809536/ ]Brickie #2 Day 1 Progress (corner rebuilt from base)[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/brf/ ]brf[/url], on Flickr
[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8047/8137776859_ee2b693c94.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/brf/8137776859/ ]Brickie #2 Day 1 Progress (middle pier rebuilt)[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/brf/ ]brf[/url], on Flickr
[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8474/8137775217_47a0abd5fd.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/brf/8137775217/ ]Brickie #2 Day 1 Progress[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/brf/ ]brf[/url], on Flickr
He's been here since 7.45 and that corner is already at 1.8m!
I bet you're relieved you chose to post on here from the off?
Are you going to have much contact with the original "brickie" over the next few days/weeks?
pretty weird looking though, to my eye..
Don't this things usually progress at an even pace all the way around.. rather than finishing one side and starting the next..? How do you get it all to tie in and support itself..?
(please ignore if my layman's eye is missing something obvious)
Don't this things usually progress at an even pace all the way around.. rather than finishing one side and starting the next..? How do you get it all to tie in and support itself..?
There are two doorways, so there is a big break between the walls till you get above the doorways. As for the front wall, that will be built in hand made bricks, so will be tied in using resin bolts / straps (not fitted yet).
Has he finished it yet?
So please you got some one decent doing it. Good luck
You shoud invite the original brickie round to show him why he was binned.
Has he finished it yet?
He had to nip off today and work on another job, so just two days this week so far. One more day will complete all the block work on the three walls bar the gable end. Then a few days work for the bricks and it will be done. He can't work next week (booked on something else), so not sure exactly when it will get finished.
"Had to nip off today and work on another job" eh? This thread's going nowhere fast. Bourbons for me please 👿
Really pleased for you that you have got a good tradesman on the job. Should help the stress levels now that you can see some real progress.
Good for you Flaps!
Aye. Very well done for not kicking off, and for listening to those who know their stuff.
I keenly await your next thread regarding floor paint.
Glad you are getting it sorted footflaps, its been a great post to read, cannot wait now to see what its like when its finished
"Had to nip off today and work on another job" eh? This thread's going nowhere fast.
Amazingly he's just offered to work Saturday to make up for it!
Progress this am:
[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8055/8144140574_34e8c21e39.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/brf/8144140574/ ]Brickie #2, Day 2 progress[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/brf/ ]brf[/url], on Flickr
Amazingly he's just offered to work Saturday to make up for it!
Name and shame! 😉
[i]Amazingly he's just offered to work Saturday to make up for it![/i]
I had a plasterer who did this.
Turned up at 5pm for a couple of evenings as he ahd other work on but I needed job done quickly so he did 3 or 4 hours in the evening so I wasn't left waiting.
I use him all the time now 🙂
See,now that's a Brickie, as I said in my first post you can tell by how they load their gear out! Just tell me one thing tho, that out of the reveal isn't whats tying the front leaf in is it?? 😯
Great progress now, but just spotted a big mistake.
There's no plate of biscuits to accompany that tea!
Just tell me one thing tho, that out of the reveal isn't whats tying the front leaf in is it??
If you mean the bricktor stuff? That is part of it.
The bricks and blocks were supposed to be bonded in but the imperial bricks don't line up at all with the blocks, unless a massive mortar bond is used, which would look daft.
So Plan B is resin bonded Wall starter kit on the side that's build and Bricktor on this side. Then both sides get steel L shaped brackets, on the inside, to run across the joint and round the corner, bolted into the bricks and blocks to make sure it can't separate.
wwaswas - MemberI use him all the time now
How much plastering are you having done? 😆
How many brackets then? One for every block course? And how will they be fixed? Are you going to bolt right through? My main concern would be, the load exerted at plate level due to having an open frame roof and also the fact that the gables are going to be a bit waffy on their own at both ends! I still think it needs a dose of looking at!
Footflaps: At the risk of sounding a bit, you know, "stalker-ish" I can work out from your photos to within about 4 houses of where you live. I hope you're planning on buying some big fat locks for this man-cave to keep your bikes safe...
[i]How much plastering are you having done? [/i]
a previous owner clearly had an artex fetish - the bloody stuff's everywhere in every pattern known to man 🙁
As we do up each room he's coming in and sorting out the artex. We've either pulled down ceilings if the lathe and plaster under the artex has gone or he's skimmed over it. Often the plaster on the walls is a bit blown too so he sorts that out too.
How many brackets then? One for every block course? And how will they be fixed? Are you going to bolt right through? My main concern would be, the load exerted at plate level due to having an open frame roof and also the fact that the gables are going to be a bit waffy on their own at both ends! I still think it needs a dose of looking at!
That's what the engineer is for. The load is all vertically down, and spreads out across the whole wall. The ridge beam is fixed to the gable ends, so isn't just resting on an engineering brick. Plus the base is so solid, there won't be any movement in it (14.5 cubic metres of concrete, 18 sheets of steel mesh etc).
At the risk of sounding a bit, you know, "stalker-ish" I can work out from your photos to within about 4 houses of where you live.
I can get it spot on, but then I sometimes drink just up the road and I think I've been in his next door neighbour's property. 🙂
[i] I've been in his next door neighbour's property.[/i]
sounds like you were burglarising the place when you put it like that 😉
Firstly, I do not [i]burglarise[/i], I burgle.
Secondly, I do not burgle.
Re-appropriate goods is a much friendlier turn of phrase. 😆
At the risk of sounding a bit, you know, "stalker-ish" I can work out from your photos to within about 4 houses of where you live. I hope you're planning on buying some big fat locks for this man-cave to keep your bikes safe.
Yep, plus there is always insurance.
The main defence is a burglar alarm with remote connectivity (Ethernet + GSM MMS backup) so a list of 'key' holders get a call plus live video footage from the workshop if the alarm is triggered, which means I can call the police from work knowing it's not just a cat jumping on something.
The title of this thread provides me with much amusement
A "brickie" is a word engrained in my mind from my yoof, and has a very different meaning.
So "Rate my brickie" is very funny 🙂
The Great Wall of China went up quicker than this job, by the time it's finished you'll be considering having to start some re-pointing in places.
which means I can call the police from work knowing it's not just a cat jumping on something.
Prepares army of deflecting cats
Firstly, I do not burglarise, I burgle.
Secondly, I do not burgle.
😆
Great thread, glad it's got a happy ending!
Any update, have you 'topped out' yet?
I love this not so Grand Designs thread. Has Uncle Kev been round to make you pregnant yet?
Any update, have you 'topped out' yet?
I love this not so Grand Designs thread. Has Uncle Kev been round to make you pregnant yet?
[i]Has Uncle Kev been round to make you pregnant yet?[/i]
wrong show.
you want "Insemination, Insemination, Insemination" for that sort of thing.
This must be finished by now, where are the photos?
Yep, c'mon fartflaps. People need to know!
[img] 
[/img]
Waiting......
Getting close. The new Brickie can't work on it full time as he fitted me in at very short notice (although he did work all Saturday and a few hours on Sunday). Today was rained off at lunchtime as it was chucking it down.
The rear ridge pier is complete (this photo is a few blocks short of the end of play):
[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8198/8178636147_502b560528.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/brf/8178636147/ ]Platform Tower (well first section)[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/brf/ ]brf[/url], on Flickr
The front needs building up to the apex still:
[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8347/8178660046_1304640fb7.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/brf/8178660046/ ]Inside front wall[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/brf/ ]brf[/url], on Flickr
As for when it is finished, probably a few weeks as I've not manged to schedule a chippie for the roof beams nor a tiler, everyone seems very busy.
Assuming front pier gets completed tomorrow, ridge beam steel work will be cut to size Wed and arrive Thursday and get lifted into place (using brute force and ignorance rather than lifting gear).
Ironically I got commended by Building Control on my Project Management (keeping them in the loop via Flickr). To quote: "Thanks for these, very helpful I wish everyone managed their jobs like you!"
Glad to see its all progressing well. I'd love to see some pics of the roof structure as it goes up (just out of curiosity) as I couldn't get my head round the sketch you posted previously.
That ridge beam will take some serious man-handling!
We could all pop round to 'raise the ridge beam' in a barn raising sort of way 😀
Glad to see its all progressing well. I'd love to see some pics of the roof structure as it goes up (just out of curiosity) as I couldn't get my head round the sketch you posted previously.
Quite simple really, an 8m ridge beam runs from Gable top to Gable top.
Then on each side 21 joists run diagonally from the wall plate (wooded beam on top of the side walls), to the ridge plate (another wooden beam) bolted to the top of the ride beam. The joists are nailed into the plates and then metal straps are used to tie them to the walls with screws.
That ridge beam will take some serious man-handling!
Shouldn't be too tough, it comes in two sections which bolt together, and its a narrow section than the 4m cross RSJ which two of us lifted into position.
Plus having the post half way, means we can fit the post, then lift one half into position and bolt to post, then lift the 2nd one up and bolt to the first one.
So the ridge beam is bearing on the two gables, plus supported mid-span by the cross beam?
You've got pillars either side for the cross beam plus one at the back for the ridge beam to sit on, but what about at the front, does it sit on the masonry or is there another post down to the beam above the opening?