The wall has a very thin 1-2mm render +paint, so I’ve not scraped it off yet to see what is going on. The lime mortar is very weak, you can gouge it out with your finger. Suspect the mortar joints have opened up a few MM. There is not a lintel as far as I can see, just a very shallow brick arch, I think cement mortar will probably be best to hold it together.

Thanks for the tips

Going to B&q now to get some PVA

How much should I dilute it?

Ah, I just shined a torch on it and looked closely, I might be wrong but I think I can see a few fibres in it. Looked in my daughters room and that has something similar too.

Carpet fitter arrives tomorrow at 9AM, not sure what to do. I guess I can take a sample, then if it is the nasty stuff, might need to get it removed. It’s got a big crack in it and has risen up a bit in the center so has a bit of spring in it if that makes sense, so might be shedding particles when people walk on it.

There is a few cracks in it and it has gone a bit crumbly

Thanks, as I suspected, not worth claiming.

I get ectopic beats occasionally, also made worse by exercise – strangely immediately after stopping exercise e.g. stopping to open a gate when I’m running I might get a few, but then generally ok when I’m back running.

Is this what happens to you? If so I wouldn’t worry too much, I’ve had it for years and I’m still here.

Was determined not to have a sedative so I could be aware of what was going on.

After the burly consultant stick a finger up there prior to inserting the scope I quickly changed my mind and asked them to hit me all the drugs they could!

In my case I was still conscious and aware of what was going on but the drugs took the edge off, a bit like have a few glasses of wine.

Angel delight

Shanklin chine is nice on a hot day – cool shady ravine with waterfall.

The military road along the SW part of the island towards Freshwater bay is very scenic.

great views walking from Tennyson monument to the NT Battery.

Great food at the taverners in Godshill

Top Deck Shandy

Raleigh Grifters

After years of fairly decent new company cars, went to car allowance with no age/ car type restrictions.

Now driving round in old bangers and the excitement comes from wondering if it will make each journey or not. Practically zero depreciation, 45p/mile + car allowance means I’m making money every time I get in it.

I’m finding older cars have much more character than new, plus you don’t worry so much about scratches, where you park it etc.

Do Sheila’s wheels insure blokes?

A thing to be aware of though is the mirrored no claims is useful this year – next year it’ll probably be trumped by your own accrued NCB… which will of course only be one year. So you might not be able to get as good a deal next year as you can this.

Surely if a company accepts the 11 years NCB I have on my wife’s policy then next year I’d have 12 years of my own?

I was thinking of going with Elephant for 1 year to get the NCB transferred over to me then in the following year search for cheaper quotes using the 12yrs NCB I’ll hopefully have by then in my own name.

Schools are struggling with budget cuts and £800 spent on your dent will be £800 they won’t be spending on your kids.

As I mentioned a creased dent can be removed with PDR if you get a skilled person. Most PDR dents will be in the range £75-150 so much cheaper than a garage respray (and a much better job as a bodyshop respray + filler will never be as good as an original factory finish). You can email/text photos to get a quote / opinion if it is repairable

If the school claims on its insurance could be a risk it gets recorded against your car then you’d have to come clean to your insurer and your insurance would likely go up anyway.

It is amazing what a good PDR guy can do. Had a dent on a crease line that the bodyshop said there was no chance of a PDR guy getting out.

Well he did! If you are in the south I can recommend Tom at TDL dent repair, he has a number of youtube videos showing his handy work. I would really avoid any kind of filler+respray if possible.

I popped into a Skoda garage today.

Quite a contrast to the Merc/Audi garages! There were no pastries or freshly ground coffee on offer. The salesguy’s teeth looked like they’d never seen a toothbrush, they were literally skoda green and the place was dingy and depressing. The superb I looked at was ok inside, though perhaps a bit bland. As I’ve got an e-class bike rack gathering dust in the garage, I’m thinking I should just go for a secondhand Merc.

andyl – Member
How did you find the mpg around town? I ended up with a normal diesel as I wanted to tow (but probably wont now!)

I don’t think you are missing much not getting the hybrid – It is more of a trick to get lower Co2 and tax. In reality the extra weight probably offsets any mpg advantage. It wasn’t any better than previous A6/5 series diesels

I did enquire about buying my old e-class but for some reason they had a clause they wouldn’t sell to me (could have sold to a friend and bought back). It was also a hybrid and was concerned about the replacement battery cost plus it had some intermittent faults.

For long distance comfort, it was unbeatable. I have to drive 500 miles in a day sometimes and for that it was perfect.

angeldust – Member
Do you have the repertoire of facial expressions to back up this transition? You need to be able to go from smug/superior to cheap/downtrodden/I’ve given up and my life is over. Important consideration.

As for the cars. Yes, the premium brands are nicer to drive, sit in and own, and you won’t be embarrassed by the cheapskate badge. If you have think skin and are not really fussy, the motorway refinement will only be marginally worse. The Superb is a reasonably good car (though I hate the styling on the saloon), but I know which I would rather have.

Ha ha, thing is I am a bit of a cheapskate and I could take my smugness from knowing I’m not paying through the nose to impress other people.

Having said that, based on some of the comments above, I just looked on a broker site and you can get nearly £9k off a new a6 estate + Audi will give £6K finance contribution, so nearly £15k off which would put it pretty close to a similar Superb.

Not sure of the manufacturer to get a replacement.

Not sure how to work out what plastic type it is. Don’t think it is nylon though as doesn’t have the waxy feel.

Will take a look at gorilla glue

Had infected roots while travelling years ago. Found holding a mouthful of whisky in my mouth as long as possible took the pain away.

Whether you spit or swallow is up to you!

It’s repairing a wheel arch.

They have to pull it out, reshape, fill then respray. As its only a few months old, need a good job. Could get one of the small backstreet garages to do it for £3-500, but want vw approved to keep the warranty etc.

Not told the insurance yet!

Looks like I’m screwed either way. Pay the £1000 and don’t claim or claim and face paying hundreds extra on both policies each year for the next 3 years (+ the £200 excess).

Either way looks like I’ll probably end up £1000 out of pocket.

I’ve told them not sure whether going through insurance or not and I suspect there must be some sort of scam as I can’t see why it would make a difference to the quoted price?

Quotes have also ranged from £300 to £1800. The car is only a few months old so want a good job. The £1000 quote is from a vw approved bodyshop with a good reputation.

Anyone else have any experience how much their insurance went up for no fault damage (but where the third party can’t be traced)

The lead itself isn’t breathable but it is only fixed along the top the bricks should be able to breathe out of the sides, especially on a slope where it drops a course every few bricks.

Think the problem isn’t the breathability of the whole house which wouldn’t be affected too much by a few bricks, but of the individual joint, the theory is as the lime absorbs moisture from inside it will be blocked from exiting the house by the cement pointing will try and pass into the bricks instead damaging the face of the brick when it freezes in winter or pushing the cement mortar out as witnessed by another poster on his house above.

What depth is it, standard 65mm?

Yep, 65 x 100 x 1050mm, spanning a 790mm opening on a solid 9″ wall

do the rafters sit on the side walls, or on a big (eg, 14″ x 6″) purlin that lands on the gable, above the window? So long as there’s no roof support going onto that triangle of brickwork, I’ll agree there’s no problem.

On the side walls mainly but there is a loft conversion which means where the opening is for the stairs the joists go into the gable end, but only a shortish span – 5-6ft

What does the wall support?

It’s an outside upstairs window on the gable end

Sorry, sharkbait has already explained this.
And of course concrete lintels are fine over doorways, that’s what they’re made for.

Can’t prop the lintel due to location and it is already mortared in (at the bottom not the top)

Was planning on taking the wedges out once the mortar is set. I guess with slate you can leave them in.

Also wondering if I could use a long wrecking bar to lever the bricks in the middle then jam in some 15mm thick timber to hold it in place. Mortar the top, wait till it’s gone off then remove the timber. Anyone know how strong these lintels are, I’d guess that would be a lot of force and something might break – bricks or lintel.

The concrete lintel was not as tall as the wooden one so have a about a 15mm gap near the ends and 5mm in the middle where it has dropped, so hope to drive wedge into the middle section to lift the bricks.

Acroprops aren’t an option as it is a second floor above a single storey roof.

The police didn’t seem interested. I thought it was an offence not to leave your details or contact the police within 24hrs after an accident. They told me this only applied on the road and not on private land. So using their logic private land is a lawless zone where you can do as you please, robbing, killing and damaging property with impunity.

Is lead mate mastic breathable?

Not usual and not recommended, Best to have a few weeks in between.

Buy a smart bulb instead?

I have to admit, I don’t see the point for me personally.

I read an article a while back that scientists had found when you drink alcohol free beer your brain thinks it is about to get a hit of alcohol so releases endorphins to give you that happy relaxed feeling you get when you crack open a real beer. I think I’ve experienced this to some degree myself but obviously if you do this all the time your brain will wise up and hold back on the endorphins.

“Yes. Wireless Access Point.”

Thanks – looks like I can get one in Argos for £25. I presume it would have a different ssid to the router and I’d need to change to the router wifi network if I went upstairs

Why, if you find it “absolutely disgusting”, would you drink it “3 or 4” times? Bizarre, and possibly alcoholic, behaviour!

That’s 3 or 4 bottles in my lifetime. We’d had a nice bottle of white and had that ‘just need another glass’ feeling so had to crack open the rosé. Optimistically hoped I’d just been unlucky with the previous bottles but this one was as bad as ever.

Press and hold e, then select the correct accent. é in this case.

Thanks, at least I’ve learnt something tonight!

CaptainFH, yes I know but no accent “e” on an iPhone.

Been looking into this too.

There is also a heat pump type which although are more expensive use 1/2 the amount of energy.