I think it was pretty unfair to expect to take a bike into a shop without asking, then challenging them after being asked to take out outside, then coming on the internet presumably to smear them. I worked in a shop for years and the level of entitlement amongst the public with things like this just made every day difficult.

As explained, the off piste starts just along from the top of forest drive, near the children’s play area. A few trails go directly from this top area, and some others can be found from the next fire road down. If you do top to bottom, the way back up isn’t signposted, but just follow the fire roads upwards. They are very steep and brutal. Even on an ebike it can be hard work to do more than a few runs before feeling it. Alternative is at the bottom, cross a small bridge and follow the canal path back to the entrance to forest drive/cwmcarn carpark then pedal up the forest drive again. It’s much longer, but spinnable.

RAV4 or CRV, but they are usually a bit more expensive for similar age.

I’m doing Octobeer where I drink 8 pints of beer each night throughout October.

Seriously tho, why does anyone need a word pun to do something for their own benefit?

If you can see a square outline to them then they are vinyl or thermoplastic floor tiles. I use a hammer and chisel in the corner of one and give them a good whack to get the full depth sample and you should be able to pick out a bit right down to the adhesive. Cover it with a wet wipe, chisel over the top, a couple of good whacks and try and peel up a corner.

You can lay a screed over the tiles but I would only do this if the floor was in good condition already and the tiles are not showing signs of lifting. What might happen is you lay a screed and the tiles below start to degrade and damage the screed over time. You are better removing the tiles then screening over the bitumen.
Ok, north Northumberland is a little bit of out my circle of contacts.
A 42m2 area of tiles could be removed fairly easily in a day by a contractor, a seal of PVA applied over the top of the bitumen adhesive. So you’d be looking at a day rate for removal, usually 2 operatives, plus disposal costs. Probably up to a £1k, but this is a guess as I’m in the analytical and surveying side of the industry.

I would recommend getting the tiles tested first, as non asbestos vinyl tiles can look similar. Essentially non asbestos tiles are usually bendy whereas the asbestos ones snap. If it has the black bitumen adhesive below it’s almost always asbestos tiles. You can sample them yourself and scrape off a small amount of the adhesive and place it in a double sealed jiffy bag and post to a lab near you. Probably £30 or so.

Ove you’ve got an answer then just call 2 or 3 nearest asbestos removal contractors and get a quote.

Paper backing is almost always only found below vinyl floor lay, not tiles, and is usually notifiable non licensed work.

Vinyl floor tiles (asbestos ones) quite often come with bitumen adhesive below which also contains asbestos (black and sticky type adhesive).
Removal of the tiles and adhesive is non licensed work. Tile removal is pretty easy to do DIY but removal of the bitumen is by using a grinding machine and creates a lot of dust. Most people just remove tiles and latex or screed the floor on top of the old bitumen.

In your house you can legally DIY any asbestos removal you want as long as you dispose of it correctly. Removal of vinyl tiles is very low risk if you follow guidance by the HSE. Disposable cat 5 suit, P3 filter mask, double bag waste. Launch waste into local farmers field etc…

Getting a professional company in to remove tiles will be reasonably expensive for the work they will do, depends on size and geographical location. If you let me know where, I can possibly recommend some companies.

Tiles are not a friabale material and don’t release fibres when damaged in the way in which more higher risk asbestos products do. Hence why they are low risk and non licensed.
‘Licensed’ means that for that asbestos product to be removed only a company who have an asbestos removal license issued by the HSE can remove it. It’s for higher risk products and typically they are removed under full polythene enclosure under negative pressure.

I got in and got to a screen where I was in the main ticket queue and my browser was constantly crashing and reloading. This went on for 10 minutes then I got a messaging saying I was suspected to be a bot and kicked out the queue. What the hell is that about? Now I can’t get back in the queue.

I have an ongoing insurance claim for subsidence. So far it’s cost me £6k and will probably cost me at least triple this amount again.
The insurance claims handling company has basically found every way possible out of paying out, things to do with poor build quality meaning that one wall/aspect is not covered (end terraced end), inadequate rainwater drainage and now a retaining wall is not covered as technically it’s not part of the house but just retaining the soil below it from falling into my neighbours garden.
From an insurance point of view, they will limit their liability wherever they can. From a customer point of view, it just seems that you are only really covered for fire and theft.

Crunch crunch Houns

bruneep
Full Member

why are people still testing?

Because not everyone is you? Personally I’ve been testing because emy dad has a terminal lung disease and I occasionally have to work with elderly people.

I know of 4 people who’s wife/girlfriend has broken up with them either out of the blue or has been brewing for a while. All of them with complicated set ups at home (kids/mortgage/pets).
A few years down the line and 3 out of 4 of them are all in much better places now, new relationships and very happy. The 4th is still going through a complex divorce unfortunately.

All I’ll say is that if this has happened, then it wasn’t meant to be and you deserve someone who wants you for being you.

Congratulations for not having a sick day for 5 years. Some other people actually are ill, or have an ongoing illness, or don’t come to work to spend illness.
I used to be fit and healthy and hardly ever took sick days. Now I have a bowel disease and struggle regularly to come to work ( but still manage to generally). To look at me you wouldn’t know I had any illness.
My wife gets migraines and I really feel bad for her. It’s not nice and comes on out of nowhere.

Bloody hell man, that’s terrible. Glad you’re not seriously hurt.
BS6, that’s St George sort of area? I’m BS4 and we have had increasing levels of crime here over the past few years. I’ve given up caring now and if stuff gets stolen then so be it. I’m not about to challenge anyone in the act. I used to really stick up for Bristol when friend would say it’s a dodgy city, but I’m finding it hard to not agree with them now.
In the past 5 years we’ve had
-one person stabbed and bled to death at the bottom of the lane which accesses our house
-neighbours garage door peeled back at 6pm on a weekday night and bike taken
-16 year old boy beaten up on my literal doorstep by a gang of balaclava wearing youths
-my work van broken into 4 times

Christ that was a beautifully written piece. You’ve really captured the love and friendship in those words and even though I’ve never heard or met Rob before I feel like I somehow knew him.
RIP to what sounded like a really lovely person.

It depends on when in July you are going and what you plan on doing when you are there. From 3rd week in July onwards it will be very busy. I wouldn’t say it’s hell tho. Traffic will be very busy, car parks will be full in the popular areas and restaurants will need booking in advance.
But if you don’t go to the stupidly busy places then you’ll be fine.
I’ve holidayed during school holidays in Cornwall for years and mostly do walking, beaches and cafes or eating at the accommodation. There’s plenty of quieter places to go.
Even St Ives can be manageable if you are prepared to park at the top car park and do some walking or get the bus.

Classic STW mouth frothing thread.

I can’t offer any help, but my Acer, which I grew from a tiny 9cm pot over around 10 years, did the same last year. Eventually all the bottom branches died off and I pruned them back to the main stem. The top half seems fine. But just like yours it almost looks like the main stem is splitting. It’s still alive but looks poorly. Shame as it was really beautiful. I’ve got another one to kill now.

These are just phases that all kids go through at some point. My daughter is 11 now and sleeps well, but my son who is 8, has been going through a sleep thing for the past year or so, waking most nights and needing reassurance. Most nights there is a musical beds situation. Some nights are worse than others and this can last all night.

People that have kids that sleep through the night don’t know how easy they’ve got it!

If tis a beach holiday then Hayle has probably the most beautiful beach which is hardly used due to it’s proximity to the more popular St Ives. It’s got some bars and cafes and if you fancy a trip I to St Ives it’s a 10 minute drive.
Sennen also highly recommended, but a bit quieter than Hayle.
I’ve spent my life holidaying in Cornwall, it’s beautiful all along the coast, but south Cornwall is my favourite.

A walk from the lizard to kynance on a sunny day is paradise.

That’s nothing. I’m in the middle of a claim for subsidence which the insurance company are saying is only part covered and I’m looking at £50k for repairs which I’ll have to fund. (Drainage, walls, retaining wall).

Thanks for all the replies. We went to Blackpool sands for a walk around the beach, had some GF fish and chips in Dartmouth and will be doing some coastal path today. Much appreciated.

Give a damn about doing my job properly and with a level of conscience

Substitute Easter ages for weed and v-bucks. They’ll soon be interested again.

I sold her a mobile phone in Bristol in 2003.

Blade is an absolute slog with very little reward. The last bit of the last descent is the only good bit.
Penhydd has a boring main fire road climbs but at least the middle and end is fun. Plus you could loop blue scar if you feel the need to cut short or add extra.
I presume these 15 year old are all fit as the first two days are big long days of riding. Cwmcarn both trails is a lot of climbing. Great trails tho.

The UK media have absolutely hounded this out of Kate. What a shame that something so difficult and personal has to be made so public.

I was not expecting to see snow this morning in Bristol. The met office weather forecast didn’t mention anything about it.

What an incredible achievement from Gracie and Louise. Hopefully the women can do the same in Wales later this year.

Thanks for all the advice. The claim has been long and complex and it seems like it’s not really going anywhere right now.
We are end terraced on a big hill with a large drop to the side of the property. The insurance company have done trial pits, sewer investigations and are monitoring the movement to see if it’s progressive, which it appears to be.

However they have said that our end wall is laterally detached and isn’t covered by insurance and will need to be repaired at our cost and also the rainwater drainage will need repairing at our cost. We also have a boundary retaining wall which connects to the front of the house which appears to be about to fall into the neighbours garden, but again this isn’t covered. It’s been a real headache and I’m still waiting to find out what, if anything, is going to be covered. We have to fix the drainage first, but the cost of this is pretty high and I just don’t really know who to trust and if this is going to solve any of the issues. We’ve in the process of getting second opinions. Also, getting people to actually come and quote for work, especially when they are told about the insurance claim, has been tough.

I guess there is nothing stopping me from taking the front rainwater guttering and diverting it to the back. We are end terraced. The main concern is trying to satisfy the insurance company that we have followed buildings regs as I’m concerned they will be looking to get out of what they can with regards to future subsidence works (ie underpinning).

What isn’t covered by insurance?

And why?

We have got subsidence and it is not certain what is causing it at the moment, but the insurance company have appointed a subsidence expert who has said that soil is damp at our foundations and this is likely due to failed rainwater drainage front and rear. They want us to repair/improve this before the claim can continue and rainwater drainage is not covered under insurance, only foul drainage.

The ground investigations we had by the insurance company say the soil is a clay, silt and sand mixture.  Unsure of bedrock but there were bits of granite within in the soil.  No perculation tests has been done.

I could potentially reverse the guttering to divert the rainwater to the rear.

I personally think that you are being a little bit unreasonable.  She is aware of your feelings for her, but it sounds like it’s not reciprocated in the same way and all she is doing is wanting to spend some time with her new partner.   It’s probably not personal against you, just an opportunity on her part to include him in something she likes doing.

I would maybe consider not using the situation to go talking to other members of your group as it sounds like you are trying to build a bit of a rift, and I’m guessing that’s not going to end well for one of you, if not both.

Maybe for your own mental health cancel this year’s trip and look to do something with a few of the friends at another time.  Until you’ve got your head clear about it you are better of making some space between you.

After listening to his interview on TRC podcast I wish him all the best.  He’s Ben through a lot past few years

Basically your staff will be finding work which pays comparatively similar wages but better working conditions elsewhere.  Working outside at the moment has not been particularly appealing, I’ve struggled to the point that I’m now considering more office based roles.

I genuinely misread the title as saying dungarees and opened this thread with intrigue.

I have a pair of rangers.  Found. Them too big around the waist for their size and a little too short in the leg (and I’ve got short legs anyway).   Because there is not much adjustment on them they were always riding down during rides.

Got a pair of flexair and they are much better fitting and have more adjustment.

I love Christmas, because I love seeing my kids love Christmas.   I also love how the extended family all get together over Christmas and we laugh and eat and share memories together.

I dislike the run up to Christmas, and the way it makes me feel very anxious, with the preparation, Christmas shopping and planning.  I also dislike that at this time of year work ramps up and I feel like I am almost at breaking point by the time Christmas day comes along.  But, seeing my dad slowly fall to pieces with a terminal illness and perhaps only have a few Christmases left in him as well as my mum who isn’t well, I will make the most of spending time with them whilst we still can.  Christmas is what you make of it, and for me it’s a time for family and friends to spend time together.

PSA threads now beginning to turn into arguments.  This site is mental.  Some of you lot have some anger management issues that need addressing.