Recent work

[Injured]

Latest job completed.

[lutonlagerlout]

super stuff George
LLL

[Injured]

Thanks Tony

[London Stone Paving]

You're the tidiest brickie I know Tony shame I can't afford you. To many folk wouldn't bother matching the brick in the old and new courses and don't seal the joint I hate seeing that.
Finally got some dry weather to let us finish this garden access up the track is too slippy for a machine in the wet. Paving was from London Stone and was very happy with it. Just got the planters and 3 more special order plants to be completely finished. The builder is doing a fence around it all next week and the plaster is getting painted once the client gets her finger out and choses a colour.

Thats a fair job you've done with the levels Paul. Whats happened with the photos? I get a similar problem with my camera sometimes. Think its something to do with the autofocus in lowlight.

[lutonlagerlout]

big mo-fo soakaway



non woven fabric


fabric and crates in hole


ready for shingle then back fill


as the area is total clay ,its a very expensive underground pond

5 tonne digger = £300 +vat

1 12m3 grab = £250 =vat

45m2 non woven geotextile = £50 +vat

32 pedestrian crates = £752 +vat

4 tonnes 10mm shingle =£160 +vat

2 men 3 hours to install and back fill =£150 +vat

so by the time we connect the linear drain to it your looking at a cool 2 grand for a blooming big hole underground
:O
LLL

[London Stone Paving]

Bloody hell Tony thats a fair soak away. It looks more like one of those mass graves they have been finding in Benghazi.

Not sure it its just the angle but the old ramp on the previous job looks a bit steep, is that why your building a new one?

We did a job back home many years ago and the client wanted us to put a ramp in. We assured them that it was far too steep and that it should be steps, but they were insistent on this ramp. Anyway we built this ramp for them. When we had finished we just all stood back and burst out laughing, it was one of the funniest things I'd ever seen. Would have been ok for Eddie the eagle Edwards to practice on. Client saw the funny side and we removed it and put some steps in.

[lutonlagerlout]

got it in one steve
new ramp is 1:15 old one was 1:9
no good for wheelchairs
LLL

[Edgar]

LLL,

That looks rather like the pond we had for our new drive last year. Similar sticky clay with very little topsoil. Ours only needed 10 crates - 5 in each layer. I decided to have the thing done properly to the new regulations although I thought it would just become a pond overflowing straight into the surface water drain. However I often open the manhole where the overflow joins the surface water drain just to have a look (mad?) and have never seen any sign of it overflowing into the drain. I've been quite amazed how effective it seems to be at disposing of the rain water. I think there is chalk below but I don't know how far down. Maybe it depends if the clay at the bottom of the pit doesn't get puddled during construction.

The only disappointing thing was that the soil over the crates wasn't compacted enough and so when I drove over it 4in ruts appeared. Yes, they were blue drive over crates - I'd specially asked for that.

Anyway it's nice to see a similar pond pictured here.

Edgar

[lutonlagerlout]

well officially clay is impermeable
but with 8 m3 the water has a chance to slowly filter through any fissures
we have made it good now and left the topsoil 225mm high to account for settlement over the winter
as you say there is probably chalk somewhere IIRC where we are working it is about 4m down
cheers LLL

[Pablo]

tony first time i read that i thought it said big mofo in a soakaway. yak yak.

[lutonlagerlout]

plus ca change ,mon ami
plus ca change
LLL :;):

[flowjoe]

On a similar note to Tonys soak-away we are excavating a culvert blocked due to tree root ingress, its 3mtrs deep and approx 400mtrs long, fortunately we are not digging the lot up.



The culvert pre-dates the houses that discharge into it which are circa 1750 which dates the hand made and shaped bricks below to at least 260yo, think of the man shovel hours that went into its construction.

Do you think the stuff we put in the ground now will still be in use in 250 years time ?

[seanandruby]

would liked to have seen a step/batter in that dig, especially against the house wall where the ground is more likely to be ''live.'' would of been easier to place terran to. Tight squeeze there lll. Here we go again with h&s i hear you say.

[lutonlagerlout]

it was 2 garden walls sean we had to get it as far away from the house as possible
I did wonder about possible shorings etc,but from the time the holes was excavated to being full of crates was less than 45minutes
you are right of course,but the site is tight and no where to step or batter to if that makes sense
re: the bricks davey

I have been to bovingdon and matthews brickyards and hand made bricks are still made the same way

1 man 4 molds (the little hump in the mold looks like a frog)
and a big lump of clay
he has to make 6000 a day to earn his crust
the only difference now is that the kilns are oil fired
LLL

[Pablo]

Thats a fair job you've done with the levels Paul. Whats happened with the photos? I get a similar problem with my camera sometimes. Think its something to do with the autofocus in lowlight.

It's a Nokia cam phone so I'm never gonna give David Baillie any sleepless nights. Keep promising myself a decent one maybe treat myself at Christmas. sh*t did I just say the c word it's way to early for that. The courier you used was on the ball by the way.