The Brew Cabin

Posted: **Fri May 11, 2007 8:23 pm**

Took 4 days off work this week to make a start on my new shed. I thought I'd learn the value of doing things the 'manual' way rather than having a go with a mini digger. I'm now wondering whether I'm just a bit mad (a-wibble) and that someone created mini-excavators and dumper trucks for a reason ...

Shovelled and barrowed 8 tonnes of Type1 (Â£16/tonne delivered) from front to back:

Shovelled and barrowed 6000 x 4500 x 400 mm of soil from the new building site.

Probably a good thing I didn't hire an excavator, if I was using one then it may have been on its side after trying to remove this large length of rebar that seems to be driven a metre or so into the ground (it don't want to come out, so I'll get the angle grinder to it)

I'm quite proud of it all really - normally I'm stuck behind a keyboard. The last time I shovelled this much s--t was around 20 years ago whilst working for a Steel foundry (Blackett & Hutton in Guisborough) during its summer fortnight shutdown (that's the time when we had to clear all the year's moulding sand out of the furnace areas and other locations)

Hey ho, now for the 100mm of sub-grade and the 100mm of C20...

Posted: **Sat May 12, 2007 3:55 am**

As another forty-summat -- I am frankly gobsmacked -- and well impressed! -- that you were able to get out of bed the next morning.

Forty's not old, but it sure takes a lot longer to stop hurting than it used to...and it seems to hurt more, too!

Posted: **Sat May 12, 2007 7:03 am**

Well done, a lot of ball-aching work there.

Posted: **Sat May 12, 2007 7:49 am**

Thanks TL and Dave, I was somewhat lucky in the fact that the garden is pretty good topsoil so dug out reasonably well, however, type1, as you are probably aware, is not quite so easy to shift

I had a nice long soak in a hot bath each night, I'm feeling it a bit now, but it's the "ah, I think I'll take it a bit easier today" feeling, rather than the "Oh my God! Why can't I move?" one...

Posted: **Sat May 12, 2007 8:53 am**

well done m8. the pain will go. i hope other key boarders, office wallers or people who do easy 9 to 5 jobs see that and appreciate what we have to do day in and day out, hence the prices etc.

Posted: **Sat May 12, 2007 8:59 am**

Good job that fella. I did it the "manual" way on the front drive and it was murder, so opted for a digger for the back. Not too sure whats worse though, trying to sort out levels as you are doing a job or retrospectively after someone else has done it!!!

Keep the piccies coming

Regards

Posted: **Sat May 12, 2007 9:13 am**

seanandruby wrote:well done m8. the pain will go. i hope other key boarders, office wallers or people who do easy 9 to 5 jobs see that and appreciate what we have to do day in and day out, hence the prices etc.

Oh Yes, especially the extra you should charge for "Danger Money" - barrowing X kg load of soil up a treacherous 1in4 3m scaffold plank in the rain (that's the time I reduced the load in the barrow and started chucking sand on to the plank).

Mind you, if you were doing that as a business, I doubt whether you'd be allowed to use the plank without a full Risk Assessment an safety precautions ...

Posted: **Sat May 12, 2007 4:09 pm**

we have a galvanised skip ramp approved by the hse,best Â£150 i ever spent,rated for 150kg
cheers LLL

Posted: **Sat May 12, 2007 4:47 pm**

You did well doing that on your own

Skip ramp i use is a home made job. 12' x 2' framed with box section and left over marine ply with spars for grip every 2 feet. Weighs a bloody ton though!

Posted: **Sat May 12, 2007 5:51 pm**

IanMelb wrote:3m scaffold plank

I should point out that the plank was reinforced somewhat by resting on an 8ft* length of 3x4* and some bricks to stop it bouncing all over the place.

* I don't mind measuring things in metric, but referring to them in conversation seems to lend itself to imperial...

Posted: **Sat May 12, 2007 7:05 pm**

i actually bought the skip ramp loader thing about 4-5 years ago,after initial skepticism we use it all the time it has a slight dog leg to hook on the skip,is about 4m long and 600 wide with like v shaped grooves every 75mm
lot lot safer than scaf boards
regards LLL

Posted: **Sun May 13, 2007 8:32 pm**

Moved most of the Type 1 into the hole and compacted it down to around 100mm, It's not completely flat or perfectly level, but that's a job for when it's not piddling down with rain like it was for 6 of the 9 hours I was out there today. Still, it builds character ...

Posted: **Sun May 13, 2007 10:13 pm**

looking good m8
LLL

Posted: **Sun May 13, 2007 10:52 pm**

cheers

Posted: **Tue May 15, 2007 10:05 pm**

Quick question:

Seeing as I'll be pouring a 100mm reinforced slab on top of this sub base, how vital is it that it is flat (Tony quotes 10mm variation on the main site)?

As long as the shuttering is level (and enclosed at its base), will that be enough?

I'm trying to work out whether the effort of levelling the sub-base to the 10mm tolerance is required when pouring a load of concrete on top of it...

Cheers

The Brew Cabin

What i did on my holidays - By ian age 41 1/4