The Brew Cabin

Posted: **Thu Sep 06, 2007 9:47 am**

Right...first ever post, it's a bit ambitious I know trying to post a photie, so here's the website

[IMG]http://i233.photobucket.com/albums....MG]
[IMG]http://i233.photobucket.com/albums....MG]
[IMG]http://i233.photobucket.com/albums....MG]
[IMG]http://i233.photobucket.com/albums....MG]
[IMG]http://i233.photobucket.com/albums....MG]
[IMG]http://i233.photobucket.com/albums....MG]
[IMG]http://i233.photobucket.com/albums....MG]
[IMG]http://i233.photobucket.com/albums....MG]

This was concrete laid to a grain store hardstanding by polish fruit pickers. Down here in the "Garden of England" we are overrun with the blighters...and what with farmers being the tight sods they are, one gent decided to see what we had quoted for and decided to do it himself...

spacers...sod it, just walk the mesh in when you pour it
polythene...what's that?
sod roadforms, I've got some scaffold boards, we can mix & match 'em
mould oil????????????????? (Good job we've got a 9" angle grinder!!)

My foreman took one look at it, said put down a tack coat, get a blawknox in for a day and put 40mm wearing course over it...it is that bad...I think LLL would deem it FUBAR?

Sorry for this mahoosive post, but I just thought it'd be nice to bring some first class concrete finishing to wider audiences!

Posted: **Thu Sep 06, 2007 2:14 pm**

The only consolation that you can get from these eejits that work on the principle "how difficult can it be?" is charging them 'stupidity tax' when they come back and ask for a price for you to put it right. I often work on the basis of cost +50%, as I wouldn;t want anyone to think it was my company that had FUBAR'd it in the first place!

Incidentally, have you ever tried these plastic roadforms that are being pushed by a company in Oxford? I've not seen them in use, myself, but a couple of groundworkers tell me they are far superior to traditional steel roadform. I intend to find out more...when I get the time!

Posted: **Thu Sep 06, 2007 3:57 pm**

to be honest (Sorry...TBH) we have no gripes with the steel forms. Ok they're a weight on top of a van or in a trailer, but if you oil em and dont chuck them about or bash them up too much they tend to last. We send the really banana shaped ones off to be re rolled and blasted, and they come up good as new...and we don't hire em either, cause they're always useless with a capital F.

BTW...this is a real polish (shiny) not (Eastern european) concrete plinth that our concrete gang did a couple of weeks ago, just to prove we don't strap our powerfloats onto horses and carry colt 45s... :p

Posted: **Thu Sep 06, 2007 4:07 pm**

sorry Tony, didn't answer your question, No, as yet my works have yet to try a plakky form, I daresay the pin and wedge arrangement would be somewhat different...I can just imagine "be careful with that dinky sledge FFS!"

What was the big advantage? lighter yes, but surely something like that would be more prone to bending and getting brittle in the cold?

Posted: **Thu Sep 06, 2007 5:01 pm**

its not that bad simon i have seen farmers do far worse to save money
as for the fruit pickers,its not their fault they haven't been given any training in slab construction,if they were trained lads who had done it you could slate it,but as its the usual farmer routine (pay peanuts get monkeys)
i am not surprised
cheers LLL

Posted: **Thu Sep 06, 2007 5:11 pm**

LLL...

they did get trained, the guy who drives the jake for the farmer had to teach them all how to use a shovel!!!

Posted: **Thu Sep 06, 2007 8:10 pm**

exactamondo!
hehe
LLL

The Brew Cabin

Dog ruff...no really! - It wasn't me...honest