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Thanks for all the posts. My first instinct was to do insulated render but the chap is dead against it - not entirely sure why - but at the end of the day its his choice/money! Think in the estimate I send him I will point out that my preference is for insulated render and it could save him...

You might get away with using Thistle Bond-it and then using Gyproc Nailable Plugs (like the ones used for insulated plasterboard), other than that you might have to batten the walls and tack the boards?

Looking for some help from someone who has first hand experience of rendering a house of non standard construction (pre-fab) please. The house is of the "Cornish" type where you have concrete slabs slotted into concrete pillars - hence lots of joints and movement. Was planning to SBR slurry...

Not that I really have to defend myself but, my services are based around a network of contacts who are builders, metallers, tackers, dabbers, skimmers, tapers, painters to name but a few - all proficient and experienced tradesmen in their own right. I only estimate on work that I am confident...

Thanks Steve. ;) Lucius - hope you have a better day tomorrow - cheers for taking the time to look at my website. :)

i've seen soaking wet block dabbed and it can cause major problems afterwards - black sooty mould that keeps growing back - no matter what you do! My advice would be hang out for a de-humidifer if you think the wall will dry out and stay dry. The problem with waterproofed s+c is that it will...

Got a sniff of a job that involves boxing in RSJ beam. Know how to do it with wood soldiers but thinking that gypliner might be a better solution. I know that there is a special clip that you can use at the bottom to attach the channel but can it be used at the top as well - BG diagram shows...

National Pages another free business directory is doing well for me at the moment in local google rankings. Might wanna give it a try. Here what you get https://www.thenationalpages.co.uk/bristol/farrington-gurney/regency-construction_2649862.html

well at least you'll sleep well at night - that is if you can get henry's face out of your head! ;D

Henry's face isn't annoying - he's always happy and he always willing to do a good days work - admittedly his conversation and banter ain't great but he's never said a bad word against me - not unless he's been talking to dust buster behind my back!!! ;D

Just come across this new term - quirking - its the traditional method of cutting back the plaster to a (wooden) bead - seen it order houses but never new what it was called! Is it a viable method of solving cracking to wooden beads? anyone got any experience of using it?

If the ceiling looks pretty sound I would leave it alone but make sure that my fixings went well into the joists (say at least an inch and half). If the ceiling looks like it would come down if you fell out of bed at night then take it down. Taking down a lath and plaster ceiling is messy work -...

You sound like a man after my own heart! I tried washing mine the other day - soaked in the bath first and then put them through the washing machine - did the job but was a hell of a mess - glad that I did it when my misses was out! When worked out how long it took me x hourly rate I would have...

Just had a load done by www.eazzee.co.uk - when I worked out the prices it didn't seem that more expensive. They did a good job and didn't mess me about so happy to plug them!

Not sure that the advice is conflicting - both agree that tiling unveven floors is trick and both have suggested avenues to explore - without seeing the floor personally - it aint as easy as saying this is the best way to go - but take your point - as a bloke who's doing it day in day out - but...

Cheers for the advice fellas. Just a add a bit more detail is a solid natural stone wall so no cavity. There is no sign of tide mark and salt deposits. The window is hardwood frame which looked like in good nick - but I didn't check the silicon seal around the window - (i will have another...

Just looked at a job. Blown plaster under a window on exterior wall. Its finish on hardwall. Guessing since its hardwall it most of been done recently (out of interest how long has hardwall been the main stay?). Definitely a damp problem. Looked for tide mark on other walls but didn't see...

;)

You'll need to post the link for your business page 'cos otherwise it'll only generate web traffic for the yell page and not your ad.

Encourage people to click on link above! There i've clicked it! ;D

valid points but search engines work on variables that you might not have access to and yell do. Do a search for yourself in google and see what page you come up on. The big problem is that your page won't have what are called back links - which is a link from one website to another - your page...

That's an interesting statistic. Is there much competition in your listing? The thing is that yell and the like aren't really optimised for local listings - they are national directories - try the local directories they should be much better optimised for your area - plus they are smaller...

Not that its any of my business but aren't you therefore working nearly 1 day a week for the newspaper and 1 day a week for the tax man and 3 days for yourself? Thats a lot of money for having your name on a bit of paper in someone's house - my local telephone directory wants £25 a year - but...

dab - no joint to crack out.

Yes - you ask how much should I charge per sq m and most people rightly or wrongly abuse you for asking and maybe one person painstakingly writes out yet again how to price a job and convert to £/sqm! My advice (for what its worth) search old posts first! ;)

Three things spring to mind: will it take to the wooden floor? are the joists man enough to take the weight of leveller and tile? will it crack and lift the tiles due to natural movement of the floor? I tiled my bathroom floor - for some reason best known to myself at the time went for...

When it came in I saw London and switched off a bit but the detail the specs when into for what is at the end of the day is a detached house in London looked horrific - I'd imagine it was one of those jobs where you'd need a h&s statement covering cleaning out the pump! But if someone out there...

Glad to see that some of you waded through the mass of paperwork and got some use out of it. Hopefully one of you will get and I'll look forward to my commission in the post. :P

The problem with dotting and dabbing tiles is that the tile is not fully supported at all points and therefore wants to bend - tiles dont like bending! ::) If the floor was masonry then latex would be the answer but because the floor is wooden it makes it more difficult - you may find a latex...

You can bet your bottom dollar that what ever they are offering you - they will be making at least the same. At the end of the day Joe Bloggs Builder is only going to pay £X/day or £X/m sq - so the best you can hope for is half the normal rate. Use them and abuse them (in the nicest possible...

Dot and dabbing is the old way of tiling - if you have every knocked off old tiles you might have seen 5 spots of adhesive - 1 on each corner and one in the middle - the trend now is the pre-mixed adhesive and a serated trowel - probably because its quicker - but using this method tilers won't...

I submitted my link to yell.com and they rang me up 13 times in 2 days! They wanted about £350 for the year - basically a simple 1 page web page! Rubbish you could get a 5 page website for that! Type in Plasterer and the name of the place where you live and see they results you get - go with...

Well you've done the ringing around so you know what the market rate is. They say that firms cut their advertisng budgets in a recession - so the papers should be hungry and cut you a deal. Do you need to advertise every day? What about just an advert on a friday - working on the assumption that...

Take you point nelly - but timber framing in new builds is really popular at the mo - must be something in that. I find cls is pretty good and well handled carcassing seems to be ok. I take it you a metaller!

Given the choice, do you specify wood or metal studs? The traditional/carpentry side of me likes the 3x2 wood studs - got it in my mind that its the gold standard of walling. The modern house bashing side of me says that metal studs must be the way forward 'cos all the contractors use them...

Live and learn! 8)

Is it to do with the cement grain size filling the natural voids in the sand? Pass!

This is/maybe a daft question but ... As I understand it LPG is a liquified gas under pressure - so what happens when you run out of gas - not like you can walk to the nearest garage and use a normal jerry can? ???

No it aint! :D But it might solve some of the questions! Found this link on the Pro Builder Website: https://www.pro-builder.tv/estimator.html Thought - just another estimating program demo - won't actually do anything - but having a quick flick through it and it seems to work - don't know...

Ah with you now - I live in Somerset - we are still getting used to this thing called petrol??? I've tried to get my horse to drink it but she don't like it! ;D 60p does seem attractive but I have trouble finding a garage that takes my company's fast fuel card let alone LPG! Got to be worth...

LPG??? ???

Interesting! Did you consider the 3k Van idea? I am right in thinking that I can write it off against tax and not miss it in my pocket?

Cheers for the advice. I know about messing up the van - spilt PVA and plaster dust is a bu&&er to get off - the bloke before me kept the van immaculate - think he spent more time a day cleaning it than spreading - come the end of the day I just want to chuck my tools in and f&*k off home...

Up to now I have been working for a Contractor and a Fiat Scudo Van has been part of the deal. Now looking to win private work and soon the van will have to go back so will need to get my own van. Half of me says go for a new van on some kind of finance say: Hire Purchase Call us Finance...

Ok. Done my good dead for this week. Soz, but won't be sending out any more copies so no point asking!

Was there a house to come back to in the morning or just a pile of smoking embers? ;D

I'd agree with what's written above - what about hiring an industrial one? On most jobs I've been on they tend to use either to gas fired drums - not nice to work around or the infra-red type - they are better - just don't point them directly at wall/ceiling - one per domestic room is ok. You'll...

ps. more than anything I think that the cscs card is more about personal liability than anything else. the big boy construction companies have to show their insurers that they are using competent workers - which means - you are competent - you should have know not to put that render on at -1 deg...

In my opinion - the cscs card means nothing in the domestic market but they are asking for it more and more on the big boy sites and its getting to the point of no card - no work! That's why I had to do mine.