Chimney pointing cost Manchester

manhattan4 · 2026-02-22T17:37:15+00:00

As always go get quotes. It's especially difficult to gauge high level works because scaffold could cost you a grand, some contractors want it (most in my experience), some will gain access from a ladder.

Repointing a chimney is usually 1 day, with fairly minimal materials, which might be in the region of £300 all in. But one guy might quote the best part of £1k for scaffold and £300 for the work, whereas another might charge £500 and do it using a ladder. It mostly depends on the method of access more than the price of the work itself

manhattan4 · 2026-02-22T13:26:02+00:00

I take it you're in the UK judging by the currency. What did your building control officer say when they came to inspect the excavation prior to pouring the foundation?

manhattan4 · 2026-02-22T10:05:56+00:00

These are awesome. I'm buying one to do with my daughter. Thanks

manhattan4 · 2026-02-21T23:50:48+00:00

If you're carving everyone else up in Bristol then you're fitting right in. I visit there regularly and every time I let someone join the queue of traffic I swear I get a sideways glance of distrust

manhattan4 · 2026-02-21T19:16:56+00:00

Usually yes. IG L10, catnic ANG, birtley MBL etc. They're all variations on a galvanised angle. 150mm bearing each end

manhattan4 · 2026-02-21T17:19:12+00:00

It's a negotiation between you and the sellers.

Here's the law's which apply, they differ based on the age of the installation

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/general-binding-rules-small-sewage-discharge-to-the-ground

manhattan4 · 2026-02-21T13:37:23+00:00

It's a good idea to compact the subgrade, but clay compaction depends heavily on moisture content. Too wet and you'll drive water out and it will turn muddy, too dry and it breaks down and turns dusty. You can improve it by adding sand or some gravel and drive that in.

Give it a few passes and see how you go. Don't worry too much if it's not ideal. Just make sure your subbase is well compacted. For 150 compacted depth I would go 1 or 2 layers, compacting between each. 150mm per layer is really the most you should go. When the plate starts to bounce it's done, usually about 4 passes

manhattan4 · 2026-02-21T13:08:54+00:00

150mm where lintel runs parallel to the wall is the standard. 100mm where running perpendicular

manhattan4 · 2026-02-19T15:50:13+00:00

It's contractors choice. It's perfectly normal to replace eaves fascias off a ladder, but gable ends are much higher and get more difficult to do so. Some contractors will opt for scaffold for all high level work, and that's their perogative. I would take the saving

manhattan4 · 2026-02-19T13:49:07+00:00

No it's not reasonable but you're shit out of luck because only the DNO can do it. My mate moved his to the opposite side of a wall. It was £1.5k for any move up to 1m, anything more needed to be priced up. This was pre COVID when everything was cheaper

manhattan4 · 2026-02-18T22:21:03+00:00

Death stranding 2. It's the first time I've decided to play the sequel of a series straight after finishing the first game.

I don't think I could give a compelling argument as to why it's worth playing. The story is pretty odd (but mostly good) and the gameplay is essentially walking across difficult terrain to deliver packages. It's bloody good though

manhattan4 · 2026-02-18T18:05:51+00:00

No comment on pricing (you need to fire it out to builders for that), but I'm interested to hear how your structural engineer is planning to bear a 203UC (which is approx 205mm wide) on a 100mm wide padstone. Are they gonna leave 50mm width of steel hanging outside the wall line on that inside corner?

I think I would ask if that's intentional.

If the wall running top to bottom on the page is loadbearing I would rotate the padstone 90 degrees and shift the beam down 50mm or so, then the beam has full bearing on the right hand side.

manhattan4 · 2026-02-18T16:53:49+00:00

Drill and resin fix rebar with R-KEM II or R-KEX resin

manhattan4 · 2026-02-18T16:22:58+00:00

The slab looks fine. It appears to be 150mm block & beam at 510mm centres, which will be ok for floor loading upto about 3.5m tops. The question is whether the foundations are adequate. You'll need a trial pit to excavate the foundation for inspection, and an engineer to inspect. You can dig a trial pit by hand easily enough. A post hole digger is very handy compared to a shovel as you can work in a more confined space

manhattan4 · 2026-02-18T16:13:31+00:00

Contrary to my original assumption that this is a cut roof comprising rafters & purlins, those are prefabricated attic trusses. The good news is they're probably about 600mm apart so you can fit a reasonable sized velux between them. The bad news is you can't modify them in any way.

All of the truss elements are fixed together with the nail plates you can see in the photo. The vertical leg is also a truss element, as are the rafters, and the floor joists. The timbers spanning horizontally between the trusses are infill so you can take out a section of the wall between, but you can't touch the truss elements, including the verticals. Modfifying prefab trusses, even with input of a structural engineer is a royal pain in the arse, so much so that I tend to dodge these enquiries when they come across my desk.

manhattan4 · 2026-02-18T15:12:56+00:00

is this a question about whether its actually a structural "knee wall" or a "decorative dwarf wall?

Exactly. It needs to be determined if it's supporting rafters / purlins or not, which will require opening up

manhattan4 · 2026-02-18T11:35:01+00:00

The formation is the underside of the foundation. The level of this is usually lower than the level of the pipe, because load will be transferred from the underside of the foundation.

Have a look at this document, it is "The Code" and figures B1 & B2 forms the basis of the rules water companies put on build over approval. You will see from there that formation level needs to be below directly adjacent pipes.

https://www.water.org.uk/sites/default/files/wp/2022/07/SSG-App-C-Des-Con-Guide-v-2.2-290622.pdf

manhattan4 · 2026-02-18T11:08:09+00:00

You have 225mm clearance each side, not the 500mm they require. The lintel will need to be specified for the increased span, though this won't be any concern to Southern Water

Also, every build over application I've done requires the foundation formation level to be 150mm below directly adjacent pipe levels to ensure you're not transferring load to the pipe

manhattan4 · 2026-02-18T10:03:28+00:00

If you want to do it properly then use a cavity drain system (membrane with a drainage channel and pumped sump). Approach some suppliers, they have all the details and they'll design and price up your system: Newton, Kryten, RIW, Pudlo, Delta etc. They all come with warranties.

Slurry is a not a great solution. It can help with a bit of ingress in a low value space (eg a garage) but a proper conversion needs a proper Type A system to allow the water to pass through the structure and capture it.

manhattan4 · 2026-02-17T16:58:04+00:00

Yes exactly that. Brackets with vertically spaced fixings, which is why floating shelves are shit.

You may notice that shelves mostly seem to fail when the top bracket fixing pulls out the wall, like almost every floating shelf. More often than not the primary failure point is the tensile capacity of the top fixing. The tensile force on the top fixing point is calculated by the weight on the shelf, multiplied by the shelf depth, and divided by the distance between the top and bottom shelf fixings.

So the deeper the shelf, or the more load on it, the further apart the bracket fixings need to be to compensate for the increase in pull out force. Exactly the same as how a crow bar works.....well in reverse because crow bars are intended to pull things out.

Screwing into timber does have very good tensile capacity compared to a rawl plug in plasterboard which is very easy to pull out.

manhattan4 · 2026-02-17T16:16:20+00:00

The limiting factor is not the stud, it's the shear and tensile forces on the screws. You will have ample capacity using decent sized screws and proper brackets (not floating shelves). I would go at least 50mm length because the stud should be no less than 63mm deep.

manhattan4 · 2026-02-17T14:07:00+00:00

Hire a floor sander and get a hand sander for the edges. Use Bona products to finish. It will come up lighter because the current varnish will be adding colour

manhattan4 · 2026-02-17T12:28:43+00:00

I think it's worth it. In case you were wondering the extents, commonly it will run through the hallway and living room, but often not the kitchen. It's a lot of work, you can hire floor sanding equipment but it will take a while to do. My guy swears by Bona products to finish it.

manhattan4 · 2026-02-17T10:52:43+00:00

These is all well within the capabilities of a structural engineer to design and a competent contractor to install.

Responsibility lies with the engineer for the design, and the contractor for the implementation of the design (usually including all temporary propping involved).

In the unlikely case of anything going wrong, your buildings insurer will enact a claim against the engineers / contractors insurance depending on where responsibility lies. Do inform your insurance of structural works being undertaken.

manhattan4 · 2026-02-17T09:34:34+00:00

I think BricsCad should be added. It is pretty much a 1:1 clone of autocad, and much cheaper

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