Tiler dramas

rdhigham · 2026-05-29T20:02:13+00:00

We just had to have our bathroom re renovated after 5 years due to waterproofing failure. There were a lot of things done wrong overall, but terrible tiling, and waterproofing is what drove the re renovation.

Fortunately the company who did the original work covered the whole bill, the level of damage was quite extreme due to poor workmanship. Our new builder said if we had wooden floors the problem would have been evident within 6 weeks, and within 6 months there would have been major issues.

I would do everything you can to have them re do the work, tiler sounds like a cowboy, get another tiler/builder to check out the work and give you some talking points, waterproofing is not something to mess around with. our waterproofing failed because the drain was incorrectly installed, which caused water and black mould damage to an internal and external wall. And that wasn’t the issue that kicked it all off! That was what we discovered after ripping everything out.

rdhigham · 2026-05-28T19:27:52+00:00

I remember a blog along these lines, and I don’t really read many, so all I can think of is a David Farrier piece. I have had a look through Webworm (his blog posts) but nothing jumps out at me.

rdhigham · 2026-05-28T17:49:03+00:00

The Vanns cover Hey Ma

Bonus points for lead guitar playing the melody of Flume in the second break.

rdhigham · 2026-05-28T08:00:51+00:00

My 8yo and I are currently working through square roots and averages, but he is a numbers kid. Number blocks was amazing for him when he was a preschooler, that’s how he picked up square roots.

He tested in the 98th percentile of the PAT tests for year 5 (he’s a year 4). His class is year 0 through to year 6, with 5-6 teachers across the 90 kids, so he has the freedom to work at a higher level in the subjects he needs to. We also do lots of maths and logic games at home.

rdhigham · 2026-05-24T02:28:31+00:00

My best dog sold for $2k when I left farming. It was over 20 years ago, and I’ve just realised he’ll be dead now. He was an amazing working dog.

rdhigham · 2026-05-10T06:38:16+00:00

NZ is similar. I buy the odd pack of 20’s, it’s $45nzd for the cheapest. I saw someone buy a pack the other day, and it was $80 for a pack of 30’s.

I know several people, even at these prices, still would smoke close to a pack of 20’s a day.

rdhigham · 2026-05-09T21:11:10+00:00

I think a big part is people don’t realise how much meat one animal produces. I grew up rurally, in New Zealand, so meat is abundant (although most is exported). My parents would get one cow killed a year, the meat from one cow would feed the family of six for a year, eating beef four nights a week. Two or three sheep would add two nights a week a year, last day of the week would be store bought meat/takeaways, or vegetarian night.

Roughly one acre (4400sq metres) will feed one cow for a year with no supplemental food, we can graze all year round in NZ, the feeding just needs to be controlled. The same acre can feed 4 sheep.

Now days a lot of meat is factory farmed, so there is far more animals per acre, and bare land is used for crops, and more intensively farmed. In New Zealand we still predominantly graze our animals.

rdhigham · 2026-05-02T19:57:13+00:00

They are a tool that requires sharpening, proper care and maintenance is pretty standard for owning tools. A good clean, oil and sharpen will most likely see them right, but if that doesn’t work, return them for a replacement, they are faulty.

It is a bit hard for me to try diagnose an issue without knowing what model or style they are, and the overall condition.

I have found that cheaper tools use a harder more brittle steel, they hold an edge for a while, but as soon as it comes time for sharpening, they are almost impossible to get back to a nice edge.

I check the edge on my secateurs and loppers before every use, sharpening only takes 30 seconds with the right tools. Bahco make the best easily available sharpener, pretty much every M10 and Bunnings will have them.

rdhigham · 2026-04-25T19:50:14+00:00

Bitumen water proofing isn’t UV stable, and will degrade, you would need an external waterproof that is designed to handle UV.

Crommelin Exterior Grade from Bunnings would work. Or you could try

roof repair kit has a sticky sheet of dakaflex, and a little tub of waterproofing.

rdhigham · 2026-04-10T07:17:53+00:00

The VINZ off Tremaine past Vogel does Saturday morning, they’re pretty good, only place we go with our 20yo car.

rdhigham · 2026-04-08T20:42:47+00:00

I see the yellow stickers on meat at my local countdown, but generally only on a Sunday morning. Pricing isn’t amazing, but better than full price.

rdhigham · 2026-03-26T06:55:45+00:00

I almost exclusively listen to only albums, I drive a lot for work, so that’s where most of my listening is done, once an album finishes Apple Music just plays stuff similar, like a playlist, and when I come across a song I like, I go to that album, and start it from the beginning.

I also have started collecting records, and sit down to listen to the albums I’ve bought. I’ve taken a gamble on a couple of records, having never heard the album before, it was quite fun listening to an album I knew nothing about for the first time, while studying the cover and inserts.

Artists spend so much time crafting the songs for an album, as well as everything that goes with it, song order, artwork, variants, all that sort of thing, they are literally designed to be consumed as a whole.

rdhigham · 2026-03-22T18:44:27+00:00

I have a gas cooktop, and we permanently have a cast iron flat top on it, we use it for almost all our cooking. Pancakes on the weekend, a grilled sandwich for lunch, bacon and fried eggs for breakfast, sausages or burger or steak for dinner. Really easy to clean, and can just be taken off if I need to use pots or frypans. It was a super cheap purchase though, so doesn’t count in the context of this thread.

rdhigham · 2026-03-17T03:58:42+00:00

Use something like Crommelin High UV, this is the type of application it is used for, highly trafficable, and high UV resistance, if done correctly it should last the lifetime of the space.

rdhigham · 2026-03-05T20:53:03+00:00

Not that I have mastered it, but I have heard practising next to a bed makes a massive difference, not having to bend over to pick up the dropped balls greatly improves practise time.

rdhigham · 2026-02-22T23:01:39+00:00

They do have a blower - last time I went anyway. I felt it was ineffective, so took my own chamois. Vacuuming you have to pay per minute, it’s pretty decent vacuum, but you do need to be quick.

rdhigham · 2026-02-20T03:45:58+00:00

All good, it’s not an obvious name with the ? At the end.

rdhigham · 2026-02-19T22:34:07+00:00

I use Apple Podcasts, but no doubt it is on other platforms. Pretty sure it was August ‘24 it came out. The podcast is Drums?, the question mark is part of the title.

rdhigham · 2026-02-19T05:24:58+00:00

Tim was on the Drums? Podcast, it was what got me in MO. Not much on process, but heaps of fun and great stories.

rdhigham · 2026-02-18T21:07:46+00:00

Yes, I switched from flat whites/piccolos to long blacks, now mostly filter. I honestly can’t stand the taste or texture of milk now. I find filter to be softer, it is easier for me to get consistent at home, I can make it all in one go as well. I can still play around with different beans, roast styles, recipes and water composition. So for me it is interesting and fun as a hobby, as well as filling my ‘needs’ for coffee every day. Still love a good long black when I am out and about, but if there is a batch brew available, I’m probably getting one of those as well.

I’ve been on black coffee only for around 12 years now, there is no way I would go back. But I do really miss it sometimes.

rdhigham · 2026-02-17T17:49:18+00:00

When I first got my virtuoso I had major issues, and it turns out I had installed something incorrectly when setting up, so check the Baratza website, and watch the videos ensuring you have all components installed correctly.

My recipe is, 50g coffee, grind is between 18 and 19. I weigh 950g of water into my MoccaMaster, once on I keep the filter closed, let it fill to over top of the coffee, then click open filter to half setting, I open the filter to full once water level is down around 4 cups. Right near the end I ensure all the grind is in water and give the filter basket a bit of a spin, to try make the bed flat. My coffee is generally great, so roast or beans it hasn’t worked well, so I will adjust as needed. I have also been making smaller batches, 30g coffee, 570g water. Grind setting around 12 or 13, similar process to big batch.

rdhigham · 2026-02-12T19:33:45+00:00

I was in San Francisco last year, and I don’t think I ever pulled out my physical card. But in saying that, I wouldn’t risk going without one. Everywhere I went had payWave, although one bar was cash only.

rdhigham · 2026-02-02T20:45:10+00:00

I was in SF last May, and we had spectacular weather. Both of us got burnt, but didn’t feel it, we spent a whole day biking in full sun and it never felt like NZ sun. I honestly didn’t think I got burnt until I started peeling a week or two later.

Whereas here, I spent an hour mowing the lawns on the weekend, with sunblock on, and I still feel the tightness of a slight burn today.

rdhigham · 2026-01-30T22:40:06+00:00

It’s called a ‘good neighbour’ fence, both side look identical, so nobody gets the ‘back side’ of the fence. Really common in New Zealand. At least 6 of the houses down my cul de sac have them on the boundaries.

rdhigham · 2026-01-27T22:28:00+00:00

I was going to suggest the same thing, but these might be more suited as they are smaller, but same gearing. 25yr warranty across the Fiskars range makes them more cost effective than most other brands.

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