Posted by Bob Bulmer on Wed 23rd July 2008 at 06:00 AM, Filed in DIY News, Green DIY
If you’re considering going down the eco friendly route next time you replace the roof, consider cedar shingles. They offer a sustainable and long lasting roof covering - plus their very attractive to boot.
Shingles are also lightweight and create improved ventilation within the roof void. The lightweight nature of shingles means that they require a less strong supporting structure.
They also have an impressive durability of 30 years and thermal insulation value is 0.1067. That means a reduced heating bill…..
If you’re sprucing up your house with some DIY, (with a view to selling up) - don’t forget to give the garden some thought. For not very much money you can make some quite dramatic improvements for little investment.
One helpful tool to consider is Shoot Online Garden Expert. It’s effectively a web site that allows you to experiment with garden layout, within a garden shape and size that matches your own. You can then place the plants you already have and also experiment with new combinations. You can then utilise a “how to guide” to apply appropriate care to your plants, ready for the all important viewings.
The how to guide has access to 5,700 different plants on it’s database, which can help pick plants that match the conditions of your garden.
If you think a garden is unimportant when it comes to selling your property - think again. With one buyer for every 10 properties being reported by estate agents - it’s important that you take care of every detail.
A lightweight chimney is not something I have heard of before. However the concept sounds interesting.
According to Isokern, their lightweight chimney system can be constructed by one operator and are comprised of pumice which is not very heavy and offers natural insulation from hot flue gases falling below the dew point which prevents heat escaping to the exterior.
If anybody knows anymore about this product I would be interested to hear.
Posted by Bob Bulmer on Fri 18th July 2008 at 06:00 AM, Filed in Construction
Paving blocks are brick type concrete blocks which are laid on a bed of sand and held in place by edging walls. Usually they are rectangular, but they do come in different shapes. Can be a very neat finish with curved borders to turf and flower beds.
Paving blocks tend to come in most commonly grey but also brown, red, beige etc. The blocks can be laid in a variety of patterns - similar to brick laying bonds. For driveways it is recognised that the herringbone pattern is most suitable for the type of loads encountered.
50 rectangular blocks standard 200mm x 100mm x 65mm cover approximately 1 sq m.
Read more...
Posted by Bob Bulmer on Thu 17th July 2008 at 06:00 AM, Filed in Construction
Crazy paving was a type of surface that became popular thirty or so years ago. Personally I think it’s appeal has waned but it does have it’s upsides.
For those who haven’t come across crazy paving - it is essentially lots of irregular shapes of slab fitted together on a bed of mortar.
The material usually comes in broken concrete slabs or stone bought by the ton. You can select your mixtures so that you get the affect you want. Obviously the smaller the pieces the more work involved in laying.
Sub base for driveway: 100 mm compacted hardcore covered by 125 mm of concrete.
Sub base for path: 100 mm of hardcore.
Read more...
