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Posts Tagged ‘capping<’
Posted in Bricklaying on Aug 12
Most brick walls are finished off with some or other kind of capping, which is called coping in the trades. While the main purpose of this is to prevent water seeping into the structure, coping also often provides a decorative feature too. Coping may be pitched or flat according to the tastes of the designer.  The most important thing of all though is to ensure that the coping is at least an inch wider that the finished wall, and preferably an extra inch wider in total too. This is to prevent capillary action dripping off the surface onto the wall itself.
Do you need to Find a Bricklayer on Mr-Skill to lay coping for you? Perhaps not, if you are reasonably skilful and have the right tools. But definitely, if the wall is high or if the site is dangerous in other ways.
o Span a suitable length of builders twine along the wall at a height above it equal to the coping plus the settled bed of mortal. This is a critical factor for success, so take your time. Mark the approximate position of each coping stone, to determine where to start and where to site the filler piece.
o Mix sufficient mortar, but not more than you can use in one hour. Lay a generous bed of it along the top  of the wall, starting at one end and one and half times the length of a single coping stone. Make regular slashes in it to help your work bed down nicely.
o Set the first coping stone in place remembering to obey the level of the builders twine. Immediately check your levels in both directions and adjust where necessary. Continue on the same basis without worrying too much about filling in the grouting. This is often easier the following day when the stones have settled. London Bricklayers invariably like do this the same day though, because they do not want to have to come back again.
This really is a simple job, provided you have the time and patience, and a straight eye too. If you lack one or more of these, then why not Ask Mr-Skill for Bricklaying Quotes instead. Our tradesmen are competent and pleasant enough to work with, and their rates are really keen.
Tags: bed, brick, bricklaying quotes, cap, capillary, capping, competent, coping, dangerous, decorative, filler, find a bricklayer, finish, grout, height, high, lay, level, london bricklayer, mix, mortar, patience, rate, seep, set, settle, skill, slash, straight eye, time, tool, top, twine, wall, water, wide
Posted in Bricklaying | Comments Off
In the good-old, bad-old days, as the older generation of London Roofers still likes to say, roofs were simple, easy going things with single pitches and only chimneys to seal around.  These days things are noticeably different – every hip, and every pitch and every valley represents a challenge for heavy rain, not to mention the mini-bali inset gables that are all the rage at present.
Waterproofing is intended to create a barrier to prevent rainwater from entering a roof and damaging the ceilings and furniture beneath. When it falls directly from above, the design of tiles and cappings is often sufficient to make sure it runs away. Problems arise though when the a gale is driving the water into every crevice, and this can get a lot worse after a cowboy roofer stomps all over your roof while cracking tiles.
It is a wise idea to Find a Roofer on Mr-Skill from time to time, and to ask them to check that everything is still in place, and that nothing needs repairing. This is especially valid in the case of tiled roofs, because tiles are heavy, timbers do settle, and cement under ridges does crack loose over time.
 If you are buying a house, and the one that you are considering has a flat roof, then my advice is to avoid regular Roofing Quotes and to buy something else with a simple pitched roof instead. This is because water inevitably collects on flat surfaces in pools, and will eventually find a way through. The only technique I know of avoiding this is to re-seal a flat roof long before the covering starts to deteriorate. In the greater order of things, flat roofs are cheaper to build, but cost more to maintain. Beware the buyer.
The most important thing of all is to be careful about who you allow to go up on your roof. Urban legend is full of stories of unscrupulous roofers who create work for themselves up where a homeowner never goes. This is where Mr-Skill comes in. Our reputation depends on the honesty and integrity of our roofers, and we intend to keep our good name intact by screening them carefully.
Tags: barrier, break, cap, capping, ceiling, check, chimney, covering, crack, crevice, direct, find a roofer, flat, gable, gale, gutter, hip, inspect, leak, london roofer, maintain, pitch, proof, quotes from roofers, rain, ridge, roof, roofer in London, roofer quotes london, roofers London, roofing quotes london, sag, seal, settle, storm, tile, valley, water, waterproof, wind
Posted in Roofing, Gutters & Drainage | Comments Off
Posted in Kitchen Fitting on Feb 01
Base and wall-mounted kitchen cabinets are similar in construction, with the exception of the following three notable differences:
o Base units are finished off with separate worktops while wall mounted ones come complete with capping boards
 o Wall-mounted ones are not as deep from front-to-back as floor standing ones – this is so you don’t bump your head when you work beneath them.
o Cabinets on the wall come just with shelves, while floor-standing ones may house accessories like drawers and other modules too.
With these three exceptions, the process of assembling and mounting upper and lower cabinets, and fitting doors is similar. Many homeowners get Kitchen Fitting Quotes though, after they discover what is involved.
Assembling Carcasses
Unpack everything in open floor space, checking for damage as you go along and taking care not to damage exposed edges. Assemble according to the manufacturer’s instruction, making sure that the  carcasses are true and square. Match doors to frames and label accordingly.
Installing Carcasses
Install the upper units first. Temporarily mount a level batten along the wall where the bottoms of the wall-mounted carcasses will rest. Have an assistant rest each in position and attach it firmly to the wall. After all the carcases are mounted screw them together tightly. Remove the temporary batten. Seal right around them to keep insects away.
After aligning and leveling the floor standing units carefully, screw them to each other, push them firmly back and attach them to the wall. Fit the kick plates and seal all gaps against insects as well. Does this sound like far too much work to do when you get home from work? Why not Find a Kitchen Fitter on Mr-Skill instead?
Fitting Doors and Handles
 Attach the hinges to the doors using a template to locate them if necessary. Offer the first door up to the opening with the hinges fully open. Mark screw holes, punch out lightly and attach the hinges to the cabinet. Make rough adjustments. When all doors are installed, adjust finally again, so that the tops line up, and the shadow lines are similar. Attach the handles, using a template to make sure they align too.
Sounds easy, doesn’t it? Not actually. A Kitchen Fitter in London trains staff for an average two years before they appoint a person to head their fitting team. Perhaps you ought not to practice on your expensive new kitchen fittings either.
Tags: accessory, assemble, attach, base, batten, cabinet, capping, cascass, damage, depth, door, find a kitchen fitter, frame, handle, hinge, inspect, kitchen, kitchen fitter london, kitchen fitter quote, kitchen fitting london, kitchen fitting quotes, level, mount, screw, seal, shadow line, square, template, true, unit, wall, wall mount, worktop
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Posted in General Building on Sep 06
Although less in use these days following the introduction of modular home construction, parapet walls were popular in older houses where they are frequently the cause of damp.
Parapet Wall – a double-skin wall that extends through the roof
Signs of Damp – bubbly, flaking paint, powder on raw brickwork
 When builders build a wall comprising of an inner and outer layer of bricks they frequently leave gaps in the cement filler. Sometimes they do this deliberately in order to run services in the cavity. Where water enters this gap, it flows down to where it reaches an obstruction and then collects there, causing damp. This is why so many damp spots are at the bottom of a parapet wall. Fixing the damp by drilling breathing holes, or applying a proprietary coating on the inside, is expensive and usually useless too. Do not get tradesmen quotes for this. Rather fix the problem at the source – permanently.
There are two ways that builders finish off parapet walls – they either cap them with a tile, or with mortar. In the latter case, the mortar should be sloped to one side to lead rainwater away. These cappings fail for two reasons: either the tiles work loose, or the cement capping was badly done. If you are scared of heights, then find a tradesman to do the work for you. If not, the job is relatively easy.
Before you start the job, attach yourself with a safety rope to a secure point, or have a mate hold it for you in case you start to overbalance. Chip away at the bad mortar and re-do it, or reattach the loose tile. Tradesmen in London often prefer to cover the finished job with membrane along the entire length of the parapet top, because some London buildings are old and crumbling.
When you have done the job, you can attend to the damaged paint or plaster, but only after the wall has dried completely. Mr-Skill provides this information without guarantees.
Tags: cap, capping, cavity, cavity wall, cavitywall, cement, chip, damp, damp spot, double skin, fix, flaking paint, inner, layer, membrane, outer, parapet, parapet top, parapet wall, powder, repair, rising damp, skin, slope, sloping, tile, water
Posted in General Building | Comments Off
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