The Home Improvements Thread (2)

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maumau said:
Our boundary wall fell over and the neighbour and I will share the costs of rebuilding using existing bricks.

She says the contractor quoted R19 600 for a 25m x 2m wall, single brick. Does that sound fair?

Reason I'm asking is years ago a building company said they'd give me a quote for double the actual price so I could con our neighbour into paying the whole price instead of half. ..... and, no, we didn't use them as they were clearly crooks.
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I would get your own contractor to quote on the job as well and not just blindly accept the neighbours quote.

Also the wall "fell over"? Is this not necessarily something to be involving your insurance company in?
 
maumau said:
Our boundary wall fell over and the neighbour and I will share the costs of rebuilding using existing bricks.

She says the contractor quoted R19 600 for a 25m x 2m wall, single brick. Does that sound fair?

Reason I'm asking is years ago a building company said they'd give me a quote for double the actual price so I could con our neighbour into paying the whole price instead of half. ..... and, no, we didn't use them as they were clearly crooks.
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Check the building specks for the wall height vs length. Over a certain length and height it needs to be a double wall with pillars to be compliant.
 
SAguy said:
Yeah, I'm still on the fence with deciding.

I would still have a valve between the two tanks, but I wouldn't be able to drain the left hand one independently.
I could move the valves to the straight lengths, but that would only work for the left tank, moving the right tank valve to the straight would also just cut off both.

In the last year and a bit I think I've only ever drained individual tanks to make changes, but as a backup I could put a second valve on the left tank too (and just keep it closed)

I'd gain about 30cm, and with my new gate needing to be to be at the red x that's precious space. There's a step just behind the vibracrete against the house, so the gate needs to be wider to actually have a walkway through.

View attachment 1043843
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Yeah to be honest, Looking at that I'd rather look at moving your valves and reducing the "sticky out" part of the pipes rather than trying to tie the two tanks together in series. It will be easier and cheaper as well probably. How much space do you have behind the tanks though? Maybe rotate them 180 degrees, and then have the valves in an accessible position near the pump?
 
SAguy said:
Yeah, I'm still on the fence with deciding.

I would still have a valve between the two tanks, but I wouldn't be able to drain the left hand one independently.
I could move the valves to the straight lengths, but that would only work for the left tank, moving the right tank valve to the straight would also just cut off both.

In the last year and a bit I think I've only ever drained individual tanks to make changes, but as a backup I could put a second valve on the left tank too (and just keep it closed)

I'd gain about 30cm, and with my new gate needing to be to be at the red x that's precious space. There's a step just behind the vibracrete against the house, so the gate needs to be wider to actually have a walkway through.

View attachment 1043843
Click to expand...

drop the pipe down with an elbow as it comes out, then another elbow to bring it back horizontal, then take out a line of bricks and make it a gulley, then you have all the space back and keep the same setup :p the gulley would need drainage though so you need to take it all the way to the end. cover it with a grid/gulley covers so you can walk over it.
 
ToxicBunny said:
I would get your own contractor to quote on the job as well and not just blindly accept the neighbours quote.

Also the wall "fell over"? Is this not necessarily something to be involving your insurance company in?
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Thank you TB. The wall was put up by previous neighbours before they sold the house. It's been rickety from the start but has held up for about 10 years.

We were told the wall is not strong enough to support an electric fence but the new neighbours installed one and it probably couldn't withstand that plus the recent storms and hectic wind.

On your advice I've contacted the insurance broker and she's asked for a copy of the quote so will see what comes of that.
 
jezzad said:
Check the building specks for the wall height vs length. Over a certain length and height it needs to be a double wall with pillars to be compliant.
Click to expand...

Ooooh gonas, don't want to go there :eek: but guess I have to check. Thanks
 
ToxicBunny said:
Yeah to be honest, Looking at that I'd rather look at moving your valves and reducing the "sticky out" part of the pipes rather than trying to tie the two tanks together in series. It will be easier and cheaper as well probably. How much space do you have behind the tanks though? Maybe rotate them 180 degrees, and then have the valves in an accessible position near the pump?
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No space behind them sadly, but I can move them further apart from each other.
Steamy Tom said:
drop the pipe down with an elbow as it comes out, then another elbow to bring it back horizontal, then take out a line of bricks and make it a gulley, then you have all the space back and keep the same setup :p the gulley would need drainage though so you need to take it all the way to the end. cover it with a grid/gulley covers so you can walk over it.
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While I'm digging I may as well just keep digging, get a 10 000l underground tank and bury it... problem solved! :)

I could maybe rotate them both 90 degrees in, so that their valves face each other. Then elbow off each towards the front or back. That way I can still have a valve for each tank, and no space lost in front... mmm

Worst part of this is moving these tanks. Even if you drain them there's like 4 or 5cm of water left, which is like 150 liters + the weight of the tank. I have a submersible pond pump that gets another couple of cm out, but still not fun.
 
SAguy said:
No space behind them sadly, but I can move them further apart from each other.

While I'm digging I may as well just keep digging, get a 10 000l underground tank and bury it... problem solved! :)

I could maybe rotate them both 90 degrees in, so that their valves face each other. Then elbow off each towards the front or back. That way I can still have a valve for each tank, and no space lost in front... mmm

Worst part of this is moving these tanks. Even if you drain them there's like 4 or 5cm of water left, which is like 150 liters + the weight of the tank. I have a submersible pond pump that gets another couple of cm out, but still not fun.
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If you can get some space between them, that might be your best option then, then you can still have them independent of each other and have the space you want.
 
maumau said:
Ooooh gonas, don't want to go there :eek: but guess I have to check. Thanks
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Yeah its a mission, I also wanted single brick. Got a structural engineer in and he prescribed the dimensions we needed to follow.
 
ToxicBunny said:
If you can get some space between them, that might be your best option then, then you can still have them independent of each other and have the space you want.
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... and no making extra holes in the tank. I think this may be the way to go. Can maybe also relocate my pump to the middle then. I'll see.
 
jezzad said:
Yeah its a mission, I also wanted single brick. Got a structural engineer in and he prescribed the dimensions we needed to follow.
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Neighbour's ex-husband is an engineer - if he's structural it will be a win.
 
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jezzad said:
Yeah its a mission, I also wanted single brick. Got a structural engineer in and he prescribed the dimensions we needed to follow.
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I think walls above 2m require a structural engineer to sign off IIRC.
 
Anyone know a product that can repair a jacuzzis finish? I have some spots that are damaged, but can't seem to find anything that matches that colour. Theres lots of products that match ceramic white, but on the jacuzzi they look grey.
 
MjK said:
Anyone know a product that can repair a jacuzzis finish? I have some spots that are damaged, but can't seem to find anything that matches that colour. Theres lots of products that match ceramic white, but on the jacuzzi they look grey.
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generally you would need to tint the base product to a colour match then
 
How do you know the minimum spacing between tiles, or doesn't it really matter? Want to use 3mm spacers as per the other tiles in the house.

I've previously seen it on the box - current lot doesn't have any indication.
 
Various reasons. Sometimes the tiles are not squared 100% so you need a thicker spacer so that it’s not too visible. Edge finishes as well, not perfectly straight so it needs thicker spacing to hide imperfections. Materials used sometimes need a thicker join. Your tiler should know. Otherwise check with the sales guys ... but I have very little faith in them
 
xrapidx said:
How do you know the minimum spacing between tiles, or doesn't it really matter? Want to use 3mm spacers as per the other tiles in the house.

I've previously seen it on the box - current lot doesn't have any indication.
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Are they rectified porcelain or not?
 
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