Home DIY

It's square cut, the top of the wall is sloped. The post doesn't touch the wall, that's deliberate. You can also set the post upright (or otherwise if that works better) by bending the threaded rod. So you eliminate all the vagaries of garden wall construction.

I decided to join the panels to the face of the post butted together, you can put them either side if you prefer that look.

Of course my carpentry skills are not that rated round these parts :)

My favourite fixing method into far from perfect walls. Quick and easy to add multiple fixing points which give a nice strong hold.

Thanks for this and the previous reply. I'm still not sure I totally understand what that picture is showing. Are the uprights sitting in "shoes" bolted down to the top of the wall, are the uprights thru-bolted into the face of the wall, or are they sort of hovering above it with the threaded rod going vertically down into the wall?

the threaded rod going vertically down into the wall

They are sitting on the little rubber donuts that electricians put in metal back boxes to stop damage to the wires. This helps to allow them to move a bit in case the threaded rod is not completely vertical.

It's 10mm threaded rod.

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I'm prevaricating and considering repointing the side of the house... let me know how that goes for you!

The best advice I can give to anyone considering re-pointing is to pay someone else to do it. It really is a painful job, the dust created when taking out the old mortar is seriously bad for you. The actual task of pointing while not technically difficult to do is hard to do well and is dependant on technique as well as a good knowledge of when to use the muck and how to strike the pointing. Flush, weather strike, bucket handle to name a few styles all require slightly different technique and tools.

Here is some examples for pointing enthusiasts:

When we repointed the garden walls I paid unskilled labourers to rake out the old stuff with a chisel and skilled bricklayers to do the pointing. I couldn't find bricklayers who would rake it all out without using a grinder.

I've had a new patio laid. It's slightly lower than the old one. There is damage to the bricks to the level of the old patio. My builder says it's frost damage as it's under 5he dpc and therefore not on him to fix. My opinion is that he needs to fix it, and that it's damage caused when the old flags were removed.

Would frost damage be to blame, or is he talking nonsense as I suspect he is ?

Damage lines up perfectly with the old patio level

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Got it, cheers. If considering that fixing method how many courses / what length of "bury" of the rod into the wall would you suggest as a minimum? I suspect I would have to buy some longer drill bits.

I think the post I used had about 5 inches of threaded rod. I have a spare somewhere I could measure if I can remember next time I see it!

I bought a special brush for cleaning debris out of the holes and probably had to buy a bit slightly larger than 10mm too.

3 mortice chisels, a cheap bevel chisel and a rebate plane blade rough ground to 25 degrees. Waiting for some honing fluid to arrive to use the new glass plate and progressive grit papers (240 up to 3000 then leather strop with compound) to get a 30 degree micro bevel. Strangely meditative and knackering (I got the mortice chisels cheap off eBay and there was a LOT of material to remove). I have 5 "good" chisels to do too, but I believe they already have a 25 degree primary.

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Right so how old is the boiler for a start?

By over pressurised I’m guessing it’s leaking water out the PRV and down the wall?

Also remembered I have this big fucker to refurbish

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The filter clean cycle is noisy but just sounds like muted banging. If you are using normal bags you don't need to have it engaged.

Muted banging is an improvement on it sounds like you're knocking down walls!

Also my Bosch has a 35 litre capacity so the idea of a smaller unit appeals.

Cheers for the info.

Let me know if you would like more practice................

How are you finding scary sharp?

It's my own bastardisation of it. The Veritas MK2 guide is making the initial regrinding very easy to keep consistent and square. I'll let you know how it goes when I get the honing fluid, by way of a bald left forearm probably.

Nice set of chisels there. I do the same thing occasionally, bag a little set of messed up ones and knock them into shape.

How are you flattening the backs?

But fuck me, re-profiling a fucked 1" mortice chisel by hand is no fun. And I don't know what steel the 18mm Magnusson chisel is made from but that was no fun either. There's a perversion in the geometry where you can see the line getting closer to the edge, but the closer you get the more material needs to be removed so it takes longer and longer to make progress.

How are you flattening the backs?

Just on the same set up. The rough grind is 180 grit paper on MDF. For the super fucked stuff I'm using the disc sander sparingly (until it's hot to touch then cooling with water).

And I don't know what steel the 18mm Magnusson chisel is made from

I have cheap chisels that are considerably harder than any of my more expensive ones, but some of the chisels that came in the same set are so soft that they may as well be made of cheese. The best chisels are hard enough that they will hold an edge but most importantly the hardness is consistent.

There's a perversion in the geometry where you can see the line getting closer to the edge, but the closer you get the more material needs to be removed so it takes longer and longer to make progress.

This is why spending £400+ on a Tormek will eventually start appealing to you.

Don't waste your time. Just give it to me....

Again, get behind me Satan. The £30 disc sander removed enough material in such a way that was tempting to design a jig for the primary bevel.

I have cheap chisels that are considerably harder than any of my more expensive ones

I kid you not, it was probably 3 hours across a few evenings of sanding/grinding to get the whole face to 25 degrees (before I realised the disc sander would have helped). I oddly don't mind too much though. That time normally would have been just staring at YouTube while ms_com put mini_com to sleep (we take turns, it's not solely her job) so I didn't make too much noise. Having a shed 80ft from the house with lights and power is living up to the hype.

By hype, I mean the middle aged nirvana of isolation and dicking about with tools.

They're not that expensive on eBay. Way less popular than the smaller Stanley's (probably for good reason).

I do the backs of mine on a diamond stone, sometimes it's very slow going.

The Tormek makes the rest of the job a pleasure.