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The Saw Horse – An Apprentice Carpenter Test

Dylan Garton
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The Saw Horse – An Apprentice Carpenter Test

When I was at college, they said to me, the first thing you need as a carpenter is a saw horse or single bevel trestle. I want you to do it yourselves. It’s thoroughly enjoyable. It’s basic hand tools. If you want to come and do any work experience with me, don’t be surprised if the first thing I say to you, is to go and make a pair of single bevel trestles. So you need to do your homework.

I’m going to do it exactly as I was taught at college. We only use one bevel or one angle for the entire trestle. It’s got an element of roof construction in it because some of the cuts are like a purlin lip cut. You probably don’t know what that is, but if you do, you know how tricky they are.

Choose your angle

The first step in the process is to choose your angle. There’s no set angle. I like to do mine at 15 degrees. It gives you a nice narrow footprint. So when you’re working around your trestle, you’re not going to catch your feet on it and so it works really well for me. I set my fence 15 degrees by my striking point, which is here.

I tighten my fence off. That’s roughly the angle that the legs will travel out in two directions. I could use my square now to mark all my angles, but it’s a bit on the large side.

I’ve used two scraps of timber and a very thin piece of MDF screwed to a piece of batten. And I’ve cut this exactly to 15 degrees. So I’ve done this on both sides. So the first job I’m going to make my top. So I have a length of timber, could be any length. It doesn’t want to be too long.

Saw horse

I’ll have eight legs and all we need to do is cut them straight in the middle. This is the first time we use the single bevel and it’s handy to have the legs together because we’re going to mark two one way and two the other way, because we need opposites.

The first thing I’ll do is mark the bevel straight down the middle of my pencil line. Then I rotate the timbers through 90 degrees, all the same way. And then I’m going to do the bevel again. I’m just going to transfer these marks so I can see them when I clamp the timbers together. My compound cut is the same bevel, this will form and set my legs in the direction that I want them to go.

Time for a jig

The beauty of making yourself a small bevel board, instead of holding a sliding bevel or a roofing square or other device, is that it is so much easier and it’s so much more accurate. You can just keep moving it around the work and it will always be true.

Now I’m going to arrange these into two sets of four, and the easiest way to do this is to make sure you’ve got all your points and opposites together. We’re looking for a set like this. You can now see that when they’re flat and level at the top, it’s sending the legs in the angle that I want them to be.

I’ve got my legs prepared, ready to be jointed, I’m going to mark the tops of the trestles up again with the same bevel. This is the single bevel trestle. I will measure in my case, 150 in from each end. I’m going to write top on here so you can see what’s the top. So using my single bevel, now I’m going to make a mark on those lines here. I’m working from the top outwards.

I love my Tracer Deep Hole Pencil, it’s got a six-millimetre shaft, so you can bore a hole through something and you can scribe with it. The best thing about it, it’s got the smallest sharpener in the whole world on this little holder, which you clip on your belt or in your shirt pocket. And it’s tiny. It’s like the smallest sharpener in the world.

I’ve always got my carpenters pencil. We repeat the process on the other side. I’m going to take one of the legs, take this one here. I’m going to cover the line. And I’m going to mark the back and repeat that process.

We remove material to form a housing for the legs. So I want you to take a marking gauge. You don’t need a marking gauge. You can use a combination square and set that to the width. Now there’s no set width or depth. What you don’t want to do is remove too much of the strength from the top. And all of the strength from the legs comes from the joint, which I’ll show you in a minute.

Eyes on the prize

This is probably the part of this that you really need to concentrate because I’m going to show you how to mark the joint on the top of the legs. And this is sometimes a bit confusing because of the fact you’re working with compound bevels, and then you actually introducing another angle, which is only 90 degrees or square or at right angles to the cuts you’re doing.

So there’s nothing tricky about it. But it’s very easy to cut the same thing twice where you meant to cut two opposites. So to enable the legs to hold the tops, I’m going to be removing this section to the shoulder lines there. And it’s a parallel knot if you like, it’s a parallel section that I’m taking out.

I’m then going to make a joint on the top of the legs, which will fit into the top and this is what it’s going to look like. There’s going to be a shoulder, which is the same thickness as what we’re removing from the top. An angled notch. We’re going to be taking it away, this section here.

The top of the legs has the stock removed. So it goes into the housing and it sets the legs off at the right angle. So what we’ve formed is the second part of the joint, which goes into the housing for the top. And this gives it all its strength.

It provides a fixing point. The top will sit into there. It’s housed into here. And that transfers all the way through to the ground. This leg will sit into there and it’ll give you a really nice joint.

Measure twice, mark once

Make sure you measure twice and you mark once before you do all that cutting because I only have enough timber here to do what I want to do. I don’t have masses of waste lying around. I’ll get my excavator once this is finished and I’ll put all the weight of the arm on it and lift the front of the excavator off the floor.

And you can just see how strong it is. When I get to do something like this, reminds me just how much I enjoy carpentry and joinery. Just nice, isn’t it?

Just great. If you’re not familiar with how to clean out a housing, you start with your chisel with the bevel, or if it’s a firmer chisel, away from you and you’ll start working away from either side, so you’re just taking out a section like this, turn it over.

Don’t just blast straight through. So you’re working from both sides towards the centre. You’re not going through it parallel because you might smash the back out. So you’re just working through either way, back to that shoulder line and then you can pair it out or you can tap out with a mallet or a chisel.

Chisel joy

Just using the flat of the chisel. And what you’re looking for is that that joint is nice and flat all the way through.

This is what I’d call site carpentry. And so I like to use a chisel, which is a little bit more robust and I save those lovely Japanese chisels for really nice delicate work where you might just be using your hand. But this has got good steel end, designed to be struck with a hammer or a mallet.

Now we need to reduce the length of the legs. You can leave them longer if you want, but I don’t really need them that long. And in tradition, what we used to do with our single bevel trestles was, was make sure that they were at the right height, that if you wanted to, you could put a notch in the end of them and you can stand a door in the end and it keeps it upright while you’re putting your hinges on et cetera.

So it’s really useful for hanging doors. And the most common doors we use are two foot three wide and two foot six wide. And so I like to get my stool. So when it’s standing, a two-foot free door will be just above it. So I can take a plane through and plane the door edge off.

Fix the legs

Take the first leg, push it into the housing, and then we need to screw that up. You can see the joint is a good fit. It really does hold itself. I’ve just got some offcuts of moisture-resistant MDF if you like, and the gusset width is the point of intersection here and to the other side. So it’s going to sit directly underneath there.

Put a bevel on the top at 15 degrees. So it comes up underneath there, nice and tight. You can see that there’s the 15-degree angle there. It will sit perfectly into here and all I’m now marking is the top of the shoulder on both sides. And this one here.

They’re going to be attached to the back of the legs. And I’m going to use these gussets to pull the legs exactly where they should be geometrically as well. You can put the gussets on first and run a hand saw down, but that’s the cheat way.

I will find the leg that’s the most flush. I will screw that side in making sure it’s tight and I’ll pull the other one to it to make it exactly right geometrically. I’m taking the leg to the angle there and it’s going to be absolutely spot on. Perfectly smooth and flush.

Carpentry life

Can’t beat it, can you? That’s what carpentry is all about, it’s working timber and taking control of it. So the last job, when you make a pair of single bevel trestles is that you want to even all the feet up, even though the legs are pretty much the same length as you saw me sort of cut them all to a pattern. When you put them all together, the geometry sometimes makes one wobble. So stand them on a flat surface. Once they’re all together, take a scribe block, run it all the way around. It’s a lovely method of making sure your work sits nice and flat.

Job done

That’s the trestle complete. Now let’s see how strong it is. Let’s put the trestle here, put some bearers underneath it. Stop those legs digging in. One and a half tons of weight. So there you have it. I’ve got all of the weight of the machine. I’ve not cheated. I’ve got it, the heavy end forward, I’ve got the blade at the front.

I’ve pushed the bucket down on it and I’ve lifted myself off the ground. This machine is one and a half tons. Okay, some of it’s on the ground, but even if 50% of the weight of this machine was coming through that trestle, that’s around about 750 kilos. I think that’s around about 2,000 pounds.

Thank you so much for joining me, why don’t you share it with someone else who you think may enjoy it? And if you’re not a subscriber to Skill Builder, now’s the time to subscribe.

🛒 Tracer Deep Hole Pencil: https://amzn.to/2ZeMtKA
🛒 Dewalt Wood Chisel Set: https://amzn.to/3bLcmGT
🛒 Stanley 512060 Block Plane: https://amzn.to/3ma0lzB

How to make a saw horse, or single bevel trestle, a really good apprentice carpenter test.

Thanks to Robin Clevett for another superb carpentry tutorial video, make sure you check out his other carpentry courses and subscribe to his channel.

How to Cut Hip Rafters: https://youtu.be/CmKZoPmROn8

How to Create a Scarf Joint: https://youtu.be/-SUtoKKNKHQ

How to Make a Tusk Tenon: https://youtu.be/osoItQj_blw

Subscribe to Robin’s channel: https://www.youtube.com/ukconstruction

More videos and articles from Robin Clevett.

BiKBBI Calls Upon the Industry to Take Action Now to Avoid Catastrophe

Dylan Garton
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0
BiKBBI Calls Upon the Industry to Take Action Now to Avoid Catastrophe

The BiKBBI (British Institute of Kitchen, Bedroom & Bathroom Installation) today released its plans to tackle, what it believes to be “one of the most significant challenges faced by the kitchen, bedroom and bathroom sector ever”, the national shortage of professional installers, calling upon the industry to unite now or “risk future catastrophe.”

BiKBBI is placing a call to action on the entire industry, including suppliers, distributors, manufacturers and retailers, to actively support much-needed change by pledging intent at www.supportchange.org.uk. The organisation plans on approaching the challenge in what it calls a “three-pronged-attack” including Apprenticeships, professional development and re-training.

A 2016 review, published by The Construction Leadership Council and written by Mark Farmer, CEO of Cast Consultancy, identified an impending crisis relating to a growing shortage of skilled labour, titling the publication “Modernise or Die”. The report identified UK government ambitions to build national infrastructure but warned a lack of tradespeople in both construction and refurbishment would prevent these ambitions being realised.

Since the publication of this review in 2016, two major events have added to the crisis, which BiKBBI believes “negatively changes the landscape significantly.” The events referred to is the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union, which affects the free movement of EU labour, together with the unfolding Coronavirus pandemic.

BiKBBI believes that both of these events would present real problems for the industry on their own, but CEO Damian Walters says that “the skills gap was already a crisis before we faced these latest challenges.” He added, “this problem will not correct itself, nor is anyone else focused on fixing it. The challenge is ours and one we must all face if we want to avoid a disaster like none faced by our industry before.”

BiKBBI confirmed that its plans were split into three key areas. Apprenticeships, training and re-training – each included within a strategy to address the short, medium- and long-term recovery from the skills gap.

Apprenticeships have formed a key part of the plan for the last five years, however, BiKBBI confirms that it will be forming a national network of training providers to collaboratively develop, promote and deliver the Level 2 Fitted Interiors Apprenticeship from the 2021 academic year.

Working with the industry, BiKBBI collaborated with the UK’s first college of Advanced Technology (PROCAT, Essex), to deliver the Fitted Interiors Apprenticeship. The blueprint courses in collaboration with BiKBBI saw the first student cohort enroll in 2017, embarking on a two-year course, with the second starting in 2019.

The organisation has demonstrated the effectiveness of the Apprenticeship, and its ability to work with strategic partners to develop, promote and deliver vocational learning specific to the KBB industry. BiKBBI engaged over 2500 school children to present career opportunities within the KBB industry so far.

Today’s announcement confirmed that this programme will now be rolled out nationally, working with a network of colleges and training providers to create official BiKBBI Approved Training Providers. The organisation confirmed that it had already received interest from a number of training providers and strategic partners, and that it plans to commence delivery of a nationally available Fitted Interiors Apprenticeship from the 2021/22 academic year.

BiKBBI Support

BiKBBI plans to extend its support, as it plans to formulate it’s ‘Big Red Bus Tour’ – taking the industry directly to primary and secondary schools, promoting both the apprenticeship programme and wider opportunities that lie within the industry. CEO Damian Walters commented by saying, “our strategic alliance with the North Americans has really driven the tour idea, as America’s National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA) is leading the way on taking its industry into high schools stateside” adding that “this is a proactive and direct initiative that is all about action and less about talking.”

BiKBBI is working with a number of strategic partners,  including FIESTA and Achieve + Partners, in the development of the apprenticeship standard. BiKBBI confirmed that this is not a campaign that can be delivered in isolation and that partnerships with like-minded collectives was “absolutely critical”.

BiKBBI also confirmed the extension of its relationship with Charlton Athletic Women and announced its intention to form the UK’s first female only Fitted Interiors Apprenticeship in collaboration with the South London club.

The second strand of BiKBBI’s plan is Learning & Development (L&D). Earlier this year, the institute launched its L&D platform ‘BiKBBI Campus’ – an online training portal that works predominantly with suppliers and manufacturers to deliver technical training to members and the wider industry.

BiKBBI Campus Director Mark Parish said, “We have been overwhelmed by the support for Campus so far, but we need more manufacturers to get on board and deliver training through the platform. We’re seeing learner numbers increase as many used lockdown to improve skills for themselves and colleagues.”

Damian Walters added, “it’s incredibly important that the existing workforce ensure that they keep updated with new product, processes and legislation and I’m pleased that Campus is a great vehicle for this learning.”

The final part of BiKBBI’s plan is retraining.

Earlier this year BiKBBI confirmed that it had signed The Armed Forces Covenant – a pledge to work with the Armed Forces Community by utilising some of the easily transferable skills that some former servicemen and women can bring to the industry.

The strategic alliance has already included working with The Ministry of Defence as well as other organisations and charities, with an objective of plugging some of the skills gaps at pace with disciplined, professional trades.

Call to action

BiKBBI confirmed that it could not realise its ambitious plans without support from the industry and makes an urgent appeal to suppliers, distributors, manufacturers and retailers to pledge support immediately.

CEO Damian Walters said: “Without support, there will be no solution. No one else is leading a robust and achievable plan focused on installation, but without support and funding, this will not happen.”

BiKBBI has published a call to action that pleads the industry to join together and collaborate. It asks the industry to join forces and register interest in supporting via their online pledge at www.supportchange.org.uk

Visit the British Institute of Kitchen, Bedroom & Bathroom Installation.

BiKBBI Welcomes Victoria Plum Trade as Corporate Sponsor.

Vapour Permeability & The Truth About Stormdry

Dylan Garton
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0
Vapour Permeability & The Truth About Stormdry

Roger carries out some vapour permeability tests to see if the claims made by Safeguard Stormdry are watertight.

MORE ON STORMDRY

Stormdry has been tested to EN ISO15148:2002 (E), demonstrating its effectiveness on concrete, mortar, brick, and sandstone.

Stormdry masonry protection cream is applied to masonry in a single coat by means of brush, roller, or spray. Once applied, it penetrates deeply into the masonry before curing to form a colourless, breathable water repellent barrier.

WHAT IS PENETRATING DAMP?

Rain penetration through masonry (known as penetrating damp) is a common problem in buildings – particularly in the case of those of solid wall construction.

The problem is also increasingly common in buildings of cavity wall construction where cavity wall insulation has been poorly installed or used in walls that are not suitable for cavity wall insulation.

Other paths through which rain can cross through a cavity wall include incorrectly positioned wall ties and mortar obstructions in the cavity.

Vapour Permeability

Penetrating damp is caused by water permeating through walls from the outside. It can occur at all levels of a building but is more prevalent higher up.

It is possible for damp to move within walls but this horizontal movement differs from the vertical movement of rising damp.
Penetrating damp is usually caused by the following:

Porous Walls — Aging bricks lose the ability to keep out rain penetration.

Spalled Bricks & Degraded Mortar — Damage to brickwork allows water to penetrate.

Building Defects — Defective guttering and downpipes, roof damage, dilapidated or poorly installed windows.
In this case, fix the root of the problem before applying Stormdry to boost your protection.

More on Safeguard products from Skill Builder.

Safeguard Europe product range.

Stay Safe With Snickers Workwear Protective Wear Solutions for Men and Women

Dylan Garton
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0
Stay Safe With Snickers Workwear Protective Wear Solutions for Men and Women

Snickers Workwear –Your Health, Your Safety, Your Wellbeing On Site.

Long working days and cheap uncomfortable clothing makes Snickers Workwear’s protective wear range the better-informed choice for men and women working in hazardous environments and inclement weather.

There’s a comprehensive selection of ergonomically designed Base-, Mid- and Top-layer clothes, certified as appropriate for different risks at work to ensure comfort, health and workforce-wellbeing all day, every day.

Protective Wear

The new range also includes waterproof and windproof AllroundWork Hi-Vis Jackets that provide protection in low-light, high-risk environments.

So, whatever the hazard on-site, the Snickers Workwear Hi-Vis collection and ProtecWork range can provide a protective wear solution to provide maximum, certified protection whatever the risks on site.

Snickers ProtecWork Protective Wear

See more from Snickers Workwear on Skill Builder.

Visit Snickers Workwear.

Why Are My Radiators Getting Hot When the Heating Is Off?

Dylan Garton
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0
Why Are My Radiators Getting Hot When the Heating Is Off?

So your radiators are getting hot when the heating is turned off and you don’t know why?

Roger explains in his latest Know Your House whiteboard explainer.

#KnowYourHouse #DIY #SBFAQ

Why Teamwork and Respect Are Essential to Jobsite Safety

Dylan Garton
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0
Why Teamwork and Respect Are Essential to Jobsite Safety

On the job site, safety is always a team sport. Even if most team members follow all appropriate regulations, just one person who ignores the rules or fails to use the right safety supplies can cause a serious accident.

If you want to build a culture of safety on your job sites (and you should), it’s critical to lay the foundation first. That foundation is made of teamwork and respect, and there’s no substitute for building it carefully and correctly.

Why are these concepts so crucial to safer job sites, and how can you help foster them in the job sites you manage? We’ll examine six ways that personal relationships on the job site can make or break your safety compliance.

Jobsite Safety 2

Employees must be able to trust their coworkers

Construction workers put their lives in their coworkers’ hands every day. From operating heavy equipment to securing safety gear correctly, the life and health of every worker on a construction site depend on the diligence and respect of their fellow workers.

Every person on a job site forms a safety net that helps spot mistakes and prevents injuries. The stronger the employees’ interpersonal connections, the stronger the net. In a truly strong net, compliance issues can be pointed out without workers feeling personally attacked, and everyone takes responsibility for everyone else’s continued safety.

Employees must be able to trust their management

The relationship of mutual respect and teamwork in construction must also extend up the chain of command. Workers must feel that management has their best interests in mind and has genuine respect for their safety and well-being.

Management is responsible for making investments that keep workers safe. If workers see that their leadership can’t be bothered to invest in up-to-date safety equipment, it’s unlikely that they’ll take the time to make their own safety practices sparkle. Respect has to run both up and down the chain of command.

This is especially important when it comes to reporting safety issues. Workers should know that they have nothing to fear from coming forward when they notice a problem. Make sure that site-level managers are committed to a culture of transparency and that you have a strict policy against any kind of retaliation.

Jobsite Safety 1

Teamwork is the foundation of effective training

Proper training is a foundational element of workplace safety and, in order to create effective training programs, workers need to respect and value one another. Training should be a time when anyone can ask honest questions and get factual answers from a team member who respects them.

Be particularly careful in looking at how your workers onboard new employees. Good relationships begin early, so think carefully about who you can trust to give a good introduction to your safety culture. Trainers should treat new employees with respect while simultaneously instilling a sense of duty in them toward their fellow employees’ well-being.

Respect fosters a mentality of consistency

Every worker has their own role to play in job site safety. When workers know their role and feel respected in it, they’re more likely to apply the consistent effort that it takes to make a job site safe. That’s critical because complacency is safety’s worst enemy on a job site. Workers who understand their responsibilities and respect their coworkers will put in the effort to follow through on best practices, even when it means doing the same task day after day. They know that their coworkers’ lives depend on their consistency and respect their roles in the process.

You can encourage this by rewarding consistency in your employees. Make consistency a major factor in how you award promotions and raises, and give praise to the employees who demonstrate the ability to get it right day after day without slip-ups.

Safety culture flourishes when team members are proud of it

A thriving safety culture has no room for tough-guy antics or workers who shame others for taking the right safety precautions. Nobody is too cool to wear high visibility clothing or complete a proper lockout process when cleaning machinery, and a solid safety culture can often handle these jobsite-level issues without management even getting involved.

Choosing and retaining the right team members is a key part of this. Some workers simply can’t let go of the devil-may-care cowboy mentality that leads (for example) to roofers working without fall protection. If you have workers like this on your job site, they could be damaging your safety culture, and they need to either change or go.

Instead, safety should be a point of pride for your job site, and that pride should extend down to the details. In a truly healthy and mature safety culture, workers will go above and beyond following the basic compliance rules and be motivated to get even the small details right.

Personal conflicts make job sites less safe

There should be zero tolerance for personal grudges on your job site. Any workers who have a grievance with others need to communicate their issues either through a respectful conversation or through a mediation process. Failing that, individuals may need to be separated or even terminated. Take a look at your workplace dispute resolution process and ask if it’s equipped to handle the real issues that can crop up on a job site. Do you have mediation processes available, and do people actually feel comfortable using them? Are they designed according to current best practices in workplace mediation?

Another key part of this is rooting out harassment and racism at your job sites. These things are a psychological poison that spreads outward from the perpetrator and which can end up destroying the relationships that keep construction crews strong. Make it clear from the start that there will be absolutely no tolerance for any kind of prejudice or bullying at your job sites.

Jobsite safety is one area where you can’t afford to be operating at less than 100 percent. Maintaining consistency begins with transparency and trust and is built from there—so start with leading by example.

More on health and safety from Skill Builder

GMB Call for Safe & Healthy Environment for Bus Drivers Following COVID-19 Deaths

Mental Health & Dealing with Stress

Loft Dormer Unusual Exterior Finish ~ LoftCon #4

Dylan Garton
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0
Loft Dormer Unusual Exterior Finish ~ LoftCon #4

See the whole loft dormer conversion series:

Part 1 – https://youtu.be/9jUBLwUYkCs

Part 2 – https://youtu.be/8SnGmFsz64s

Part 3 – https://youtu.be/4GdfhloOkpc

Our thanks go to James King for letting Roger film this loft conversion series.

Thanks to our sponsor YFood.
YFOOD COMPLETE MEAL TASTER PACK – Use code “BUILDER10” for a 10% discount – https://bit.ly/Skill_Builder_YFood

Innovative, Sustainable Flooring Solutions – Fit for a Better Normal

Dylan Garton
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0
Innovative, Sustainable Flooring Solutions – Fit for a Better Normal

We Brits spend around £30bn on household goods and improvements every year. It’s undoubtedly already a huge industry. But this year, under pandemic-induced lockdown and a large portion of us working from home or furloughed, it looks set to grow further. Many of us have taken this time to improve, makeover and/or renovate our homes. So much so that online sales of building materials in the first half of March 2020 saw demand at record levels, with up to 48% year-on-year growth.[1] Time spent doing DIY increased by a massive 147%.[2]

This shows no sign of abating, especially in light of Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s stamp duty holiday. In the weeks following, Rightmove and Housing Today reported a 15 per cent increase in house sales; buyer enquiries were 75% higher in July than a year ago, and housebuilders’ shares soared. [3] Homeowners on the move will be looking to makeover their current homes to help with the sale. Others will already have an eye on making changes to their new home.

We caught up with IOBAC Ltd.’s CEO, Paul Woolvine, to discuss why now is as good a time as any to re-evaluate the sustainable flooring solutions we choose.

Now is the time for change

“The UK government has already set its stall out to ‘build, build, build’ its way to recovery, which points to what is likely to be a huge increase in demand for building materials, including flooring solutions. It feels like a transformative time for the built environment; an opportunity to do things differently and better than before. And that’s what we’re all about at IOBAC. Why not make the flooring solution you choose – whether you’re a housebuilder, homeowner, or flooring contractor – an inherently more flexible and sustainable one?”

Sustainability from the ground up

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought the environment and what we’re doing to it into sharp focus. There’s no doubt it was front of mind for the Construction Leadership Council (CLC) when it wrote and published its recent Roadmap to Recovery, an industry recovery plan for the UK construction sector. Sustainability and a decarbonised society are placed right at its very heart, proven with the inclusion of this statement under its key outcomes and benefits:

“Reducing carbon emissions and improving the sustainability and resource efficiency of the construction and built environment sectors and making measurable progress towards delivering net zero carbon.” [4]

“While the CLC’s report is encouraging, sustainability has, unfortunately, always been at the mercy of market forces,” continues Paul. “Stakeholders too often opt for traditional solutions deemed ‘cheaper’ than newer, more innovative solutions. It’s these market forces that risk stifling the sustainable innovations that the construction and housebuilding industry so desperately need. Now is an especially important time to keep green building principles at the forefront of everyone’s mind.”

Indeed, the need to ‘build back better’ has been addressed by prime minister Boris Johnson and the government’s Race to Zero campaign, as well as by the CLC’s Roadmap to Recovery. Specific details are, however, currently sparse.

“There are a multitude of materials that need to be properly governed if vital green benchmarks are to be hit,” says Paul. “Concrete is often cited as the construction industry’s ‘dirty’ addiction, but in our world, traditional flooring solutions – ones that are unsustainable to manufacture, require adhesives to affix, and are difficult to recycle – are the problem.”

Greater flexibility and design freedom

In the UK, on average, we decorate our living room every 25 months, our bedroom every 29 months, dining room every 37 months, and hallway every 45 months. Amazingly, a quarter of all UK homeowners admit that their home is in a constant state of redecoration. [5] Over a lifetime, that’s a lot of redecorating.

Paul comments: “Fashions and our own tastes and needs are constantly evolving and it can be an upheaval each time we redecorate. It can also be expensive and time-consuming. But it doesn’t have to be that way. If people had the option to change their flooring quickly and easily, by themselves, in just two to three hours, how many more would opt to do it? They may even opt to do just that rather than redecorate an entire room. Add to that the options to stow away the flooring that’s been uplifted for re-use, recycle it in an environmentally-friendly way, or simply just swap some sections that are more worn than others, and you’re left with a transformative solution to what is an old problem.”

IOBAC Flexible flooring

The solution?

IOBAC claims to offer a solution to the issues Paul outlines above. It comes in the form of its Ezy-Install underlay system, incorporating a unique dual-grip technology that enables “faster, cleaner and easier flooring installations.”

“Ezy-Install is what we call our dry-laid magnetically receptive underlay,” explains Paul. “It takes away all of the messy, time-consuming issues that arise with traditional solutions. There’s minimal sub-floor preparation needed, you simply roll out the underlay and cut to size. It is waterproof, naturally anti-microbial, easily cleanable, durable and manufactured using recycled rubber from old tyres. It’s perfect for reuse time and again and ticks all of the sustainability boxes. Combining a metallised, magnetically-receptive base with a high-grab dry adhesive tack, it utilises dual grip strength for optimum hold between underlay and surface flooring. The underlay adhesive is plant-based VOC-free resin, manufactured predominantly from renewable castor oil.”

The final step is to fix magnetically-backed tiles into place – much like putting a fridge magnet on a fridge – or attach a standard backed tile using IOBAC’s MagTabs.

“MagTabs are simply little magnetic squares that transform ordinary floor coverings into magnetic ones. Magnetic on one side and self-adhesive on the other, they work by locking tiles tightly together in two dimensions – horizontally and to the Ezy-Install underlay vertically.

As IOBAC’s flooring system is wet adhesive free, surface tiles are uncontaminated when uplifted and can therefore be easily recycled or reused, unlike tiles fixed with adhesive which are often difficult to uplift and recycle.

Things are hotting up

The government’s recent Green Deal announcement is set to help homeowners make energy-saving improvements to their home and find the best way to pay for them. As you would expect, heating and, more specifically, underfloor heating, is one of the improvements listed under the Green Deal criteria. This is, of course, framed by the wider context of the UK government’s target to bring all greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.

More efficient heating solutions will undoubtedly have a central role to play in reaching this objective. After all, almost 40% of all human greenhouse gas emissions in the world come from buildings, with more than half of these from residential properties.[6] The fact remains, however, that underfloor heating can still be overly complicated and excessively expensive, which is why it’s another part of the flooring world that IOBAC is looking to transform.

“Our heated flooring solution was developed to overcome some of the issues commonly associated with conventional electric mats and water-based underfloor heating systems,” explains Paul. “Underfloor heating is still thought of as a costly, luxury option. And a disruptive, complex option at that. It’s also complicated and time-consuming to remediate any issues with traditional systems and, vitally, they’re not as efficient to run as expected. They often have long heat up times and no option for renewable energy inputs.”

IOBAC aims to offer a more energy-efficient and cost-effective solution.

 

Paul says: “Crucially, our solution is non-disruptive. There’s no disturbance to existing pipe and/or electric system and adjusting floor height isn’t an issue as our solution is just 0.5mm thick. On top of that, it’s easy to remediate by simply removing the floor tile and underlay. This special heated version of the Ezy-Install Underlay utilises super-conducting graphene technology to create an amazingly efficient underfloor heating solution.  Simply lay the heated Ezy-Install underlay as before, connect to a power source in the skirting board and install magnetic flooring tiles on top.

“Our aim with this solution is to make it three things: non-disruptive (which we’ve touched on), cost-effective and sustainable. In terms of cost-effectiveness, it’s highly efficient to run and quick to heat up to 27ᴼC, not to mention the far-reduced install and future remediation costs. Sustainability wise it can be powered by renewable supply (either DC or AC), it’s water-based with 100% solid coatings and made using recycled additive.”

There is also a perhaps lesser-known advantage – and particularly pertinent given the current health crisis – to this solution: health benefits. “The solution creates radiant infrared heat, which is said to have numerous health benefits, from pain relief, reduction of muscle tension and improved circulation, to boosting of the immune system and lowering of blood pressure. It is even thought to be able to help to fight infections and inhibit airborne microorganisms found in RNA viruses, including coronaviruses, by stimulating the body’s metabolism and production of white blood cells.”

A better way forward

It does feel like a transformative time for the built environment. Demand for building materials and flooring solutions will continue to be high and homeowners, housebuilders and flooring contractors will be faced with numerous building material options. As Paul said, perhaps it is time for society to opt for “newer, more innovative solutions”. It doesn’t have to be a new normal, as has been quoted so often in recent times. Rather, the building materials and flooring solutions we choose now can help contribute to a better normal.

For more information about IOBAC’s solutions, visit www.iobac.com.

Now available to buy at new sister website: www.floorplay.info.

[4] Construction Leadership Council, Roadmap to Recovery

[6] Low Carbon Houses, Catapult Future Cities

See our feature on Flexible Flooring: The Foundation of Future Office Design

How to Project a Professional Image With Your Trade Business

Dylan Garton
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0
How to Project a Professional Image With Your Trade Business

With rogue tradespeople damaging the sector’s image, Andrew Dark, from branding and custom clothing experts Custom Planet, shares some tips for projecting a professional image to clients.

One of the most frustrating problems that the trade business has had over the years has been rogue tradespeople. Whether it’s a bogus glazer stealing money from the elderly, or a plumber who hasn’t had the right training doing a bad job and charging double, it’s always been damaging to the sector.

Currently, we live in a time where almost 90% of people fear having to hire a tradesperson (Simply Business), and where the COVID lockdown has seen a rise in the level of fraud, with 2,100 cases reported between February and June (Action Fraud). So, what can be done to win trust? Well, you can start by building a professional image — here are some tips on how to do it.

Creating a brand customers can trust

One of the first things you should look to do if you want to create a trustworthy image for your firm is to build up a recognisable brand. This means deciding on a logo that represents your business, as well as deciding how you want your branding to be stylised across the board.

The thinking behind this is that, as you continue to surpass expectations and get rave reviews, clients will see your branding and associate it with quality work. A logo and branding will also make a good impression on new customers, as they’ll see your business as more professional from the outset.

Creating an impactful logo can be tricky, so you may need to speak to an expert in design. This guide from 99designs provides an in-depth look at the process if you want to go it alone. Once you have a logo, you can decide on the other elements of your brand to bring everything together. Then, you can go about showing it off wherever you can, from letterheads to the side of your van.

Building the right professional image with a uniform

An area where your branding should be represented is with your staff uniform. A well-placed logo and company name can reassure a customer when one of your employees turns up at their door, as well as provide a nice bit of publicity for passers-by.

However, a staff uniform is more than just an item of clothing with a logo on it. Everything, from the colours you choose to the type of clothes, can affect how your brand is perceived. For instance, a blue uniform can convey feelings of calmness, intelligence, and trustworthiness, while a black one can send out signals of security, safety, and efficiency.

If your employees are suitably kitted out in a smart polo shirt and workwear trousers, a client will likely be impressed with the fact that your uniform looks put together, as well as being suitable for the job at hand. I recommend reading Custom Planet’s guide to using a uniform to improve brand reputation and customer service to find out more.

Making your presence and reviews visible

Another way to build trust with customers through your image is by showing them you have a solid brand that is visible and transparent. A big part of this will be down to creating a website that is in-line with your brand, but also shows important information like pricing, contact details, and reviews. You should also aim to be as visible as possible on social media, where you can respond to queries and post images of your excellent work. If you can, try to include customer reviews, either on your site or by signing up to an independent service or trusted tradesperson directory.

Doing all of this will prove to potential customers that your business is credible and you’re willing to interact with your clients and share transparent feedback.

Rogue traders may have harmed the reputation of tradespeople, but there are ways to build trust by projecting a professional image. Follow my tips to start boosting your brand.

More business related advice from Skill Builder – Three Reasons Why Builders Should Apply for Business Awards.

5 Questions to Ask Before Buying a Face Screen

Dylan Garton
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0
5 Questions to Ask Before Buying a Face Screen

Centurion, the trusted PPE manufacturer is encouraging anyone buying a face screen, also being marketed as visors, cough guards, face guards and sneeze protection, to ask five questions first.

  1. What is the optical rating? To keep frontline workers protected when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the production of lower quality single use face screens was fast tracked. These met the immediate goal of reducing the risk of transmission of COVID-19 by providing an effective barrier to the eyes, nose, and mouth but they weren’t tested to the complete EN166 standard. Consequently, many of these face screens don’t provide the optical clarity that could usually be expected from an EN166 face screen and anyone wearing one all day is at risk of visual side effects such as eye strain – this effect may increase if you wear spectacles. This issue can be avoided by choosing a face screen with Class 1 EN166 certification such as the Classic Browguard System from Centurion. Anti-fog options are also available.
  2. Is it flexible?  A common complaint among disposable face screen users is they can’t be easily adjusted or flipped up to consider a change of working position. While one of the benefits of face screens is that users don’t need to take them off to communicate clearly it is still useful to have built in flexibility. The Classic Browguard System from Centurion, for example, has a flip-up face screen and flexible headband to ensure a personalised fit.
  3. Is it comfortable?  Anyone who has to wear PPE for extended periods will tell you comfort is key. When choosing a face screen consider what features are included that improve comfort levels which will encourage workers to put the screen on and keep it on. For example, as well as featuring a flexible headband, the Centurion Classic Browguard System features a fabric sweatband and dual strap system to ensure maximum comfort and enhance its personalised fit. Meanwhile the ConceptAir Helmet and Flip Up Visor Kit combines Centurion’s comfortable visor design with one of the lightest helmets on the market to ensure feel-good comfort even for extended periods of use.
  4. Does it feature impact protection?  A serious issue associated with lower quality face screens is that users may assume they have impact protection when they don’t. If you need impact protection, such as for undertaking grinding in industrial applications, choose EN166 compliant face screens which have grade B impact rating such as Centurion’s Classic Browguard System and the ConceptAir Helmet and Flip Up Visor Kit. These systems are also compatible with other PPE making it easier to ensure users stay fully protected.
  5. What are its environmental credentials? Single-use face screens met an immediate need for front line workers but in the longer term, they are bad news for the environment and your wallet. Reusable versions such as Centurion’s Classic Browguard System are easy to clean and last much longer making them far more economical and environmentally sound. Medical experts believe reusable materials pose no additional risk if they are routinely sanitised.

Buying a Face Screen

Buying a Face Screen

And finally, it’s important to remember that face screens are not mask replacements, but they can provide an added layer of protection against aerosol spread. A face screen can serve as a physical barrier to the particles you emanate when you breathe, and as a physical barrier to particles hitting you when someone coughs or sneezes. It protects not only the mouth and nose area but also the eyes, giving you a more complete physical barrier than a face mask. Face screens also prevent the wearer from touching much if not all of their face. The use of a face screen is also a reminder to maintain social distancing but allows visibility of facial expressions and lip movements for speech perception.

Centurion has a range of EN166 face screens available on a five-day dispatch. Contact Centurion today to find out more.

See our article on the Scott Safety AVIVA Half Mask

Construction Industry Going Strong Amid Green Shoots of Recovery

Dylan Garton
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0
Construction Industry Going Strong Amid Green Shoots of Recovery

The UK is reportedly on track for a record economic resurgence during the third quarter of the year, with the construction industry continuing to enjoy an impressive period of growth.

City of London economists[1] have predicted a 14.3% rise in GDP for Q3 – which is great news for the construction industry, says recruitment specialist Simon Robinson, co-founder of Red Diamond Executive Headhunters.

The Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index has also risen to 58.1 – slightly above what economists had predicted – compared with a record low of just 8.2 in April.

Although building activity shrunk by around 70% during lockdown, new figures show the industry grew at the fastest rate in almost five years during July.

House prices have risen again during August with £37 billion in property sales[2] agreed during July, the busiest month for house buying in more than 10 years.

Construction industry insight

There are clean signs, says Simon, that the green shoots of recovery are beginning to appear – and he predicted that workers who were initially laid off back in March could be rehired in time for a busy September.

Simon commented: “Rishi Sunak’s decision to scrap stamp duty on homes below the £500,000 mark has proved to be a catalyst in getting the industry moving again. Another plus point is that the government has moved to support smaller businesses through favourable loan terms and while nobody wants to rack up debt, equally it’s vital that businesses aren’t forced to pull out of developments.

Building construction site with scaffolding

“Construction companies still have KPIs to meet, particularly in the lower echelons of the market, with starter homes especially in demand. Therefore, the appetite is there to reopen the market and I would expect to see a very busy autumn of activity, albeit with changes to the number of people allowed on site to enable social distancing.

“Britain is a proud building nation and, as we are told that people need to spend their money, what better investment is there than a house? First-time buyers especially can get great mortgage terms with no stamp duty – which means they can in turn spend more on their furniture and fittings.”

Simon added that with Brexit around the corner, more restrictions are likely to be put in place on foreign labour coming into the country, providing an opportunity for people who may have lost their jobs back in March to be rehired.

Senior management teams had taken pay freezes and even cuts to keep as many employees as possible on the books so from a recruitment point of view, there was likely to be less hiring going on further up the ladder at this stage.

And he added: “The current wave of optimism extends beyond home construction. Within the construction product industry, we now have a unique opportunity to address the issue of quantity over quality. British manufacturing is revered throughout the world and now is the time to reap the rewards of a backlash on cheap foreign imports.

“The UK needs to invest now in its home-grown producers rather looking elsewhere for the cheapest option. UK-made products may cost more but it’s money well spent and the ‘made in Britain’ stamp is rightly associated with quality and longevity.

“It’s time to move away from the false economy of buying the cheapest item on the market. Imagine, for instance, you fix a leaking sink with a cheap valve, then go away on holiday – you could come back to a flooded home.

“In the UK, we manufacture a vast range of materials used in the construction industry, from plasterboard and glass to wood products and valves. The government now needs to step up its support for the product manufacturing side of the sector – lowering tax in the long-term, for instance – to encourage businesses to invest.”

Red Diamond Executive Headhunters is headquartered in Huddersfield with a satellite office in the Middle East. With clients throughout the construction and construction product industry, the business has place candidates in leadership roles within the UK and across the globe.

For further information, visit reddiamondexec.com.

Ultimate Shower Room Installation ~ Step-by-step Guide

Dylan Garton
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0
Ultimate Shower Room Installation ~ Step-by-step Guide

How to install the ultimate shower wet room. A step-by-step guide with Abacus Bathrooms.

Materials used in our Abacus Ultimate Shower Room Installation Guide video:

3-way Water Distribution Manifold
Easi-Plan Universal Shower Valve Plate
Easi-Plan 1180mm Wall Mounted WC Frame
Elements Ultimate Construction Board
Emotion Round Shower Head
Emotion Square Thermo Shower Mixer
Emotion Square Fixed Head Shower
Fix-MD Sealing & Mounting Adhesive
Infinity Single Fall Tray
Manifold Bracket
Cloakroom Basin Unit
M Series Walk-In 700mm Shower Screen
Abacus No More Leaks Bath & Shower Sealing Kits
Pro-Seal Tape Sealing Compound
Towel Warmer
Mini LED Spotlight Kit
Simple Wall Hung WC
Temptation Chrome Wall Arm
Thermostatic Shower Mixer
Trio Cabinet
Trio Recessed Cabinet Installation Frame
Universal Basin Waste
X Series Designer Glass to Wall Support Arm
DEVImat DTIR-100 350W Underfloor Heating
DEVIreg Touch Programmable Thermostat
Elements FIX KST Board Fixing Adhesive
Hansgrohe iBox Universal
ROCATEX CG2 WA Ultimate Grout

Find out more on Abacus Bathrooms – www.abacus-bathrooms.co.uk

Hultafors Tools’ NEW Range of SCREWDRIVERS

Dylan Garton
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0
Hultafors Tools’ NEW Range of SCREWDRIVERS

Precision, quality and ergonomics are the hallmarks of these superb new products.

Hultafors Tools has launched a new range of Screwdrivers for professional craftsmen and women. With VDE Screwdrivers specially designed for electricians – including tested and certified SL/PZ and VOLTAGE TESTER models – there’s over 80 other SLOTTED, PHILIPS, POZIDRIV, TORX® STUBBY Screwdrivers, plus Hex Drivers and Bit Holders that can be bought individually or in sets – or by size – to suit the jobs you have in hand.

Researched and developed with craftsmen and women for professional use, they all have a superb ergonomic design for optimal comfort. The long rubber-coated handles ensure grip for precision and maximal transmission of power. The handle is made from durable PPC plastic with a coating of age-resistant and easy-to-grip rubber.

The permanent marking of type and size on the top as well as the handle’s colour make it easy for the user to select the right screwdriver. Blades are manufactured from high-quality hardened steel for long life. The handles have a hole for hanging or securing with a design prevents the screwdriver from rolling on inclined surfaces.

Getting more information on the Hultafors Tools product range easy. You call the Helpline on 01484 854788 or check out www.hultafors.co.uk and download a digital catalogue.

IronmongeryDirect Supports National Home Improvement Month With Positive Mental Health Message

Dylan Garton
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0
IronmongeryDirect Supports National Home Improvement Month With Positive Mental Health Message

Following its research on the impact of clutter on mental health and wellbeing, leading specialist ironmongery supplier, IronmongeryDirect has joined forces with the British Home Enhancement Trade Association (BHETA) as a partner of National Home Improvement Month 2020 and is challenging homeowners to ‘Make One Change’ this September.

IronmongeryDirect’s own customer research found that revitalising storage space and decluttering the home can have a positive effect on mental health. Of the 1,600 respondents to its survey, results showed that 56% felt their homes were too cluttered and over three-quarters of respondents agreed that clutter in the home had a negative impact on their mental well-being.

As such, IronmongeryDirect is challenging homeowners to optimise and upgrade their living space, as part of the ‘make one change’ campaign with BHETA’s National Home Improvement Month, with some easy home improvements to solve cluttered spaces:

Brim-full wardrobes

Organise overflowing wardrobes with a complete hanging and shelving system to ensure items are easy to find and neatly stored. The ‘Elfa Wardrobe Kit’ provides a total solution with baskets, hanging rails, shelves and shoe racks all included to easily organise an entire wardrobe with a space for everything.

National Home Improvement Month

Cluttered kitchens

The kitchen is the heart of the home and should be organised to create a calm and relaxing space to enjoy whilst offering practical solutions to make life as easy as possible. Improve access to hard-to-reach corner cupboards by installing a carousel to help see and reach items, and make better use of unused space. A jumble of spices can be organised with a 4 tier door mounted spice rack, attached inside a cupboard door and a Soft Close Pull Out Waste Bin can make the most of the space under the sink, with different coloured integrated handles for easy recycling segregation.

Ironmongery Direct
Reclaim the garage

Garages are typically a place to hoard, hide, and dump. Even some simple changes can help to reorganise and declutter. Ladder hooks, bike hooks and tool hooks can all free-up floor space and the ‘Rapid 3 Heavy Duty Shelving’ system can hold 250kg on all levels for a robust storage solution.

National Home Improvement Month

National Home Improvement Month

Dominick Sandford, Director & Head of Merchandising and Marketing at IronmongeryDirect said: “We are delighted to work with BHETA to join National Home Improvement Month and inspire homeowners to tackle home improvement projects, particularly as we know this can have a positive effect on mental health and well-being. We are all spending more time at home, so make it a space to enjoy and pledge to make one change today!”

IronmongeryDirect has over 18,000 products in stock, including all the solutions above, which can help homeowners tackle the tasks and home projects to make more of their living space.

For more information on IronmongeryDirect, please visit www.ironmongerydirect.co.uk.

About IronmongeryDirect

We are the UK’s largest supplier of specialist ironmongery and have been supplying to the trade for over 50 years.

Starting out as a traditional hardware shop, we have since expanded to now providing over 18,000 quality products in stock, ready for next day delivery, as standard. Customers can order via our website, call centre and trade counter in Basildon, Essex.

Since 2013 we have been part of the Manutan Group, a leader in the supply of industrial, commercial and office equipment to business. We are a group of 25 subsidiaries across 18 countries who work closely together to be able to offer the highest quality products at low prices.

One of the UK’s Best Workplaces 2020

We are proud to have been named one of the UK’s Best Workplaces™ 2020, in a report compiled by Great Place to Work®.

The Best Workplaces™ Award celebrates the companies that promote a healthy workplace culture through a combination of factors including employee trust, pride and camaraderie. To be recognised as one of the UK’s Best Workplaces is a huge achievement and is testament to our dedication to creating a healthy workplace culture where our employees feel trusted, valued and loyal to achieving organisational goals.

We are committed to driving our business performance through our biggest asset: our people, and we believe that the value and pride our employee’s place on working at IronmongeryDirect will ultimately be reflected in the customer experience.

More from IronmongeryDirect on Skill Builder.

More about the Manutan Group.

CHAS & NFB Continue Partnership to Raise Standards in the UK Construction Industry

Dylan Garton
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0
CHAS & NFB Continue Partnership to Raise Standards in the UK Construction Industry

CHAS, the supply chain risk management experts and the National Federation of Builders (NFB) have renewed their commitment to promoting high operating standards within the UK construction industry.

Under the latest agreement discounted membership of CHAS will give NFB members the opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to operating in line with high safety, sustainability and ethical standards via CHAS’s third-party accreditation packages.

CHAS membership will also mean they are eligible to be assessed to the construction industry’s new Common Assessment Standard which CHAS was the first accreditation body to offer following its launch in 2019 and which is now is being specified by employers including HS2 and the Crown Commercial Service.

Under the agreement, CHAS will offer all valid NFB members a 20% discount, for both new and existing/renewing contractors. NFB Contractors will be visible within the CHAS client portal upon order purchase and/or accreditation, making their profile visible to over 1500 CHAS Clients.

NFB will provide CHAS accredited contractors up to 10 % discount when joining the NFB and for subsequent renewals which will give them access to a growing range of benefits including training support and business services.

Ian McKinnon, Managing Director of CHAS comments: “We are delighted to be renewing this important partnership which will help construction firms of all sizes demonstrate compliance and build their businesses. Both CHAS and the NFB have gone from strength to strength since we first joined forces in 2018 so it is exciting to be able to bring an even greater range of benefits to our respective memberships.”

Richard Beresford, chief executive of the NFB, says: “We are very happy to be renewing this agreement with CHAS which will help our members’ businesses prosper while opening up a range of benefits to CHAS members.”

About CHAS:

CHAS is the leading provider of risk prevention, compliance and supply chain management services for clients and contractors.

Since 1997, CHAS (The Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme) has been helping to improve health and safety standards across the UK and safeguard organisations from risk.

CHAS is an authority and trusted advisor on health and safety compliance, responsible for setting industry benchmarks and providing the new Common Assessment Standards.

CHAS’s aim is simple:

  • To standardise and simplify health and safety assessment for contractors
  • To support organisations in efficiently managing their supply chains
  • To deliver a full suite of supply chain management tools.

Find out more at: www.chas.co.uk or call 020 8545 3838

About NFB

The NFB represents small and medium-sized housebuilders by lobbying for policy changes and supporting members through business and skills training, as well as providing opportunities to win work.

Find out more at: www.builders.org.uk or call 03450 578 160

It’s All Over! Final Look Around ~ KB#14

Dylan Garton
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It’s All Over! Final Look Around ~ KB#14

Roger catches up with James for a final look around the King Build project.

Our thanks go to James King for letting Roger film this extension project series. The Supreme Finishing Company can be contacted by following the link below.

https://thesupremefinishingcompany.co.uk

#KingBuild #ExtensionBuilding #TheSupremeFinishingCompany

Get More Heat From Your Radiators ~ System Balance

Dylan Garton
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0
Get More Heat From Your Radiators ~ System Balance

How to balance your heating system, get all your radiators the same temperature and get more heat.

Roger gets his whiteboard out and makes good on a promise he made 2 years ago.

#PlumbingDIY #HeatingSystems #PlumbingHacks

Snickers NEW POLARTEC POWER STRETCH Jackets and Fleeces

Dylan Garton
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Snickers NEW POLARTEC POWER STRETCH Jackets and Fleeces

Snickers Workwear NEW POLARTEC® POWER STRETCH®Jackets and Fleeces – the ‘Sustainable’ Choice.

Sharp, stylish looks and market-leading recycled POLARTEC® fabric technology make these a must for the autumn on-site or outdoor leisurewear.

Snickers Workwear continues to lead the way with working clothes that have an ergonomic design, superb functionality and fit – for both craftsmen and women.

Snickers Polartec

The versatile FLEXIWork full-stretch jackets, deliver a tight, body-hugging fit with efficient moisture transportation and durable shape retention plus great freedom of movement. There are also long johns to match for full-body insulation.

The AllroundWork fleeces and bodywarmers – made from 80% recycled polyester – are packed warmth and comfort to keep your body warm or comfortably cool when you most need it.

Fashionable and functional, they combine practicality with street-smart looks and the right kind of sustainable choice.

Getting information on the Snickers’ new POLARTEC® garments is easy. You can call the Snickers Helpline on 01484 854788, check out the website and download a digital catalogue at www.snickersworkwear.co.uk or email sales@hultaforsgroup.co.uk

How Can I Unclog My Drain With Standing Water

Dylan Garton
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0
How Can I Unclog My Drain With Standing Water

While plumbing issues present the worse nightmare for all those who are faced with it, there are many things that you can do on your own to fix your plumbing issues. When standing water in your bathtub or sink becomes a nuisance, you need to keep in mind that they present a serious risk for your family. Read on as we discuss how to unclog your drains with standing water.

Standing water is sometimes quite pesky and it promotes the perfect environment for mould and mildew to grow quickly. So if you’re battling a standing water situation, you can easily perform the following steps to clear your drain and remove the dirty water from in it. But if you can’t clean your drain yourself, you can call a specialist drainage company.

• Remove The Water – Before you can successfully unclog your pipe and drain, you’ll need to do something about the standing water. This means that you can easily take a cup or a bucket and dip out as much water as you can from your tub or sink. Removing the water ensures that you don’t run into an accident and splash dirty murky water on your floors during the unclogging process.

• Clean Around The Drain – When attempting to unclog your drains, you’ll need to remove any debris and built-up materials that are clogging your drain. Drains can get clogged easily and pieces of soap, bunches of hair, globs of toothpaste, soap scum, and small objects such as toys and slip down and clog your pipes.

• Dissolving The Clog – Within the plumbing industry, there are tons of perfectly blended chemicals that can aid with dissolving your clogged drain. However, most of these present a serious problem. Most chemicals that have the power to unclog and dissolve substances tend to be very harmful to pets and children.

 
Unclog My Drain
 

So if you’re concerned about those around you, it’s best to use a safer approach. Vinegar and baking soda are a great go-to for unclogging your drain. You’ll simply need to pour just about half of a cup of baking soda into your drain followed by a cup of vinegar. The mixture will need to settle for at least 15 minutes before you can proceed to the following step.

• Loosening The Clog – After the 15 minutes have passed, you’ll need to get some boiling water. You can do so with a pot or a kettle. When the water is ready, you’ll need to pour it down the drain to loosen the materials stuck inside the drain.

If your pipes are PVC, it’s advised that you use hot water in place of boiling water. Boiling water can easily loosen the pipes and cause further damages. After pouring the water, you’ll need to let it settle for another 15 minutes so that the clog can be completely loosened.

• Get The Plunger Ready – You’ll need to apply some petroleum jelly around the plungers lips. This helps the plunger stick better to your bathtubs drain or your sink. In the case of a clogged sink, don’t forget that you’ll need to cover the overflow before you can start plunging.

• Plunger – During the plunging stage, you’ll need to slowly press the plunger onto the drain of your clogged bathtub or sink. This ensures that a nice tight seal is created between the drain and the plunger. Next, you’ll need to pull the plungers handle up very quickly.

The sudden pull will ensure that enough pressure is created, and the clog is loosened enough to be dissolved. This step is usually carried out a couple of times to ensure that the clog is completely gone.

• Water Test – In order to test your work, you’ll need to run some water to make sure that the drain is properly cleared. If the water is running freely, you’ve just unclogged your bathtub or your sink successfully. If the water doesn’t run as freely as it did before your clog, it’s best to repeat these steps until you get the results that you desire.

Conclusion

As we conclude, we have just looked at how to unclog your drain with standing water. However, if you’re still experiencing difficulties with your plumbing, it might be best to call in the experts. Professional plumbers tend to have the right tools and techniques to get rid of even the hardest problems in no time.

It should be noted that if you’re experiencing even the smallest sign of a clog, it’s best to work on it right away. Clogs tend to have the capacity to easily make homes smelly, the cause floods, they cause backups in sinks or tubs and they are very expensive to fix. When you take care of your clogs beforehand, you help to increase the life of your pipes and you save money and time in the future.

Loft Conversion – Damn, we missed it! LoftCon #3

Dylan Garton
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Loft Conversion – Damn, we missed it! LoftCon #3

After a week away in Harrogate filming another project, Roger visits James on the loft conversion project only to find it has progressed much further than he’d hoped!

GRP roofing by Fibreglass Roof Systems
Call Benjamin O’Neill on 07770 676869

Our thanks go to James King for letting Roger film this loft conversion series. The Supreme Finishing Company can be contacted by following the link below.

https://thesupremefinishingcompany.co.uk

#GRProofing #LoftCon #SupremeFinishingCompany

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