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Post by cannyfradock on Apr 1, 2014 11:16:48 GMT
Darrell
Just to let you know that I again tried to get the Jewson account sorted out today but the new manager of the Newport branch where the account was opened seemed a bit confused on how to update the account (again)...so I went to the Cardiff branch to speak to the previous manager of the Newport branch.....who sent me back to Newport as the Newport computer held all the details.....he said ask the Cardiff Manager how to......la,la,la......I'm fed up!!. How difficult is it to open up/ammend an account where people want to spend money?
Decided to return home....made a phonecall to Jewsons and wrote a simple e-mail asking them to get their act together. Received a reply saying they'll look into it Thursday.
If there was another National building company that had branch's all over the UK...I would try them? I get really frustrated as although a lot of their prices are cheaper at other builders merchants....much more are cheaper at Jewsons with the discounted prices and even though I am not receiving a penny for setting this up, Jewsons were turning over an average of £22.000 a quarter from forum members up and down the UK.
I'll let you know of any updates as soon as I receive them.
Terry
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Post by darrellme on Apr 3, 2014 14:23:29 GMT
Cool, many thanks for your help on the account stuff, wow, they should certainly be giving you a kick back ;-)
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Post by darrellme on Apr 8, 2014 16:47:15 GMT
Hi Terry, quick question. In terms of calculating the number of blocks required for the base, is there any calculation/formulae that can be easily used or is it better to just map it out on graph paper (or such-like)
Thanks
D
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Post by darrellme on Apr 9, 2014 9:39:17 GMT
Another quick, hopefully, question. I've been looking at building the oven based on the FB plans and they mention using hollow blocks 8"x8"x16" and some 8"x8"x8", do you think I can find them anywhere, it appears that they are as rare as hens teeth, so I'm not sure whether this is an American thing or not. So, any ideas on where I can get blocks like this in the UK, most of the blocks I've seen are not hollow, although I've noticed that there are several builds on here that appear to use them so they must be available somewhere, I just don't seem to be able to find them. Any ideas ?
Thanks
Darrell
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Post by bookemdanno on Apr 9, 2014 12:16:42 GMT
Ours will be 6" or 9" hollow concrete blocks Darell. 18" long which can be cut with an angle grinder. Massive, really heavy things. They'll be in most large merchants.
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Post by DuncanM on Apr 9, 2014 15:27:17 GMT
I found them in Jewsons (I think), but they were much pricier than celcon blocks. If I had to rebuild I'd use celcon blocks and just amend the plans, shouldn't be too difficult. Just at the time when I had zero experience I wanted to stick to the plans as close as possible.
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Post by darrellme on Apr 10, 2014 11:18:06 GMT
Many thanks guys, much appreciated. The reason I asked was because I couldn't find them on the Jewson website, nor many other merchants for that matter. I'll pop in and see if they have them, or give them a call
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Post by DuncanM on Apr 10, 2014 16:13:01 GMT
I'd not bother and adapt the design.
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Post by bookemdanno on Apr 11, 2014 12:24:03 GMT
Deffo call them, the building trade tends to work in person still as price and availability of materials is always changing.
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Post by darrellme on Apr 28, 2014 13:14:31 GMT
I've managed to order the stuff from Jewson today, being delivered tomorrow so the good news is that the account discount still works, which is good. I've a few days off from Wednesday so I should be able to start building the stand and the hearth. I'll obviously upload photos as I go....as long as I remember :-)
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Post by mikeyt1968 on Apr 28, 2014 18:00:30 GMT
Hi Darrell just looking back through your posts and I too sort of followed the forno bravo plans and agree with the other posts about mocking up. My oven was a double skin brick inner/blanket and vermiculite/brick outer and the outer brick skin only just fitted on my base and that was with me building the base bigger than I thought it needed to be, build your base as big as possible and allow for a bigger than expected exterior. You can find my build here mikesbrickoven.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/my-oven-build.htmlGood luck with your build! Mike
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Post by darrellme on Apr 29, 2014 12:34:30 GMT
Cheers Mike, actually your build is in my list of bookmarks :-), so many thanks. I took delivery of the jewson stuff today so I can begin tomorrow, excited...and a little terrified if I'm honest haha, I'm sure it will be fine though. A quick question to Cannyfradock (or anyone else actually), I spotted the use of ties to tie the outer brick skin to the inner block wall. Is this something that is required ? Should I put these ties in as I'm building the block stand (I'm dry building and then cement filling every other hole) or can I put them in afterwards obviously if they are "required" at all :-)
Many thanks
D
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Post by cannyfradock on Apr 29, 2014 13:27:45 GMT
Darrell
Always put ties in if you're building a double skin wall. Your inner hollow concrete block wall won't need any support but the outside brickwall will. Try to put the ties into the cavaty of the part of the blocks that you're going to fill, with the other end sticking out ready for the brick wall. The correct amount is 6 per m2....or when building a house they get put in every other course (450mm) at a block and a half (675mm) spacings. As you will only have small walls try to 6 or 8 in each wall.
Terry
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Post by darrellme on May 4, 2014 16:15:25 GMT
Well, I've made some progress this weekend, took a couple of days off too and still got Monday This was the base that the gardeners put in for me, seemed stupid not to get them to do as they were doing the garden anyway Then the first course of blocks cemented in place, had some fun and games with the opening, plus the fact that my design didn't take into account that the hollow blocks from the UK are slightly longer than the FB plans, still, live and learn. Also scratched my head long and hard about how big the opening should be, but I think what I've settled on should suffice. Man, mixing up cement by hand in a wheelbarrow is not my idea of fun, however its a lot easier than I thought it was going to be so I'm happy. Then after the layer of DPC started with the second course, thats when the angle grinder and diamond blade came out to play, talk about dusty but it enable me to get the corners chopped off a heck of a lot easier Obviously course number 3 next, I'd like to say I was cruising at this point, however my back would love to differ. I'm kinda glad I don't do this for a living to be honest Of course, after laying course number 3 I realised I haven't put the stupid wall ties in, so I had to remove course number 3 to do that, hey ho. I also could only source wall ties that had some annoying ridges in them which of course some of the blocks sat on making then a little wobbly, some perseverance and I managed to get the third course back up leaving only the angle iron and the 4th course to do which is where I am at currently I just need to chop the corner off the two blocks on the angle iron and decide whether to try and shape some offcuts to fit into the gaps or whether to fill it with cement when I do the hearth, I'm leaning towards the latter. Once thats done I just need to mix an ungodly amount of cement to fill every other block and I'm ready to start the hearth, which should be next weekend I reckon D
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Post by darrellme on May 5, 2014 17:00:08 GMT
Made a bit more progress today, managed to sort out the front little gaps, decided to angle grind some triangle pieces from the offcuts of block and then mortar them in place, just to make it a little tidier really Rebar was then cut to lengths for every other hole that was going to be filled and then couple of hours of back breaking hand mixing of several wheel barrows full of cement, I'm a little exhausted after this weekend, but enjoying watching it take shape Just next weekend now for the hearth creation. One quick question, I noticed someone mentioning that they watered the hearth during the week, is this a necessity and what does this do exactly and how many times (ok perhaps more than one question) D
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