A page dedicated to the many many interesting and face-palm moments I have on-site every week...
Or a place to dump all the photos that aren't worth a separate post.
If I can figure out a voting system for these, I will.
Sheffield, January 2023
Year on year, we are thankfully making reductions in working from height injuries and fatalities (hse.gov.uk/statistics/fatals.htm). There are many products, tools etc. that make undertaking work at height safer. I use a pole camera, a drone and a ladder with telescopic outriggers to try to first mitigate needing to work at height, and then making my work at height safer (the pole camera and drone carry their own risks, however, are generally safer than ladder access).
I have almost daily facepalm moments when I see people taking unnecessary risks that could lead to life-changing/ending injuries. Today's example was another to add to the photo file.
Using a gutter vacuum should negate the need to work from a ladder clearing the gutters with one hand and holding a bucket with the other. These systems are available with a wireless camera on the end of the elbow and a screen on the pole so you can see what's going on in the gutter.
I’m not sure how I would explain what I saw this morning. There is a chap at the bottom operating the gutter vac system as normal. His colleague was then at the top of the ladder observing the vacuum in action.
The mind boggles…
Sheffield, January 2023
It's always advisable to insulate pipework to improve efficiency and mitigate frost damage. When selecting a material to insulate your pipework, probably don't choose something that's an excellent conductor of heat (tin foil)...
As a former lettings inspector, I've seen a lot of grim-looking extractor hoods, but I think this probably takes the crown as the worst... Imagine cooking a big open pot of food under that...
Liverpool - the Week Before Christmas
I left -6 degree Sheffield to trek across to the tropical -1.9 degree Liverpool.
I was investigating several moisture-related issues in a former Rectory in Halewood, one of which was in an off-shot W.C. The three external walls were 9" solid brick and the ceiling was vaulted to the roof covering. With no insulation, no source heating and no functional windows (or mechanical extraction), the air temperature was 2.8 degrees, the surface temperatures were down to -4 degrees and there was ice forming on the inside of the windows! A scheme of refurbishment works was prescribed, including connection to the central heating!
I blame this on the cold I have been suffering from for the last two weeks!
A trip down into the basement of my favourite stationary shop, Fred Aldous in Manchester (yes, I know there's one in Sheffield, but, frankly, it's rubbish) and I spied this vintage sprinkler head. I doubt it's still functional/in use, however, I do admire its mechanical design.
The Damp-proof Industry Strikes Again
This beautiful stone-built property sits on three courses of Staffordshire blue engineering bricks which form the damp-proof course.
Unfortunately, at some point in the more recent past, someone has over-pointed the building in a cementitious mortar mix in a strap style. Both of these are inappropriate for the building and are placing moisture stress on the stone and accelerating its decay.
Instead of raking out this inappropriate mortar mix and repointing the wall in a non-hydraulic lime-based mortar mix, the owner has had a retrofit chemical injection damp-proof course installed (likely with internal damp-proof treatments too) - note the drill holes all along the top of the first course of stone. This work was completely unnecessary and will contribute to the further decay of the stone.
Residential units, Sheffield - the cavity trays look to be working, however, there is clearly an excessive amount of moisture getting into the cavity. This moisture is dissolving the impurities in the bricks and mortar and leaving them on the surface of the external elevation when it evaporates.
Retail unit, Rye - this timber stud has suffered from some insect attack to the sapwood. Unfortunately, someone has then decided to apply unnecessary and inappropriate timber treatment to the affected areas - this is the shiny brown crust you can see in the photos.
The stud has then been wedged up to the substantial beam above. If the studs are still providing structural support to the beam above, new sections of timber need to be scarfed in or a plate needs to be made to properly distribute the load.
Mansafe system on a Grade II Listed non-domestic building - this was fitted (without Listed Building Consent) so that safe access could be gained to the roof areas, three floors above the ground. The brick coming loose obviously didn't phase the installer, and why would it, surely copious amounts of resin will sort that out? Job finished, system commissioned.
The lovely welding of the wall plate and the bracket did at least bring a smile.
Thankfully, it has since had a 'Do Not Use' tag applied, however, permanent decommissioning would be better.
Comments