Month: April 2026

Paving concrete stairs

Post author By Rob Bailey
Post date 29 April 2026

We need to make the concrete steps more attractive so we cut and installed 20mm porcelain slabs. it is possible to use internal tiles which are much easier to cut but we as they are normally less than 10 mm and afford to get underneath with the frost they can crack.

The main challenge with 20 mil slabs is cutting them because a large bench saw with a diamond blade is needed to cut them. The stairs also have a small nosing on them to give additional traction in the wet.

We will need to add a handrail to the stairs, we are using a system from FH bundle that bolts onto the side of the concrete step underneath.

Tags paving, stairs

Uncategorised

Resin bonded gravel landscaping & path

Post author By Rob Bailey
Post date 27 April 2026

We laid a landscape plan for a customer with products from the Resin Mill The The customer wanted a base for a shed and a base for a breeze house. We used block paving bricks to make a boundary to the lawn, then made a pathway. the base for the breeze house was laid in Concrete with Bullnose kerbs laid in a circle.

A base layer is put down to hold the final gravel layer in place. Resin bonded gravel is permeable to water so the substructure underneath

Tags bonded, geogrid, gravel, resin, the resin mill

Internal fit out Windows

Window hinge replacement

This customer got in contact through the Bark app. We use it if we have surplus labour availability and for small jobs which keep the bank account ticking over.

The new hinge is installed in just 10 minutes.

Tags repair hinge, upvc, window, window beeston bark Nottingham

Groundwork Uncategorised

Fire hydrant commissioning and drain cover install.

Post author By Rob Bailey
Post date 22 April 2026

We needed to expose the fire hydrant valve which had been tarmacked over, we the approximate area from the plans. Cut out a square of tarmac, exposed hydrant valve. Fitted the correct sheathing around it & lid, then backfilled with cold lay tarmac.

Whilst installing the manholes we also installed 2 new drain covers over the rainwater gulleys.

When the work was complete we added cold lay tarmac, its ideal for low traffic use area’s or temporary repairs as long as it is suitably compacted.

Brickwork Renovation

Brick wall repointing

Post author By Rob Bailey
Post date 12 April 2026

The wall had been in place for approximately 130 years and needed some TLC. We removed the Staffordshire blue the coping stones, repointed the wall and refitted the coping stones.

We used standard cement and yellow building sand, a few of the bricks could have been replaced but the client wished to patch up the wall to minimise expenditure. The work took 2 days for one of our skilled bricklayers to complete.

various bricks are blowing, but the customer wanted to minimise the spend so we simply patched up as best we could. Sometimes it is possible to chop out a blown brick and then use the other inward facing side on the outside. however in practice if the face of a brick has blown then when extracting the brick from the wall it tends to break up and can’t be reused.