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Pebbledash render was primarily used to protect buildings from the elements.
The term is used to describe external rendering where smooth pebbles are thrown or "dashed" onto the topcoat of render before it dries so that they stick to it and provide a weathering surface.
Spar is a close…
Construction dust isn’t just a nuisance; it can seriously damage your health and some types can eventually even kill. Regularly breathing this dust over a long period of time can cause life-changing lung diseases.
The Health & Safety at Work Act says you must conduct your business…
As the Government announced the first of the new garden villages, a new report ‘Small is beautiful: Delivering more homes through small sites’ published by FMB looks at ways smaller scale developments can contribute to the demand for new homes.
Gary Lewis, National President of the FMB said…
Designing and constructing wide enough foundations is crucial to ensure that the building loads are safely transferred to the ground. This is particularly important as the construction of masonry walls with wider cavities is now commonplace to accommodate the required thickness of insulation to…
The above photograph was taken by one of our building control surveyors carrying out a site inspection, and shows how attention to detail (or a lack of!) can lead to future problems. This extension will suffer from moisture problems, but there is not one reason why – there are three.
Look…
It’s that time of year again and we thought we’d spread some festive cheer with our version of this famous Christmas song.
So if you’re on site or in the office with your Santa hat on, cup of egg nog in one hand, turkey drumstick in the other and lost for words with the quality of…
Did you know that removing plaster, plasterboard, cladding and render from uninsulated external walls is notifiable work if you’re affecting more than 50% of the wall? This means you must involve building control - making a Building Notice application to your local authority is an easy way to get…
The combination of timber separating floors and masonry walls needs very careful detailing.
Sometimes, the designer has forgotten to take a look at what’s there already. You may even build exactly to a drawing but still fail your test!
In this article we look at the ‘why and how’ to avoid…
Render has two primary functions. The first is protection, where the render ‘weatherproofs’ the walls, allowing them to breathe by letting water vapour move from the inside to the outside of the structure while stopping the rain from forcing its way in.
The second function is decoration, where…
Do you wonder what it’s like to work in Building Control?
As we explore more into the world of Building Control in our series ‘A day in the life’, you will be able to understand what it’s like working in this industry. Today’s guest is Paul Round, who is an Assistant Building Control…