Dude, Where's My house(s)?

[Rusty Old-Banger]

CTO said:

It would do both

But, the best way to accelerate composting is, I’ve heard, to make a mixture in a back pack spray contraption, with water, sugar and some washing up liquid, and douse all the the things you want to help compost

Things start going brown and composty within a couple of hours.

Also good for composting bamboo….

Is that just water, sugar, and WUL, or is that as an addition to the sulphmide stuff?

[dhutch]

Prizam said:

Updates on ground clearance. or lack of.



Absolutely useless!

I don't have pictures of the brambles, but it essentially rode up them insted of cutting them. I did manage to clear a reasonable amount, but it was so hard on the machine that it started showing signs of breaking. That, and wrestling it about was starting to hurt.

I guess it would be better for maintain the areas that cutting down the brambles, which as you say, if established, need something with a more exposed blade.

[dhutch]

Prizam said:

What I do have is a strimmer with a brush cutter and lots of enthusiasm. For the moment.

Its hard work using one above you head, given the amount of area you have, but I have found that if you have the 50cc version there isnt much that can stop the tri-blade, cut the bottoms, and the throw the head at the body of it at chest height to mulch it! Or just get a tractor!

https://www.stihl.co.uk/en/p/brushcutters-grass-tr...

You can also get what is in effect a tri-blade lawn mower, with all the front deck removed, a 2ft wide wheel mounted brushcutter basically, which might be another option.

Edited by dhutch on Monday 1st July 12:17

[dhutch]

LooneyTunes said:

FourWheelDrift said:

LooneyTunes said:

Hire or buy one of these:


They're not easy to find in the UK, but there are a few out there and they make light work of that sort of job.

Yes, same basic idea. I didn’t know the RC ones existed when I bought mine! Only use it a few times a year but it’s great at what it does.

ETA: the DR Power one in the video isn't a flail, it's a rotary blade (like a regular lawnmower) but with a much larger engine. Tend to use it for clearing paths through areas we let grow wild, bramble control in woodland, etc.

I can understand the other suggestion of a tractor and flail but it’s harder to use in relatively small areas (unless it’s on a compact tractor and you’re looking at lower brambles/brush).

Edited by LooneyTunes on Thursday 30th May 15:51

I have also seen a flail on the front of a tracked bob-cat used to good effect on brambles.

[dhutch]

Getragdogleg said:

Prizam said:

pneumothorax said:

Dude, where is this car?

The Roller? It has been found and is immaculate! Although, it hasn't seen light in at least 30 years, if not longer. I don't own it yet. I will send updates when / if I do.

In for this alone.

Oh nice! I am in for the out houses, but also interested in this.

[CTO]

Rusty Old-Banger said:

Is that just water, sugar, and WUL, or is that as an addition to the sulphmide stuff?

Water as per the instructions, then topped up with sugar and WUL.

[woodypup59]

Hows it going Have you cleared the field yet ?

[Prizam]

woodypup59 said:

Hows it going Have you cleared the field yet ?

I forget how much I have shared here. I have cleared around the edges of all the fields, along with the pathways and have cleared around all of the buildings. the formal gardens are growing back as fast as I am clearing them. I now have access to the other house. I still have the other end of the bridge to fully uncover, along with the ponds. life has been busy and I have decided I am spreading myself too thinly, so I'm only concentrating on single jobs at a time.

[Prizam]

In other news, I have had a LOT of work done on the roof(s). more on that later.

I have also washed, scraped, repaired and painted the outside of the house. The question I have for the PH masses, is... should I also paint the chimneys?

I think they are a render/pebble dash. I'm not sure if its a good idea to paint over this.

I have cleaned them up with a wire brush, one of them has a lot of salts coming from under the render. This one is not used, or blocked, or lined. though it's about to have a small wood burner installed. I know the correct approach is to have the render off and start again. but i don't want to go down that road.

So... paint? if so, what colour? tosh some Ronsil over it? or leave alone.

[dhutch]

Prizam said:

I have also washed, scraped, repaired and painted the outside of the house. The question I have for the PH masses, is... should I also paint the chimneys?

I would leave them.

They might paint ok, but to me they look nicer as they are, and painting them also might turn into a world of pain.

[dmsims]

What is the contruction of the house and what paint have you used?

[theplayingmantis]

Whereabouts I cornwall are you. And the sea.

Edit I forgot a smallholding so not near sea

Edited by theplayingmantis on Thursday 29th August 20:39

[Prizam]

Too late, I painted them. The house is stone with render, most of the old stuff is lime.

The chimeys are diffrent. One of them is definitely block-built, both covered in pebble dash. What a bugger that is to paint. One of them is lined, the other is about to be. ! I used sandtex breathable masonry paint. i think it looks better.

[dmsims]

Congratulations you have just encased your house in a plastic bag

[dhutch]

Prizam said:

The house is stone with lime render. Sandtex breathable masonry paint.

dmsims said:

Congratulations you have just encased your house in a plastic bag

Yeah, certainly an amount of risk in do that.

I can just about understand it if the house had already been painted in a 'modern' paint but while I typically wouldn't paint a house in the first place, if I was painting an older property I would be using either traditional lime wash, or a silicate based paint.

There is a huge difference between 'breathable' microporous acrylic based paints, and truly porous clay/lime based paints.

[Prizam]

The house was already painted with "modern" stuff. As I pressure-washed it, a lot of the old stuff flaked off and you could see green algae under it where it had been trapping moisture. I then wire-brushed the whole house and repainted it. The house has been orange, green, white and now "ivory".

The chimney stacks were not painted. Aesthetically, one of them needs rebuilding anyway. It has a lot of salts bleeding through the pebble dash.

[Prizam]

markymarkthree said:

Loving this thread.
Keep it up op, don't go AWOL on us.

Revisiting this thread with a bunch of updates. It's been a busy 6 months! Reading back on some of the comments, I wonder if I can be bothered, eloquence is not my first language after all, but I will try to write a proper update in the morning.

Meanwhile... "Dude, Where's My Poo".

The property, allegedly, has 3 septic tanks. I can't find any of them and I have cleared most of the likely places that they could be. The most likely scenario is that they are covered in soil and grass and I just can't find them.

Not only do I want to find them because, well.. that seems like the right thing to do. But because I fear I will drive the tractor over a rotted-out manhole cover and end up having to remove more than just my excriment from a hole in the ground.

Any clever ideas on how to find a septic tank?

[spikeyhead]

Decent drain unblocking companies have the ability to trace where drains go

[classicaholic]

Chances are they are downhill from your house as st rarely flows uphill!

[hidetheelephants]

Rent a sonde and trace the pipework yourself, or if there aren't easy access points/manholes/etc probably best to pay someone to have the headache for you.