The TBS Blog

Is this some kind of yolk? I wonder how much they shelled out for this eggstraordinary construction?

Goldenhen, an Australian art studio, used hundreds of recycled egg cartons to build a colorful house called ” The Original Dream”. They built a simple wooden frame, painted the egg cartons in different colours and stacked them in the shape of a house. But it’s not just any house; it’s modeled after Howard Arkley’s famous painting, “Family Home Suburban Exterior 1993″ – a symbol of the Australian dream of suburban living.

For more details and some more pictures, go here.

THE BRICKLAYER’S STORY

Originally delivered at the Oxford Union in 1958 by Gerard Hoffnung

I’ve got this thing here that I must read to you.

Now, this is a very tragic thing… I shouldn’t really read it out.

A striking lesson in keeping the upper lip stiff is given in a recent number of the weekly bulletin of ‘The Federation of Civil Engineering Contractors’, which prints the following letter from a bricklayer in Golders Green to the firm for whom he works.

Respected Sir,

When I got to the top of the building, I found that the hurricane had knocked down some bricks off the top. So I rigged up a beam, with a pulley, at the top of the building and hoisted up a couple of barrels of bricks.

When I had fixed the building, there was a lot of bricks left over.

I hoisted the barrel back up again and secured the line at the bottom and then went up and filled the barrel with the extra bricks. Then, I went to the bottom and cast off the rope.

Unfortunately, the barrel of bricks was heavier than I was and before I knew what was happening, the barrel started down, jerking me off the ground. I decided to hang on!

Halfway up, I met the barrel coming down… and received a severe blow on the shoulder. I then continued to the top, banging my head against the beam and getting my fingers jammed in the pulley!

When the barrel hit the ground, it burst it’s bottom… allowing all the bricks to spill out. I was now heavier than the barrel and so started down again at high speed!

Halfway down… I met the barrel coming up and received severe injury to my shins!

When I hit the ground… I landed on the bricks, getting several painful cuts from the sharp edges!  At this point… I must have lost my presence of mind… because I let go of the line!

The barrel then came down… giving me a very heavy blow and putting me in hospital!

I respectfully request ‘sick leave’.

Here are some weird and wonderful photos, loosely related to Builders Merchants world, to set you up for the weekend.

Some state-of -the-art air conditioning here.

The kind of job that is better “in the long run”?

Electrical lego, perhaps?

This could work.

To be sure, to be sure.

Click image to enlarge

Author Will Self and his family had to flee falling rubble as the roofs of £1m properties in stockwell, London, started to collapse into the street. Read the article here.

The structural failure is being blamed on the sudden heat wave a few days ago, where temperatures rose 10 degrees overnight.

Click to make him (even) bigger

Some people have all the luck! Not only does Simon Wade have the delight of working at TBS (wink wink), but he’s just won a bike!

Simon has been Sales Advisor at TBS Southam for 2 years. He came to us from a background of 11 years in the DIY business. What does he like about TBS?

“The friendly staff, the occasional bacon butties – but mostly I enjoy interacting with our customers. They give me a bit of stick sometimes, but they know they get good deals. Many of us end up on first name terms. It’s like a big family.”

In the photo is Simon with the mountain bike he recently won from our nice timber supplier, BSW Timber. “I don’t think I’ll be cycling to work, though,” says Simon.  “I live too far away! But I’ll certainly give it some good use – I could do with some streamlining!”

Old asbestos lagging

1. In the UK, over 30 tradesmen (joiners, electricians, plumbers, and general builders) die every week as a result of exposure to asbestos. These are chiefly people who worked on houses from the 1950s to 1980s, when asbestos was widely used. But remember, asbestos continued to be used in the UK until 2000.

2. A standard dust mask is of no use when dealing with asbestos.

3. Asbestos materials in good condition are safe unless asbestos fibres become airborne, which happens when materials are damaged.

4. Asbestos is naturally present in the atmosphere, so we all breathe in minute amounts of it.

5. Some textured coatings, such as Artex, can contain asbestos.

6. It has been estimated that 3,000 different types of commercial products contain asbestos. These include:

• some types of linoleum and vinyl floor tiles
• insulation on boilers
• fibre cement exterior siding panels
• corrugated heavy duty panels

Fibre concrete siding starting to decay

7.  Smokers are at greater risk of asbestos-related lung disease.

8. Most asbestos removal from premises can only be done by operators certificated by the Health & Safety Executive.

9. You should never use a standard domestic vacuum cleaner on dust containing asbestos. It can never be properly decontaminated afterwards.

10. You are allowed to drill a single hole in as asbestos-containing insulation board.

For more information on all aspects of asbestos safety, this link is very useful.

Our last post on this amazing staircase with slide generated some interest! Now we’ve found out a bit more about it. Voicemail mogul Scott Jones (that’s him in the picture) had it hand-made in mahogany for his pad in Indianapolis.

But he’s not alone. This link shows that there are other stairs with slides in existence. Like this one…

New regulations are being considered by Parliament affecting private and public sewerage. If approved, will affect developers and some home owners.

•  Any stretches of private sewer or drain which are shared with another property will be automatically adopted by the relevant water authority for the area.

• Developers will need to have a Section 104 Adoption Agreement with a water company before they can connect to the public sewerage system.
• Drainage layouts will be slightly different, with new specifications for access points.

Ownership of any shared private sewer or lateral drain, that is any which serves two or more properties, in England and Wales, will transfer automatically to the water authority responsible for the area in which it is located.

There will be no need for any transfer documentation to be drawn up or signed; the law will simply recognise that the sewers or drains now belong to the water authority. The transfer will not happen if the owner of a particular sewer objects, in which case it will remain private.

This link gives more information. And remember, TBS will be happy to advise you and supply you with all your drainage requirements.

There are only 9 days left to take advantage of this special offer price from TBS.

Standard Lap 6′ x 6′ fence panel, from Grange Fencing, only £16.00 + VAT each

Weston Closeboard 6′ x 6′ fence panel, from Grange Fencing, only £29.00 + VAT each

A closeboard panel has both horizontal edges levelled, for a cleaner, crisper look.

Contact our Sales team at any TBS branch, but hurry – the offer ends 31st May.

A 17-wheeler truck? Well, meant to be 18 but the driver hasn’t noticed something…  Click here for the clip.