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Has anyone got an idea what is the best product I can use to dampproof the inside surface of a poured concrete retaining wall?
I'm going to be building off the retaining wall and using it as the outer leaf of 100mm cavity wall for garage
I've to do around 9m x 2m.
Sheeting, spray on etc? Thanks

KÖSTER Deuxan Professional
Applied with Trowel
More here and sounds like similar job: https://www.facebook.com/365044586981264/posts/1901981836620857/?d=n

Thanks. Looks like a good product
I was hoping to do the internal/negative side of the retaining wall

Where are you based? I had some pain in the hole with waterproofing a basement and getting it through building control in the north. I ended up with a (expensive) fully enveloped structure; membrane beneath the base and returned up the base edge, an applied membrane painted on the external face down to meet the base membrane, and a membrane applied to the internal face which directed any ingress of water to a cavity drain which expelled at the end of the retaining wall.

If you like and want to pm me your email I can send you a detail.

I had an added complication of having a couple of rooms in the basement and as such it was upgraded from solely a garage and that increased the spec.

I have been considering this a lot of late.

With Ulster Bank in the south and BOI in the north leaving a lot of our high streets, coupled with the large retail culls what will our towns and cities look like in the future.

When we do leave lockdown and move on from this pandemic our towns and cities will look significantly different than even a year ago.

What will be the future anchor tenants on a high street, is retail dead with hospitality and leisure to take over, how can we stop the ghost town vibe in the short term while towns pivot to the new industries?

Genuine request, can someone post an example of McClean's pro IRA posts. I am aware of the balaclava one which I took as a joke, albeit in poor taste and a bit stupid.

I don't think he has posted any Pro IRA material (other than the Balaclava post). He is certainly an Irish Republican and I think it's fair to say he has no love for the British Army but out and out IRA stuff I don't think so. The Balaclava post was certainly stupid. He's going to be a target for a certain soccer fan, that English nationalist and that comes hand in hand with his poppy stance unfortunately. He's in Stoke as well which is pretty much as English nationalist as you get. He certainly doesn't deserve the abuse he or his family gets.

I doubt there is anything specific. Does all this not stem from him posting something on social media along the lines of - 'why should I wear a poppy in support of British Soldiers when British Soldiers murdered unarmed citizens in my home town'.

Think he also mentioned the Wolfe Tones at some point.

Blame the victim.

Get ready for the schools to go back. The PR machine has started.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-56061942

I find the tone of the argument generally disappointing from both sides in relation to the schools. Should we really need a PR machine to get children back to school?

Bring primary back on the 8th of March and then phased return for secondary with the whole show back by Easter.

Is that the inside scoop or just what's been in media?

[Not financial advice.]

No it's not costing you anything sitting there. There is a network fee if you move it to a wallet or another exchange.

As I said above you could earn interest on it somewhere else if it's just sitting there but obviously you should find out if what you would gain would offset the cost of moving it.

If it's on Coinbase and you don't want to move it you could swap some of it for Algorand (ALGO) or Tezos (XTZ). Coinbase are paying interest on those if you hold them there. Algorand is doing really well price wise lately.

Not financial advice.

So, what your saying is put everything I have in to magic beans...done!



Cheers, i'll probably just let it rest in my account so, as mentioned it's a small sum.

[If you're a beginner be aware of what you are buying as bitcoin and etherium have fees associated with moving them off the exchanges to a wallet. These fees can be very expensive especially with etherium or any coin that is based on it (called erc20 coins).]

I use Coinbase, Coinbase pro and Binance. From what I understand with Revolut you are investing in their BTC fund on their platform and you don't actually own it and withdraw it. I could be wrong now but that's how it was anyway at first.

I think you're right. What is the difference in Coinbase, Coinbase pro and Binance? And what's the advantages for the part time messer like myself over Revolut?

Coinbase is very user friendly and good for beginners. But fees are ridiculous for buying but you can swap between coins for almost nothing.
Coinbase pro is more advanced but fees are relatively low.
Coinbase have a limited range of coins and trading pairs.
It also has a reputation of crashing when bitcoin makes a big move which isn't helpful if you're looking to make a quick sale.

Binance is the biggest trading platform and has a huge range of coins and trading pairs. Fees are reasonable.

If you're a beginner be aware of what you are buying as bitcoin and etherium have fees associated with moving them off the exchanges to a wallet. These fees can be very expensive especially with etherium or any coin that is based on it (called erc20 coins). This probably isn't a problem on revolut but if you're using Binance or Coinbase it's advised not to leave your coins on them for too long but you need to factor in the cost of moving your crypto.

So I have a few £ in Ethereum which I purchased on Coinbase back in Jan 18, so it's only really improved recently. My question is, is it costing me to have it sitting here - I had no real intention on shifting it and was holding it more long term (possibly amateurish...)

Doesn't look good for Oxford AZ......


https://www.ft.com/content/e5b64f87-6f2b-3097-b04a-bb76c013a284

Thought the Germans killed that story....

https://www.businessinsider.com/oxford-astrazeneca-vaccine-older-people-study-effective-german-government-2021-1?r=US&IR=T

Smells like politics, and muscle flexing to me (no basis for such an opinion btw) - especially with the ongoing row with supply from OAZ to the EU.

[I have a friend who is a butcher and I will always give him a turn though, even though I know I could get, say a box of chicken for £7 cheaper elsewhere, that would be a concession of mine.]

I am all for shopping locally, but at the end of the day the price is going to be the deciding factor in where I buy my groceries. 

I would have shopped in my local supermarket for years, then I tried Sainsburys and bought the same items and the price difference was roughly £15 - £20.  Over the course of the year that accrues to some saving like. 

I do have a distain for the big supermarkets and how they capture your data and analyse it to market you better, and also how they create their own branded products based off of what people are purchasing, they are trying to monopolise the food industry in that regard.  But, as the main breadwinner in my family, I have to do what is financially best for my family. 

I have a friend who is a butcher and I will always give him a turn though, even though I know I could get, say a box of chicken for £7 cheaper elsewhere, that would be a concession of mine.

But do you know what you're getting.

I understand the argument though, the problem being that as the Amazon's and Tesco's of this world get bigger their buying power increases accordingly, and it's at the point now where the small retailers will never be able to compete with them again - it's all about scale.

Apologies for hijacking the thread to discuss the merits of capitalism...

How many of you would consider not only what you are eating but where it has come from?

Since moving jobs closer to my local town I have made a point now of going to the local butcher and green grocer - doing my best not to buy either of those from the big supermarkets. Have also bought some meat from the farm gate and I would have seen a big difference in quality & taste.

I have developed a particular dislike of the big supermarkets through this pandemic too (not that they will care and not that is particularly their fault), when it's all over there will be very little left on the high street.

Same - not sure how it would work practically but it should be considered now as a plan B.

I would have said it is the early years kids that are missing the teacher contact most - I know with our wee one that it's as much as we can do to get her weekly worksheets completed and handed in, its less about teaching her and more about ticking the box - and as I say there are many more disadvantaged and in most instances through no fault of the parents/guardians who are trying to hold down a job at the same time. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-55834042

Pupils in Northern Ireland are not set to return to school until Monday 8 March at the earliest.

Education Minister Peter Weir made the recommendation in a paper to be discussed by the executive on Thursday, BBC News NI understands.

It may also be the case that only some year groups go back to school on 8 March, if a return then is possible.

At what point does the year become a write-off, while we aren't so bad, (1 in P1) the wife is part time (and a qualifies secondary teacher) so just about manage to get through the weeks work - how do families with multiple kids and 2 parents in work, or a single working parent and no teaching ability manage? Those kids are severely disadvantaged, I can't help but think beyond the death toll this will be the biggest legacy of the pandemic.

Interesting article from the Newsletter;

https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/politics/philip-smith-new-research-shows-neithers-problem-union-unionists-3111473

In reality there is a growing cohort who would prefer an independent northern Ireland, as that is not in play it will be a case of the less worse option.

Is it unreasonable to request clear parameters around the placement and removal of restrictions? So that we can see how far from 'a reward' we are.

You could say that restrictions would be removed when cases were x or whatever. However, it is hard to give definite values for these things, in these islands the whole Christmas thing was derailed by a combination of people pushing the envelope and the arrival of the new variant.

But surely this is exactly what they are doing in the executive - setting parameters, running modelling and then proposing restrictions or not.

Also, I find it particularly frustrating that we have no indication of forward planning, (short of ring the army) as an example, we are seeing daily that certain hospitals are over 100% capacity, while others are not - the north is a small place in the grand scheme of things, can we not move patients around, we don't see the capacity of the nightingale facilities, how are they being used etc.

I presume they would move patients around if it helped. The Nightingale idea doesn't work because there aren't enough staff to go around, especially as many staff are isolating.

Would these Nightingale facilities not be the perfect facility for the army if they are to be used. While very poorly delivered I could see some merit in the comment from P Sheehan of SF, it is difficult for an army medic/doctor etc to walk on to a ward with which they are unfamiliar and be highly effective. Could it not be that the Nightingale facilities be developed for those professionals and let them run them (we're told there id further availability)

[All that is needed is a bit of responsibility for a few months, things will be greatly eased in summer in any case.]

That bugs me, not the DUP (well they do), but the blame on the people, all the time.

If you keep blaming the people it only ends one way.

The amount of people I hear daily saying "it's them oul house parties....". Look, of course there are parties going on. But Jesus Christ, just think about it. You would think that every 2nd house in the North was pumping then people just regurgitate that yet your local Tesco is just as "gathered" from open to close and not a word of it because it's allowed.

I haven't been to a party lately, but recalling such things they are nothing like going to Tesco. In Tesco you wear a mask, you may pass people in the aisle but you quickly move on and the whole thing takes 30 mins. The whole idea of a party is to meet people and talk to them, not at all like shopping. So this comparison is bollix.

They have yet to twig that when you stop people doing anything, you force their hand. The next few months will certainly now see compliance plummet to minimal levels.

You don't "force their hand", they can just do what needs to be done. People do not drive down one way streets the wrong way because they want to make a point, such things exist for good reason.
All that is needed is a bit of responsibility for a few months, things will be greatly eased in summer in any case.

In the most part people have been 'responsible' for almost a year now, done 'what needs to be done'. However all we have in return is M McBride and R Swan preaching from the pulpit that we're not doing what we are told.

Is it unreasonable to request clear parameters around the placement and removal of restrictions? So that we can see how far from 'a reward' we are.

Also, I find it particularly frustrating that we have no indication of forward planning, (short of ring the army) as an example, we are seeing daily that certain hospitals are over 100% capacity, while others are not - the north is a small place in the grand scheme of things, can we not move patients around, we don't see the capacity of the nightingale facilities, how are they being used etc.   

I suppose in the most part it's just tough now, not tough in that I've lost my job or lost a family member but just sh*t. I have it good, live in the country (have space), still in gainful employment, great family etc but the weeks still roll in to each other with no sign of a way out as we go from one lockdown to the next.