Bench Turd

[MED6753]

I'd hesitate to use plywood. I've noticed it's very prone to woodworm.

Hearing this for the first time. Any interesting stories you could share with us?

Nothing particularly interesting, but observations I've made over the years. My parents had a wardrobe with plywood feet, which were so riddled with woodworm they fell apart. The rest of the wardrobe was untouched. A board to which an electricity meter was attached, falling apart with woodworm, with nothing else in the house affected. Several other instances of plywood being infested with woodworm, to an extent I've not seen with other woods.

Generally, I've noticed that woodworm have a great liking for plywood, so much so that I think twice before using it.

Woodworm must be a UK thing. Never heard of it here.

[tggzzz]

Hearing this for the first time. Any interesting stories you could share with us?

Nothing particularly interesting, but observations I've made over the years. My parents had a wardrobe with plywood feet, which were so riddled with woodworm they fell apart. The rest of the wardrobe was untouched. A board to which an electricity meter was attached, falling apart with woodworm, with nothing else in the house affected. Several other instances of plywood being infested with woodworm, to an extent I've not seen with other woods.

Generally, I've noticed that woodworm have a great liking for plywood, so much so that I think twice before using it.

Woodworm must be a UK thing. Never heard of it here.

Think of them as being polite termites.

We exterminate termites, even if takes decades: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/202 ... n-termites

[MED6753]

Nothing particularly interesting, but observations I've made over the years. My parents had a wardrobe with plywood feet, which were so riddled with woodworm they fell apart. The rest of the wardrobe was untouched. A board to which an electricity meter was attached, falling apart with woodworm, with nothing else in the house affected. Several other instances of plywood being infested with woodworm, to an extent I've not seen with other woods.

Generally, I've noticed that woodworm have a great liking for plywood, so much so that I think twice before using it.

Woodworm must be a UK thing. Never heard of it here.

Think of them as being polite termites.

We exterminate termites, even if takes decades: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/202 ... n-termites

Termites are definitely a rare thing this far north. Southern states is a much different story.

[Zenith]

Woodworm must be a UK thing. Never heard of it here.

I'm sure it's present in the USA. maybe you call it something else, or possibly it doesn't occur in your part of the USA.

It isn't a worm, it's the wood boring larvae of one of several sorts of beetle, but most commonly the Common Furniture Beetle.

It's sporadic, some places are suddenly plagued with it, having not had a trace of it in years. I know someone who had a table that was about 200 years old. Suddenly it became heavily infested with woodworm and they had no option but to burn it.

[bd139]

A friend of mine had it in his floors. He was watching the TV one evening, back in the days when you had a fat Trinitron on a sturdy shelf, and the TV went straight through the floor and landed on his downstairs neighbours' one

[tggzzz]

Woodworm must be a UK thing. Never heard of it here.

Think of them as being polite termites.

We exterminate termites, even if takes decades: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/202 ... n-termites

Termites are definitely a rare thing this far north. Southern states is a much different story.

Aussies up north hammer concrete posts into the ground in a standard pattern. That means you can go to a second hand house sale, select a house, and then it is delivered on a truck and hoisted into the posts.

I was gobsmacked when I saw that on TV, many decades ago.

[Zenith]

Aussies up north hammer concrete posts into the ground in a standard pattern. That means you can go to a second hand house sale, select a house, and then it is delivered on a truck and hoisted into the posts.

I was gobsmacked when I saw that on TV, many decades ago.

Not quite the same thing, but it reminds me of those mushroom shaped stones you see outside cottages in the South of the UK. I was told they were originally intended to put a wooden platform on, which could then be loaded with hay, or other things. Rats couldn't negotiate the mushroom stone's overhang. I imagine there may have been the odd Joe Brown rat, climbing an impossible overhang and pausing in the middle to roll a smoke.

I heard the Buffalo moth was a big thing in parts of the USA. If you don't protect your woolens properly in the season, you'll find the voracious buggers have reduced them to tatters. We have clothes moths in the UK, which can be a damned nuisance. The more expensive the item of clothing, the more they seem to like it.

[MED6753]

A friend of mine had it in his floors. He was watching the TV one evening, back in the days when you had a fat Trinitron on a sturdy shelf, and the TV went straight through the floor and landed on his downstairs neighbours' one

I guess that's what happens when you don't pay your TV license fee.

[MED6753]

Aussies up north hammer concrete posts into the ground in a standard pattern. That means you can go to a second hand house sale, select a house, and then it is delivered on a truck and hoisted into the posts.

I was gobsmacked when I saw that on TV, many decades ago.

Not quite the same thing, but it reminds me of those mushroom shaped stones you see outside cottages in the South of the UK. I was told they were originally intended to put a wooden platform on, which could then be loaded with hay, or other things. Rats couldn't negotiate the mushroom stone's overhang. I imagine there may have been the odd Joe Brown rat, climbing an impossible overhang and pausing in the middle to roll a smoke.

I heard the Buffalo moth was a big thing in parts of the USA. If you don't protect your woolens properly in the season, you'll find the voracious buggers have reduced them to tatters. We have clothes moths in the UK, which can be a damned nuisance. The more expensive the item of clothing, the more they seem to like it.

We have clothes moths too. Mothballs to the rescue.

[Zenith]

A friend of mine had it in his floors. He was watching the TV one evening, back in the days when you had a fat Trinitron on a sturdy shelf, and the TV went straight through the floor and landed on his downstairs neighbours' one

I guess that's what happens when you don't pay your TV license fee.

I haven't bought a TV licence for 30 years. I haven't noticed any correlation between that and woodworm infestations.

[tggzzz]

Aussies up north hammer concrete posts into the ground in a standard pattern. That means you can go to a second hand house sale, select a house, and then it is delivered on a truck and hoisted into the posts.

I was gobsmacked when I saw that on TV, many decades ago.

Not quite the same thing, but it reminds me of those mushroom shaped stones you see outside cottages in the South of the UK. I was told they were originally intended to put a wooden platform on, which could then be loaded with hay, or other things. Rats couldn't negotiate the mushroom stone's overhang. I imagine there may have been the odd Joe Brown rat, climbing an impossible overhang and pausing in the middle to roll a smoke.

I heard the Buffalo moth was a big thing in parts of the USA. If you don't protect your woolens properly in the season, you'll find the voracious buggers have reduced them to tatters. We have clothes moths in the UK, which can be a damned nuisance. The more expensive the item of clothing, the more they seem to like it.

Clothes moths were a real problem in my mother's house. Eventually lots of fabrics were tipped rather than sold.

Took me a while to figure out and remember the name: staddle stones.

[tautech]

Aussies up north hammer concrete posts into the ground in a standard pattern. That means you can go to a second hand house sale, select a house, and then it is delivered on a truck and hoisted into the posts.

I was gobsmacked when I saw that on TV, many decades ago.

Similar with CCA treated pine poles here in NZ.
CCA treatment repels insects from entering the building both up the foundation poles and its use in subfloor framing.

Most foundation layouts here are quite varied but driven or concreted poles in a line provide support for the floor joist bearer lines and after installation are cut to laser level height with a chainsaw. Once built or placed the house is fixed to the timber piles with a variety of fastenings.

This is a very common method of building foundations on unlevel sites here and poles need sometimes be driven several meters to find sufficient load bearing which is a combination of end bearing and pole skin friction.
The Hiley foundation driving formula is used to calculate the drop and weight of the drop hammer to install piles to the appropriate set required to withstand the static load of the building.

Bashed in 1000's of foundation poles over the years.....sometimes just a few/day !

[tggzzz]

interesting

Copper, Chrome, Arsenic: ugh!

In the UK overhead telecoms/power poles are very dark wood; presumably pine and creosote.

For more information that you wanted: https://www.telegraphpoleappreciationsociety.org/faq/ (Of course there is such a society!)

[Zenith]

Don't you also have to worry about earthquakes in NZ? Might that be a part of putting the building on poles? I know that in California earthquakes are a serious consideration in building design, and they include bearings and dampers for large buildings.

[MED6753]

A friend of mine had it in his floors. He was watching the TV one evening, back in the days when you had a fat Trinitron on a sturdy shelf, and the TV went straight through the floor and landed on his downstairs neighbours' one

I guess that's what happens when you don't pay your TV license fee.

I haven't bought a TV licence for 30 years. I haven't noticed any correlation between that and woodworm infestations.

Am I correct in assuming that HD TV's are not detectable externally as were old analog TV's? And if you aren't on an external antenna and have a subscription service is that service required to forward your info to the gov?

[MED6753]

interesting

Copper, Chrome, Arsenic: ugh!

In the UK overhead telecoms/power poles are very dark wood; presumably pine and creosote.

For more information that you wanted: https://www.telegraphpoleappreciationsociety.org/faq/ (Of course there is such a society!)

Older poles are the same as you described. Pine and creosote. New poles are generally pressure treated pine with the chemicals you find bothersome.

[tggzzz]

I guess that's what happens when you don't pay your TV license fee.

I haven't bought a TV licence for 30 years. I haven't noticed any correlation between that and woodworm infestations.

Am I correct in assuming that HD TV's are not detectable externally as were old analog TV's? And if you aren't on an external antenna and have a subscription service is that service required to forward your info to the gov?

When you buy a TV, the shop takes an address and forwards it.

IMHO it is worth it, since the BBC has historically pissed off all governments equally. Then we had Brexit

If you don't watch broadcast TV (or internet variants) then you don't need a licence.
Your TV Licence lets you enjoy a huge range of TV. It covers you for:
All TV channels, like BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Dave and international channels
Pay TV services, like Sky, Virgin Media and BT
Live TV on streaming services, like YouTube and Amazon Prime Video
Everything on BBC iPlayer.
This includes recording and downloading. On any device.
You only need one TV Licence per household, even if you use more than one of the devices listed
above. A TV Licence costs £169.50 for colour TV, and £57.00 for black and white.

https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one

[Zenith]

Am I correct in assuming that HD TV's are not detectable externally as were old analog TV's? And if you aren't on an external antenna and have a subscription service is that service required to forward your info to the gov?

You need a TV licence to receive live TV broadcasts (there's a definition of what that is), not necessarily BBC broadcasts, or to use BBC i-Player. The fees go to the BBC. A lot of people object to being obliged to pay for something they don't use. You don't have to have a licence to own a TV. You can own a TV and use it for purposes other than watching live broadcasts, say with a retro computer or to watch recordings.

The detector vans didn't work, or at least no one was ever prosecuted on the basis of evidence from them. They were there for effect. It was mainly done through paper work and inspectors turning up and people confessing. The basic assumption is that every address in the country has a TV. You are quite within your rights to tell them to clear off. They may come back with a copper with a search warrant, but they rarely do. I know someone that happened to after he confessed to having a TV, and having no intention of buying a licence. When they came he showed them the TV, which was a 1948 Pye 405 line set, totally incapable of receiving live broadcasts, at least without a standards converter. He wrote a snottygram to the BBC and received a goodwill payment of £200. Unless you confess, actually proving that you have been watching TV illegally is difficult and expensive. I receive regular letters threatening dire consequences and saying that inspectors are going to turn up; they never do. I'm quite happy to let them waste their time and effort.

I haven't bought a TV licence for 30 years because I don't watch TV. I see it when I visit friends and don't believe I've missed much.

There were good reasons why the BBC was formed 100 years ago. They no longer apply. It's at least a bloated organisation. I don't see the point of public sector broadcasting at all, at least on nothing like this scale.

Most countries have some way of financing public sector broadcasting. It could be a charge added to property taxes, or a surcharge on electricity bills. The TV licence makes it easy for me not to pay for something I don't want. In France, it's tagged onto property tax, but you can make a declaration that you don't watch TV and not pay it.

[mansaxel]

I get my salary from the Public Service Fee -- I work at the Swedish Public Service broadcaster.

I of course think we have a reason to exist, and that we need to have a sensible and stable financing and governance model. Further, I think we're more needed than ever, and that our mission needs reinforcing, because in the current media landscape, finding someone who's telling the truth as good as possible is getting harder. I also think that we should not try emulating the clickbaityness of other media.

[bd139]

I would pay for a TV license if I didn't have something better to do...

[mansaxel]

I would pay for a TV license if I didn't have something better to do...

Were you a resident of this country, you could not escape it. Everyone pays. Period.

[tautech]

Don't you also have to worry about earthquakes in NZ? Might that be a part of putting the building on poles? I know that in California earthquakes are a serious consideration in building design, and they include bearings and dampers for large buildings.

Not really although like California we do have a plate boundary passing through a significant portion of NZ.
Building like any technology has evolved however the many geological types here also dictate what foundation type/style might be used and the requirements for commercial vs domestic are very different mainly due to the building weight and use type.

Since the big quakes around Christchurch all design engineers have gone into CYA mode resulting in much foundation upscaling.
Much domestic construction can be described as lightweight timber framed construction and being timber is somewhat flexible in quakes and certain withstood them better than any brick or masonry building.

Our NZ soils are of many types, some turn to jelly in quakes and place significant challenge to buildings with sinking foundations and serious lateral stresses to buildings, sometimes magnified from quake reflections from nearby rock geologies.
More robust designs still might suffer foundation failures and we had many 'rib raft' houses have their floor slabs break even though they only supported 'light timber frame' houses.

Some areas here only provide solid bearing very deep and getting down there is often cost prohibitive so 'ground consolidation' techniques have been developed, driving much timber into the ground to form what can be described as a heavy firm boat on top of which normally single level commercial building are constructed. This process forms a building structure less likely to tilt or tear apart the building placed upon it. Often several 1000 poles are installed below ground level in these designs which compresses the ground enough to heave it in all directions. It certainly works.....walk a large tracked machine onto these sites at the start and the ground shakes but not when all the poles have been installed.

Subsequently all foundations have been uprated even for these 1 in 10,000 year quake events.

[bd139]

I would pay for a TV license if I didn't have something better to do...

Were you a resident of this country, you could not escape it. Everyone pays. Period.

I wouldn't have a problem with that if we had a respectable broadcaster. The BBC is definitely not that at the moment.

[tggzzz]

I would pay for a TV license if I didn't have something better to do...

Were you a resident of this country, you could not escape it. Everyone pays. Period.

I wouldn't have a problem with that if we had a respectable broadcaster. The BBC is definitely not that at the moment.

The BBC has been cowed into submission over the past decade or so, but there are a few signs it has realised the mistake and is trying to recover. Time will tell.

The alternative is noos services (in the bull sense) paid for by very rich people in other countries. That's worse. Start with Fox news, and it is all downhill from there.

[bd139]

Were you a resident of this country, you could not escape it. Everyone pays. Period.

I wouldn't have a problem with that if we had a respectable broadcaster. The BBC is definitely not that at the moment.

The BBC has been cowed into submission over the past decade or so, but there are a few signs it has realised the mistake and is trying to recover. Time will tell.

The alternative is noos services (in the bull sense) paid for by very rich people in other countries. That's worse. Start with Fox news, and it is all downhill from there.

Absolutely no way is it anywhere near that. Unless they nuke their entire news department and management from orbit.

I'll DM you...