Games Home Explosives

[Scouse]

What no "terrorism" thread tag?

So, I've got a huge chunk of mountain in my back garden. Not talking like "a big boulder" but more like a fair bit of this sort of shit buried under a small layer of loam and a bit of grass.

I need to break up, dig out and remove maybe 10m x 10m square (maybe to an average depth of ~1m. So it's a fair chunk.

What makes it harder is that I can't get any big plant back there. The only available gap is about 1.5m between the house and a bigger, vertical piece of mountain. (Basically, I live on a mountain. It's all mountain. Everywhere). I could maybe get something like this where I need it to be but after speaking to a mate who's been in civils for years (and hearing the intake of breath of a builder) then potentially I might have to be looking at something like this.

So. Anyone know about the actualities and legality of small explosives in Blighty? I suspect it wouldn't be a problem in the US but it's probably completely prohibited in the UK (so, licenced contractor (if that's an available thing here) might be on the cards).

Basically, I need to blow some shit up without taking my house out.

Anyone any advice? Sensible or otherwise is welcome!



(Frankly - where's @Trem when you need him?)

 

[dysfunction]

I doubt you would be able to make (or even use) any explosives legally to break that up...

You would most likely need someone licenced to use explosives to do it for you with all the paperwork that goes with that sort of thing

 

[caLLous]

I'd go digger + breaker attachment every time. I'd definitely go with a bigger, heavier digger than that linked one, though. The more weight you can put behind the breaker, the better and you can go a few sizes up from that one and not go wider than 1.5m. eg:

Mini-Excavators Kubota U20-3αS - Kubota Europe SAS

U20-3αS MINI-EXCAVATOR Kubota Construction Machinery

ke.kubota-eu.com

 

[Gwadien]

Did you really ask if you can make homemade explosives?

Imagine your distant neighbours - this bloke moved into the middle of nowhere a couple of months ago, now there's explosions coming from his house.

 

[Raven]

Can I ask what for?

If you want to move to the great outdoors as it were, why do you want it to work around you? Why not work around it?

Anyway, for any sort of force of explosives to dig out actual solid chunks of rock would be pretty substantial and I am pretty sure there would be all sorts of regs that would say using them anywhere near a dwelling would be a big no. You're better off with heavy duty pneumatic drills and breakers, it would be more controllable and cheaper.

 

[Embattle]

You would have to get a professional in, it isn't a DIY job.

 

[Scouse]

Can I ask what for?

Foundations for a small south facing extention.

About 2m from the back of the house is a dry stone wall and directly abutting that is what I need gone.

I might be fucking lucky - there may be more topsoil than I think - but it's highly doubtful.


In answer to your question @Gwadien - nope, not home-made explosives (I could probably whip some up without too much effort) - but small explosives for home use. (And yes, probably licenced pro).

@caLLous - a pecker and digger combo may well not make it. It's quite possible it'll just bounce off...

 

[Scouse]

Imagine your distant neighbours - this bloke moved into the middle of nowhere a couple of months ago, now there's explosions coming from his house.

Honestly - it's unlikely they'd hear

 

[Raven]

Foundations for a small south facing extention.

About 2m from the back of the house is a dry stone wall and directly abutting that is what I need gone.

I might be fucking lucky - there may be more topsoil than I think - but it's highly doubtful.


In answer to your question @Gwadien - nope, not home-made explosives (I could probably whip some up without too much effort) - but small explosives for home use. (And yes, probably licenced pro).

@caLLous - a pecker and digger combo may well not make it. It's quite possible it'll just bounce off...

Half my house is technically subterranean, built into a hill. Where I am sat now at my PC, the ground level in front of me is about half a foot above the top of my head and to my left ground level is about 10 foot. It has a lot of advantages, it is warm as fuck in winter and nice and cool in summer. Would it not be simpler to work around it, incorporate it somehow? Would it hurt to have a raised extension? It would probably be cheaper than trying to get through solid rock.

 

[Scouse]

It would be working around it tbh @Raven - it's not level, it's a wedge that, if I'm standing at the back of the house, rises from left to right from ground level to chest height, before steeply shooting up.

Spoiler

It's the grassed are behind the house - I want to come out to a distance of about twice the wall that separates the grassed area from the house. Half of that additional space would be extention, half of that would be an area you could open doors and walk out on to. (Then probably stepped up onto the grassed area).



I'm stood elevated at roof height taking the photo - the gap between where I'm standing and the nearest corner of the house is where I'd have to bring in an excavator of some description. As you can see - the ground is even more steeply rising straight past the grassy area. The extention would butt up against that.

Doesn't really show the slope/elevation very well. I might take another pic when it stops raining

 

[Embattle]

So we can come back to this next year then

 

[georgie]

Wales

when it stops raining

lol

 

[Zarjazz]

I'm now kind of curious what I'd find if I Google "how to make my own explosives" but I'm not sure if I have enough proxies available.

 

[Jupitus]

Just get @Deebs over there and some sneezing powder, surely?

 

[Deebs]

Just get @Deebs over there and some sneezing powder, surely?

Could also shove you up one nostril, instant railgun.

 

[Overdriven]

OK Boomers, calm yourselves. How did you get access to the internet? Go back to sleep.

A landscaping company might know where to start.

 

[Raven]

From the pick, is there access from the other side of the house? If so you should be able to get some plant in there. You're better off getting someone in.

 

[Raven]

Edit...You would also need a means to get rid of the rock, there would be a lot of it and its fiddly to get rid of.

It might be worth asking around places like this Contact Us - McGowan Stone Although if you're chipping at it with an excavator or blowing it up I am not sure how much would end up usable.

 

[Scouse]

From the pick, is there access from the other side of the house? If so you should be able to get some plant in there. You're better off getting someone in.

Nah. There's about 8 inches between that and about 4meter vertical from the other side.

I know I'm dumb, but it'd take the piss if I said I only had 1.5m to get a digger through on this side, but shitloads of space on the other

Edit...You would also need a means to get rid of the rock, there would be a lot of it and its fiddly to get rid of.

It might be worth asking around places like this Contact Us - McGowan Stone Although if you're chipping at it with an excavator or blowing it up I am not sure how much would end up usable.

I'd like to crush it if at all possible. I could do with a couple of hundred tonnes of soil & slate and that would save on disposal costs too.

As for fiddly to get rid of - in that picture you can see the track down to the front of the house? The road to that track doesn't get any wider, has pinch points and is stone-walled on both sides.

Fun fun fun

 

[Deebs]

@Scouse is all the land in front of the house up to the wall in the distance yours? Even so I bet that looks amazing on a cold crisp icy/snow morning.

 

[Scouse]

@Scouse is all the land in front of the house up to the wall in the distance yours? Even so I bet that looks amazing on a cold crisp icy/snow morning.

Yeah. And some land behind that big oak tree on the right, some mountainous heather and bracken stuff behind where I'm standing and the other side of the hill behind the house there's a bit more.

I'd been looking for something like this for about 5 years. It's amazing in the summer and I suspect it'll be just as amazing (but a tad bleaker) in the winter. Speaking to a guy who runs a nearby Cotswolds he's managed to ski from the nearest village to work on the rare occasions when it's deep snow

It's going to be fucking cold this winter. The only access to home heating I currently have is ramping up a coal fire which has a link to a back boiler - and then I can turn on an old, knackered, pump to drive some hot water around some archaic radiator system. But no boiler (yet) though - so it's burn coal like China or freeze.

Currently there's a couple of baby cows sprinting in laps around the field in front of my window...

 

[BloodOmen]

Get @Job to speak to it, it'll commit honourable suicide and crack into pieces making it easier to shift.

On a more serious note, your best pet is probably some sort of private professional that deals with that sort of thing.

 

[Aoami]

My mums mate has done a bit of bird for blowing things up with homemade petrol bombs - I can give him a bell if you like?

 

[Scouse]

My mums mate has done a bit of bird for blowing things up with homemade petrol bombs - I can give him a bell if you like?

NOW we're talkin'

 

[Scouse]

@Deebs:

Spoiler

It's my marsh, and I'll cry if I want to?



It's behind the oak tree in the original picture. There's a bit of field up behind this too.

Mountain in the background is Moel Siabod

I'm eyeing an overnight trip to the summit on the MTB but I think it'll be next spring now

 

[Deebs]

Wow. That a lovely plot of land I want to see pictures when it is frosty/snowy next. Ta.

 

[Scouse]

a generator

Cross thread posting booyah!

So, my prepper friend. I suspect this winter I may well get hit with outages of an electrical nature, which will leave me with fuck and all power (and as I'm WFHing that's going to be a no-no).

What do I need to do to get this place genned-up for say a 24 or 48 hour outage as cheaply as possible? Just enough to run my lights, kettle, wi-fi and laptop. Is it straightforward?

 

[Raven]

You would need to figure out how much you would need.

I have similar to this from work. which would run some lights and power tools etc

IMPAX IM1800IFG 2000W Inverter Frame Generator 240V - Screwfix

Order online at Screwfix.com. Frame generator with inverter module to ensure pure sine wave output meaning its safe for use with sensitive electronic equipment. Perfect for use on-site due to lower noise, high run-time and rugged design. FREE next day delivery available, free collection in 1 minute.

www.screwfix.com

But to run an entire house for any period of time you would likely need something in the 3kw+ sort of range.

 

[caLLous]

At my old place I had a switch put in just upstream of the main circuit board so I could plug the generator in to a special 240v socket in a box outside and switch the supply across, running the house circuits straight off of it. There was a little light as well so I could see when the mains came back on without having to switch back across. It was all quite nifty, I hadn't seen it done like that before.

Running a house isn't that demanding as long as you're mindful and don't do anything ridiculous. Boil water on a stove instead of using a kettle, open fridges/freezers as little as possible to keep the coldness inside (especially freezers - they can stay cold for a surprising amount of time if you just don't open them). If you're talking days then it'll get more troublesome but I could refuel my generator while it was running so just have a supply of petrol (probably) on hand. I'm not sure if I was supposed to be able to refuel it while it was running but it worked. You've probably got a fireplace in Wales so your heating would be sorted as well.

Look for one that can vary its supply based on demand, you don't want one with a simple sliding throttle lever as you'll be constantly faffing with it and it would be woefully inefficient.

 

[Scouse]

You've probably got a fireplace in Wales so your heating would be sorted as well.

My *only* source of heating

And the hob is electric. We've no gas or oil.