Putting the pieir cap

A brush handle, cut into several pieces the thickness of the mortar joint will support the cap until the mortar sets and will remain hidden and embedded in the mortar as spacers.

What are you worried about, the wind blowing it off?

Use a fairly dry mortar mix and hardly any will be pushed out.

Give the pier loads of time to harden before you even think of putting it on, if it's that heavy.

If it has a significant overhang, then I would drill a blind hole in the bottom and put a bit of rebar in the pier for it to locate on. That way, if a clumsy lorry driver nudges the cap, it won't just push off.

If it does have a good overhang, make a stretcher out of two bits of rebar, a couple of bits of wood (with notches in the end) as spacers and some rope to tie the lot together . Lift it using the rebar, with fingers nowhere near the cap. That way you can lower it ever so gently and get it absolutely square as you lower it in place.

If it doesn't have a good overhang and it really is heavy, only put mortar around the edges and put a couple of plastic bottles full of air in the middle of the pier - make a hollow for the cap to go. Try the bottles on the ground first to make sure they will carry the weight - although I haven't found any 2litre ones that won't take that sort of weight. You can lower the slab on to the bottles, with loads of gap for fingers. Then stab the bottles with a long pointy thingy that makes a pinhole. The slab will come down nice and slowly, whilst still being manouevurable. The bottles will be a nice surprise for a historian..

================================== A few ice cubes will usually do the same job provided that the mortar mix isn't too squishy.

Cic.

Some great ideas..and some good thoughts about keeping those pinkies safe and out of the way!

many thanks

Barry

All you need now is to find 2/3 of a man to lift it on :-))

Steve

Sounds like you could be the man for the job steve:) :)

Barry