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Hi, thanks in advance for any advice. I am replacing the front path to my house. I've removed the victorian tiles that were there and am left with the concrete slab base. The concrete slab is approximately 4 cm deep and seems to have been laid on just dirt (possibly sand) but no hardcore...

Hi, Just after some views of people with a better understanding of rendering than me. Picture 1 is the terrible job our builders did rendering the lip above our bedroom window. I believe they used a stop bead which meant water didn't drip but got drawn back towards the house (hence the black...

Our front path has seen better days (see the picture) and, having done a bit of internal tiling, I thought I'd take on the job myself. I have tried taking up a few tiles and while some came up easily, others only came up with a chunk of the underlying concrete. Surprisingly, I can't seem to...

Hi, We got the front of our house rerendered this time last year and I have noticed a few issues with it so would really appreciate the opinion of some more experienced eyes before I go back to the builder. Firstly, as you can see from the first photo, the lip above the window seems to have...

Hi, I'm just about to undertake filling the gaps between our pine floorboards with slivers and so will end up having to sand the whole floor. I am pretty confident in what I need to do, the only thing I am worried about is that most of the nail holes have black marks surrounding them. I...

Hi, We had our bedroom replastered as the plasterwork was terrible. The room had this weird plasticky paint on it and once that was removed and the plaster redone, the (internal) plasterwork on the external wall has damp patches and has refused to dry. Our builder has said it is due to an...

Hi, We are just about to move house and I managed to knock a bottle of aftershave onto the cistern lid smashing a corner off (at that point my missus helpfully mentioned how she always thought that might happen!). Getting a replacement lid seems to be expensive and difficult so my question...

I know there are lots of threads about this, but I just wanted to check I am doing the right thing. I am painting a sash window inside and out. It was in ok condition, but with some sections with cracked and peeling paint (plus the previous owners had painted it shut, it being the kitchen...

Hi, I have a small external garden wall above a raised flower bed that I want to repoint as it is full of larges cracks and crevaces that spew forth an unending supply of snails that are eating all my plants. I am not massively worried about finish or matching the colour (although obviously I...

Hi, I know there are a lot of threads for this, but none seem to answer my question. Anyhow, just moved into a place and the cistern is very slow filling (10-15 mins). However, I have notice that where the water comes in on the right of the picture (up a hole, through a small horizontal...

Hi, we have just bought a basement flat and have now discovered there is an inherent problem with the waste flow from the bathroom that has meant we have had two blockages in a month. We have had dyno rod and another independent over and they have said this (along with a lot of negative...

Hi, I am pretty sure I know the problem (from reading the forums etc) but wanted some advice from those better experienced. My bathroom is in the basement of my flat and the bath is backing up, which leads to the sink then backing up. The layout (if this is relevant) is toilet, next to sink...

Hi, if I leave the tap running in my kitchen sink, water backs up to the dishwasher and it fills up and then floods. I just wondered if anyone knew what was causing this problem before I go through the hassle of re plumbing it.

Hi, I just have two very quick decking questions as have almost completed my garden. I have screwed the decking down attaching it to every second joist (joists are spaced 40 cm apart) as I was running out of screws. Do I need to screw them down to all the joists, or is 80cm spacing enough...

Hi, just about to start decking my small patio garden (about 25m2) and have some very simple decking questions that I can't seem to find the answers for/ just need some reassurance on. For reference I am using 4"x2" treated joists over a concrete patio (raised onto evenly spaced patio slabs)...

Hi, I am just about to deck my small concrete garden and have lots of paving slabs to lay out to rest the decking frame on. Numerous websites tell me to bed these slabs down with either sand or mortar, however none say which is best/ easiest/ least likely to course future problems etc so...

Hi, I have a small concreted garden and am thinking about putting a raised flower bed at the end (against a brick wall) using railway sleepers. The flower bed will be approx 80cm high and my question is what do I need to do about drainage. I have a load of pebbles and rubble I was going to...

Hi, I have a small garden (approximately 4m x4m) that is fully concreted over (with a few paving slabs randomly set!!??) and I want to do something with it, but what? I would like to put grass down but not sure if this would go on top of the concrete? I had thought about laying a two brick...

Hi, I have a small concrete covered garden that I was thinking about decking over. The one problem I have is that this would mean decking over the outside drain and I was just wondering what the options are as I will still need to access the drain at some point. Thanks

Hi, our wooden front door is a mess and I am looking to replace it with a Hardwood door (toyed with PVC until I read the forums on the subject) so have the following questions (apologies some are very basic, but have no experience of doors before). What wood is best to use regarding strength...