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I have got a bath to replace our current bath and am not too happy with it. It is a standard acrylic or fibreglass bath with an integrated base board. I have had a carronite bath before and was very impressed with its stregth and heat retaining qualities. However, now I have this bath I do not...

Hello everybody, I have been digging ready for the foundations to a new porch and have come accross a 15mm copper pipe. This is running the full length of one of the trenches. I am not sure what it might be for and am thinking that it is not in use anymore. I know that it is not our water...

I have just got an old bench with 2 record 52e woodworking vices. I have removed the vices for restoration. They are siezed and will not open/close. Could anyone offer any advice on restoring these vices. My main issues are getting the 2 guide rails free of rust. Should these be coated in...

Hi all, I am just about to start lining the inside of my wooden built workshop. It is constructed using 4" x 2" studwork. I was planning on using 18mm plywood (exterior hardwood as it looks nicer). My main reason for this is that it should be possible to hang quite a lot of weight from it ie...

Hello everyone. I have a bit of an issue with our neighbours at the moment concerning our extension. We live in an ex local authority semi (still LA next door). I put a single story extension up a couple of years ago. On the bouside with the adjoining property I came 50-75mm short of the...

Hi everyone, I am just completing my workshop at the top of our garden and the next big step is the electrics! I want to do as much as possible myself to save money. At the moment I have layed 6mm 3 core SWA cable from the house and fed it into the workshop. It is from here that I am a bit...

I have recently built our extension on the back of our house. I am just getting ready to call the building inspectors to sign it off. The problem I have just discovered is, that, although the overall size is 70 cubic metre I have gone over the 3 metre from the back wall of the house. I...

Hi all. I have just completed building our garden lodge and am not too sure on what kinds of insulation I am able to use. I was thinking of using a rigid foam board like kingspan or a mineral wool like rockwool or knauf dritherm. Which of theses would be best? Would it also be possible to use a...

Hi everyone. I am building a wooden workshop at the moment. It has a wooden floor using 8"x2" tanalised timber. It is sitting on 5 brick walls I built using class b engineering bricks with a damp proof course in it. My question is, do I need to put any kind of membrane in between the timber...

Hi all, I am preparing to lay a new lawn in the back garden and I am wondering on the best ways of preventing weeds growing through the new lawn. At the moment I am levelling the groung and trying to remove as many weeds as possible. However, it is, of course, going to be impossible to get up...

Hi, I am just starting to build my new workshop. It is going to be a wooden structure of aprox 20 meters square. I have read that if it is a combustable or wooden structure then it needs to be 1 meter from the boundary. I have planned on having it about a foot from the boundary. My question...

I have been having problems with the lighting in the bedroom. It is 2 lamps operated by 1 2 gang switch. There are 2 3 core cables (earth, red and black with red tabs). I am connecting the red of each cable to the common or L terminal and the black to the L1 terminal and the earths to the...

I was about to change a 2 gang 1 way light switch in the lounge for a brushed steel one. I think I have got a 2 way switch though. Is it still possible to use this as a one way switch though? the new switch has terminals marked L, L1 and L2 for each switch. I have got 4 wires to connect (2...

Hi, just after a little help. I was supposed to have a plumber come around to plumb in a radiator today but did not turn up! I think I am going to have to do it myself now. I have put the radiator on the wall and the pipes are ready in the right location, just capped off. I have been...

Hi all, I am splitting a room into 2 rooms and need to split the lighting for the 2 individual rooms. The current room already has 2 switches (1 in either of the new rooms). So I just need to add an extra light fitment in one of the new rooms and have each switch operating each individual light...

Hi all, I am starting to build my workshop at the top of the garden and there is a big sycamore tree 1 metre from where I plan to build it. It is a 4.8 x 3.6 metre wooden structure usind 4x2" walls and 8x2" floor. This is going to rest on 5 walls 3 courses high built on footings about a foot...

Hi, just a quick question regarding skimming a new stud wall. I am just about to half a room by building a stud wall using 100 x 47mm timber and 12.5mm plasterboard. I am just a bit unsure of how to skim upto the existing skimmed walls at the perpendicular. Normally I guess you would tape the...

Hi all, hope somebody can help with this one. I am just starting to fit a kitchen and have got around to fitting the wall units. The walls in the kitchen are thermalite blocks with a plaster finish (not boards). The cupboards are the 1000mm units, so quite heavy. I am just not sure which is the...

Hi all. I am at the stage of plastering the new kitchen extension I have just built. I have got 3 walls to plaster with hardwall, ceiling to skim with multi-finish and one dry-lined wall to skim. I was going to plaster the 3 walls I need to plaster and leave them to go off before skimming...

Hello all, I am very new to electrics and am getting an electrician to do required work. However, I thought I would just check to see if it correct or if it just a cheap and easy option. I have just built a new kitchen extension and the electrics have been installed by adding another ring...