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Hi, I live in a poured twin leaf concrete house. There is no dpc because of the type of construction. The house came with a black stripe along the bottom of each wall, which I assume is bitumen or similar paint to resist water splashes when it rains. I'm painting the house in b and q '15...

Hi, I fitted a three tap mixer control inset into a tiled wall. It was a bit of a pig to put in and replacement would involve taking bath out, breaking tiles/retiling etc. The backing plate is a chrome rectangle and is dented. There are 3 taps - the bottom one fills the bath, the middle...

Ok, bit of an unusual question, but could you use the foundations/concrete slab and residential caravan chassis 15ft wide/40ft long and then build to normal household building regs/planning permission rather tan one for a caravan site? The logic is that the concrete slab and caravan...

Hi, I intend to replace the flat (it has a fall from front to rear) roof on the garage, which is currently wriggly tin supported by metal tubes (yes that good a leaking bodge job!) with a fairly standard timber roof. There is already a 'lip' on the side of the house at the correct fall...

Hi, we have a concrete poured house with a cavity. the garage was originally separate but a previous owner has put a door in the 'alleyway' and perspex over the gap. the kitchen door would go into the garage if it was rebuilt up to the side of the house. the current garage roof slopes...

Hi, a friend has acquired an ex military concrete building which he wishes to make habitable and insulate. How could he deal with the insertion of a damp proof course and damp proof the floor. Would it be better to insulate and render on the outside? or insulate on the inside? rgds G

Hi, I have the XF100MH Electro-Mechanical Humidity Control with on/off Switch adjustable 20-90% R Is it designed to run any time that the humidity is above the set figure? So installation..... Fan isolator switch and fuse outside the bathroom? any advise welcome Graham

Hi, I almost think I should put this one under 'diy disasters'. I fitted a concealed thermostatic valve with 2 outlets and plumbed the bath in. The instructions for the valve state under problem solving - "shower or bath filler runs only hot OR cold (in my case hot) - hot and cold...

Hi, I have been making a bit of a buggers muddle of connecting the hot and cold feeds to a two outlet bath and shower mixer valve. There are 3 taps on the front controlling flow to bath, flow to shower and hot/cold. I cut the hole for it (it is concealed) and used 15mm flexible hose...

Hi, I understand that water pressure and boiler type can dictate the choice of valves for shower and bath - but I do not know what my water pressure is.... What I would like to do is fit a shower over a bath without changing the boiler which currently does heating and hot water. The...

Hi, we live in one of those double skin poured concrete houses. They didnt care much about cosmetics when they were built - so there is a 'wavy' surface from the concrete, which has been rendered and painted. The render seems sound to me. What is my simplest/most cost effective way...

Background I had 3 x concrete walled sheds with asbestos roof in the back garden, near to the rear of the house. One of them has a loo in it. I extended to the front of these sheds - 0.5 m foundation + concrete base. I then over roofed using britmet tileform villatile and a relatively low...

Background I had 3 x concrete walled sheds with asbestos roof in the back garden, near to the rear of the house. One of them has a loo in it. I extended to the front of these sheds - 0.5 m foundation + concrete base. I then over roofed using britmet tileform villatile and a relatively low...

Hello, we bought a 3 pane window off ebay. The centre pane is an opening window. The 2 outer panes had the double glazed units removed to allow fitting the window frame to the new brickwork. We have all the parts and seals. The seals for the front of the window ar e roughly...

Hello, does anyone have experience of using decra lightweight metal tiles or kent direct recycled plastic tiles. Intended usage is on garden outbuilding with 0.5M fall from ridge to eaves in 3M Cost is a factor, but so is ease of installation and the look which has got to be better than 40...

Hi, I have a small garden outbuilding that I am extending with celcon solar blocks, built as 'thin joint blockwork' using celfix mortar. I appreciate that I want the blocks with a 'key' on the surface - but there will be no 'recessed joint' to aid adhesion - because it is 'thin joint' I...

Hello, I would like to use kingspan roof tile panels (100mm) - which look like a tiled roof for a side extension to my house comprising a garage and utility room. The plan size of the extension is 8.4M x 3.07m. I would seek to minimise the roof pitch (12 degree, 15 degree?), which...

Hi, we are living in a laing easiform house which is poured in situ double leaf concrete cavity wall house. It has the bottom 12 inches painted black and many other local houses are the same - I cant see a damp proof course and cant see how there would be one - so find it difficult to work...

Hi, we have recently moved into a concrete house in Bristol - the laing type is a bit like a 'normal' cavity wall house but both leaves are concrete that is poured in situ - no real problems with the house revealed by mortgage valuation or full survey - just a bit wonky here and there...