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hi, I am renovating an old house which has a mixture of brick and timber stud walls with Lathe and plaster. Some day, I might like to do a loft conversion. To do this I'm pretty sure I'll need the stairwell to be a 'protected enclosure' will all walls having at least 30min fire resistance. In...

I'm replacing the kitchen in my old 1830's house and upon removing the existing units, discovered that there is a large hole in the brick wall. From what I can tell, the walls are constructed of two layers of sandstone with rubble between. This is an external wall. The hole is around 600 mm x...

Hi all, I have an old lead waste pipe running through my house. I'm moving the bathroom so it's no longer required. However I want to remove the pipe to use the void to carry new water and central heating pipes upstairs. The lead pipe is about 50mm diameter and goes into a massive waste pipe...

I'm renovating an old victorian 3 floor terraced house with the usual hellish mish-mash of pipework running in bizarre and ugly locations. I want to replace all that with new pipework while I have the floorboards up. My question is, what pipe sizes should I use for the different bits? The...

I've bought a couple of hep2o tap connector fittings, 1/2 inch female to 15 mm push fit. All very well, but in the packet there are two things, the fitting and an o-ring. It seems like there's already an oring in the fitting, so my question is, what is the other one for? I added a pic of...

Hello, I am fitting a new shower, this is a mixer shower run off a combi boiler and cold mains. The rest of the pipework (at least anywhere near the shower) is plastic Hep20 (fitted by myself). My problem is I don't know what kind of connection I need to attach the shower inlet to the plastic...

I have one of these cheap SDS drills: http://www.screwfix.com/p/energer-enb465drh-4-8kg-sds-plus-rotary-hammer-drill-230-240v/63303 It's an Energer ENB465DRH 4.8kg SDS Plus Rotary Hammer Drill 230-240V It has a clutch and seems relatively low RPM (850rpm no load, 40Nm max torque) Can I use...

Hello, I'm wondering if you can get a floor levelling compound which you can screw or nail into? Something which cures to a wood-like consistancy? If so, can anyone suggest the products? Thanks!

Hello, I'm looking at buying an old Victorian house, irca 1890. Its in a row and is attached to houses either side. It has a few issues, but the most worrying one is sagging of the living room ceiling, and corresponding sagging of the floor above. I'd like to know what the most likely reason...

Hi, I'm getting a radiator replaced on my gas fired central heating system. I have an almost brand new Worcester combi boiler. What should I expect the plumber to do, if anything when fitting the radiator to keep my warrenty intact? What I mean is, does he need to flush it, or anything...

Hello, I live in a fourth floor tenament flat (in Scotland). The external waste pipe from my flat has started (or possibly has always been) leaking, and now every time I flush my toilet a load of water escapes outside. [code:1] from my wall o \ This pipe leaks \ o |...

Hi, I would like to modify a socket ring main in my flat in order to add some sockets. The planned modification would be as shown in the pictures below: In short I would like to convert an existing spur to be part of the main ring circuit, add a second socket to the ring main, and take...

Hello, I've recently begun stripping the many layers of paint and varnish from the wood in my recently purchased Victorian era flat. I have discovered that what I thought were horrible plain doors are actually nice solid panelled doors which have had sheets of wood nailed to them and painted...

Hi, at what minimum flow rate should I expect a Worcester Greenstar 28i junior boiler to activate the flow switch for the domestic hot water supply?

Hello, I have had gas central heating fitted this week with a Worcester Greenstar 28i junior being fitted. I have found however that the boiler seems to be very insensitive to the hot water flow. When I turn on the hot water tap you can get a little hot water for a while (I believe being left...

Hi All, I have a small box room in which I wish to lower the ceiling slightly in order to put in recessed lighting. The room is about 2.3m wide by 3m long. The two walls at either end which are 2.3m long are drywall, the others are normal walls. I plan to fit battens around the top of...

Hi All, I have a small box room in which I wish to lower the ceiling slightly in order to put in recessed lighting. The room is about 2.3m wide by 3m long. The two walls at either end which are 2.3m long are drywall, the others are normal walls. I plan to fit battens around the top of...