Recent content by 23vc

Can you tell me more about concrete cavity lintels?

I wouldn’t bother, unless there’s evidence of thermal/moisture bridging

Cavity closer (bought in lengths), which includes the vertical (or horizontal in the case of the underside of the window) dpc and foam insulation. Does the inner skin lintel actually need replacing?

That’d be more involved as you’d have to support both skins of masonry while doing it. Fair bit of redoing brickwork above afterwards too. Don’t forget weep vents etc

Expanding foam

Outer skin may have no lintel at all, and have always been supported by being sat on the window and tied to the inner skin. Belt and braces would be to fit a proper cavity lintel/cavity tray, or may get away with just an angle iron lintel on the outer. If you had access from outside you could...

Fwiw, looks like due to yours not being properly detailed at the top, water has just got behind it over time and blown it. Pretty sure once you start taking that top section off, a lot would come off before you hit anything sound. I’d just be up front and make it the buyers problem if you can’t...

Really hard to say tbh. If it was me (deliberately trying to cosmetic bodge) I’d gently take as much off as I could, leaving any bits I could get away with, then SBR it and patch it, but I do sand&cement rendering/know how to. Risk with yours is without touching it no one knows how much...

You’re not going to be able to falsify that. Any attempt to do it will still be easy pickings for the surveyor to flag and likely to end up worse and looking like you’re trying to hide it. I’d just be honest from day one, let them have that and say it’s priced accordingly for a repair, which you...

I think that’s going to be pretty tricky to get right. I’m thinking lapping the excess DPM up the outside of the wall and if needed extending it by taping more to it, might be your best bet. And protecting it from getting damaged. But that’s only going to alleviate ground level moisture and not...

How are you identifying the signs of it being installed from the outside? If late 90s it should have it when built rather than retro fitted?

Bottom left and right - inner skin’s already got a thermal/moisture break due to the cavity Top right - cut a groove and put a vertical dpc in. Above roof - retro fit a cavity tray. Personally I’ve built one without doing either of those, BC was fine, and zero issues as expected in a decade...

If the drum is removable easy like the belle, I may go for the SF one next time if and when the belle eventually kicks the bucket. It’s a big bonus if you want to get it in the car on your own.

I’ve got a belle which I bought 2nd hand in 2011, I’ve used it to build a couple of extensions and a load of other stuff, it’s never missed a beat. Although I’m embarrassed to admit I only found out recently you can give the drum a gentle anticlockwise twist and it comes straight off, making...

overboard the lath ones, life’s too short to strip them (dirt, effort, waste removal)