Recent content by Bluesbreaker

Yes, it's an extension with a new felt roof. Previous owners did it and it looks really sound, being only 2 years old. I might be stuck with trying to improve things from the inside, which I know isn't ideal.

Grateful for some advice. I have a room I'm about to refurbish, not looking to cut corners or do it on a shoestring. The room is always a few degrees colder than anywhere else in the house, it's noticeable when you walk in. It's cavity construction, damp-free with good window and French doors...

Well, there's T&E running between the six lamps, but only live and neutral are connected to the fittings. But oj each one, the earth is just loose and not connected to anything. I expected to see connecting blocks joining the earth at each lamp. I thought maybe a DIYer had seen only L/N on the...

Thanks, that makes sense. I'm sure the lamps themselves don't require earth connection, I have a spare and there's no option to connect one. My worry is I'll do loads of renovation and discover a fault late on. Whilst the wiring appears generally good, this installation doesn't look like good...

I'd be grateful for advice before I call an electrician in, as I'm not sure I need to. I started replacing the floorboards in one of my bedrooms, giving me a birdseye view of the downlights in the kitchen below, which were in place when I moved win and probably around 2 years old. I noticed...

To be fair, the builder's work is top drawer and he's been good to work with. He's rightly p****d off at having to come back to a job he thought was finished. I'll have to pay him, obviously, but he's in the middle of something else now. Whether he should have seen it coming is another thing...

:) I wish I had saved a few quid, but I did it with a straight bat. I submitted a full BCO application, the builder (who is also the roofer to whom I refer) subbed an architect to work out the design and a structural engineer did the calcs. So I tried to do everything above board and thought the...

I'm not slagging anyone and I am not the designer. I left that to the roofer/builder who did my dormer and joisting, including liaising with the building inspector over what was permissable. I was intending to do the the second fix and finishing myself but now find I need to take a few steps...

I'm glad it's not just me that thinks that. All I thought soffit vents in a fascia would do is keep the render behind them nice and dry! My roofer was far less complementary and left it to me to decide and get back to him.

Can somebody help? I am part-way through a loft conversion, at the point of agreeing with the building inspector what sort of insulation I can use. We have hit upon an air-flow problem that I can't see a solution to. My house doesn't have any soffits - the rafters finish flush with the wall...

Thanks. That clears it up. Just to be clear, it's a TRV on one side (either) and a lockshield on the other side?

Afternoon I needed to fit a rad in my kitchen, which didn't have one at all. I teed off from an upsatirs rad and left 10mm tails capped off until I was ready. I marked the flow and retun pipes, which i could identify upstairs and that was that. However, when my mate was drylining for me, he...

Thanks for the advice, it makes sense that things weren't necessarily done wrongly, just differently. As you say, if it ain't broke.... It always pays to seek others' opinions, I find. I'm sure my SE knows his business, but he made a couple of fundamental errors in his calcs, stemming from...

Hi As part of a project i'm currently working on, I removed a ceiling in my downstairs kitchen. On doing so, I noticed that about 2m of the dividing wall in the bedroom above (engineering brick, 2.7m high) is not coincidental with the downstairs supporting wall and is merely resting on...

Morning I am in the process of overhauling my kitchen, knocking some walls down, etc. My structural engineer and building inspector recommended removal of an old chimney breast in my kitchen (already removed upstairs) to create extra space, so I set about it yesterday. From what I have...