Recent content by dal3001

That's great, thanks. So in this scenario, the lintel would just be keeping the rest of the non-critical infill in place I suppose? Just grabbed a concrete lintel today from Jewson that should mean I can crack on over the weekend with this :) Having had a look up the chimney, it seems this...

Hi, We've got a cast iron fireplace that consists of a surround and an insert. Our existing opening is slightly too small for me to get the insert into it and to get the surround flush with the chimney breast wall. I need to make it around 10cm higher and 10cm wider (5cm each side). The...

I do appreciate your input, it's just it isn't practical or actionable right now really. Besides, it wasn't me who took the **** - seems you've got a rep round here maybe... Anyway, let's just put a pin it - I do get it, you think it's bad and it needs lots of stuff fixing. Likelihood is that...

I can't tell if you're being serious or not haha. Either way I think I'll have to live with it for now if there really are that many issues. Probably just won't bother decorating it. In terms of suggestion that maybe the house is made of rubble hahq, it's had a building survey, drainage...

I don't have a picture but I think the kitchen wall is relatively normal looking brick, at least from outside. I think part of the external wall that's been rendered was reconstructed from blocks but I can't find a picture. I managed to dig out some pictures of it when it was stripped out, not...

Here'a a couple more pics showing the door wall lower down. Have asked my neighbour for a pic of his side, didn't just want to wave my phone over the fence as it looks into their kitchen on the other side of that fence haha. I'm not opposed to having to go back to masonry to sort it out. I...

Ah man, that's a depressing read. This outfit came with decent recommendations. I can't really afford to pay someone to hack it all back to brick. I've basically spent up getting it this far. It's impossible to pick a builder... Are some of the materials like the flashings salvageable? If...

Thanks for the inputs so far by the way. I raised the issue with our builder too this morning and he showed me some pictures of this wall as it was under construction and I can see he's used plasterboard with insulation behind. The areas of damp correspond roughly in his pictures to the areas...

I've attached the best pictures I can of the entire wall. The staining doesn't seem to be consistent near the bottom, it's more of a pattern like it's following the join on a board or something. It's noticeable around the cut out for the plug socket as well. I included a picture of the other...

Now you mention it, I had a conversation about this with the builder at the time and he said we'd get it sorted to building regs and he did mention the insulation. Not sure if he just did insulated plasterboard instead though... Guess that's not enough? Would this suggest there's no insulation...

Yeah that's a solid brick external wall. I'm not really sure whether to address it fully by ripping it out and starting again but seems like potentially overkill and also a bit of a waste since it was only done a few weeks ago... Basically I'm not sure how big an issue it is and if it's...

Hi, I recently had a room totally re-done. It was gutted and stripped all the way back to brick and built back out. The plastering was completed around 4 or 5 weeks ago and the house hasn't been heated during that time. In the room, the vast majority of the plaster appears dry. On one of the...

Thanks. I did just come across these http://purchase.postfixbrackets.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=70&product_id=86 but they're quite pricey and I'm not sure they're strong enough, it only really mentions trellis and battens as potential uses. Any alternative clamps you know of...

Hi all, I've moved into a new house where the back garden is fenced using concrete fence posts with concrete gravel boards and pretty standard wooden fence panels that slot in. I want to be able to fix a cat proofing system around the perimeter of the garden (It's like a sort of guard rail...

OK, thanks both. Yeh I wasn't expecting a full assessment based on those pictures. Would guess then from the holes in the skirting that it's possible the guys who made the first damp proofing attempt may not have done a great job...