Recent content by danlightbulb

I bought a new valve body and took off the gland assembly. Going to switch it later today. Should be easy enough I think. What's bonkers is that to buy the gland assembly was going to be over £15 (inc p&p), but I could get a whole valve body from Amazon for £10. What waste.

Hi, I have Danfoss RAS C2 TRV valves. On one radiator a leak has appeared around the pin which pushes the valve closed. Its seeping out through the gland, enough to soak a paper towel overnight. It doesn't seem to happen when the TRV head is removed, only when the valve pin is being...

Yes that is true, there would have to be a retaining wall to stop the neighbours patio collapsing into ours. So removal of the whole thing is not feasible, I could only realistically reduce some of it, perhaps like the steps as you suggest. I have considered planters along the edge of the patio...

Thanks, I have looked at hundreds, maybe thousands of photos over the past couple of years. Its hard to find one similar to what I have, with that stark raised patio. Most gardens that feature a stepped design have the patio inset, and the lawn/planting raised, which creates a sense of privacy...

Hi all, My garden is a narrow rectangle. Around 5.5m wide and 25m long. Immediately out of the back door of the house there is a patio which is full width (5.5m) and about 4-5m in length. We go down some inset steps about 1.2m in height to the lawn area, which is about 3.5m wide by 9m long...

Question on dry system - a quoting company has recommended mortar this morning because I have sand faced tiles which are rougher, and they think the dry system adhesive won't stick very well to these tiles. Any thoughts on this please?

Felt is bitumen. Its generally ok but I have found a small number (4) of ripped sections which Ive patched from the inside with a bitumen primer and Gorilla waterproof tape (the tape wouldn't stick very well without the primer). The internal timbers (rafters, purlins, wall plates) are all good...

Thanks. So I have quite a wide range of opinions on this now, ranging from a repointing job to getting the whole thing done properly. From getting a scaffold and doing it myself to getting a firm in, or to finding a one man band type guy with a ladder who'll do it for £100. Not sure what Im...

There's alot of stuff online suggesting repointing ridge tiles is not recommended because it won't last very long. Almost everything points to removal, clean up and rebedding, or fitting dry system. I understand why you had yours repointed especially if it was very cheap but its unlikely I find...

Thank you. That would be a good option if I get lucky and see someone who Im happy with. I think with this job, yes I could throw a few £k at it of course and get it done, and there will be people ready to take my money. If repointing them up is sufficient to make it last another 5 years, for...

Same question to you really - do you agree the whole job needs doing? Or do I have other options, such as a smaller patch repair, finding a 'handyman' who is more willing to work off a ladder/small platform to get the costs down, something else I haven't thought of?

Do you agree the job definitely needs doing? Obviously with these things sometimes its easy to panic and think I have to do it, in this case is that in agreement or do you think I can wait?

Yep I considered something similar. But I think we're splitting hairs here - this is a big job for a DIYer to take on and I don't think finding small work arounds to little problems is going to change that. Can we bring it back up to a higher level please. I need to know how Im going to...

I think its easy to think I could do this job, and I probably could but at much greater risk and hassle than a professional who does this for a living. I think I have to draw a line and say that as someone with absolutely no roofing experience nor the right safety equipment, on quite a complex...

If I did it myself it might take me several weekends doing a bit at a time. That's continually up and down on the roof, moving my scaffold tower around, clambering across the roof, mixing up small batches of mortar etc. The roof pitch is 45 degrees, so quite steep and I wouldn't be able to...