Recent content by GaryinAshby

A friend of mine has a sealed heating system which needs draining but whoever installed the system didn't install a drain valve anywhere. The pipework is 22mm and an obvious "quick fix" would be to use a washing machine self piercing tap to drain the system but all the ones available are for...

My BCO recommended 165mm between the rafters (90mm and 75mm sheets) or 100mm between and 35mm underneath for my cold (flat) roof. Whatever you go with, the minimum space for through ventilation above the insulation is 50mm.

Problem is he IS the senior guy there.... :( He is insisting that because the plans that I submitted (full plans approval) state that a soakaway shall be used AND my local water authority (Severn Trent) now forbid the discharging of rainwater into the sewer, I HAVE to use some sort of...

Yep, he brings a whole new meaning to the word "stubborn". I could always do as he says, get it passed off & then change it to discharge into the sewer with the rest of the house, but I'd sooner do it "right" (if there is a way to do it "right" given the ground conditions). I have heard of...

I have to build a soakaway for the rainwater from our new extension (flat roof approximately 28m²). The soakaway will be around 6m from any building, the ground level here is approximately 0.7m lower than the ground level where the buildings are (ie, the garden slopes away from the house by...

The way that my own extension was done was DPM, cellotex, barrier, concrete slab, tiles. The DPM was left over length at the point where we broke through the outer/inner walls to the house and the existing house floor slab was cut back by 6", exposing the original DPM under the house floor...

Just a thought..... As this is a bungalow & the flat roof felting runs under the roof tiles of the bungalow, is he reffering to that, rather than the floor DPC? That would make more sense as I have quoted three layers of roofing felt?

I think so, what I wrote was all that was listed in the schedule of defects & omissions. I tried to contact the BCO but he's on holiday for two weeks. When I built my own extension, the new floor DPC was simply chased into the mortar course of the existing wall (ie. chopped out the mortar...

A neighbour asked me to help him out with planning & b.regs application, as he knew I had done my own plans around 4 years ago. The application os for a full-plans b.regs approval as he intends to do a lot of the work himself, using contractors as & where necessary. The extension is a single...

Paper-faced plaster coving going onto skimmed boarded ceiling & walls. Can I use a PVA based "No-nails" type of cartridge adhesive or do I have to use coving adhesive? Thanks

For the last 12 to 18 months I've been practising skimming boards (hanging a board in the garage & skimming it). This along with advice from many folks has brought me to a point where I am quite good and have now started to skim the boarded walls in my new extension. For the walls I've used...

Its okay, I've found some, please ignore this. Move along folks, nothing to see here....

I have just had my extension boarded & skimmed & the back boxes have been fitted too deep, so I now need longer screws (by about 1/2") for the sockets & switches. Any idea where I can get these from? Alternatively, any idea what size thread they are? Thanks

Where is it suitable? I'm boarding & skimming both block and stud walls. I've always used 12mm but a friend uses 9mm. Is there any real difference (apart from 3mm and the cost). Also, the ceiling joists are on 400mm centres. If using 2.4 x 1.2 x 12mm boards, and the edges don't meet on a...

What fixings are best to use to hang a radiator on a plasterboarded stud partition wall? The P/B is 12.5mm & skimmed, the radiator is single and 1000mm x 600mm. Thanks