Recent content by HarryBoyHere

Hi Steve. I did get a builder in to look at it. He was the one who put the hole in the concrete to take a look underneath. He was mystified as to why concrete had been laid over floorboards in the first place. I also had a 2nd builder come to take a look who was similarly unsure why the floor...

Hi all Hope to obtain some advice on the following: In our first floor flat the kitchen floor is quite uneven and has a slope. The height difference between one end and the other is 2". The surface is concrete and has some cracks in the middle. We've investigated by removing some concrete and...

I'm sure on this point yes.

Attached are some photos of the back yard taken today. I have not done anything very adventurous as you can see, but the space now looks very different. I painted the walls magnolia, removed the wooden handrail from the steps and painted the inside of the back door green. I got various pots and...

I did something similar recently and with the same paint, sandtex pillar box red gloss. I also did the inside first as a kind of test run as it was my first time painting a front door. In an ideal world you would remove the door entirely to paint it. But given this is your front door and each...

It just backs out to the alleyway.

In this case, I am pretty sure the building was always divided into the two flats. They are tyneside flats and were built that way somewhere around 1910-1920.

I take the point, and frankly I am not sure how much time we would ever really spend in the yard. It is after all a really small space. My original plan was as you say, to pretty it up with plants and whatnot. I am undecided on the sitting out there angle.

The back steps are only used to get into the yard. It's the back door. Normal access is on the other side of the building at the front. Removing the stairs and coming up with a wooden design solution is a great idea but is really more than I want to take on and, as above, I am not keen to try...

Thank you for your suggestions. I like the idea of equalising the heights of the two sides of the yard. The door does currently open inwards and therefore across the lower level, so if this lower level were built up the door would need to be cut down or re-hung to open outwards. The existing...

A good point about permission. The wall with the window on it is the bathroom of the downstairs flat. Mine is the upstairs flat. As you can see, the window is frosted so I highly doubt the tenants downstairs would ever notice a difference. But you're right, I do need to make sure whatever I do...

Attached are some more photos.

Richard, thanks for your comments and suggestions. The yard does get some sun though it is a little limited by the height of the back wall. The existing render does seem to be coming away at the top so might be best to remove it entirely. A builder advised me earlier today to avoid...

Recently I bought an upstairs flat. It has a very small yard out back (see photo) which was previously used only to store the wheelie bins. I would like to try to do something to make use of the outside space. The plan is to clean up the concrete with a pressure washer, add hanging baskets...