Recent content by Ivor Windybottom

There was an apartment block in Germany where the landlord introduced a rule that all men had to sit while peeing. He was blaming this for the radiators next to the toilets all rusting, more likely just crap radiators in a damp environment.

My shower room's on a floating floor. I put solid timber in place of the insulation slab under the bog and basin, and solid concrete under the shower tray. Also ensured the pipes aren't resting against the floorboards, the floor can bounce all it likes but the plumbing's not going anywhere...

What I mean is that they definitely won't remain sealed if the thing is moving like a bouncy castle. I know someone who built a bathroom on a floating floor, the movement pulled the waste pipe open under the floor, no visible signs until the floor gradually turned to mush.

Is the water supply pipe in the vicinity? It may be a leak, or just condensation that's gathering on it and wicking into the wall

Looks great, you need a shower tray to be super-rigid. Definitely good to over-do it, keep those edges and waste pipes sealed.

Total nonsense, cherry-picked evidence. One daft study that defies common sense in every way. Any bricky knows that building a wall with wet bricks is a nightmare because... they absorb water, shock horror. Because they're made of porous material. Instead of staring at a screen, pick up a...

If you're drilling above then it won't make much or any difference. Alongside it would be more of an issue. But I can't picture the situation from your description, a photo or diagram would be helpful. I can't understand why a short duct would be an issue, it would just reduce the potential...

I hope you've actually tried attaching a bit of wood where the new ceiling will be and walking up and down naturally - not just carefully standing there. If you're under 6 foot tall then ask someone taller to try it. I don't understand why you're bothering with seemingly designing it to sag...

Get your spade out and dig down the outside of the wall in a couple of spots, dig down the edge of the concrete footing. If there's black topsoil under it, as is common for conservatories, then it's not suitable for adding the weight of a proper roof. It would look great for a couple of weeks...

The "rising damp doesn't exist" conspiracy theory has been doing the rounds for decades. Total rubbish, spouted by idiots. Here's a more informed opinion...

Relative humidity is temperature dependent. If you took the air from a warm room with low humidity then cooled it down without adding any water then its relative humidity would increase. Warm air can absorb more water. The absolute humidity hasn't changed, but the colder air is less capable...

Concrete posts can be surprisingly easy to snap if you get enough leverage. I had to move one, it was only a couple of years old and concreted in. It snapped near the base very easily after a push. You'd have a couple of metres of leverage. Someone casually leaning on it could snap it...

Clay or plastic? Old or new? There are huge differences. I found our drainage was dependent upon a pipe made of sawdust, asbestos and tar from the 1950s. Needless to say it wasn't very well. If old clay then it will be fragile, especially at the joints. The risk probably isn't a pipe...

Yes, and/or get someone qualified in to have a look, perhaps a structural engineer. You may not have much comeback against the builder after 18 years if it was botched. It's not going to fall down though, it's just an annoyance and it looks bad, and would have been much easier to prevent it...

It's hard to tell from the photo, but I'm wondering if there's meant to be a movement joint in the internal corner where the neighbour meets your end wall - it looks like there may be brown sealant there? If so then it's failed to move there and should be looked into - it may be a fake movement...