Recent content by leafyman

Hi, I have a largish wooden frame made of railway sleepers. I could either use it as a raised shrubbery and flower bed in the lawn, or as a low rockery. And i have enough smallish rocks for that. If I go for the rockery, what would be the best base? Would I have to cut out the existing...

Thank you jonbay. I rather like the thought of plum coloured slate. Never seen it but will seek it out this weekend

Hi, I've just had a quote for a 29sq ft half-moon brick-surfaced patio. I haven't got my breathe back yet! A couple of times I remember parking on an earthen-filled plastic-mesh, grid-type, base. It had been planted with grass and seemed a very stable surface. I now wonder if this system...

Thanks Halitosis. Slabs over a membrane it will be.

I'm debating about using concrete slabs or gravel for a rear patio. It will be used with a table and chairs to sit on and will be about 12ft X 12ft in size. A good few years ago I was up north in the grounds of a stately home and the paths were really good. I asked a groundsman how they laid...

Thanks guys. I'm in Shropshire where things are supposed to be cheaper. I'll carry on getting quotes and will let you know how I get on.

Hi, My 20 x 18 foot garage needs the old felt, underlay, and boards stripping off and one length of guttering replaced. Then, one contractor told me, it all must be replaced with new material. The new felt would be torchon, if I've got the name right. He has quoted £5400 for the complete job...

Right, I've ordered an Airflow 4" non-timer ecoflow fan. It has a 3 year warranty which I find attractive. It will take a couple of days I imagine to get to me. I shall let you know when I have installed it. Thanks, guys, for your posts and willingness to help. Leafyman

John, Yes, I didn't tell you enough. Sorry about that. There is already a ceiling pull cord installed and when I put my trusty testing screwdriver on the exposed wires in the duct it showed the pull cord is operational. In other words, the live wire lit up the driver. I turned the light on...

Hi, I have an unused wall vent in my bathroom in which I now wish to install ventilation. there is existing wiring in the duct which is live (brown) neutral (black) and earth (green), valid stuff I believe. There is no easy way of getting 3 core wiring into the duct without removing wall...

Ok, I'll get a 2 pole tester. Can you recommend a make or model which is easy to use and understand? I see that some reasonable priced ones are called voltage testers. Is that all they do and would they be suitable for what I want?

Hi, This is related to a previous post in Nov re new immersion heater controls. I had to rush away before I'd finished the job and only got back last night. Sorry about the delay. I now have installed two of the MK switches one each for day and night connections. Only trouble is that I...

The lower immersion heater is connected to an mcb on the main consumer unit, not to any coming from the Econ 7 unit. The old copper tank had two immersion heaters with only the lower one still in use. I don't have anything old to photo now. I've been up in the loft today and have tracked the...

Right, sorry to be late replying. I carried out AndyPRK' s great suggestion: all the MCBs down beforehand, put up the two legrand ones and checked straight after the change to night rate. Nothing getting warmed up, nothing not working in the house. I put them down, lifted up the others and...

Okay, I've taken off the front cover and the eight mcb's are all connected up.Quite what the two on the left are connected to, I don't know. As the unit is all Economy 7 I'll have to wait until after 1am to put my testing screwdriver on the mcbs. Then, I'll turn off the two on the left, which...