Recent content by leoinlios

Not sure, new house.

If it consumes electricity without being used, it needs to go, especially as it will likely never be used. Thanks.

Hi, I have a shavers socket in my bathroom which has 110v and 240v sockets. It produces a humming noise all the time, when nothing is plugged. Please can you confirm this noise means electricity is being consumed? And if so, is it normal that a transformer consumes electricity without a source...

Hi, I will be fitting a hardwood frame on a wall of my garage for a side door. The frame has been treated with 5 coats Dulux weathershield treatment all round and the wall is single-leaf dense blockwork (+lintel). My intention is to fill with expansion foam the gap between the frame and the...

Thank you Ree

Frank - thanks for the link, I know which ones you mean. I'll fit them all around the existing masonry for good measure. Ree - thanks for your response. I took a picture of the opposite wall, where the plinth hasn't been rendered over and you can see it is just a course (or two) of brickwork...

Thanks Frank - re the lip, is it OK to cut through all of it to make the door opening, i.e. all the way to the ground? The little wall hole I need to brick up is 35cm wide by 80cm high - so 4 cut blocks. I am not sure what rawlplugged tie you are saying I should use - please could you explain...

Hi - I have an external garage constructed out of single skin concrete blocks and outside rendering. There is a window on a side wall that I want to replace with a brand new upvc door. The window has a concrete lintel on top. Since the door I intend to fit is narrower and will fit within the...

Woody, thanks for your comment. Let me explain my design further a little. What will go on top of the raised foundation is my timber base, and on top of the base, all timber walls will be attached. The wall plates/studs will sit on the base edge, flush with the outer edge of the raised...

Hi Woody, would you care to expand a little please on what part of the advice provided to my question here you think is invalid? Do you mean that it is wrong to have trench foundations of the size I dug up? I had to dig in order to reach solid and more load bearing ground. And as for the width...

Makes sense. Thanks for the clarification, Frank. What mortar mix do you recommended for such crude bottom-of-trench blockwork?

Guys - thanks for your help. To answer Frank's comment about the structure, I will be building an all-timber-frame building, 120x50mm floor joists doubled up at the perimeter, 100x50mm for the wall frame, 195x50 roof joists, felt on warm roof + ply/osb as decking/sheathing + plasterboard inside...

oldbutnotdead, thanks for your time. Yes, I have a surplus of blocks otherwise I would not be considering them. For my precise dimensions, I calculated I would need 6 bulk bags of ballast and 41 cement bags (to make 3 cubic meters of concrete). This is costing me about £450 including mixer hire...

Thanks to all for your replies. If I lay dry concrete blocks at the bottom of the trench, and pile them up to a certain height, say 3 courses, loose, with no mortar between them but pea shingle on their sides, and then I pour about 300mm deep x 350mm wide of concrete on top of the loose blocks-...