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@JohnD - You are right, the external stone header is intended to be decorative. Its inclusion in the scheme has been specified by me as an aesthetic requirement. The SE has then proposed a set of steels that will sit behind it and take the full structural load. He has, though, additionally...

Thanks for the replies. In fairness to the SE he is not specifying that we must have a structural stone header. The load is carried by the steels. He is suggesting that it would be preferable "belt and braces" to attempt to find a stone header that can take some load. His design, though, is...

Let the lime mortar crust over a bit then smack it in hard with a slightly damp churn brush - makes a fantastic finish. The pointing above - not my cup of tea: I don't like the pointing-stands-proud crazy paving school of pointing, looks pretty unsympathetic to what was there before and has...

Hi, We would like to install some bifold doors, with a cast Bath/Ham stone header/lintel for the external face of the opening to match the rest of the house. We have had structural calculations done. The structural engineer has specified the steels to carry the entire load but has suggested we...

Ok, new immersions heaters it is, then. And if the tank is full of crust, new tank too. I see on line that you can get plenty of tanks with a single immersion heater feeding in from the top. I'm guessing this means I won't have the faff of draining off if I need to replace it again. However, I...

Thanks, both. The immersion heaters were bought at the same time, from the same shop, and ar ethe same make/model so I guess it's not inconceivable they come from a faulty batch. Is it likely that both could have encrusted so quickly?

Hi, I have a traditional copper hot water tank, with two immersion heaters - one powered from economy 7 and a 'booster' one powered from the normal mains. The E7 one (bottom of the tank) is used every night. The booster one has had occasional use. Both were replaced about a year ago. The tank...

If I were you, I'd consder calling the tiler back while you're at it. Brick bonding of large tiles is inherently a bit more challenging than plain old side by side bonding as it is very intolerant of walls that are not flat horizontally. If they're not, or you don't compensate by packing out...

Hi All, @fezster - good thinking on moving that balanced PRV, but I saw it too late ... ... because I've now fitted an additional PRV to the cold feed after the tee to the unvented tank. I guess that does mean I have a pipe, with a tee, with both sides of the tee having a PRV where, as fezster...

Hi All, @Nozzle & @Old&Cold - yes, there were commissioning instructions to alter the temperature range. I've followed those and 'turned everything up to 11'. There is no provision for fitting flow restrictors in the instructions. So, I'm fairly confident that there isn't a shower installation...

Hi John, Thanks. My plan is that both hot and cold will be regulated down to the same-ish pressures, albeit using two PRVs - the preset one already on the feed to the unvented hot cylinder and a new one I will add to the cold. The pipework isn't really conducive to using the same PRV (I can't...

Hi Doggit, Thanks for your reply. Yes, I have isolating lever valves on both hot and cold. I tried partially closing the cold before I posted but, as you can imagine, they're a bit of a blunt weapon - from 180 to 90 degrees, no difference, but from 90 degrees to 89.9 degrees is dramatic...

Hi, I've just fitted a Hansgrohe Raindance Select thermostatic mixer shower. With both hot and cold supplies running to it it gives water that is only "quite warm" (which is not warm enough for SWMBO to shower in it!) If I turn off the cold supply, it gives fully hot water. Hot is supplied by...

Yes I am not sure I understand this question - what's the "lower half of [a] radiator tail?" Well, if you don't know, then I suspect no-one knows, as whatever happened, you did it! :-) Over and out on this thread for me now - stuff to get on with. Good luck with it ...

Kind of impossible for me to say - not least because I am only a DIYer, so have done 10s of not thousands of joints. I generally tend to go for around five or six turns. In my experience, that's enough to feel the string fluff up in the joint but without having to apply undue torque to tighten...

He's using Loctite 55, which is not PTFE tape. It's a highly fibrous string that frays asyou do up the joint, filling any gaps. Based on my experience of using it, the OP has applied it correctly. If anything, 5-6 turns is a little too much. I agree with your rule wrt tightening.

Hi, I have an underfloor heating manifold with three zones. For about the last four years this has been working perfectly but on Saturday morning we woke up to find that all three floors were stone cold - and they have stayed that way since. Things I know: (1) The boiler is working fine - we...

You're only encouraging him (or her) - and no good will come of that ... :-)

The definition of voltage is perfectly straightforward as it is and doesn't need confusing with "balls in a pipe" analogies. (And before anyone asks: "The work done to move a unit electrical charge between two points in a static electric field".) With that settled, perhaps it might now be...

I think I am broadly with BAS here. I have no problem with someone being unable to spell (and I do not claim to be able to, or never to make mistakes), but I do have a problem with someone who freely admits they can't spell and can't be bothered to press the 'spell check' button. Not only does...