Search results

Thanks... do you mean here?

Morning everybody from icy N Ireland... it occurs to me that I might have to get access to the external water main stopcock, but the last time I did this was decades ago, and the big key thing I've had since then doesn't fit in the kind of cover I have at this house. Could anybody please tell...

Right, I see. OK think I understand things now - thanks so much for your help. Way I see it is, there's no happy ending either way - I don't think I could face having the frames dug out again and replaced. But I'll be phoning him tomorrow, and will report back when he's been to examine them.

Ah, they're called mullions, aren't they... I've taken a pic, but it's not easy to take a decent one with one hand. It’s actually a little more complicated than I’ve said – there are two windows, one he installed 2 years ago, and one on Thursday. I first noticed it on the new one late on...

Actually, what they do here in N Ireland is for crooks from Eire to get number plates made with typical random NI numbers, stick them on their builders’ vans etc in Dublin, speed freely, park in disabled spots, and drive through tolls without paying. So, I might choose TRZ4988, at random –...

Then I read that there can be internal and external lintels, so thought I'd better go outside and check that there's something above the actual windows... does this look like a steel lintel to you?

The window in my living room was 30 year old mahogany frame (approx. 6’ x 6’), which was rotting, so I saved up and got a new uPVC replacement put in yesterday. Possibly too much information, but I suffer from a kind of PTSD, and find things like this very difficult and stressful. Anyway, job...

Well I think I figured it out in the end. While putting a picture up, I discovered that one of the living room's internal walls is partly stud - clearly it used to have an open archway into the dining room. I've checked other houses in the estate, and some of them still have it. So I'm guessing...

Well it's a while ago now, but people may be interested in the outcome. I got a different plumber in to service the boiler today, and he did it all very professionally - for less money than the previous one - including using the gas analyser etc. He said the flue gases were "way off" on the...

No mate - concrete :mad:

Couldn't agree more - can't afford one though :cry: Not sure there would be space for one anyway...

Ummm... it's a wood fire...

OK so on a slightly different note, we have a very cold airflow through the room. When the fire's not lit (most of the time), it really cools the room. I've sealed the door as best I can, but it's only partially effective. So I came across Chimney Sheep, and fancy giving one a go - only...

Having to get a 30-year-old mahogany unit (approx 6' x 6') replaced as it's coming apart in places, and has blown panels. I have blinds on the inside of the current unit, which attach to the existing unit with L-shaped brackets screwed into the frame: ...so I'm wondering about the...

Sadly floor is concrete with laminate!

Thanks as always Rab (and everybody). I just wandered round the estate, and can see the tops of some of the other bungalows here. They do seem to have (short) clay pots, with cowls on top - I assume mine is the same. Last night was very cold here, so I got a good fire going. It draws absolutely...

Okily dokily...

OK... well... here's the thing. No vent, no sign of ever being one... BUT there is a gas fitting (no sign of it anywhere on the inside), so I assume that was the original arrangement, but the previous owners must have done away with it and put the grate in. Does that mean that the flue is...

Oh, yes, it's a traditional fireplace - been there since the house was built. Knowing the previous owners though, I wouldn't be at all surprised if they'd papered over the vent, if one was installed when built. Here's a couple of pics of other handiwork of theirs. And the guy works in property...

Believe me, with the door closed you couldn't sit in the room for long enough to worry about it :eek: