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I'm after a few lengths of timberboard for skirts and boxing in pipes. Wickes are doing 200 x 2350 x 18mm lengths for £15.48, is this a fair price? http://www.wickes.co.uk/Timberboard/invt/110044

I've taken down a louvre(?) vent like this while decorating the bathroom: The air brick is near the ceiling and the vent was facing upwards when I took it off (i.e. the other way round than in the photo). Is this the correct way round?

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Hi, just wondered if the following problem is a common one: My bathroom sink's wastewater pipe (looks lead-based) has been 'chased' into the base of the wall and runs to the back of the house exiting into a drain. The wall is a bit damp along the 2 metre run of this pipe and it has affected...

An update! It's just been raining – and I went outside to check the house's rear downpipe – what is coming out is nothing more than a trickle! Meanwhile, torrents were spilling over in the usual location. So I guess there is a blockage.

That reminds me of the privatisation of the water supply in Cochabamba in 2000 and the riots that followed. Which raises the (ethical?) question of whether anyone should really be able to lay claim to ownership of rainwater.

I can see the logic, during heavy rainfall the street sewers on my road can't cope.

No way would that be practical to dispose of even with a modest sized water butt - I did the maths. The section of roof to be served by the proposed downpipe is 50m2, and if we take London's average monthly rainfall in 2003, which is 35mm (from metoffice), that would mean 1750l of water...

Richard – I think the gutter is sound. What does a surface channel drain look like/how constructed? The perimeter of the patio is a flower bed so any solution would need to accomodate plants/nature etc. Woody – Thanks, that's a good suggestion. BTW, is it legal to drain rainwater down your...

Perhaps a drawing will help: The point where the red X is is where the gutter overflows during rain. This is above a very narrow alley next to a party wall. There are no other downpipes/drains on this side. Notice that there is already a downpipe serving the back of the house into the...

Actually I think it's a proper drain, the bath wastewater also runs into it... Perhaps a soakaway would work – although still a fair bit of digging to get it 5 metres away. Also not sure if the soil is good as it's London clay type of thing...

Adding a drain would mean digging up 6 metres of flowerbeds to lay pipe, large shrubs in the way, which is why I thought running downpipe across the house would be less disruptive.

I was just wondering if it's possible to get a curved (or curvable) rainwater downpipe? This is because I am looking into bringing a downpipe across the house to meet an existing drain – but the wall that it must cross has a bay. Also, does downpipe have to be angled towards the ground (as...

Here are photos of the bathroom roof. There are some holes in the felt. I took a few more which you'll see if you browse the whole album, but these three give a good overview.

It was mostly just wallpaper - the tiles above the bath were only four rows high. I'll get a photo of the felt roof on here later today.

No - the only ventilation (other than a window) is the airbrick you can see in the second pic.

The story begins in an 1880s flat conversion in Richmond – my parents' home. I'm in the process of helping them sort out their bathroom, which has unfortunately been in a dire state for years. Here's what's happened inside: The lime render has fallen off the brickwork, due to moisture...

Thanks for the tip – I did go with waxed cotton in the end.

Oh dear. Maybe there isn't a 'right' way then?