Search results

Thanks Hugh for those: I don't know what that second pipe is, looks like another old clay drain. But I am sure the one in middle of my hole is the main sewer drain for this house. I put rods down from inspection chamber and got someone to waggle a corkscrew while I had my head down hole. I...

I want to do a good job, and not flood the house with poo, or undermine its foundations, or have to dig it all up for a routine blockage. But regs are very inflexible and my council is very slow and expensive to consider things (think 400+ quid for a new drain connection).

I worry LABC won't like any of the options and I'm really short on time! Want to do it so it won't leak and has some access but not bothered about full BC sign off. I am sure that it is my drain not water company though, it only serves my property and is fully within boundary.

The only other option would be to try to squeeze a small inspection chamber in, but it's really tight. Then I could have a more conventional underground rest bend at bottom of the new stack, like this: Is it ok to have a 45bend right out of the chamber? My other worry about this option is that...

I've made a new first-floor bathroom with a toilet on a wall over the side passage. The main combined rainwater/sewage drain runs under the middle of the side passage. So I thought it would be easy to make a new soil stack into the existing drain. But now I think it's quite hard, access is...

I'm about to tile an alcove shower. I'm using 13mm marble tiles on to tanked Aquapanel. I want to put some small shelves in for shower gel and stuff. The chrome ones look tatty quickly I've found. And I haven't got the right studwork now for an alcove. So how about just using the tiles...

Still not sure what it was but just about got rid of it with a mixture of planing and big bag of sanding belts. Acetone didn't do anything unfortunately. Thanks for all the help

Yes the paint/glue is certainly dry non the boards but gets sticky again when you sand it. Could really do with having the floor sanded by end of this week! I'll try some nitromors. Might be combination of chemical and abrasion is the thing.

It was all carpeted when we moved in but my dad reckons way back it was common to have carpets in middle of room with edges painted or in lino, so could be glue residue or paint.

I've been using an old 850W 4" belt sander with 40 grit belts. I've got a plane I could try although the paint is all round the edge of room so getting the bigger tools in is tricky. Unless I could go at 90 degrees to grain for initial pass? I'll try the belt cleaner too cos this paint is...

Sanding up old pine floorboards, maybe up to 100 years old. Rough sand of most of them went ok, but round the edges there is a thick, sticky black paint that I'm really struggling to shift (see pics below). It seems to go pretty deep into the wood. If I can shift the paint, thinking of dyeing...

I forgot to mark the radiator, in case that is important, it's in the bay window like this:

I'm redoing the main bedroom in an old solid-brick semi and the bed is going along an external wall with chimney breast. The alcoves aren't really deep enough to do much with. As it's being skimmed anyway, should I fit some thin internal insulation into the alcoves? I'm thinking one of these...

Hi, I'm fitting a new first-floor shower and the edges will not be above joists. Which option is best? 1 replace all the floorboards then just screw 18mm structural ply into the boards, and into joists where can. 2 remove all boards, reinforce joists with new noggins to provide support along...

Gave it a good blast with a garden hose then rodded it too, and have got it pretty clear. Thanks very much Hugh you were spot on - it's an interceptor - and the ceramic lid had fallen off and down into the main gully (though thankfully it hadn't broken). Will maybe see if I can get it taken...

If I just blast it with the garden hose would that be enough? I won't jump down there then, thanks! Unfortunately I'm south west London (Kingston area) so think it might be too far for Andy in Herts. Think will get a pro in to look in the new year though!

Thanks Hugh I've done some googling and that makes a lot of sense. So there is another inlet under the larger hole to the left of the picture above? There was also a strange pipe out right up by ground level with a pot over it in the garden - which would make sense for gas release. I'll get...

Yes I gave it a poke. Not concrete. Sludgy and didn't smell of poo, although the house was empty for almost two years.

Thanks, yes I hadn't thought of that! House hasn't been extended properly and haven't found any more inspection covers yet - although might lift a few bits of decking to check.

I had my food dye ready to try to figure out what was going on with drains in my new house, lifted the manhole cover and found this... There are pipes at each end that look a bit like clay underground drains, and are at right-angles to the road (where main drain probably goes). I flushed a...