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I’d like to repair and decorate the exterior window masonry surrounds on the front of my Victorian terrace. As far as the pillars, decorative mouldings and lintels go, I think it’s a fairly straightforward task of burning back the (many layer of) old paint, sanding and re-painting. I’ve had some...

:lol: Oh... and in answer to your q tony, no there's no crack on t'other side of wall.

Yes i read about that poor couple earlier in the week, probably why I've got a panic on! :? Well it turns out the wall that cracked – according to my builder – was a load bearing masonry wall after all, it's this wall highlighted in this photo that i presume supports the floor above...

Definitely? According to this site: http://www.rics.org/uk/news/news-insight/comment/top-10-crimes-against-period-houses/ The top 10 inappropriate works commonly carried out on traditional buildings 2. re-plastering or rendering main walls with cement-based materials rather than...

Yes the idea is to actually dig out the current hardstand and put the new one in slightly lower so it's below (150mm?) the DPC... if indeed there even is a DPC in an 1880 house?! My concern is the foundations in that front bay are very shallow and our pre-purchase structural did note slight...

I just returned home from work to find a large (new) crack running wall to ceiling that the builders renovating the property look to be now repairing. Should i be worried? The wall is a partition wall between entrance hallway and lounge, the crack looks pretty big to me...

Thanks BS - that's really helpful. Is my builder safe to use concrete for the new hard standing area in front of the window bay and footpath leading to front door (which we will later tile)? Have to say i'm getting a little nervous our builder isn't that experienced with older properties...

Thanks BS - So how do we best go about repairing them? A lot of the terraced houses in our neighbourhood have had similar repair work done to the bay window masonry and they all look fantastic: I have knocked on a few doors but annoyingly all occupants bought the properties...

Does anyone know what these decorative concrete (plaster?) columns are called either side of the main bay windows found on Victorian terraced properties: I’m renovating my house and would like to repair, re-render and decorate all concrete areas around the windows including the...

Here's the quote and work summary in full, does this sound right? Supply and fit a new cross timber joists over the existing joists. Timber size: Main timber = 50 X 250mm: Used all the way along the party wall and all around of the chimney breast. This main timber will allow us to fit...

Okay… so I chatted further with my builder this morning. He is actually recommending we tackle this issue properly and don’t simply opt for a quick skim over or the dropped ceiling route (which I had him start without realising the excessive loss of height). The issues we have are the current...

I've just had my builder check the joists and he says: "There's no rot ... only issue with them is they are too thin, joists are only 70mm deep (instead of 170mm). The joists themselves are bowed and weak, moving under pressure when applied from above in the loft". The reason we didn't...

Meaning?

Cowboys?! Or do different people just have different ways of approaching this sort of job? Should i pull them off the job or ask them to discuss other ceiling repair options with me before contiuning?

Some good suggestions here... It's just been noted elsewhere that the metal framework they've put up isn't the correct one anyway and that it's meant for partition walls not ceilings, is that right?!

It was actually me who opted for the dropped ceiling route ... they said it would be a safe option but we would lose ceiling height ... they just didn't tell me it would be as much as 20cm! So a bit of miscommunication really. What would be the process of ripping out the old ceiling? And...

Our original ceiling height was only 2.5m though... which means we're looking at a new height of approx 2.35m :cry: And if we go down the dropped ceiling route it means all other ceiling son that floor remain at 2.5m apart from that room... will that not look even worse than a bowed ceiling?

My builder is making good a few rooms as we near the end of a Victorian Terrace refurb and I’m a bit disappointed with the way skirting boards have been fitted in certain areas. The problem is we have original wood flooring which are uneven (in fact all walls are uneven too!), we like the...

I’m in the middle of renovating a 2 bed Victorian terrace. The ceiling in our second bedroom was bowing badly, apparently caused by water damage / damp to the loft joists (stains of which are visible on the original plasterboard in the photos linked below)… the roof has now been repaired and...

Strange question... but is it allowed to mount standard plug sockets rotated at 90 degrees? I've positioned a socket on a wall in a spot soon to be hidden behind a wall mounted TV, however i'm getting nervous that a long moulded TV plug (TV not yet purchased) might mean the lead is still...