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I'm with norcon on this. I too hate to see c/breasts removed. It leaves rooms looking like boxes with no focal point, esp. in a front room. Not only does removal destroy the original design, but value is often lost from the house price when its up for sale. datadiyer, why go to all...

roy and skimmers, Thanks a lot. You guys certainly know your rendering. Old school & new school. Thats a clever method you describe, skimmers, & a full and clear account from you roy. My limited external rendering has been just to rub up, and Tyrolean. And a little patchwork. After...

Noony, why not try and post a few pics of the terrace and your house? If there's any structural instability then all bets are off, because you might be wasting your time and your money. Post in the building forum, and discuss in more detail your structural fears. Given what you...

roy c, I take your point about spalling the brickwork, but, depending on the original condition of the b/work, if its on real tight then using either kango or hammer and bolster will possibly crack the face off. Some cement heavy renders wont budge without persuasion, but your point's a...

1. Dont screw or nail anything down unless you know whats below it. 2. If your present boards are tongue & groove i would definitely keep them. 3. Research on here or the building forum for how to lift T&G without splitting it. Then carefully establish where any cables or pipes might be...

There's no knowing what condition the background is in until the cover has been removed. Best & safest way is to erect scaffold and work off the lifts.The scaff can then be used for spreading the render. Knock off using a hired "Kango" hammer with chisel steel. Use an RCD on the power...

I'm with footprints on this. I doubt that its the condensate causing the difficulty, but rather, the re-arranging of the trap and spigot(s). There is also the possibility that when running the condensate pipe the w/m waste has also been rearranged - it should run high before dropping down...

OK, i understand better now. The smears i see are the remains of the SLC. Its hard to tell from a pic, but that slab appears to be still damp/green, indicating, perhaps, that too much water & not enough cement was placed in the mix. Where you go from here for any cheap, permanent solution...

Its your house, your money and time, but the odds are very high that there is a DPC down there. Dont simply rely on a surveyors report that was made as she or he rushed thro the property. I doubt that they probe mortar beds with screwdriver tips, or dig down a little to recover the original...

1. Are your walls solid or cavity? 2. A 1911 house in a town almost certainly has a DPC - back then, bitumen was a DPC material - what look like bitumen snots can be seen in pic 3. Investigate harder for a DPC. 3. Air bricks can be cleaned by blowing thro from the outside. As john asked -...

The best questions have already been put to you. However, from what i can make out from the pic, the mix for the pour, ( or is it the screed?) was well too sloppy. Was that a hand mix or a delivered mix? And was some sort of "finish" /screed smeared on top as the whole thing dried? Neither...

You could allow between £3000 and £5000 for "Damp" work. A local builder who is competent in damp and timber work is your best bet. But given the state of the building as you describe it, its typical for various other items to need attention, eg all the frames, any suspended floors...

My screen copy of pic 3 is too dark to tell the detail, but i take your word for it, and, if so, i'm wrong in that irrelevant detail. The advice given still stands.

Dan, glad to see you back, i'm was wondering when you would answer the corrections that i made to your comments in the thread: Changing Pipes. Really.

MrsGarner, Perhaps you wold care to read the WRAS: "October 2012, Information Note, Schedule 2 Para 7 explained" Or read the thread below: Changing Pipes - Thursday August 1 2013. Ignore the controversy and read the technical suggestions. Dont bury anything until its been tested under...

Why dont you transfer this to the building forum?

FWIW: mechanic was a general term of respect for any tradesperson until probably pre-1939. I've noticed it occasionally still being used in the flooring trade. Its widely used in the above sense in the USA. We still refer to mechanical fittings and practices without intending to refer to...

steelmasons, The bayonet fitting is pointing in the wrong direction, it should run parallel with the wall. sidestrapper is the common trade term for that fitting. And thats it? The best that you can do for the "ill informed" project? I'm afraid that i am used to talking to...

tom1981, quite right, an isolator is not required with a bayonet fitting. I was wrong. However, that type of isolator is notorious for leaking and we always remove or replace them. BCO's and Housing Assn's and council contract super's want them out. I didn't mention the height, or...

sooey, neither would we, but i mentioned a partition, which of course, is planted on the T&G, occasionally, long after the pipework has been run. AAMOI: we will sometimes pierce masonry rather than snaking and disrupting about the rooms. Andy, This is a public forum of record, to...