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Evening all I have a house built out of red brick in 1896 and I need to build an external section of wall where I am blocking a doorway up. The beds on the building are tiny (maybe 5mm) and the original mortar is quite a dark grey, almost charcoal. I suspect when the house was built they used...

Evening all, I need to apply a patch to the top of an underground drainage pipe and I am looking for some advice. At some point in the past someone has cut a small panel in the top of one of the sewer pipes that go to my sceptic tank. I have a section of the same pipe I can cut a patch from...

Hi all, I am building a bathroom in the corner of my downstairs hallway. It has one outside wall, with a window in, one internal brick wall and 2 stud walls. Inside the 2 stud walls I have insulated (mostly for soundproofing purposes) with 100mm insulation board. The question is where I have...

Hi all, In my bathroom I am using 12mm tile backer board (cement base I believe) as the background within the shower area. I want to tape and seal the joints and also where the tray will come up against the board. Can any one recommend the best tape and sealer please? I have seen people using...

Hi all, I am connecting to a new drain from a new downstairs bathroom. As the drain comes out of the toilet it will need to turn by 45 degrees, travel 2 metres or so, turn another 45 degrees, travel another couple of metres and then go into a new manhole that is part of the new drainage I have...

Hi all, Maybe a bit of a long shot but wondered whether anyone had any advice on what might be up with my submersible pump. It just buzzes and no longer spins. I have stripped it and there is nothing seized, no water inside etc. It has a run capacitor and that appears to test OK (shows no...

Hi I need to connect on to a new drain that is at 90 degrees from the outlet of a new toilet position. The drain is a fair distance away, maybe 12 metres, but since I don't want to dig right across an existing conservatory can I connect with a 90 degree bend? Maybe a long turn elbow? Thanks D

Hi all, I am planning on making wall panelling for my hallway. I have worked out the sizes and the number of panels etc and I have decided to make them out of pine. Some of the panels will be circa 2.4m tall and the rails will be 95mm. My plan was (is still maybe) to basically build the rails...

Hi all, I have old quarry tiles down most of which is covered by bitumen/asphalt at about 30mm depth. Since I have just removed the stairs I need a high build self leveller to cover where the stairs used to be (they were sat directly on top of the old quarries). Can anyone recommend a self...

Hi all I am planning on getting my electrician to fit some Shelly Pro 4 PM relays as part of my rewire. The plan is to use them to control most of my inside and outside lights. Hopefully I will then have physical light switches and control of the lights using Home Assistant. On some of the...

Hi all, My central heating runs off an old oil boiler which uses a Siemens RWB2E controller and doesn't have a room thermostat anywhere. By the looks of it the controller only controls the heating as the hot water is an immersion heater with a separate supply. There are three cables to the...

Hi all, I am refurbishing my house bit by bit and the next big job is fitting a new kitchen. The whole house needs a rewire and this will be done as I refurbish each area. The house is fairly big so cable runs can be quite long. A couple of years ago I had an electrician install a metal CU and...

Hi all I have a large garage under construction and it’s currently got a white membrane on covered by battens (not sure what you call it) on the roof. I had a fire in the garden and unfortunately the wind picked up and blew some embers over the roof and I now have a number of small holes in...

Hi all I am just about to start fitting 10 inch Victorian style skirting boards to my living room. They come in 2 pieces with the moulded bit having a groove and the plain bit having a tongue. I have been experimenting with how best to join the 2 pieces and in doing so have discovered that...

Hi. Does Wykamol Renovating plaster need a backing coat of Universal Mortar when applying to bare brick? Spec sheet seems to suggest so but I am not 100% sure. Thanks D

Hi all, I have a damp issue in the majority of the walls in my old (1896) house and asked a company some time back to come and install a damp course. They came along and did as requested and installed one of the modern cream based damp courses. This is the only bit they did, i.e. they didn't...

Hi all, Would anyone happen to know whether stone lintels / cills can be refaced in situ? See pics of damaged cill and lintel at the back of the house, these are the worst 2. Will they have to be taken out and replaced or is it posible to reface them in stone?? Also I have a front window...

Hi all, I am building quite a large garage and I want to build the floor with insulation (like a house), underfloor heating and possibly a polished concrete floor. Any advice on construction of the floor. For example should I go 150mm MOT, compacted, 100mm insulation and 150mm concrete?? I am...

Morning all, I would like to replace a soil stack that goes up past the gutter (its a bungalow) with a short stack of about 1m high. I understand that this can be done with a special type of capping but could somebody please advise what would be needed. Is this approach acceptable from a...

Hi all, Is there any reason why I shouldn't put both a surface water/land drain pipe and a foul drain pipe in the same trench?? They are going to different outlets but in the same general area and from the same building. Thanks D