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The word is 'spalling' common bricks soak up water, which, when frozen, expands and cracks pieces off the front of the face. this in turn attracts moss , which can act as an insulator to the freezing and might even look nice but could also become slippery.

Explore outside your house by digging down at the point of dampness. see if the wall is damp outside as well as inside ask softus about ways to cure rising damp (which may or may not exist)...(in your case)

If you havent done anything like this before, a chalk line will be invaluable. You might even consider getting one of these newfangled laser levels/lines cus its always uplifting to buy a new gadget, and it will be useful.

You said its ok on the inside Is it actually rendered on the outside (as in plastered) or do you mean cracks in the pointing? anyhoo if you want to tart it up, if its rendered you can get it patched and if its pointed you can get it repointed. to answer your point about ties, it has...

As you have just been saved the cost of duplicating all your joists, i would suggest no less than 5mm marine ply, glued down with gripfill and screwed to the joists and carefully levelled under your showerstall using timber or plastic spacers. Dont bother skimping with hardboard when you are...

In effect after the old stuff is removed, you will be starting from scratch. you could have the insulation/concrete option maybe even incorporate underfloor heating of some sort. or you could have a traditional joists and floorboards type floor (with treated perlite to insulate the void)...

I just wanted to recap, for my own sanity as much as anything else. 1. You spoke to the engineerwho worked on the faulty foundation. 2. He stated that one of the piles failed; reason: unknown. 3. He suggested you seek a full structural engineers report. As he, himself, is a...

I had exactly the same problem some years ago and decided to cut the deadlock out with a hacksawblade screwed into a wooden handle (a padsaw i believe this is called) first few seconds was great as it ripped throught he brass in no time. Then i hit the first of 3 hardened steel pins (you might...

the phrase 'from what i have heard' suggests that someone has advised you that moving a lamp post is a viable option....... i suggest you no longer talk to this person :lol:

if you mean wall units, it might be worth your while screwing a length of timber along the top of them (at the back)to square them up. you can make a temporary support for them from deal and even a couple of car jacks in order to get them in the right position for marking holes and like...

the architect who does the drawings will get paid well enough to expalin this :lol:

i think you have to establish whether pipes or citerns in the loft space are leaking

when i was a lot younger i worked with a decorater and we saw this a lot. i would finish emulsining some part of a room one day only to see some ectoplasmic residue return the next. normally this would manifest itself as a horrid yellow colour bleeding through on to the white emulsion. (if...

you would have to get rid of the debris of the old floor and plan the quantities of materials required for the new floor as well as the time it would take to install. but do you really need to do it? is there something wrong with the tiles? could you just use some floor levelling compound...

I'm gonna bite the bullet on this one cus you said you loved the place. I wouldnt touch it with a barge pole. 3 yrs old and 2.5 metres away being the scary phrases.

I could well be missing the point but isnt steel galvanised to protect it from rust?

Have a look in your local paper or exchange and mart for a second hand, decent sized greenhouse. You might well find a bargain (buyer to collect etc) Aluminium is the best imo, cus it doesnt need treating but others might recommend cedar for aesthetic and heat insulation properties...

That would be a tamper. I agree that whacker plates are useless on soil, heels of wellies are much better. i always level with a spade and a rake (and a barrow if necessary) followed by the heels.

Make sure your shed has a good 'hat and boots' i.e. make sure its roof wont fail and make sure there is no way damp can rise up through its base (because of timber sitting in puddles etc) it needs coating as well with the best stuff you can afford if all that is sorted, you wont have...

I think the earlier point (about insulating the bin on the outside) was a good one. This way, the insulation is less likely to be damaged by your mixing (with a fork?)