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I have a bathroom ceiling to plaster that has easily-removable downlights fitted. With the downlights removed would I be able to use a speed skim, or would it be problematic because of the downlight holes? I wonder if I would end up pushing plaster into the hole and find myself in a real mess? TIA

I will soon be skimming the ceiling of my en-suite and spotted a few comments about using SBR instead of PVA prior to the skim. Previously i've only ever used PVA, but then again i've never skimmed an area that is affected by humidity. I have both products in the garage and so is SBR the better...

I should probably mention that whilst i have done an awful lot of DIY in my time, I have never tiled before and so I checked on the web and read a number of posts that suggested it was better to do it that way. Perhaps these were inaccurate statements!? Is there really no benefit to it?

Hmm, never even thought of that approach. Thanks for the suggestion. You might’ve just saved me a ton of hassle!

Yeah I did think about that, but then I would have to leave some play in the pipe to make use of the additional space and I’m not quite sure how best to do that!?

I think I’d rather tile the floor first and then bring the wall tiles down over the floor tiles.

Yeah I was wondering whether it is an acceptable method to just apply the skim thicker at certain points, Bearing in mind that two coats usually comes to around 5mm only. The other issue being that the thicker lay will go off more slowly than the thinner spread. Never tried it, hence the posting.

Visually perhaps it isn’t, but I am wondering whether you would normally try to straighten this out when skimming, or just disregard it and skim as per normal method!?

I am refurbishing my en-suite and one job is to get the sparky in to move the ceiling lights to better positions. Generally speaking the ceiling is not in great condition and so I am looking at re-skimming it to tidy it all up I used a straight edge to check how flat the ceiling is and there is...

The new towel rail (en-suite) will be arriving this week and I need to sort the pipework for it - comes out of the floor, which is not yet screwed-down. My issue is how best to do this to allow for (small) error, as the tiles are not on the wall either i.e. I don't know exact thickness of tiles...

Noticed on some websites selling towel rails, that they quote a 'Floor to Centre of Tapping minimum distance'. Didn't think there was any particular restriction on height, so long as you go above the skirting board, assuming one is present!?

I’ve even heard of a technique whereby you leave the chrome on and use one turn of a pipe cutter to create an indent and that will be enough to lock a speedfit fitting onto the pipe. Not sure I’d be brave enough to try that myself, but it would be interesting to give it a go!

Ah, thought they were essentially the same thing but a quick search of the Internet has confirmed my ignorance! What i was actually referring to, was a comparison of using chrome pipe or instead using a chrome sleeve. Just wondering if one method is much better than the other, or whether it...

I guess that less water to achieve the same heat output equals a cost saving.

Thanks for your response. 1. I'm referring to a like-for-like comparison, based upon size. Aluminium conducts better and gives a very good output for its size 2. Water volume tends to be less for aluminium rads; check it out 4. I saw comments about them being more susceptible to corrosion than...

As per the title, i'm just wondering which is the best way to go for feeding pipework to a towel rail? Is one method particularly desirable over the other? Any gotchas to be aware of? TIA

I've been looking at aluminium towel rads as they seem the ideal solution i.e. corrosion resistant, relatively cheap, good looking, high output, low water volume. Seen the odd post though where there is talk of issues with them and suggesting you're better with steel. What are people's views on...

On a tiler’s forum there was a sticky comment that suggested 8mm tiles plus adhesive and grout would amount to around 22 kg/m². The mirror itself is aroung 13kg. Having looked at the weight of boxes of tiles that generally amount to one square metres-worth, it seems about right.

Renovating my en-suite and I wish to add a largish mirror to a wall that will also be tiled. In total though, the weight will slightly exceed the maximum weight for plasterboard i.e. mirror + tiles > 32kg/m sq. As such, i am looking for advice on the best way to strengthen the wall. I don't yet...

Hmm, you make some interesting points there that I hadn’t even considered and I’m grateful for your input. Due to limited space I cannot go above 1000mm (h) x 500(w) and the output from the better ones will be very similar to the DQ Zante (as shown) i.e around 1350 BTUs; similar to original...