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Great, thanks! How come so many fireplaces are filled in like this? Yeah, I'm leaving the alcoves exposed, and in fact almost all of the other external walls of the house too, as its the same stone throughout. Chimney breasts I'll render though.

I am looking to open up an old fireplace, as part of a refurbishment of my property. In the future I'd like to fit a woodburner, so want to make the space for it. Am I correct to assume that everything below the original arch (aside from the edges), should be safe to remove? The bottom...

Hi, I've fitted a new rear door, but over the past couple of weeks, it seems to have dropped a bit on the hinges. From what I can tell, the frame itself hasn't moved. When the door closes now, the bottom corner on the side of the latch, scrapes across the bottom. Do these doors have some...

Thanks for the replies! I considered some sort of outdoor lighting, but like you say, I'd still have to bring power to it. Which is why I thought an extra low voltage setup would be far better. The light would go on the floor, right next to (behind) a freestanding bath, so of course needs to...

Are there any uplights available, that could be used in the bathroom? I want to have a spotlight, lighting up a stone wall just behind the bath, but obviously want it done safely (but not battery). It would sit on the floor of the bathroom, between a freestanding bath and the wall.

Thanks very much for the replies, guys. I'll be sure to make it just over 40mm to allow for movement/expansion, halfway down.

Oh? I'm very surprised at that. Any notch/hole in the wood is going to cause some weakness, so surely there must be some sort of standard/requirement? I expected something like a maximum percentage of the wood that can be removed, or something?

What's the regulation regarding drilling through joists? I want to put a shower in a small alcove upstairs, in between the front wall of the house and the stairs. Because of the stairs, the waste pipe can't just run between the joists. The drainage on the shower is right in the centre of the...

Thanks for the reply. My main concern is potential leaking of rainwater into the fiberglass roof, where the pipe comes through. I'll add a drawing to show what I mean. If I were to use a pipe flashing boot, how would I get a good seal between it and the roof? The red pipe in the drawing...

I need to bring a toilet waste pipe, down through a flat fiberglass roof. What's the best way to go about this, without causing leaks in the future?

Ok, thanks :) Is there any part that is common to fail, that wouldn't be accessible via the flush plate?

I am having a new bathroom and want a toilet that has a hidden cistern. It thought to get a wall hung unit, with the cistern hidden in the stud-wall. However, I'm wondering how everything can be accessed for repairs/maintenance? Eventually the time will come where a component fails and I...

Not sure if this should be here on the plumbing section, but I'm wondering if there's a way to contain a soil pipe for a toilet, inside of a stud wall? The wall doesn't exist yet, so I'm flexible on size. The wall will be part of the first floor bathroom, where the toilet will go. I'd like to...

I want to tile a room, which has some very old tiles. After removing the nasty laminate flooring the previous owners had, I found tiles which must be original to the house. It was built in the 1870s and they're barely even recognizable as tiles anymore, as they seem to have merged into one...

Great, thanks for the answers :) Looks like double boarding with the Fireline board you recommend would do the trick for the 30 min resistance. Are there any requirements for the loft floor insulation? I guess not if it's going to be a habitable room above?

So I could just put two layers of fireproof 'Fireline' board up when I fit the ceilings, instead of messing around suspending the mineral wool insulation?

Thanks for the reply. Yea, the old skinny ones are what the ceiling used to be attached to, but they're very warped out of shape. Obviously I'd rather not fix my new ceiling onto that, especially when I have the brand new 8x2s in place. Would it be against some regulation if I were to do...

Is it acceptable to building regulations, to fix a ceiling , directly onto loft floor joists? I have had new joists fitted (8x2), for a future loft conversion, as I'm currently renovating the rest of the house and had the ceilings down. I've heard that the loft floor should be independent to...

Suspending mineral wool would be easy enough to do, though isn't plasterboard sufficient for fire protection?

With the requirements for noise insulation between floors, is there anything in particular that should be fitted between floors for this purpose? As I say, in the future I'll do a proper loft conversion, but for now, I'd like to buy the correct product, instead of something that will have to...