Search results

This problem is becoming so common this autumn - it is a hangover from the drenching we got last winter - now the ambient temperature is dropping to near or below the dew point, the walls are sweating where they have absorbed atmospheric water, and are cooling through evaporation. A surveyor I...

Air is a good insulator if trapped, but can circulate heat to the top of the cavity if free to convect and carry that heat away, if there are any gaps in the upper part of the cavity - which could include loosely trapped air in mineral wool or fibre fill insulation. The only post-construction...

The change in distance from apogee (furthest) to perigee (nearest) for the elliptical orbit of the moon can be as much as 14%: The distance on Jul 28 2014 at 3:28am was 406568 km within 2 days of the new moon. By Aug 10 2014 at 17:44 pm the distance was only 356896 km, and coincident...

How much RAM do you have? - I just upgraded a P4 3.20GHz from 1GB Ram to 2GB by adding 2 sticks of 512MB DDR memory - for the princely sum of £4.90 for both together, free postage. It makes a real difference. Still, you are likely to be running 32-bit XP, so the advantage of much more...

Probably deeper than just water staining. Soap is alkaline - and alkali will darken tannins in wood like oak - Ammonia vapour (another alkali) is used to darken oak called "Fumed oak". Oxalic acid is sometimes used to remove stains and lighten timber, being an acid which neutralizes...

I don't know the exact LED construction used by the OP, but the flexible printed circuit strip on some LED lighting may be affected by condensation - I have a multicolour strip in the kitchen, and several of the groups of 3 LEDs are showing different colours now - I can only assume that some of...

I think the right tool for the job must be the reciprocating Allsaw. Any disk-type saw will cough up loads of dust unless it has a water cooling jet, making the job messy and unpleasant. Cut off saws cannot cut internal corners in an opening, so another tool would be required to make good. A...

Probably the old paste that has been absorbed into the old plaster is causing uneven permeability of the wall. The mist coat is primarily to kill the suction of untreated plaster - the paste is already stopping the mist coat from soaking in. After two proper coats of ubdiluted emulsion, the...

Why not experiment with a pair (or 2) of +3 reading spectacles from Poundland, see what your focal length required is, and modify the cardboard template accordingly?

You are not in the garden are you?!! I'd turn off the dehumidifier, and point a fan at the wall. Dehumidifiers are great in very humid enclosed rooms, like after flooding, but not very good for a damp patch on an exterior wall. 6 weeks is no time for a solid wall to dry out - it may take...

Sound advice there from ree, but does not really address the internal damp. The actual position of the dampness suggests condensation: - the ceiling of an upstairs room - bedroom? - where the warmest, most humid air meets a cold external wall - the coving implies that there may be a...

Often T+G floorboard offcuts were used in this sort of position, and given a skim of plaster and limewashed, and years later, given a coat of latex paint or two. Why fitting a PIR device need be destructive, I don't know - the wood boards should easily support a fitting secured to the surface...

You have a solid Victorian brick wall (headers and stretchers in evidence) that has been externally painted, probably several years ago, probably several times. There are some gaps in the paintwork where bricks have been replaced. The wall was not intended to be painted externally...

It is likely to be condensation caused by a cold wall in an unheated space, which communicates with warmer living spaces upstairs. It will disappear if the radiator is turned on, and when the weather outdoors gets warmer and drier, until the autumn. The damp is around the socket because the...

Google "Spray lime wash" for some ideas. Harling should be limewashed and not painted. http://www.traditionalmasonry.co.uk/TraditionalCraftSkills/TraditionalLimeHarlingAndLimeWash.aspx

Do not discount condensation as the cause of your damp. Last winter's prolonged wet weather tested even the driest houses in parts of the UK. The window itself - during winter - is a source of heat loss, and of descending cooled air pouring off the window which serves to cool the inside...

I have had problems with Sky installations including second old Sky boxes used just for Freesat reception, or multiple standalone Freesat STBs. One box alone works fine, but a second or further box either does not work properly or the first system develops problems. Some of the boxes or just...

Lay a straight edge (yellow) close to wall at corner and mark a line A-B. Lay a straight edge close to adjacent wall, use a square to make perpendicular to A-B and mark a line A-C. Mark point D so that A-D = B-C, and check by measurement that A-C = B-D and A-B = C-D Mark lines C-D and B-D

Lay a straight edge (yellow) close to wall at corner and mark a line A-B.<br>Lay a straight edge close to adjacent wall, use a square to make perpendicular to A-B and mark a line A-C.<br>Mark point D so that A-D = B-C, and check by measurement that A-C = B-D and A-B = C-D<br>Mark lines C-D and...

Footprints, if you have or open a Microsoft account, a version of Microsoft Office is all online, including a basic amount of SkyDrive storage, and all free of charge. It will also open and save documents on your PC, and includes the online applications: Microsoft Word Microsoft Excel...