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Hi, Next on the agenda for my cellar conversion (really re-doing and doing a proper job of the previous semi-conversion) is the floor. Currently it's wooden floorboards, each supended in three places (about 1m apart), on a row of bricks set into the soil, a line of concrete set into the soil...

Thanks for the replies. The silt is wet and has a consistency like cottage cheese (but grey and flavourless ;-) ). It's only really possible to open it up at one end, and unfortunately not right down at the bottom because of the concrete that's around it, but the idea of flushing it out...

That's exactly what this one was/did.

Hi, My cellar (which I'm converting) is a bit damp in one corner. Core-drilling a little exploratory hole reveals that this is due to the cavity being filled with clay-y "silt", presumably washed in there by 80 years of rain. I think without the silt there, the water would be able to drain...

In case anyone stumbles across this thread looking for the same info, here's what I did: Used Wickes Vinylester Resin, which was very very good in terms of strength - held the 2.3m long metal dowels by the prescribed 10cm at the ends with ease. A few problems I encountered along the way...

Gosh, £45 :shock:

I've just had my old lead pipe (i/d about 15mm) replaced with 25mm MDPE, and to be honest that's enough pressure for me. Now if I turn the kitchen tap on full (it's the sort where you can do that in one movement) water hits the sink with such a force that it sprays back up and I get a face full...

Thanks very much - didn't realise they were as flexible as that. One set of drain rods ordered.

Hi, Water is draining very slowly from my house into the main sewer. The closest inspection point I have is a "manhole" about 5 meters inside my property boundary (in the garage), but it's about 1.5m deep. I don't know whether it's blocked or collapsed, but I presume blocked. I'd like to...

Thanks both. What other purpose might it have? Is that because it'll need to take forces due to removing the masonry, or because it needs to be strong enough in case it gets kicked, being at floor level?

Hi, In my kitchen is a little (boarded up on the inside) window about 40cm wide and 60cm tall. It's pretty knackered, from what I can see on the outside. I would like to replace it with a non-opening one, same width, but right down to the floor. Two considerations I can think of: 1...

Right, problem solved. Replaced the pipe insert. Was dripping about every second, now dry as a bone. Interestingly, perhaps, I did 14 connections, 12 with Screwfix inserts and two with B&Q ones (ran out at 8:45 at night, with no drinking water). The one which leaked badly was a B&Q one -...

I'm in Southampton. The only "building" quotes I've had are for plastering, but they consistently came in at £250-£300/day for one man.

Hi all, I employed the services of a structural engineer to design a support for one wall in my cellar conversion. His design was a concrete "mass" in a window "bay" (no window in it as it's underground) tied to a reinforced concrete "beam" at the base of the wall to be supported. Beam was...

Oookay. Right.

Thanks for the reply Noseall. Which bit is hard to picture? I'll describe it a different way, see if that helps. Semi-detached house. This cellar room has four walls, A, B, C, D. Cavity wall A is at the front of the house, soil level outside is right to the top of the wall. Solid wall...

Hi, I am doing a cellar conversion. One wall is up against soil, and gets a bit damp in one corner. I don't know how it's drained - it certainly is somehow because when it rains hard you can see (through vents) water pouring down the inside of the outer skin, and it's certainly not filling...