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There was a consultation around building standards that pointed to new builds not having gas boilers by 2025 and the government have stated an aim to stop new installations by 2035. However, it's a desire, not enforceable. They also stated their aim was to hold inflation under 2.5%. It's more...

First, question if the service contract on a mature boiler is worth the money. Are you really getting £400/year benefit above an annual service? Going from what you've posted, I'd guess your conventional boiler was around 80% at new. I've read boilers loose efficiency as time goes by, but how...

Kinda awkward for a door that opens out onto a staircase. Fiddling and footling and a bit of bodging will probably be in order. :sneaky:

Searching around, The best drop seal I can find is 14mm, so still 10mm short. I could maybe tweak the threshold strip by 5mm, but that still leaves me 5mm out. Might have to put this into my "do that later" pile and tackle more practical things.

I'm guessing this is a cold roof space you want to board over so you can store things up there. Run your timber perpendicular to the existing joists. This limits the cold spots. As you're not storing gold ingots and baby elephants, so use something like 63 x 38. Where the timber crosses the...

Use ply. Don't ever consider using MDF anywhere near moisture. Better still, don't ever consider using MDF for anything. It is soulless. The cheap cheddar from Tesco has more character and is just as easy to cut. Yes, MDF is lovely and smooth. And there are a miriad of ways of sealing the...

Strange one. Doesn't look like a fungus if that's what you were worrying about. My experience of decades old expanding foam is it does crumble, but it tends to be much darker

I'm trying to reduced the draught under an internal door. When closed, the door has a floor to bottom of the door gap of 5mm by the hinge and 35mm at the other end. Fully open, 5mm at the hinge, 15 at the other. I could, in theory, add a triangular fillet and reduce the closed gap to 25mm. Do...

I've an enclosed porch around what used to be the front door. The old external cavity brick wall is now an internal wall so never sees rain. Is masonry paint truly necessary, or will emulsion do just fine?

It was wet, but given we'd just had 4 hours of horizontal torrential rain, I wasn't surprised. Everyone's roof would have leaked. If it's wet the next time it rains normally, I'll see if I can find either a bucket or a roofer willing to take fir cones

Single skin grey plasterboard, so not a fire barrier. Lights are mains.

So I'm thinking of changing the downlights in my utility room. I've hated them since the spark installed them, but I don't spend much time in there, so what the heck. They're 50W halogens and the bulbs are becoming more tiresome to source so perhaps when they blow again, I'll swap them for round...

Go round the house and think through exactly what you'd like where; sockets, lights, switches, networking. Then go around marking on the walls the minimum you want with no external electrical work unless absolutely necessary. Now get a spark round to quote for wiring using white plates etc and...

Nah, felt on top of the OSB. Use the short felting nails with the wide heads. If space allows, make an overhang to help protect the logs from rain. Felt will last about 7ish years then need replacing. You may also want to think about putting a cover across the front, perhaps sack or weed...

As your steels have the load bearing bolts in shear, fitting the horizontal to two already fixed verticals would be tricky. If your verticals weren't perfectly rotated and tops of equal height, you're on a loosing battle with a spanner. Far easier to assemble then lift. Of course, with a bit of...

Honestly, you'd be best off with a couple of fan heaters to warm and move the air. Infrared is just a modern one bar fire. It will toast the side facing it, but your other side is in the cold. Just like a camp fire outside. If you want to be trendy, fit a log burner. Same problem as infrared...

How did it go? Just curious.

I was up in my attic for the first time in a few years and noticed more of the fibreboard sarking had slumped. Years ago I had the great pleasure of crawling around and bracing sections that were sagging or drooping. Part of me wants to help the panels fall and be done with it. It's a cold...

Well if it were my lamp, I'd be rewiring it with an earth connection long enough such that it would be the last to disconnect in the event of a hard yank ... just like in a 13A plug.

If you can measure the overall diameter of the cable, 15mm would be 4mm2, 17.5mm would be 6mm2 and 19mm would be 10mm2. Current carrying capacity is dependant on how the cable is installed; cables heats up the more current they carry so it's all about how the cable can dissipate that heat...