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Maximum length of lead is 1.2m then a hook joint to next section. I would put a couple of layers of DPC on the lead held on with double sided tape, to give the lead a bit of wriggle room and to stop the render locking onto your screw heads. Frank

When the builder installed this pipe he would have knocked a hole through the wall, I wonder if the damp from the soil is coming in around the pipe? One thing I would not do is to fill the pipe with concrete, it would make removing it very it very difficult. I would dig the pipe out, make good...

You say the "Swift" system is £1100, what is this based on? I once built a garage on piers I cast in situ, 22 off at 9" diam with steel rebars X 1.2m deep. Much cheaper system. The only advantage the Sift system has is that it has the variable height adjustment. This can be don on a DIY basis...

This is a huge shed, what are you going to put in it? if its a tractor then you need a very solid floor to take the ton or more of weight. If its going to have a table tennis table in it , the the weight should be a bit less. I don't know where the breakeven point is, but the more piles you...

You must not use cement anywhere around this ere' thing. Due to the fact that the oven will be running at 200*C, the blocks will expand and if cemented might explosively crack. Use a very weak lime mix, this will allow movement at the joints rather then cracking. And again because of the high...

You do not say what level you have to make up, it looks about 3" to me. I would use a line of paving stone on the lowest edge, if they are rippled , turn them up side down. Lay them on a thick mortar bed to get the top surface where you want (level wise). Then mix up some fine concrete, 3...

I believe ECO7 is half price, I would think carefully before dumping it. The first step is to properly insulate the HW tank. Just one of those flimsy covers is not enough, then insulate the HW piping. If your insulation is 100% then you just heat the water that you have used. If the tank...

Use an electrician and SWA 4mm cable. feeding of a 32A breaker in the shed into a RCD protected consumer unit with a 16A and 6A breakers in it. Frank

Pour a kettle of boiling water over the joint and pull plastic out while its wrapped in a dry rag. Frank

Lots of info missing, is it a cavity wall with a plastic pipe straight through it? if so, cavity could be bridged. Is the outside air entry catching rain? or is it a buried air entry which is just filling up from ground water? Different arrangement require different solutions. Does the pipe...

From Wiki:- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfate_attack_in_concrete_and_mortar is it internal or external? i.e. is it the ground water carrying the sulphates or they within the concrete it self? Asphalt covering sounds more like 1860 then 1960 and is a complete bodge. I would pull all the...

I think that you have three main options :- one is to tank the cellar properly, so making it water tight, so your ventilation has only to deal with ordinary levels of dampness due to your breath. Two, building a lightweight "shed" inside the cellar, whose main claim to fame is that it is...

I thought the VCL was over the wood and under the plasterboard, so allowing any moisture to evaporate through it. Also the timber frame is highly insulated from the outside so both sides of the VCL would be at the same temperature. This is not the same as under a dresser pushed up against an...

The beads have air spaces within their mass. They will also stop so much water evaporating from the underfloor earth, by keeping it cool. I would just leave the under floor void alone. Glass fibre on netting will slow heat loss but allow moisture transfer. I would not mix a DPC in with a wooden...

I would fill it 300mm then use foundation blocks to just under ground level. Work out the length of your trench then multiply it by 300mm, this will give you the volume. As I have said before 850 Kg is great for a counterweight, you need its volume, I think its about .7 cu m. Frank

Quite, Get something like 3' of scaffolding board, one end on the flat bit, the other, over the lower flat bit and block up with a brick , chipboard off cuts and slivers of hardboard (and lino for the perfectionists). Frank

It is less then a mornings work to plane a bit of your two doors, I would ignore this and use 22 mm T&G P5 flooring boards and glue the joints. I think you are very brave or you are doing this to sell the house. Any water leak and you have to lift the whole floor after moving all the downstairs...

The ground slopes are a problem, you have to make sure that ground water from rain does not pool up and run under the walls and that the top soil is not slowly sliding down the bank. Movement which you can not see in a grassed bank could drag your side wall out by 1/4" a year. The other...

Yes I was thinking of using a cutting disc to remove as much of the excess brickwork, then finish off with a grinding disc (NB very dusty!!) Frank

Lay the decking at the same slope? I cannot think of any tapered substrate with this fine pitch other then a screed which would have to be done by an expert. Frank