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Wow! you will need two rebars joined end to end :-) Frank

Your original retaining wall lean't over because of the weight of the loose infill leaning on one side and insubstantial foundations. The infill will be sitting on earth so adding more weight in the form of concrete to it will only slightly improve things. Could be OK for a year or 20, don't...

If the wall has a DPC then you can plaster above it. If the DPC is low down, then you can cloak the wet part of the wall with a plastic moulding. I think, starting at the house wall itself, find out the location of the DPC as it runs around the garage. I would have thought that it would have...

That sounds like a plan, but its the new foundations that will be doing the work, stopping the old ones moving. Just to support a leaning wall you can tie it across to the opposite wall with big Xs on the outside. I have seen this done on an old mill somewhere, I can't remember where though...

Just be careful, as you reduce the amount of cement, the mortar, not suprisingly, goes to the sand colour. So if you use 6:1, its sand colour, if you use 6 1/2 :1 its still sand coloured. Changing from 4:1 to 4 1/2 :1 will change the colour of the mortar. You are using plasticiser arent you...

The houses and barns here (Wenselydale) all move down hill. That's it, the only point of disscusion is the rate they move. My house is going at about .5mm per 12 years, the barn rather faster, 1mm / 12 years. The reason is that the top soil is moving over the subsoil, so unless you underpin...

That form of construction is for a sunny climate, where do you intend to do yours? That slab on top could be asbestos or some other cement based board, I am not sure it will stand up to frost very well. Just noticed it seems very clean, is it used much? Frank

I can't see enough from your picture. There seems to be a upward folded edge of plastic, but I can't decide its from the floor slab or the wall. Where you have dug your hole, the damp bit of wall is clearly visible, unless its dirty from the soil. The wall in general looks dry but. . . . Frank

The air brick is meant to vent the void under the floor. So its in the wrong position. The gap under the skirting board should be sealed. Frank

I would not box in the boiler. They get warm in use so this heat goes into the room. If you box it in, the heat can't get out so the actual boiler innards will run hotter possiblely damaging the wiring and computer. If this room will no longer be used as a garage then insulating the floor...

You have to support the masonary that is the bridge. There will be a steel beam that sits on the garage wall, which should not be subject to too much vibration or you will be rebuilding the garage as well. The way I would proceed is to try and cut through the brickwork and capping about 6"...

I don't like your idea. The shuttering will be complex and the killer is to get a good seal where the legs sit on the top of the original stack. A small amount of external leakage would be catastrophic. If you are going to this sophistication, then why not cast a slope on the top (you will need...

How thick are the walls? A clue here is the size and shape of the window reveals. I have a rock and rubble cottage and despite repointing it with NH5 lime, it still leaks water through the walls. Frank

The problem is not in winter, its in summer. Just been speaking to my S-I-L on this subject, she turns off all her rads, except the bathroom one!, Err I can't see that being economical at all. Don't ask what the room stat is set to, most houses are hovering at 20*C in this weather, so perhaps...

Same here, those screws that drive into concrete have their plating scraped off as you drive them in, so they rust and expand as they rust. This could cause problems in the long term as they might crack the bricks. I would use stainless screws and even put a squirt of silicon into the hole...

Most up and over doors are fitted to a wooden sub frame because there are a lot of fiddly bits, like the draft excluder set up. Are you talking of refitting the door in its wooden frame to the brickwork? Also by thinning the frame tolerances in the brickwork can be compensated for. Frank

The liner is a bit of stainless steel sheet that is rolled up diagonaly and crimped at the edges. If you pull the liner up and it snags,further pulling will destroy the crimped joint, it will open out like a spring. when you drop it down the flue the weight of the upper sections keep the...

This is a picture description of what you need to do :- Note , you dont need to use the special glue , strong mortar should do. Instead of an angle grinder, use a hammer and chisel. Lengths of stiches need be no more then 12". Frank

If you think of a thick sheet of rubber that represents your block wall, then you paint it which represents your render. Now stretching the rubber would cause cracking of the paint, so have your walls got taller (not wider !!) or the render shrunk but only vertically? If you bend the rubber...

Are they rock and rubble? , like my Wensleydale cottage? About 2' thick, two skins of flattish stones with the central void filled with rubble. What happens over the years dirt and rotted lime mortar falls down the "cavity" so the bottom part is actually rubble and dirt. The dirt suck up...