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  1. M

    Retrospective installation of intumescent seals

    We've had a new roof on our late Victorian house and have converted the loft including a staircase. Before the work started, I spoke with the building inspector and he said firedoors wood be needed on all doors. Many of them are original so he said that linked alarms in all rooms, hall, landing...
  2. M

    Loft conversion and windows - Permitted Development?

    We are having our very decrepit 120 year old roof replaced and are taking the opportunity to add a room up there. Building Control are involved, work is underway and all is good with them. It's a semi with a hipped roof and I want to put 3 Velux windows in (one per side). I'm aware of...
  3. M

    Fitting an expansion vessel

    We have an Alpha CD24S boiler that has over the last few months, required regular top ups and expansion vessel repressurisation. The vessel cannot be removed because of the fantastic design so the solution is a new expansion vessel. Over the years since the boiler was installed we have added...
  4. M

    110VAC flex colour

    This is work related not DIY but hopefully someone can help. The background is that we are installing equipment designed to run off 110VAC or 230VAC supply. For this job it was originally intended to run off 230VAC and we have specified and installed blue arctic cable. Our customer is...
  5. M

    Removing Blanco waste from sink

    Again our (expensive) Blanco sink is leaking from its (expensive) waste fittings. Unfortunately this time I cannot shift the threaded bush that holds it all together. What's the best tool to use as even my biggest flat bladed screwdriver is too small to span the hole. This is the second genuine...
  6. M

    Planning permission for something that cannot be achieved!

    Sorry for the long post... My next door neighbour has submitted planning permission to remove an existing ramshackle extension that is built upon a party wall shared with my extension, and build a new structure separate from the party wall. I get on well with my neighbours, have no objection to...
  7. M

    Paving over concrete

    I want to pave our driveway (either slabs or block paving). Currently it is concrete but badly cracked in places, and if possible, I don't want to remove it (cost / effort) and it is a stable base. The drive runs between two house walls (ours and neighbours). I will put a drainage channel along...
  8. M

    Replacing pop-up waste on basin

    I need to replace a basin pop-up waste with a standard waste with removable plug. Will the lower section of the old pop-up waste (i.e. the bit where the lever passes through the pipe) screw onto a standard waste so I don't need to raise the height of the trap? TIA Mike
  9. M

    To nog or not to nog...

    I've just plasterboarded a ceiling using 12.5mm board. Joist centres at 450mm (ish- it's a Victorian house), cut edge of boards running along the joists. Based upon various web searches and the British Gypsum site book, I didn't use noggins but there seems to be a fair bit of play at the board...
  10. M

    Replacing a bouncy floor

    After a break of a few months the next project has started. It's a late 19th century house with 450mm thick stone faced walls with rubble infill. The ground floor living room has a wooden suspended floor that bounces like a trampoline. I've taken up some of the boards and from what I can see...
  11. M

    Central heating problem

    Over the last few weeks, the heating has not been responding to the thermostat and with the CH off and the HW on, the radiators get hot. I suspect it's the actuator on the CH/HW valve that's dodgy. Any thoughts? If it is that, it's a Drayton MA1 fitted about 10 years ago; are the latest...
  12. M

    Disaster - Toolstation website

    Just seen the new Toolstation website. Is it crap or am I just resistant to change? Why do web designers think we want to scroll around f***ing huge pictures looking for what we want rather than lay it out all on one screen? At least it's not yet as bad as the Screwfix site. But it will come...
  13. M

    Overboarding a ceiling

    I've got a Victorian house, with a lath and plaster ceiling that needs sorting. I don't want to take it off as the loft above is boarded and insulated, plus I know how messy that is. I was going to overboard with 12.5mm board, but wondered if I would be better off fixing 50x25mm battens at...
  14. M

    Leaking toilet

    We've just had a minor disaster when the flexi pipe on the back of the toilet came away. It's a back to wall toilet pan with the cistern in a cupboard. The pan is fitted to one of these...
  15. M

    Mira shower problem

    We have a Mira Coda shower fed from a Salamander shower pump. The HW comes from a Surrey flange on the HW tank and the CW comes directly from the CW tank in the loft. All pipes before the pump are 22mm, after it is a mix of 15mm copper and plastic. It was all installed about 4 years ago. The...
  16. M

    Bedroom floor - chipboard or wood?

    We're renovating our bedroom. I've lifted all the floor boards and removed the nails and was planning on replacing with chipboard to get a neat smooth draught free floor (it's a late Victorian house with thick stone/rubble infill walls and the wind seems to get through them into the underfloor...
  17. M

    False ceiling in bedroom

    As well as drylining the walls, the ceiling of my bedroom also needs fixing. It's lath and plaster with lots of cracks due in part to the insulation above being compressed by the loft boards. I could just screw plasterboard over the existing ceiling, but that adds more weight to the very small...
  18. M

    Drylining a plastered wall

    I've got a bedroom that needs drylining. The house is Victorian with solid stone external walls. The plaster/render is in a poor condition with a mould problem where there had been a built in wardrobe. In the past when doing other rooms in the house, I've knocked off all the plaster, put up...
  19. M

    Job for the weekend...

    Not sure this is the correct forum, but I got home tonight and reversed onto the drive (gravel over clay and rubble). I got out and found the back wheel in a 2ft x 1.5ft hole! It's at least 2ft deep but with bits of brick etc in it. I managed to get the car out and back on to the road but WTF...
  20. M

    Alpha CD24S losing pressure / high running pressure

    Sorry for the long post, but hopefully I've given all the pertinent facts. I've got an Alpha CD24S boiler that was installed into an existing CH system in July 2004 along with a new hot water cylinder. The boiler has been serviced annually (last time Oct 2012). After about 2 years of use...
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