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Hi All I am not an electrician by any means, but I am planning a project which needs some special wiring. I contacted the IET, technical helpdesk, and I got this reply..... "The information that you may find useful is covered in BS 7671:2008(2011), appendix 7, item 4 page 408." My...

I am looking into the idea of a cinema room and I want to be able to turn off all of the devices in one go. I want to be able to turn them off properly, rather than leave them all on standby, but I also want everything racked nicely and hidden away with tidy wiring. It has been suggested...

Hi Knowledgeable ones. What are the regulations associated with penetrating a fire ceiling for lighting cables? I have got an integral garage, below a bedroom, and I want to put in a pendant light and 2 flourescent strips as garage lighting. The garage ceiling is yet to go in, but when...

Guys I am after some advice with regard to cutting a new opening in a wall close to a corner. My extension comes straight out from the original gable end of my house, and I need to cut a doorway through that original gable wall, which is of brick/cavity/brick construction. The new wall...

Due to my house extension, I have had to take down my old TV aerial, and so am taking the opportunity to upgrade it from the ‘Contractor’ job that has been up there for the last 45 years. I have got a new aerial, pole and chimney lashing kit, and I am just after some tips on how to get it...

My extension is now water tight, and I am fast approaching the point at which I will need to break through into the existing house. I am making 2 doorways through what was the external cavity wall, but is now an internal wall. The floor joists run parallel to the wall, so the only load...

All To finish off the top edge of a gable wall, I need to trim the corners off the bricks at the end of each course. Seeing as the cut will have to go through the frog, I am assuming that if I use the hammer & bolster I will probably end up scrapping more bricks than I save. Is there a...

Hi All I have reviewed the Trada Timber tables, in an effort to design my roof, and I have got a couple of questions. The clear span of my roof is 6.8m, (so the run is 3.4m) and the pitch is 35 degrees. That equates to a Rafter clear span of 4.15m. The Trada table that I have got...

I need to insulate the suspended floor between the garage and the bedrooms above. The joists ar 220mm deep so there is plenty of room for insulation. The floor area is roughly 21 m sq. I could fit 100mm celotex in the voids, or for significantly less money I could get 200mm loft...

Hello Oh Knowledgeable ones I have got a question relating to what fixings to use when framing a roof. In a ‘normal’ simple roof that consists of joists, purlins, wall plates and rafters what fixings are used at each position? In my extension, where I have fitted floor joists on Jiffy...

Linked to my other post about rafters and joists, but slightly different ................ A neighbour has just had an extension built, very similar to the one that I am doing, and I grabbed the chance to climb up the scaffolding and have a look at how the builder constructed the roof. He...

All I am in the process of designing the roof construction of my extension, and I need some advice regarding what is and isn't acceptable. The extisting roof has got 2 big purlins in it, at roughly half height. That space will be staying as loft storage, but the loft space of the extension...

A quick joist hanger question for you .................. Can I use 50mm joist hangers to hang 47mm regularised timber joists? I wrongly purchased 50mm hangers, and really need to do the job this weekend, which means that I won't be able to get back to the builders merchant to swap them...

Sorry, another joist related question from me............... When I build a joist into a new wall, how do I actually do it? My plan is for the joists to sit directly on top of a course of blocks, and then the other end will be on a joist hanger attached to a ledger board. I will take the...

As per a number of my other posts, I am about to construct the suspended floor in my extension. Ground floor is garage, first floor will be bedrooms. The Joists are going to be 220mm deep, and the span between the walls is just under 3m. I want to go 400 or 600 joist spacing (rather than 450)...

Hi Knowledgable Ones. I am close to fitting the first floor joists in my extension, and the BCO has suggested a Ledger board & Hangers to attach to the existing gable end wall, and then to build the other ends into the new wall. I have 2 questions; 1 - The inner skin of the new wall is...

Hi Everyone I have got a problem with a new radiator that I have installed, in that it won't heat up more than luke warm. Here is the scenario; I have an open vented system, with the boiler and pump downstairs and the F&E tank in the loft. The flow and return pipes are all located in...

Hi Oh Great Knowledgeable Ones. I am no plumbing expert, but have moved a few few rads in my time without too much trouble. However, this time the job hasn't gone according to plan. I have got an open system, with a cold water tank and heating expansion tank in the loft, hot water tank in...

Guys I need some tips relating to switching my stairs round. I need to swap my existing stairs around for 2 reasons. 1) We have repositioned the front door, and it is nicer to come into the bottom of the stairs rather than underneath them. 2) I am converting the loft, and having the...

All I need to move the Soil Vent Pipe on the side of my property, so that it doesn't end inside the extension that I am building. I am pretty sure that my detective work is correct, but I'd just like to run it passed you knowledgeable lot before I go smashing things up. There is a vent...