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Recently bought this house which has electric underfloor mats downstairs. Been using them all without any problem. Noticed that the engineered wood floor in the lounge had a bit of a dip in it, so I pulled up the floor thinking I'd probably find a failed joist. However the dip was caused by the...

We have an unvented system which has one big primary circuit with 3 zone values (DHW, CH and a separate underfloor heating loop). In an ideal world, I'd like the new towel rail to be gently warm when ANY of the 3 valves are active (lots in winter, just DHW in summer). Can I therefore tap the...

I am about to erect something very similar to this: The bottom of the oak legs will sit on a stainless steel pin, which is concreted into the ground, with about 10cm sticking up. There will be a 1cm or so gap between ground and timber to keep the legs from standing in water. I'm wondering...

Due to some upcoming building work I need to move our rising main from the back to the side of the house. I've dug up the water main and my plan was to cut it, connect on to with some kind of adaptor, run some MDPE to the house, add a new stop cock and then connect to the existing system. I...

This parquet block flooring has some small areas of damage. They are all around the old fireplace, and I know that about 10 years ago there was faulty flashing which resulted in water running into the rooms. I have tested with a meter as it's all dry now. If this is just water damage then...

I'm renovating a house and now need to think of a plan with the garden. It's about 1/3 of an acre, and mostly just overgrown grass, bushes and trees. Pic attached. I want to keep the larger trees and put the rest back to turf for now. The garden is broadly on the level but bumpy in places...

I have some sash windows which have been leaking for about 3 years (being only 5 years old!) They were installed by previous owner and have zero paperwork - I knew they were dodgy before buying the property and now want to get them sorted. Photos show damage: Exterior 1st floor, damage...

Hi, I have a Vaillant 831 combi. Earlier today I installed some new taps in the downstairs loo, there were no isolating values so I had turn off the stopcock and drain both hot and cold feeds down. Taps fitted and everything's good. However, we now have no hot water. The Vaillant is running...

I'm planning how to add a new stub stack waste for a utility room. I've got a few options to connect it to the existing waste. They are described below and in the photo, which one would be best? 1) Clay pipe 1 in the photo is currently just taking rainwater. I could change this to a stub...

I've got an old outside loo. The waste currently goes directly down through the concrete floor, and then runs outside a couple of meters to join the main waste. There is no sink or other waste pipe in the room. For various reasons I need to move the toilet within this building, and fit a sink...

I've got a retaining garden wall, as far as I know it's about 100 years old. I need to raise its height to screen the garden from the road. I could build a fence behind it but I'd rather build up the brick wall if at all possible. It's about 3ft and I'd want the it just over 6ft. It's...

I've on an old Victorian outside loo. The waste runs straight down into the concrete as shown in this pic We're planning to floor screed this room and raise the floor level by 100mm or so. Is it possible/wise to remove the loo (it'll almost certainly smash), somehow raise the opening...

I'm about to fit a roof window, and I'll need to cut into one rafter and put in some cross pieces so the neighbouring rafters pick up the load. I keep seeing grey metal fixings which are used where you join one rafter at 90 degrees to the others. See this pic for example: What are...

We have a combi boilder installed in an attached outhouse. Obviously it's mounted on a wall with all associated pipe work running up and down. I'm about to start converting this outhouse into a habitable room. As it's single skin brick it will have stud work and quite a bit of Celotex going...

Is it possible to get a roof window which doesn't open? I'm struggling to find one online, everything seems to be a velux type which opens. Ideally it'd have a vent but basically I just want it to let in light and nothing else

I have a privet hedge around the end of my garden which screens it from the pavement. It's been there about 2 years (planted by previous owner) but it still very young and does not provide a screen. I'm tempted to plant something faster growing between the existing plants to thicken it up...

I have one corner in the house which is curved. The diameter is probably about 80-100mm. I am comfortable fixing skirting to uneven walls but not sure about this one as it's too sharp to bend skirting around. What do the professionals do?

I discovered these original hearth tiles underneath a 70s fireplace I pulled out. They had been covered in slate and so had mortar directly laid onto them, which I think was the cause of this orangey burn which has eroded off the glaze. Is there any way to restore them? I dont want them to...

I've relayed the whole ground floor in block pitch pine. It sanded up a little orangey, we'd like it a little more mellow but not too much. Anyone have any experience/photos of waxing pitch pine? Colours are: American Antique Clear - Gloss Clear - Matt Clear - Satin Dark Oak...

The house we bought has an outbuilding adjoined, basically an old storage building with toilet room. The previous owner got building regs to convert it to 'utility room with access to house'. We have since knocked a doorway through. The outbuilding walls are single layer brick, so no...