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    Converting felled trees to wood flooring

    Anyone done this? Is it worth the hassle? I don't know much about wood floors, and have only ventured as far as engineered in the past. I found this youtube video and it's clearly a lot of work, but I found some local mobile sawmills who I could potentially approach. I am getting a huge ash...
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    Isolator switch located directly below shower pump

    Hi, See pic here and attached. Is it allowed to have the isolator switch located directly below the shower pump? (Ignore the fact that the switch faceplate is off - I've opened it up to let it dry out after the pump leaked!) :eek: I've been researching BS 7671, and it seems that the...
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    New build infill terrace - sound transmission test

    How is the sound transmission test for a new house organised in cases where the new house adjoins an existing house? Does the sound tester have to go into the adjoining property? Does the adjoining owner have any rights to witness the test to ensure it is completed correctly? Also, can...
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    "Builders Clean" - what is it?

    The builders for my extension are contracted to do a "builders clean throughout" at the end of the job. They claim that essentially amounts to vaguely running a broom around the room, and maybe a damp cloth over a window or two. They have partially laid a new floor, and the existing floor...
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    Party wall surveyor - scope of responsibilities?

    Hi, I'm an "Adjoining Owner" under the Party Wall Act, and have an Agreed surveyor, with a Party Wall Award already drafted and agreed. The "Building Owner's" works are in progress. Some damage has occurred to my building that requires remediation work. The Building Owner has proposed a...
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    Electrical noise from Salus RT520TX

    Just had a new combi boiler fitted for heating & HW. Plumber supplied a wireless (battery-powered) Salus RT520TX thermostat / controller. The wireless stat is emitting a very high-pitched electrical-type whining noise (a bit like you hear from a plugged-in phone charger when no phone is...
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    Screed after plastering?

    I'm having an extension done and my builders are saying that they will screed the floor after completing plasterboard and skim. They say "the last layer which will be the screed will be fitted after the plaster boarding and skimming as this is common practice". Is it really common practice...
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    Fridge drawing more than quoted input watts

    Dumb question from someone who knows nothing about electrics, sorry. I have a rather neat pass-through device that plugs into a plug socket and displays on a little LCD screen the amount of power being consumed. I currently have a fridge plugged into it. When the fridge is idling, the plug...
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    Mixed floor types within one room

    Hi all, Getting two rooms knocked through into one, and an extension added, to make one large room (kitchen). It's a Victorian house. The two rooms that are being knocked into one have different floor constructions - the existing dining room has timber floorboards, and the kitchen has a solid...
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    Devimat confusion

    Hi, I've just moved into a flat with Devimat heating and am confused about the settings / display. 1. Should the mat switch off as soon as it reaches the end of the "on" time? This morning, I noticed that the Devireg 550 controller in one of the rooms was showing the heating-up symbol about 40...
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    Gripfill MDF skirting fixing

    Not sure whether to put this in the carpentry or decorating forum. I am replacing some old timber skirtings with MDF. I am planning to fix with Gripfill only, as behind the skirtings is just dot & dab plasterboard, with no timber. I have one wall which isn't flat - slightly convex bend -...
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    Electric shower replacement / upgrade?

    Hi, I have an electric shower which seems to have failed, as it makes noises as though it is heating the water, but the water comes out completely cold. Failed suddenly - worked yesterday, not today. It's a Mira Go. I've been through the troubleshooting on the Mira page here, but still not...
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    Polycell Smooth flexible paint vs Polycell 3 in 1 Basecoat vs. Ronseal Triple Action basecoat

    Got some very small imperfections that I want to cover. Peeled paint (all now scraped back as far as possible) and a couple of very slight ridges / divots. Has anyone used any of these three and can report back on which would work? Polycell Smooth flexible paint Polycell 3 in 1 Basecoat...
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    Sanding or lining paper?

    I've just stripped the lining paper off a ceiling as it was in poor condition. My question is - what's my best option to decorate the ceiling? Lining paper or fill & sand? The ceiling has a few long cracks but is otherwise quite level. It has two thin layers of paint, both of which are...
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    Underpinning - usual projection distance from wall?

    Can anyone tell me how far, very roughly, the concrete generally projects from the face of an underpinned wall please? Been digging a small trial pit to expose the foundations of my neighbour's Victorian flank wall, as I need to build some new footings adjacent to this, and have exposed some...
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    WC ball valve replacement

    Next topic! I'm getting on with stuff today. :) Toilet flush: The cistern never really gets full and the valve never fully switches off. I've poked around and it seems that the bit that the ball float pushes into to stop the cistern filling is sticking. What's that called? Inlet valve...
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    Exposed shower valve - 22mm inlets?

    Need a bit of help replacing an old leaking exposed shower valve, specifically finding something to replace it with. It's a round type of valve (old Bristan Pisa) rather than a bar-shaped valve, see attached pic. The inlet pipe centres appear to be about 155mm. I bought a new valve before...
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    Loss of light - precedents

    Hi guys, Is precedent relevant in loss of light planning issues? E.g. If similar details with the same loss of light (or worse) exist in the immediately adjacent properties, would this be taken into consideration and the proposal therefore allowed on this basis? Thanks all.
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    Worcester 230 - how to re-pressurise?

    Hi, Sorry to ask dumb questions but I'm struggling. I have an old Worcester 230 boiler (c 1994 I believe). I have recently been having to bleed the radiators almost daily, and some searching around on the web suggested that this might be caused by low boiler pressure. I checked the...
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    DPM / walls in integral garage

    Hi, I'm going to build an extension to include an integral garage, and I'm confused about the DPM detail. I understand that the garage FFL has to be at least 100mm below the FFL of the rest of the house. This means that the garage FFL will also be 100mm below the DPC in the walls. Am I...
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