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I'm putting in a new inspection chamber where the main soil stack from three toilets goes into a combined sewer down a narrow side passage. Due to other pipework, am fitting one of the small 300mm diameter chambers like this...

Just taken wallpaper off a house built about 1905. There is damp, probably rising in some of the house but not this room. Is the grey plaster up to about a metre off the floor special waterproof plaster from damp-proofing? I can't see any injection holes but guess they might be under this...

We're working with an architect and structural engineer to design a loft conversion. Suburban semi and pretty standard - keep front roof and dormer to rear. We are going for full planning application rather than permitted development. Surprise was that architect says new loft walls need to be...

Got a long run of lead pipe going from water meter on pavement outside house to kitchen at the rear. Have dug most of a trench for a new plastic pipe: But there is a big drain pipe blocking access to the water meter at normal water pipe depth of 750mm (marked 2 on this pic, also showing Water...

I've made a new first-floor bathroom with a toilet on a wall over the side passage. The main combined rainwater/sewage drain runs under the middle of the side passage. So I thought it would be easy to make a new soil stack into the existing drain. But now I think it's quite hard, access is...

I'm about to tile an alcove shower. I'm using 13mm marble tiles on to tanked Aquapanel. I want to put some small shelves in for shower gel and stuff. The chrome ones look tatty quickly I've found. And I haven't got the right studwork now for an alcove. So how about just using the tiles...

Sanding up old pine floorboards, maybe up to 100 years old. Rough sand of most of them went ok, but round the edges there is a thick, sticky black paint that I'm really struggling to shift (see pics below). It seems to go pretty deep into the wood. If I can shift the paint, thinking of dyeing...

I'm redoing the main bedroom in an old solid-brick semi and the bed is going along an external wall with chimney breast. The alcoves aren't really deep enough to do much with. As it's being skimmed anyway, should I fit some thin internal insulation into the alcoves? I'm thinking one of these...

Hi, I'm fitting a new first-floor shower and the edges will not be above joists. Which option is best? 1 replace all the floorboards then just screw 18mm structural ply into the boards, and into joists where can. 2 remove all boards, reinforce joists with new noggins to provide support along...

I had my food dye ready to try to figure out what was going on with drains in my new house, lifted the manhole cover and found this... There are pipes at each end that look a bit like clay underground drains, and are at right-angles to the road (where main drain probably goes). I flushed a...

Have just bought quite a bit of Red Grandis, a cheap hardwood in the Eucalyptus family, to make some cupboard doors. In its natural state it's much pinker than I realised - and than I want. It's got a good grain though, so I'm guessing it should look good if I stain it with something. I...

Hi, Anyone tried Grundfos macerators? They seem to be cheaper than Saniflo, and I've had two Saniflos (lucky me, huh) and one of them has been nothing but trouble, although must admit the other one has been ok. Apart from price I like the Grundfos because I think they can cope with 22mm...

Hello, I'm about to bury some plumbing behind some tiles so I'd really like to get it right. I bought a Mira shower and you are supposed to fit it to a partition like this: I have bought these from Wall Plate Elbows Toolstation to get me from Polyplumb 15mm too the shower fixing of a...

Hi, I've bought this bath: http://www.bathstore.com/products/showertime-thermaform-bath-1899.html and am installing it in a bathroom where it will be surrounded by walls on three sides. The bath instructions say to batten under the rim to give additional support which sounds like a...

Hi, I've used Aquapanel before for tiling bathrooms with heavy (12mm marble) tiles. Doing another one now but have seen this British Gypsum Glasroc Tilebacker H: http://www.builderdepot.co.uk/british-gypsum-12-5mm-x-900mm-x-1200mm-glasroc-h-tilebacker.html It's quite a lot cheaper than...

Hi I've got two dimmable 4W LED bulbs in downlighters (in series). I bought this dimmer: http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/VLJQP252W.html because TLC advertised it as having a minimum load of 3W. I fitted it and the dimming is almost non-existent, maybe 5% or so. Now going back to the...

I'm doing my own rewiring and want to get it signed off. I've included a couple of wires off a lighting circuit to power some lights in built-in bookcases. Although I haven't built the bookcases yet. At the moment, the wire is just sitting in a normal metal backbox. What's the best way to...

I can use an in-line fan to ventilate the en-suite, and I've got a lot of noise from my other bathroom fan so I'm keen to stifle this one as best I can. Does it really need to be attached to anything? What about if I built a housing for it lined with 50-100mm of Rockwool RWA45? It can't...

i'm going to board up a large double-glazed window (about 1700 high by about 1200 wide, two PVC panes sash window-style) so I can build a big built-in cupboard in front. It doesn't have to look great as it'll be inside a cupboard, but I don't want damp in the cupboard. My plan: - Frost the...

Do plastic 4-inch sewage pipes just fit together with the tiny single rubber seal. I'm moving a toilet and need to saw into the soil pipe and add a short run. I've bought one of these bends to bring it vertical up through the floor void: http://www.toolstation.com/shop/p86845 There's just...