Search results

We have a newly constructed kitchen extension, and I was going to fit an MDF window cill and then hang a vertical blind in the window. To cut a long story short, I ordered the blind, but forgot (duh!) to deduct the thickness of the intended cill from the measurements, and now there isn't room...

I'm about to purchase new carpet for a living room, two bedrooms and landing & stairs. I'm not even considering cutting & fitting the carpet myself, but I am dismayed at the price that carpet shops quote for not-very-good underlay and for incidentals like gripper & door strips. It bumps up the...

We recently had an extension built that includes this newly built parapet wall which supports a lean-to conservatory roof. There is a large damp patch on the internal face of the wall, so I have so far deferred plastering while I investigate the cause and get it fixed. I...

I'm connecting a new 25mm MDPE underground water pipe to old 1/2" copper pipe and I've bought a Plass4 Universal Connector, which is OK for pipes 15mm-22mm diameter. My attempt today to make the connection resulted in a dribbling leak from the universal side, but I wonder whether I just...

Quick question: When laying Celotex sheets, does it matter which side faces 'up' - the printed side or the plain side?

Our extension is nearing completion and I have a newly constructed kitchen roof with a hip end and vaulted ceiling to insulate and plasterboard. The design spec. suggests Celotex GA4000 @ 100mm between the rafters and PL4040 (40mm bonded with 12.5mm PB) to underside. I am contemplating doing...

I'm having trouble finding anyone who can lay a sand/cement floor screed in my extension, so I'm looking at liquid screed (readily available at a day or two's notice from lots of places). My concrete floor slab is 160mm below DPC and I was going to lay 80mm of Celotex and then conventional...

I'm intending to completely renew my driveway which is long enough for three cars in line, but very narrow, so I'm excavating about 1m to the side from a raised front lawn, and will build a small brick retaining wall. The nett addition to the driveway surface means that I will need PP unless I...

I have a new kitchen extension and I need to run a new water supply pipe to it, across my driveway and front garden, connecting to the existing 1/2" (not 15mm) copper pipe passing beneath a retaining garden wall adjacent to the pavement (where my water meter is situated). I'm intending to...

I'm about to lay the floor slab in my extension, and the area has been excavated, levelled and the sub-base formed with well broken brick & block debris, together with MOT 1 stone and sand blinding. I'm trying to decide which method of make up to finished screed will be best. Looking at...

I'm putting in a concrete/insulation/screed floor on a prepared sub-base and the bricklayers have already lapped a 600mm strip of DPM in with the DPC at what will be finished floor level. I've blinded the sub-floor with sand, and I'm nearly ready to have concrete poured over the DPM...

Brickwork is well advanced on my domestic extension and I'll soon be looking for a carpenter and roofer to put the top on. The design is for a tiled pitched roof with a vaulted ceiling (so preformed trusses are out of the question). Assuming that the carpenter & roofer are different...

I'm using 25m coils of 22mm & 15mm polypipe in the refurbishment of a house, and wonder whether anyone has any tips for getting the stuff to straighten out. The 22mm pipe, in particular, is very stiff, and looking at one or two joins, the twisting force is distorting the pipe at couplings and I...

I need to support 2 x 127x76x13 UB (bolted @ 600 ctrs) across an opening of 2.6m in a 28cm (11") cavity wall. The designer's 'program' suggests 250x250 padstones, but I can't locate anything that size. Do the padstones need to be in one piece on each side (distributing the load across the inner...

I've nearly finished working on my new bathroom. Removing the old tiles left the plaster in such a damaged state, that I hacked it all off to bare brick and I have put in new MR Plasterboard (dot & dab) apart from one wall where to allow for invisible plumbing I made a studwork frame to which...

I'm about to do the waste pipes in my new bathroom. The 40mm waste pipe passes out of an external wall to the main stack and there is a 2.5m run to the shower trap. I need to cut into that, mid-way, to connect a basin. I was looking at a Floplast Anti-Vac bottle trap - is that suitable for the...

I have some new radiators (they're Kudox) and some Honeywell TRVs, which come with a tail to screw into the radiator, and then the valve fastens to the tail with a nut and olive. I understand that the olive, not the thread, makes the waterproof join, and many people say don't bother to wrap...

I've just fitted a dual-fuel towel rail and understand that I shouldn't switch on the electrical element when the CH is in use. However, I expect that in Spring & Autumn, when the heating is just ticking over, my rail not be hot long or often enough to dry towels properly, and wondered...

I'm extending my average-sized semi at the rear and side, and need to almost completely renew the foul drainage. My existing glazed vitrified clay drain starts part-way across the back of my house, where there is a 1m deep brick built chamber, and then runs under the boundary fence onto my...

I have an existing soil pipe passing through the intended location of the foundation for my extension. We are going to use a trench-filled concrete foundation, and I am unsure of the usual method of providing the necessary protection and clearance for the pipe. I have seen diagrams showing...