Search results

I normally do all my DIY, but this was beyond me, so I had to get a professional in....which is way it's driving me mad not knowing what's wrong! I had a leak from an unknown place, and all the roofers I consulted said: need a new roof! had a 1930s roof with tiles straight on the rafters and...

Hello all, Successive plumbers have been unable to locate an internal stopcock for my house, so have always turned my water off from the street, so I have followed suit. However, today I have discovered it full of sludge (and ants) and despite my best efforts of remove it all, I can't turn the...

Unfortunately we only have one toilet, so my partner has vetoed my idea of getting a large mallet and smashing it to pieces. So it seems that we will need to try and fix it AGAIN. The current plan is to purchase a complete set of new pipes and cistern so we know everything fits and should be...

Hi all, I know this is a bit of a 'how long is a bit of string' question, but any uplifting words will be at least morale boosting. The (insert colourful words here) upstairs toilet leaked again. Same problem of the pipe between the cistern and the bowl. The guy who installed the toilet years...

Hi all, I noticed this last night and I'm not sure if it's getting worse. Basically all the hot taps in the house are not giving out water with much force - if you have them on half turn it's almost a trickle, on full blast it's almost normal. I thought it might be my baxi boiler (usually is!)...

Hi all, I just need a few ideas/advice if you can. Attached is the (seemly) bizarre action a previous builder has done to our home (was like this when we moved in). They have created a box over the sewage pipe and applied the roofing felt over that....you can see what it should look like by...

Hi all, I was just doing a different thread and someone suggested the cheaper option was to just buy a ladder to reach the area I needed to get to. Sound advice, but I have petit mal epilepsy and while this isn't the sort of fits where I thrash around on the floor, I do have absences whereby I...

Hi all, I was shocked when I was quoted £240 to clean out two bits of guttering - and that was the cheapest quote. I live in a terraced house in the North East, certainly not a mansion. Maybe prices have gone up suddenly and I'm not aware of it, but I hate getting people in to do a job I could...

My old nemesis, the Baxi 105he, has struck back. After an epic battle to change a condensate unit filled with dead wasps (I kid you not), whereby I valiantly struggled and won against the poorly installed hose clamp making it almost impossible to remove, I prevailed! Which is why I thought, when...

I hope you can all help. Our shower isolation switch decided to refuse to budge, so after we took if off the wall we discovered it was horribly corroded. We bought a new switch and after much frustration managed to get the bloomin’ thing wired up and back in its cavity. All works well regarding...

I hope you guys can help. Whatever I do I can't get the inlet hose of my washing machine to properly attach to the inlet pipe! I have tried exceptionally hard to get it as straight as possible, but it always leaks. I have bought a brand new hose, same problem. I've tried plumbers tape, which has...

I’m plagued by things subtly leaking. Can anyone give me some suggestions about how to fix my two most recent problems? 1.. When the plumber put in our vanity unit he very slightly cut the pipe going from the cistern to the bowl too short. It seems long enough at first glance, but you realise...

Can anyone suggest an explanation to a mystery? Over the last few days I’ve gone downstairs into the backroom and smelt what I can only describe as chlorine, or at least a ‘swimming pool’ smell. It’s not exactly that, but it’s the best way to describe it. I find it a bit strong and my chest...

Hi All, Thanks to this forum I managed to identify how badly damaged my kitchen was from my washing machine leaking. I was fairly convinced that I could fix it myself and was all set to go when my work colleague suggested that I might be covered by my insurance. I doubted it because the...

My kitchen floor is cement and has been slowly being soaked by water due to a leaking washing machine. After some great advice from the forum I thought I'd dry it out then lay the vinyl as suggested. I thought I had successfully dried it out using my halogen heater pointing at that area for...

This is a quick question which I’m sure will be swiftly answered by anyone who is not as clueless as I am. The scenario is thus: My washing machine has saturated the concrete floor in my kitchen and rotted away a floorboard that was next to the concrete. I have removed the washer and I’m...

Hi All, I hope I can get some advice? I’ve just chucked away my washer AND dishwasher for a variety of sins, one of which is stealth flooding of my kitchen. I say ‘stealth’ because it was a slow drip behind the machines so I didn’t see the damage for a long time. Also, one of my floorboard has...