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(Not sure if this is the right section!!) As discussed in another thread, I am building a 30m2 garden office. Assuming I figure out how to build the floor, this question is about not bothering to insulate it. I appreciate the implications this has for subsequent building regulations approval...

So, the Aim of the Game is to build a 6.6*4.6 Garden Office – timber-framed, off block piers. I thought I knew what I was doing, then had a look on YouTube and got myself confused! This guy made something 6.5*5 by breaking it into six equal size boxes (obv. about 2*2.5 each). He first screwed...

Hi, Not sure which bit of the forum, if any, is the right place to ask - but here goes...... I need to get a 200KG stove from Glasgow to Devon, where i am. The problem is that it isn't on a pallet. I have found a man/van team that can get it on a pallet for a freight-team to collect, but they...

Evening, I'm planning a garden studio, and was thinking of timber-framing - until i got worried about how solid it would end up feeling. Would 170mm carcassing, at 600mm centres, create a much stronger final building than 90mm? I'm also worried about the sense of strength. For example, if...

Hi, I want to replace a tired shed, measuring about 2.5 metres by 5 metres, with a larger garden office. The existing timber structure stands on a brick footing, itself on a concrete plinth. The plinth extends beyond the timber frame by about 0.5 metres, but doesn’t look terribly flat. For...

Should i fit an Essex or a Surrey flange - or one of the more obscure alternatives - for a horizontal hot water cylinder? There is a decent head from the cold water supply, but still poor flow at the taps. I am thinking this might be because of air being drawn in, but was thinking of fitting a...

Laying engineered flooring in an old house, solid floors but seriously uneven. How level do they need to be? For example, on a 1800mm level i have a 4mm depression for 660mm around the middle. Is that the sort of thing that glue can tolerate? Or SLC everything and everywhere? Cheers Crawf

Evening, Pretty sure folks are going to enjoy telling me that this situation is a hopeless disaster, but here goes...... The 50m2 of engineered wood floor we recently laid to float on 5mm foam underlay is bouncy in places: clearly, the underlying substrate is not perfectly flat. Is the best...

Hi, Looking to fit wooden flooring over electric UFH. Substrate is a mix of concrete and timber, with moisture of <2% - but might not stay that low, so thinking a DPM would be a good idea. Is it better to float on a DPM/underlay Or, glue down a plastic DPM and then glue flooring onto it...

Evening, Can i fix PIR insulation to rafters, then drill through it to secure plasterboard? If i use 75mm PIR, that seems like using long screws for plaster board - can they be standard ones, rather than plasterboard ones? Perhaps with washer's to stop the heads pulling through the board? I...

Hi, Is it likely that the lower ends of roof rafters have been simply nailed to the wall-plate? Picture A shows the general appearance, Picture B the nail. I was expecting something like a Bird’s Mouth joint, as I can’t see anything else serving the function of a tie-beam. The room is 2.5...

Hi, How much space is needed for plumbing under a kitchen sink? I ask because I have a space 143cm wide - and want to cram in three things: the sink, a fridge and a dishwasher. Would it be possible to get extra cupboard space by mounting the sink on the work-surface itself, rather than in a...

Hi, Reckon i'll get criticized for this, but how should i go about roofing this extension? I was thinking of an RSJ along the long dimension, with perpendicular exposed timbers - then I realised how heavy that would be. The window means that i'd prefer to avoid a pitched roof. The house...

Hi, How many drain pipes can connect through a single p trap? I was planning on a single drain pipe carrying the waste from three toilets and two showers, passing through a p trap before the inspection chamber. The trap suddenly looks pretty small, and likely to get blocked by toilet...

Hi, How thick should the marine ply be on a bathroom floor fixed at 400mm centres? I was thinking that 25mm would be more than enough...... However, a wet-room supplier tells me i will need also 6mm cement board on top of this too to prevent bending. This seems excessive to me. We only had...

Hi, I currently have a ceramic pipe leading into my main drain inspection chamber. It is fed by a combined soil pipe and waste water inlet which includes some sort of old P trap/bottle gully. As part of fitting new toilets, I am adding a new soil stack. I want to connect this to the existing...

Hi, Looking for some advice on how best to add a new connection to my existing 1960s drains - and where best to put the waste stack. I've tried to draw the layout below. Essentially, there is a manhole cover and inspection chamber about 1.5 metres from the house. This is currently fed by two...

Hi, Looking for some advice on fittings for vented hot water cylinders…… For the coil, 1” male seems standard – would changing this for either a 22mm or 28mm compression fitting be £20 well-spent?! Similarly, I can change the gender of the cold-feed and the hot-water draw-off from female to...

Hi, Not quite sure if this is the right section to ask in, but here goes....... We are just about to order a stove and, before the installer arrives, i want to sort out the constructional hearth. This raises a couple of questions..... 1. Our chosen stove, the Contura i5, requires an "air...

Hi, I am renovating a cob cottage, and would like to increase the head-height over the first part of the main staircase. Removing the plaster has revealed a beam, which crosses between two internal walls, which is the problem. The first question is why is the beam there? The second question...