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Hi all In process of installing a cooker hood and there is a vertical stud right in the centre line. I have around 100mm either side of the stud which is not enough for the 125mm hole I was going to make for ducting. Apart from drilling through stud (which is not ideal as this is what hood is...

Hi guys I'm trying to fit a 13kg cooker hood into drywall. It's plasterboard on battens on brick, but with foil insulation in between. I was planning on drilling all way into brick but the insulation gets all caught in drill bit I can get a fix with one screw on a timber. So with this, and...

Hi all I'm hoping you can help me. I'm wanting to move our downstairs bathroom to another part of the house, still downstairs (1900s detatched). This will be a better use of space. The drain is right next to the current bathroom, where there is a manhole. I assume it then goes under the...

Hi all We're renovating a loft room (existing, not conversion) and want to insulate between the rafters before we plaster (lime over woodwool board). I want to use sheepswool insulation, but not sure on how to fit it. The rafters are only 70mm deep, and I understand need a gap between...

Hi guys Our kitchen has low ceiling with hood that recirculates so we get lots of condensation. We're going to duct out through ceiling to exterior wall about 1m away, but considering taking down hood and using an inline extractor fan instead. Is there any problems with doing this? Without the...

Hi guys We have an attic room in a Victorian property, with sloping ceilings (original lath and plaster). We want to get it replastered in lime to maintain breathability. The quote we got was £6k to remove all existing lime and replaster completely, insulating between rafters with...

Hi all In process of removing gas fire, and opening up fireplace to have a woodburner down the line. Pulled it all out, and a bit surprised to find no lintel! All I can see is a very small metal bar spanning brickwork, and also the mantel piece goes back about 3 inches into the brickwork, could...

Hi all Considering ripping out a horrible 1970s fireplace. There are quarry tiles on the hearth on what could be an asbestos cement underlay. Any suggestions on how to handle? Perhaps tile over? Thanks

Hi guys Doing some decorating on a late 1800s property, Victorian red brick and concerned over absestos. Chimney breast in dining room is boxed in with plasterboard so pulling this down. Behind skirting, noticed dark matetial between brick work that looks like it has some big fibres in it -...

Hi all I'm getting the back of my house (1890s terrace) re-rendered in a lime/cement mix, so it is more breathable than cement render I need to get a breathable paint, but also need to colour match it against adjacent wall Anyone know of any breathable paints that can colour match? All seem to...

Chaps I'm needing to lay some solid wood flooring and as such I will need to make long straight cuts on boards a few feet long. Never seem to get a straight cut with a handsaw, what would be the best electric tool to use - a circular saw perhaps? Also needing to do a bit of skirting - assuming...

Hi all I am laying solid oak flooring onto ply (with some floorboards at edges), and am torn between secret nailing, and gluing over a slatted underlay like this one: http://www.screwfix.com/p/acoustalay-slatted-glue-through-foam-underlay-5mm-16-5m-16-5m/62862 Does anyone have any experience...

Hi all - some help would be greatly appreciated! We have a raised timber floor which is out of level - a drop of about 3 inches across a 4m wide room, perpendicular to the joist direction. Ripped up floorboards and joists are in good nick, but I want the floor levelled (not sure why it's out...

Hi all I'm replacing the original Victorian floorboards (not tongue and groove) in my living room as they're in bad nick. How can I best preserve the character when replacing - I'm assuming nailing to joists would be best as opposed to using screws? Found some reclaimed floorboards but they...

Hi all, I recently moved into a 1900 terrace with raised timber floors. Upon pulling back the laminate in the front room, looks like floorboards are in bad nick - different styles and direction, and a big slope. We had planned to sand and varnish the floorboards but they won't look good...

Hi all, I have a timber bresummer beam supporting the front elevation of my house, which has sagged in the past causing some structural movement (upstairs windows lean inwards) - there is some evidence of woodworm in the beam but it's 'not too bad' apparently. Had a structural engineer round...

Hi guys, Hoping someone may be able to offer some advice. Live in a 1880s terrace, which used to be a butchers back in the day (like 30 or so years ago). Front wall is mainly stud with shop front style windows, so I assume some sort of beam was put in a while back. However, windows on first...