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Shower seems to have a stuck thermostatic valve alas. I've got the plate and handles off this shower valve, and removed the lock pin (I've put it back in place for the photo), but can't seem to budge the cartridge back out (it does push back into the wall about 1cm, somewhat alarmingly). Is...

In order to address damp walls (partially underground) in our kitchen at the back of the house, I've built a wall-in-wall using a steel track & stud system. This has done wonders for dampness in the room, however I'm now to the stage of closing up the various openings, particularly re-instating...

I've begun prepping our loft for boarding up, and have discovered much to my surprise a huge amount of sawdust underneath the insulation inbetween the joists. The attic is a large space, around 90m2, and is apparently full of the stuff. This seems problematic on a number of levels, so I'd like...

I'll be excavating some soil from a hillside in front of our house in order to add a driveway in front, so will be installing a retaining wall to hold up the soil. After surveying various options, I'm leaning towards using pre-cast concrete blocks for the build, either in a cantilever style or...

It seems that the last aging length of rainwater guttering has now begun to come off the roof of our recently purchased (but very old) home. So now I've got to replace it before monsoon season properly hits us here in Wales. I'm very much hoping to keep fascia and brackets in place and simply...

I'm optimising the heating loop a bit on our home as part of a larger renovation and wondering if I'm hitting any design limits on my system, or if this could be considered optimal. This will all be fed by a Nibe F2040-16 (16kw) air source heat pump. The feed/return loop runs as a U shape (22mm...

I'm replacing radiators and plumbing throughout the house in anticipation of installation of an air source heat pump next week. There are two rooms which have double radiators, and especially because I'm using (expensive) smart WiFi enabled TRV valves, I'm wondering if it's possible to connect...

I'm replacing boiler with an air source heat pump, and adding / replacing about half of the radiators in the house. The feed/return loop plumbing is all 22mm, but while old radiators are 10mm plumbing mostly off a couple brass manifolds, new rads are 15mm plumbing. Will mixing piping in this way...

I've installed a new soil stack and removed one from another location, and now it's time to repair the brickwork and plug the holes. Its all lime mortar, of which I've now got a bucket, and while I understand how to apply the mortar and help it dry properly, I'm trying to sort out how to cover...

I'm installing a 16kw air source heat pump next week, and need to put in a spot to anchor it. I'm wondering if people can comment on how they've installed them and what has worked? I'm aware this ASHP will put off a lot of water (60-100l a day) and there's an inlet for sewer/waste water (it's a...

I'm delivering water feeds (via Speedfit 22mm) for a newly installed unvented cylinder in a cellar under the front sitting room to a utility room in the back of the house also on the ground floor. This will involve four separate 22mm feeds (cold supply, hot return, and supply/return for...

I've got a small cellar under our sitting room (about 8' by 20'), floor boards are all still intact, but a number of joist ends are rotted, sill plate is seriously deteriorated with dry rot in several places and there are signs of localised woodworm infestation on a few beams. I'm going to pull...

I've just got up the old carpets on our renovation project, and weirdly the kitchen floor is mostly quarry tiles, except for the back third of the room being concrete. Unfortunately the floor is level throughout, so we can't just put tiles on top of the concrete to fix it. I'm imagining we just...

I'm building a post and plank retaining wall retaining wall to shore up an existing slope and establish some parking spaces in front. The wall will be about 12.5m wide by 1.5m tall, with 3m tall 6" square beams in concrete spaced at 1.25m. I know that because the wall is just over 5' I need to...

I'm renovating a drafty old house (draughtproofing, interior wall insulation, new windows, etc.) and installing an ASHP to run radiators. I'm now looking towards the kitchen more specifically. I'm aware of the need to have good ventilation and air exchange in the kitchen, but am reluctant to...

Hi folks, I've done a bit of homework and have designed a retaining wall for our home, and thought I'd post the design here for constructive critique. Any feedback most welcome. The house is set back up on a slope, with a mostly flat 15m long front garden which then slopes down to a space full...

I'm pulling out some unruly hedges and putting in a gravel driveway in front of the house, and this is the intended location for a new EV (probably a Renault Zoe). I know the charging station will require installation by a proper electrician (probably one of these: http://pod-point.com), but am...

I'm putting in a completely new central heating system to feed radiators (150m2 of house across two floors - about 13 radiators) and provide hot water (1 shower, 4 sinks). For this, I'll be installing a Samsung 12kw Heat Pump and a 20tube solar thermal array (58mm hot tubes with alcohol fill)...

Very specific question here for folks who have owned / installed a Samsung EHS Monobloc heat pump. I'm looking to buy one myself in a month or two, but am scoping out possibilities of monitoring this appliance locally using a self-hosted platform (home assistant, for the curious). I am aware...

I'm renovating an 1880s semi-detached 5BR Victorian house. A bit of reading on the forum has relieved my initial despair after discovering that, in the cellar, the ends of floor joists seem to be in advanced stages of rotting. There is rising damp coming in from external walls, but I'm hoping...