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Hi, we're planning on laying some reclaimed York paving stones in the back garden. Most will be laid on what is currently grass, so will level off and compact about 100mm of sub-base for that. Around the back of the house and the sideway, we have an existing concrete path, laid about 15...

Hi all. The loft isn't insulated roof-side, it's felt and tiles. The floor below is very well insulated, but I want to insulate the roof as well so that I can use the loft space for climbing training, weight lifting. the roof: We had an extension a few years ago, and all the roof supports...

Hi everyone. I'm going to attach a climbers hangboard to an internal brick wall at home, it's a load bearing wall, and the hangboard will be above a doorway. The house is over 120 years old, I'm not sure what's behind the plaster, but assuming it's not timber. The board needs to take at least...

Hi all, due to not always having somewhere to park, we're thinking of building a very simple driveway on our front garden. At the moment it's a lawn that drains well, it's not a huge area and we like having the grass there, so the plan is to have 2 strips of paving slabs (for use of a better...

hi all, I'm thinking of insulating the underside of my roof, and am not sure if I should go over or between the rafters with celotex. The gaps between the rafters are all uneven due to the age of the house, so each section will have to be measured and cut. I've got enough space in the rafters...

Hi all, I need to repair a loose hot tap, and when I've gone to isolate it from the water supply at the inline valve (I think that's what it's called, it's where you would turn the valve with a screwdriver) I'm finding that it's not turning all the way, so I can't isolate the water supply from...

Hi all, I'd like to set up a TRX system in my loft (TRX is basically straps that you use your own bodyweight against for a work out), and maybe to stick a punch bag up as well. I'd like to strengthen the collar ties, as that's what will be taking the load. I don't know how load bearing they...

Hi all, first off, I'm not an electrician so may have missed the bleedin' obvious. Bathroom extractor fan powers on when lights turned on, stays on for a few minutes when lights turned off. Separate isolator switch outside of bathroom. The fan is a Manrose BG XF100LV this is powered by a...

My current project is taking a bit longer than I planned (thanks, British Summer). It's costing me money to hire a cement mixer that spends all day in the garden whilst I am at work, so I'm thinking of buying one, and then selling it once I'm done with it. I'm afraid there's no link on B&Q...

Hi all, I'm building a wood fired oven on a concrete base, and am about to start on the supporting wall, which will be made from hollow concrete blocks (heavy). The blocks will be filled with concrete. As I doubt I can lay each block level, I will need to bed them down with mortar, so that I...

Hi all, I need to fix a gate post to a brick wall, the gate post will have the weight of the gate on it. I have no idea what my options are - right down to post dimensions and fixings. It'll be a wooden ledged and braced gate, so not light by any means. I think I'll need a 100mm x 100mm...

Hi all, I need to have a full height garden gate to block off my sideway. I may buy a cheapish metal one, or if I have time, strip and paint an old internal door that I have (it looks like this...

Hi all, my google-fu seems to have failed me. I need to buy a washer and seating set for a kitchen tap that's getting stuck (it's a last ditch effort before replacing the whole lot). I've already tried reseating the tap, that hasn't fixed it, and I've been told that a washer and seating set...

The hot tap in the kitchen keeps sticking so that a trickle of water comes out. after a few precision turns, the flow increases. Knowing nothing about plumbing, I took the cartridge to a local plumbing shop, he said the problem isn't with the cartridge (movement is fine, not impacted). The...

Hi all, I hope that I'm using the right phrase here :) Need to replace the tap valve on a kitchen tap, it's this sort of thing: http://www.shop.lunns.net/washer-valves-43-c.asp Now, I have no idea of the tap manufacturer or anything helpful like that, but I'd like to find out if the...

Hi all. We have a nice big loft space, that's been boarded out on top of 9 x 3 joists. There's 2 layers of 150mm fibre glass between the joists, and no vapour barrier. The rooms below are never cold because of the loft void, so I know that the insulation between joists is doing it's job...

Hi all, a neighbour was broken into recently, so Mrs Tapir and I think it's time to install an alarm. I've been looking at the Yale 6400 Premium, the plus points for me being - - simple to install (wireless) - good feature set - modular, so I can add items to it as needed. - generally...

Hi all, not sure if this was the correct forum to post in. We have a door that's been used as an internal door (to old bathroom), but now I am thinking of using it as a door for my external sideway. The door is hand built (not by me) using vertical timbers, and 3 horizontal supports, and 2...

Hi all, I'm laying carpet tiles in the loft this weekend, wondered if there's any advice that you can offer. Loft area is 6.5m x 3.8m, flat chipboard floor, loft hatch to one side tiles are B&Q 50 x 50 rubber backed. I've already calculated the amount of tiles required things I am...

Hi all We've just had some plasterboard fitted in our loft, which I'm going give a couple of licks of paint (the sheets of board are facing correctly, so I can paint onto them). I am not going to have a skim applied to the sheets of plasterboard. What's the best solution for filling in...