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Hi, Im about to fit a cast iron insert and wooden surround. I have placed the insert in position and put the surround in place but there is a small gao of about one inch between the two. It seems that I somehow need to bring the cast iron insert away from the wall to be flush with the...

Hi, Latest Saga! I had my chimney breast replastered about 4 weeks ago, it was taken back to the bricks before being replastered. I have noticed I could see the outline of the bricks as its been drying, however, when its wet outside the outline seems to become more obvious, it is...

I am about to fit a new cast iron fire place (solid fuel), its the sort that has a built in fire basket behind. I have opened up the original builders gap (approx 36" square and 15" deep). The man in the shop suggested I fill the gap between the new fire basket and the builders gap with...

Hi I have just removed a gas fire and ripped out the seventies brick fireplace. The chimney breast has now had all plaster removed and is back to bare brick. I am arranging a chimney sweep to come in and do a smoke test/clean chimney. I intend to install a new cast iron fire insert...

Hi, I have a gao down the side of the house that I would like to fence of and install a wooden gate. The gap is only about 8 foot in total, hoping for a 6 foot high fence and gate. My current thoughts are to use those metapost fittings for the two fence posts and then screw(bolt)? a post...

Hi, I have some very bad brickwork under the DPC that needs covering!! I e-mailed Sandtex to ask if I could use their products under the DPC and got this response; Thank you for contacting us via the Sandtex website. We wouldn't really recommend this as the paint system will not...

Hi I have just repointed an area of my house, all seems to have gone well , except! The bricks around where I have repointed have a very thin layer of white residue that I cant clean off! Heres a picture http://picasaweb.google.com/DeanHain/WhiteResidue/photo#5181337192838009970 I...

Hi, Im in the process of getting quotes for a bathroom renovation. The bathroom is only about 2m square, we want to install an electric shower as part of the renovation (no shower at present). One of the builders is saying we should have an electric extractor fan, however, there is a...

Hi, All around my house the bricks below the damp proof course look wet and some areas has quite alot of green mould on them. its weird because the bricks above the DPC are more or less clean and dry. Does this mean my DPC is ok (its slate)? the surveyor thought the slate was crumbling...

Hi, In the spring I intend to repoint all around my house, the main problem areas are where the patio used to be above the slate DPC, when I lowered the ground levels the pointing has been worn away through many years of being underground! I intend to repoint and then paint or bitumen the...

I have just lifted up the laminate flooring in my hallway, I was surprised to see carpet underlay under it sitting straight on top of the floorboards? When I lifted the underlay all the floorboards look damp, to the touch they are also damp ish. Has the carpet underlay (rubbery waffle...

Hi, We are having our kitchen remodelled, the kitchen is currently an small galley extending into a flat roof extension. THe previous owners have plasterboarded the original external wall where it joins with the party wall. Our builders have been in and taken a piece of the plasterboard...

HI i've removed an old conservatory and have the obligatory outline of sealant remaining on the brickwork! I have used a blade and removed mist of the sealant but there is still alot of sealant that seems to have soaked into the brickwork? Is there anything I can use i.e. white spirit to...

Hi I have lowered the ground level all around the house to one patio slab width. This uncovered around 9 airvents and some points the patio was 2 courses above the dpc! Under the slabs was mortar, shingle and hardcore, as you can imagine there is now some gaps under the slabs that are...

Hi i've just moved house, my first job was to dig up the slabs from three sides as they were blocking the vents and breaching the DPC, this is no done. I am now concerned about the humidity levels throughout the house, this morning at 19 degrees the RH is 81. Is this due to the wet...

Hi, i've just moved into a new house (end terrace, built 1926). We knew the ground levels need reducing as the surveyor picked it up. The problem is there is a large drive down the side with alot of concrete slabs! My question is, what is the best option, 1. Dig a ditch around the...

Hi I am in the process of moving and the Buildings Survey has come up with (among lots of other things!) the need to reduce the outside ground levels so they are below the DPC. The problem is there is cemented in concrete slabs all around the house, I was wondering if the following is...