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hello all Im working on a small Victorian Terrace with a Ground Floor Bay Window i recently bought. At some point in the past the Bressumer Beam was removed and upvc windows were installed and the beam was replaced with dry stacks of 2 x 4 resting on the windows (!). Ive rebuilt the internal...

Hello im getting new windows in a single height bay window in a 1870 victorian terrace i assume the original windows would have been timber and built with a Bressumer beam to support the brickwork above them. thats all long gone and the existing upvc windows are held in by expanding foam and...

i have that familiar dusty smell in the house and want to cure it. but i cant find the source. Its a small red brick terrace - cavity wall. Its had a repaired roof this year after some leaks via the chimney, and its got a full width extension on the back, put on in 2016 - four years before...

Hello Is it ok to put off cuts of plasterboard as sound insulation behind hardie board which will be tanked on an internal stud bathroom wall? I’ve got 25mm jablite in there already. or will they soak up condensation and go mouldy etc… apologies for full question!

I’m changing a two way light switch in the hallway and want to be sure I’m doing it right. the old one - pictured is labelled common and has a horizontal layout the new one, also pictured, is labelled L and has vertical layout I’m assuming it’s a simple like for like with the two L1 and L2...

Hello ive looked and not found an answer for this, I hope, quite simple socket replacement question. Im replacing double sockets in a bedroom with multiple sockets in them. The old sockets have one N terminal and one L and one Ground terminal. Two cables with two live and two neutral...

you live and you learn....

ive read a lot of contradictory info about hardie board. Im building a shower enclosure out of studs and using Hardie Backer 12mm board on all the wet walls. Can any kind soul tell me: vapour barrier over top of studs to top of shower tray allowing any water to travel back into the shower...

can anyone advise me? I’m renovating a Victorian mid terrace house. Including building up the left hand side wall in the loft void. The house next door is a recently renovated council house. It has what appears to be insulation hung off brackets and no wall. Please see photo Is this some...

Looking for advice on retrofitting open fireplaces. A victorian house with fireplaces and flues still in place but boarded over on three top floors. Basement renovation about 20 years ago placed the giant boiler and its gas feed from the external meter box in the basement directly below a...

Im installing 20mm oak tng flooring with underlay. secured with tite screws. the existing subfloor is 20mm victorian pine boards in pretty good nick and fairly level. rather than spend the money on new ply, im going to use the existing floorboards and sand them. they run perpendicular to...

hello there long time reader of the forum, lots of great advice and perhaps you can help. im replacing a sink so the drain in the new one is about two inches to the left of the old. The previous owner seems to have glued all the joints on waste pipes from below the trap, which means i cant...

I have had some bad leaks via a wooden window frame in the kitchen. I think the issue is that the frame sits proud of the exterior wall and as it opens at the top, the hinges and trickle vent and so on allow water in. Moving it isnt currently an option so i aim to fill in the trickle vent...

I hope someone can advise. I knocked the compression valve on a cold water pipe causing it to leak slowly around one of the nuts. I've replaced the whole valve but it now leaks from both nuts (so to speak) :roll: They are both as tightly screwed as I can get them without shearing...

Hello I have a very basic question and hoped you could help. I'm fitting a simple wall light but it has no connection for the mains earth wire. Is there a fitting similar to a ceiling rose which would earth the light, and would it be small enough to sink into the wall? (and on a...

Hi, Forgive me if this is already posted, I have looked but 365 pages defeated me! My house was rewired 4 years ago so should be kosher. I'm fitting a ceiling pendant but the flex has only blue and brown wires, the fitting is new and has no earthing connection inside it. But the cable...