concrete

A gallon of Sikha, spread in 2 coats (5x4m room). Regs told me to run a membrane along the base of and up the inside of the blockwork wall before the stud went on. Am putting down a CLS plus 18mm ply substrate, then 8mm click vinyl. Do I really need to continue the membrane across the whole...

I have a drain with gaps around the edges between it and the surrounding concrete, which I'm not sure what to do about it. I was concerned there might be a leak, but it looks like it's touching the original concrete in multiple places, so I don't think it has dropped. Water is getting in the...

Hi All, Just finishing my wet room. I have a linear drain in the end embedded and secured levelled into the concrete floor. I am now ready to do the wet room slope pan. I have placed two pieces of strip wood on each side and raised them accordingly to my slope measurements. I will use these...

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I am running a cold water feed to my shed, about 10m from the house. The house already has a cold water tap on the outside, and I intend to plumb into it (keeping the tap for garden work) but having a permanent feed to the shed. I am digging a trench to the required depth (~750mm) but within...

Hi My house was built in 1950, it has a single story extension with a flat concrete roof. The roof does not leak but has always had condensation on the inside through the winter due to not being insulated. Whilst renovating I have removed some plaster from the ceiling and found that some of...

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...

Hi, I am building a block wall and need about 1m^3 of concrete. I know there is a number of ways to do this is buying ready mix concrete and hiring a pump the best way? How much would It likely cost? cheers, Ed

I have a concrete slab outside my house that previously had concrete slabs laid on a dry sand and cement mixer. Both of those have now been removed and I'd like to re-screed before laying foam underlay and artificial grass. My reason for this is the slab is very rough and it also pools water...

Please does anyone know how to calculate the volume of concrete produced from a bag of quickset. The sort that's ready mixed and you just add water. I'm putting a fence up and have calculated that I need around 35 litres of concrete per post. Problem is that I don't know what volume you get from...

Hi. Quick question: I have rigid insulation upstands around the concrete slab in my extension, and am using self-levelling compound on it before laying engineered wood. Do I trim the insulation and level over it (creating a thin cold bridge to the masonry/bifold frame) or level first and trim...

Hi. What ratio of Portland Cement/ sharp sand/ aggregate would you recommend for building up existing concrete footings of a small bridge? 3m span. The river water has 'undermined' the exposed edges of the footings. Not so much 'undermined' as 'side scoured'. So some of the concrete will be...

Got just 2 layers of a rustic garden wall to patch up just 1m wide. Made of broken pieces of pavement slabs 50mm thick. Mortaring about 1 cm thick layer with same thickness aggregate thrown in for strength. Got maybe 3 or 4 handfuls wickes ready mix mortar bag left, but maybe little short to...

I am building a garden pond and going to lay the concrete footings this week. However, I have noticed that the UK is going to be cold next week. Will it be ok to lay the concrete or wait until it warms up? Thanks

I bought this fish tank without thinking about the weight it will be putting on my floor, the tank itself weighs roughly 150kg and sits on a steel stand which about 25/30kg, with water, gravel etc this will push the 800kg limit. I live on the 2nd floor of a 1950s/60s council building and my My...

Hi, I am a total novice I layed some garden border edging blocks 3 weeks ago, I dug a 10" trench leveled it and tampered it down poured dry concrete in the trench leveled that, set the blocks in tapped them in and leveled them off (forgot to mention the blocks are 8"x 5"x 2") I then sprayed...

Morning all :-) We’re renovating our recently purchased home. The driveway is (once was) concrete - but it’s all broken up and crumbling. Past the point of fixing small areas. We’re considering gravelling it - it’s a really large area though (front can house 3 cars then it goes down the side...

At the base of the soil pipe leading to the drain, there is a hole in the concrete which reveals the main sewer pipe. What is the best way to repair the hole?

Hi, The house is 3 bed semi and has lead pipe (for mains water) which needs to be replaced. The pipe is running from the side (I think) of the semi detached house. The problem is that the side has been concreted and the driveway (on front) has tarmac. So there will be lot of digging (or moling...

So, this so my first concrete experience so I’m truly new to all of this. I have probably done this at the wrong time of year, but I’d like to try and find a way around it if that’s at all possible. I have dug a hole aprox 4 x 2.8 meters and hit a gutter pipe drainage on the way which I’m...