Brought my first house earlier this year and needless to say my dad is exited to show me the ropes. He trained as carpenter and also worked as a window fitter in his 20’s before changing careers.

Blessed to have his knowledge and help.

I’ve had new radiators installed, and the radiator in the image is starting to cause a few arguments.

I asked for it to be in the position that is shown in the photo, however, I’ve had mixed feedback. Some people are saying it’s fine where it is, whereas others say it should be in the middle.

What are your thoughts?

We're in the process of renovating a kitchen - doing as much of the demo ourselves before handing over to the professionals. It's a 1930s property but we think kitchen was last renovated in the 1980s according to a message we found under the wallpaper. I've just pulled up the laminate flooring and found some red brick under parts on the right (which looks lovely) and this yellow tile-shaped extra vinyl (or something similar) flooring on the left. Under the yellow 'tiles' is a really sticky tar substance, then under that is a grey sandy material. Then the red brick at the bottom.

Is this too dodgy? I'm moving soon and gonna need to disconnect/connect the cooker. Getting quoted hourly rates which ain't cheap. Is this too dodgy a job to do myself? Is there any fittings that could make this safe? Thanks

See the attached photos. A small amount of water leaking from the join in that white pipe. It has no obvious smell to it. What is it called, common cause for leaks and how do I fix? Thank you.

I have removed a radiator from this wall but have not added caps to the ends. Is it okay to turn the heating on in the house or will I need to keep it off until I have capped these ends

I wrote this previously on my PC which for some reason doesn't allow text and images so detail was lacking.

Plan to rip out my entire bathroom. On the left will be a shower bath and to the right I want to turn the toilet 90° so it's pointing towards the wall on the left.

I wanted to know if there were any issues that may arise from doing this. My main concern is the solid waste will now have to take two 90° turns to get to the waste pipe and how that will affect blockages or flushing power.

Every now and again we have to use the bucket of water trick to flush things that get stuck. Don't want that becoming a usual recurrence.

I tried to use a screw and a liberal application of force and this was the result. How do I remove the others, and can I repair this with just polyfix?

Had the absolute inevitable happen and our 20+ year old boiler has packed in on boxing day with family waiting for showers...

It was already on our radar and have had one quote from a local firm, £3k+ for new boiler, flushing system and fitting new TRVs to the 10 radiators.

Am waiting for another quote to check this but also looked on British Gas and got an estimate for £2500, (not including TRV Valves)

Does anyone have experience with BG, is this likely to be something that they attend and tell me it's an extra £2k because the flux capacitor needs specialist striped paint?

Also any ball park on how much the TRVs would cost to get done separately after?

Recently moved in and been washing up quite a bit. A leak has started when using / draining the sink above. Any advice or fixes I can do? Water collecting where highlighted

Hi,

We bought our house in 2018 and it had a garage converted in 2005, but it’s bloody freezing, like being outside.

We stuck a warm roof on the conservatory which has helped a fair bit, but it’s time to make use of the garage annex room.

Can someone help me interpret these drawings for the annex and conservatory, as per the annotations I’ve added?

Please can someone take a look at these drawings and confirm I’ve interpreted them correctly?

Are the concrete floors insulated/likely to be insulated?

It looks like 3 of the garage walls are single skin brick, can you tell from the drawings if it’s insulated plasterboard?

There are french doors at the rear, and a window in the en suite - the wall depth for these doesn’t seem particularly shallow which I gather is a common test for single skin / cavity walls. Would that be normal?

I had an IR survey done a couple of years back which clearly shows the dot and dab but hard to tell much else, other than the loft insulation is shocking (no loft access either…!). Is the roof likely to have a load of supports, like the lines on these drawings?

Is there much difference in minimum insulation standards between 2005 and now?

I’m trying to work out how to insulate and heat these rooms…I’ve thought about UFH, insulated plasterboard, external wall insulation, adding rads, adding an air to air heat pump…any thoughts or comments on that would be appreciated please.

Cheers, Richard

Removed the old tiles from the bathroom ready to retile and it took a large chunk of the plasterboard with it. Is this okay to retile over, or does the plasterboard need replacing?

I am looking for advice on re-configuring my kitchen and dining space. I have attached the floor plan. Right now, the kitchen and dining areas are separate, but I would love to create an open kitchen-dining layout for better flow and functionality.

So far, I have come up with two options:

1. Breaking the Wall: This involves removing two load-bearing walls to create an open space. The estimated cost is around £15k, as it includes structural reinforcements.
2. Side Extension: This would extend the space sideways, but it requires moving all the plumbing and other utilities. The estimated cost is around £35k.

I am torn between these options, especially since both have significant costs and complexities. Are there any other creative or cost-effective solutions I might be overlooking? Perhaps partial openings or other layout tricks?

Any input, especially from those who have tackled similar projects, would be greatly appreciated!

Ground floor Layout link

Thanks in advance!

Can anyone advise how I stop this leaking? Please feel free to explain it as if you're addressing a slow 4 year old 😮‍💨

Just been trying to do up the conservatory, . Knew that the skirting board was detached from the wall following some damage a few years ago but when I moved the big furniture away and cut away all the flaky crap I found that what I assume to be plasterboard has disintegrated, although thankfully not along the whole wall.

What I would like to know is if I can fix this myself or if I need a builder? Bit worried that I can see the grey brickwork. Any advice would be very welcome.

Hi everyone, I recently bought a house and looking to automation of my thermostat. However, before I can see what sort of wiring this has (and in turn what thermostat) I need to take off the casing.

Does anyone know how to remove the casing from this? No screws anywhere to be found.

Thanks

Hi all, is it possible to estimate a rough cost of a 4mx3m extension in SE England? Would need to pay tradesmen for everything (including decking). Knock down three walls and erect whatever is needed. Have small sliding patio doors at the end with regular windows along new wall, no fancy sky lantern. Originally wanted 8mx3m with full bifolds but that would be too extravagant haha.

Here's a rubbish Paint job I mocked up, second picture is the current/original floorplan and dimensions.

The living room is a little narrow but will just leave it... can't think of what else to do unless to knock down all the walls so it's one massive space? Please feel free to suggest other ideas on an extension/furniture placement etc, I have very little imagination haha. Thanks in advance!

Hi all,

While I was laying down some laminate on our ground floor, I noticed an area of the floor was quite spongy. Upon removing the floorboards I was greeted with a few nasty surprises:

• A few rotten joists ends, and one joist rotten near the middle
• Rotten sill plates
• Missing sill plates
• No DPC between knee walls and sill plates
• Debris in the void, some of it felt like soil.
• A half-buried air brick, with the non-buried portion being partially blocked.

After a bit of research, signs point to dry rot - the wood has the distinct cuboidal cracking. However, I cannot see any signs of the fungi normally associated with dry rot. Some of the masonry does have some white discoloration but that could also be efflorescence?

I've also stuck a moisture meter in some of the timbers. The joists are between 14 and 15% which is below the content required for the spores to grow. Although the prongs of the meter are not very long.

I've cleaned up all the debris, and it's left a patch on the concrete foundation with a darker colour. I thought that might be damp but it has not dried out for a few weeks now so I am not sure about it now.

On the plus side, the other air bricks on the property perimeter are OK (not blocked, and above ground level), and the knee walls in the void are all laid in honeycomb, and clear. The rest of the room (and rest of the ground floor actually) is in-tact and not spongy.

I've attached a few pictures of the suspected dry-rotted timbers, and some of the masonry around them. I don't have any pictures of the surroundings of the half-buried air brick and I'm away from home at the moment.

I guess my ultimate question is in the title - before I start remedying the issues I'd like to have assurance that it won't come back. Is having a damp surveyor to look at the area the only way?

Thanks in advance :)

I know this is a DIY forum, but we've now paid two experienced decorators to do different wallpapering jobs and both have had issues that I'm not happy about. I just wondered if we're expecting too much.

On the first job, the task was to hang some patterned (large repeat) wallpaper onto an old lime plastered wall as a feature wall. The decorator sanded and prepped the walls and hung the paper. The pattern didn't match up quite as well as I'd liked, but I chalked this up to the walls not being plum and the like. He also got some wallpaper paste on the front of the paper and the cut was quite bad in places. In some places the wallpaper was a bit torn.

We decided to then try someone else.

On the second job, again it was a pattern with a big repeat, and this time onto a newly skimmed (but dry) lime plaster wall. This time between a level dado rail and a definitely not level old picture rail all around the room. The drop is about 1.3m. In the corners the wallpaper has been cut. I understand this is how you do it, but the patterns just don't align. Is it normal? It's not what we expected. In two corners the repeat is about 10cm out, in another it's about 20cm out. There are also some places where the wallpaper has torn almost horizontally a couple of cm near where it's cut at the top and bottom, and they've stuck it down but the tear is still visible/obvious. On the plus side, on the flat walls the pattern alignment is beautiful and there are places where I really struggled to find the wall, so they're clearly competent.

Both of the decorators are lovely. I'm hesitant to post any photos because I don't really want to ID me/them, and I'll of course speak to the second decorator about the issues.

I'm just wondering what I should reasonably expect, especially since none of this (the paper nor the work) is at all cheap and has taken a long time to get to where we are.

Hey, I’m not sure if anyone can give me any advice but we have recently moved into a house and over the the window has stopped shutting. This has left us with a drafty window that’s half open during window, I think I’ve found the culprit, this screw has obviously came down and jammed during the opening/closing process and now it’s wedged in.

Can anyone advise anything to help?

Our window is one of those brown uPVC that opens and closes from the bottom. I’ve put a photo in of the screw, I’ve tried wiggling with pliers but nothing seems to help, any advice massively appreciated as we’ve never experienced anything like this before. Thank you!

My windows are naff (poorly sealed, failed glazing units etc) and I do intend to have them replaced. On 2 of my windows there is also a fault on the wall. Both walls have a crack as shown and are cold to the touch. Is there anything I can do with these cracks to improve insulation and the look of them?

Hi all. I need to replace this cylinder lock. The currency is 10cm and it’s too long on the outside. I need to get this changed pronto. I need to purchase an offset lock but I don’t know how too figure out which one I need. Any help please?

Ps. The seems to be nothing on the door indicating what size needed!!

I’ve noticed a high pitch whistling from my boiler a couple of times over the last few months. Each time it has been while the heating is on but it’s definitely not everytime the heating is on as we have it on a few times a day and we’ve only heard it a handful of times over the last few months.

I haven’t had a service since we bought the house 2 years ago. Would you say book in for a service or a repair? Thanks

Hi all,

I'm after some advice please.

A year ago, I sold my house and moved. It occured to me recently that I had forgotten to do something that was on my list before I moved out.

The downstairs mains lights needed an electrician to repair a cable as it had been damaged when putting a screw in.

A temporary repair was done using a junction box - the masonry was chiseled back, junction box in, electrical tape to stop moisture, and plastered back over. It was a bodge, but it got the lights working and I intended to get it fixed properly before I moved. Obviously I forgot.

What would you do in this situation? I feel that it would be a bit odd if I randomly knocked on the door and started confessing to this!

But, being a classic anxiety sufferer and catastrophiser, my brain is telling me that the cable and box will overheat and burn the house down... Despite being in the box, in a wall, covered in plaster.

Others I have mentioned it to said they would leave it.

Thanks