In the past I've always avoided any plumbing work due to a fear of getting it wrong and flooding my house, but recently I've been more keen to give it a go. It seems like the general consensus is that push fit is fairly reliable and idiot proof for beginners.

I've been looking at both JG speedfit and Hep2o as they seem most popular. Is one more reliable or easier to use than the other when it comes to fittings? I can see that speedfit has the plastic super seal inserts that add a second o-ring, but Hep2o has the benefit(?) of using metal inserts.

Or is push-fit copper the way to go?

Purchased my first property this year and wanted to make a welcoming outdoor space. It's took a lot of time sweat and energy but I'm happy with the fruits of my labour!

I’m trying to fit a ring doorbell and I’m having to drill 4, 6mm holes. I’m using the 18v dewalt drill with a 6mm masonry drill bit.

It’s a super slow and painfully loud process and the drill keeps cutting out when I’m drilling.

Is it even possible to drill through this dense of a brick with my little drill?

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.

Hi, I've recently moved to a rented house in London and my bedroom bay windows have gaps when it closes. I'm noticing after a month of moving in, any advice on how to fix it?

Merry Christmas all. Let me preface this by saying that I don’t have all the information for the following situation, so there may well be mitigating circumstances that I’m unaware of.

A friend of mine has had to go overseas for an emergency family situation, but immediately beforehand was made aware that a new roof was required (combination of noticing water ingress and it being mentioned by another tradesman) so had to engage a company pretty quickly before heading overseas. The property is a mid terrace house with a dormer loft extension in Surrey.

The quote he obtained was £31,000 all in, but now that he’s overseas the roofers have called and said that the roof is “in a worse state than they thought” and that they have to redo the dormer roof as well, bringing the whole cost to £47,000.

Is there any situation in which a standard mid-terrace property roofing job should be costing close to £50K? It seems outrageously high to me, but I have limited experience in or knowledge of the current state of things, so wanted to check here first.

Hello friends, I made a terrible mistake when having the kitchen done a few years ago by not having an externally vented extractor fan in the kitchen.

Currently we have a charcoal filter circulating fan and it’s awful.

I will be replace the kitchen in a few years but was wondering if anyone can advise on if putting in an externally vented fan now is possible and indeed advisable.

My idea would be to replace the circulating hood with a powerful externally vented fan. Would likely mean running a pipe along the top of the work units and exit by the boiler gas flue.

There are a few issues with this.

1. Making it look tidy and disguising the pipework
2. The distance to vent is quite long and I’m not sure if that’s possible
3. The external vent would be very close to the gas boiler vent.
   

I don’t want to lose storage space by running through cupboards so the only other option might be to go straight up and through the roof.

This is a little complex as the kitchen is in an extension with a sloped tiled roof. You can see the velux windows that are inset. But if that is the best option then so be it.

Questions:

1. Any thoughts on the approaches? Any better ideas? Would you do it now or wait until kitchen is being done?
2. I think I need a gas safe engineer if going option 1 (along top of the cupboards) right? Am I best looking for an extraction specialist?
3. Any thoughts on cost excluding the new extractor?

Thanks

Took the bath panel off as the bath had dropped on a new build house. I've then found this gap between the wall and floor.

Could anyone advise what this could be? Has something gone wrong, or is this likely always been there?

I’ve recently stripped the paint off my original bannister and now sanded it down. Receiving mixed opinions on whether to varnish, oil or wax it for the best finish (without it turning yellow/orange) Can anyone please advise what would be best? Thanks

I’ve heard Tapi mark up their products massively. Anyone know how to find the exact same carpet for cheaper elsewhere? The one we’re after is called Portia Saxony.

As you can see, the interior door handle to our house is almost non existent 😂 is it just a case of tightening a few screws or will it need replacing?

I'm v inexperienced when it comes to DIY but found myself taking on our living room renovation. Plastering has been done and is ready to paint. Problem is we didn't remove the old skirting before the plastering got done. So we're now faced with ripping out skirting at the risk of damaging brand new plaster. Does anyone have advice on a product that can clip / stick on over the top of old skirting? If I can avoid ripping it out it will save a load of trouble. Also if such a product doesn't exist, how would you best approach this issue? TIA

Currently it is locked by a simple padlock. Is there another type of lock that could work here? Thanks!

Last pic is what it looked like before. Do I need a concrete sealer/ primer first?

For some reason, I have two taps in the bathtub, and one of them is constantly leaking. I can't fully close it. Unfortunately, there’s no separate valve on the pipes leading to this tap. I’m happy to remove it from the wall if necessary since we can use the other tap.

I’m not sure what would be the best solution to completely block the water. Could I screw a bolt into the tap where the shower hose connects, or should I remove the tap entirely and block the pipes coming out of the wall? Or would it be better to disconnect those pipes behind the wall and deal with it there?

What would be the easiest and fastest solution? We just bought this house, and we’ll be renovating the bathroom soon, so the solution doesn’t need to look good—it just needs to stop the leak for now.

We are doing a full renovation including changing all of the windows. Some are changing sizes some are just being replaced. We have a 14 week wait for windows so is it ok to plasterboard internal walls when we will have big open holes to the outside? Will the weather/damp damage the boards? I won’t do any walls near the windows

Added some pictures of the old part that came off today. Any help would be appreciated!

Hello all, I'm building a shed in the garden but am reading conflicting reports about permitted development height. The roof will be a sloped, flat roof. Does the 2.5m rule apply to the whole building or just to the lowest point of the roof? Trying to salvage as much head space inside as possible.

Hi all! I had a wall plastered on Sunday and I was wondering if it looks dry enough for the first mist coat? Top picture is Sunday, bottom picture is today.

There are some darker patches that look identical so I'm wondering if that's where some of the old plaster was/is, rather than them being damp?

Can i please get some tips on how to get this kitchen unit door back up? The holes in the wood are so big that the screws on the hinge just spin when i try to drill it back on.

Hi, What do you call this and how do I fix it Thanks

What would you do with this? I'm wanting to keep some exposed brick in my garage conversion. This part is in a bad state, others are fine. I've tried brick acid, white spirits and hard brush but it isn't budging at all. Not completely against painting it, but not even sure that would come up any way decent. Anyone done anything similar?

Just wondering how simple this is.

I'm wanting to replace the flimsy as fuck pieces of shit panels on the bath in our new flat but the thing doesn't even have a frame to hold the panels.

I've bought two more rigid aquasure panels which I'll need to cut to size.

Just wondering if I'll be able to do this myself or if I'd be better getting a joiner in?

Please suggest how to repair laminate flooring where water has seeped under the joints. It's not immediately obvious, but an accidental spillage two years ago caused some of the boards to raise up very slightly at the edge joints, less than 1mm. The boards are in otherwise excellent condition, despite being in place 18 years.