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Damp issue on chimney breast
In the top room of our victorian terrace, we have a mouldy-damp patch at the top of the chimney stack in the room. There's a photo link below here: http://i43.tinypic.com/2h822jn.jpg When we moved into the house over 2 years ago we thought it was a historic issue and had the room re plastered. However the damp patch came…
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Putting a child lock on upvc front door
Hi our UPVC door , locks only via pulling the handle up , from outside , or turning a knob on the inside (or pulling handle up as for outside) , we dont like this , but thats another issue , the problem at the minute is our kids can easily let themselves out , should they escape our attention , just by pulling the handle…
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Removing soil pipe/weatherslate
Hello you lot. Background: My girlfriend’s house has a leak coming through from the loft and through to the bathroom ceiling. On going to investigate I’ve found it comes down the soil pipe vent through the weatherslate. The soil pipe comes up into the loft a few feet to the left of where the weatherslate is and the two are…
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Protection from Damp
Just last night i saw some moisture coming from my external wall into the kitchen, what can I put on the external wall to seal it so there is no moisture coming in. I am not really very good with DIY but if some one can suggest something it would be great.
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Enlarge bathroom?
Six months ago we bought our lovely new home.The house is a fairly large four bedroomed house with 3 double bedrooms, one with an ensuite and a large single. We have already refitted the ensuite and are about to start on the bathroom. I feel this is where the house is let down in that the bathroom is small (1.7m x 2.3m).…
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What does wet and dry rot look like?
We have exposed joists at the moment in the kitchen due to a leak under the bath and the ceiling being removed , before the ceiliing goes back up , i wanted to make sure the joists were OK , what should i be looking for? Cheers
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Question re flooring
I was just asked the following but was unable to answer. “He knew about flooring, how to sand and hand-scrape and tack-clean it, how to apply stain with a wad of wool fleece.” What do “hand-scrape” and “tack-clean” mean? Is “hand-scrape” different from “sand” Thanks for any input.
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Free external wall insulation is it a myth?
Hi i am concerned for my father in law who has had a company come to his door offering free external wall insulation, he has jumped at the chance and believes it is all above board. 100% grant for it so he pays nothing, he is not on benefits, works full time and owns his 3 bed house. I am a firm believer in if something…
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chimney lining question
Hi, ... another question I've got at the moment is about how the chiney flue liner diameter is determined. We've got a fireplace which has got a breached chimney flue, so it would have to be lined. However, the flue has two sharp bends in it which will likely restrict the diameter of a possible liner. While the fireplace…
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potential dry rot issue
Hi everyone, I was wondering if someone with more experience than me might help us with how to approach this. We've got a potential dry rot issue which I'm not sure how to deal with. The property we recently bought had a leaking gutter which slowly leaked for months before the purchase. We knew that and it was reflected in…
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replacement water meter - why?
Got back from work this evening to a card from Thames Water Informing us our water meter was replaced. What are the reasons for this? We moved in here 4 months ago and had no warning.
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Night lock security on your windows??
Not sure if they're actually called 'night lock' or not, but that's what my mum calls them. Basically the 1st setting on the window with the 2nd being fully locked. The first makes it look locked but you can hear a bit of a breeze. Windows are those uPVC ones. Just wondering about the security of these being left on night…
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Paint cracking on wall
I was hoping someone could give me advice on the following please. The paint on one of my bedroom walls has started cracking across the middle. It's the north external wall (with no window). The paint on the other walls is fine. It's not newly painted but was last painted about 3 years ago. Prior to that I've not had any…
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Flat roof warm construction vapour control layer/vapour barrier
Hello, After some advice on what would be a good vapour control layer/vapour barrier to use for a warm construction flat roof deck. I saw a video from Steve Dickenson (London Flat Roofing company) where he used a foil faced tar back (self-adhesive) vapour control layer but cannot seem to find this anywhere. Any help would…
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Dyson pricing all over the place
We reserved this Dyson yesterday for £229 from Currys yesterday with £100 off. Many of the Dysons in Currys and Argos have £100 off at the moment, a massive saving over the other stores. Dyson DC 39 Multifloor The same machine in Tesco, who have just finished a £100 trade in deal on Dysons is £369, as it is in most other…
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Will Wireless Boiler Controls avoid tripping electrics ?
This is quite a convoluted problem which I will try and condense without losing important info :) Potterton Combi Boiler (about 10 years old ) regularly serviced through British gas Homecare 400 contract ( i'll add here that elderly Dad didn't realise this covered home electrics etc, hence next point!).. Electrics (35…
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Storage heaters not working main fuse?
# 1 RuthieM Yesterday, 12:18 AM MoneySaving Newbie Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 4 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post Hi - I apparently have fuse less fuses on the circuit board for my storage heaters. Can anyone tell me how you know that these fuses have blown or are no longer working when there is no wire in them? Probably a silly…
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Plugging holes in outside wall
I've moved my washing machine and am about to take away the plastic waste pipe that goes out through the kitchen (cavity) wall. What's the best thing to block up the hole each side with - cement, surfaced with Pollyfilla or similar inside? While I'm at it, I shall also remove an old metal waste pipe that has been obsolete…
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Heating
I know you say that it isn't thrifty to keep the heating on all day but I have not got central heating or double glazing and have gas fires in the living rooms and electric convectors in the hall and kitchen, But I find that if I can have the heating off all day, when it comes to 5.00 o clock the house is only about 10…
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