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close our windows when we are expecting or having a rain
any ideas what i can do regarding having to close our windows when we are expecting or having a rain. we moved into a newly built house '23 year old' council property, about 3 years ago. the windows are all double glazed with trickle vents, our problem is we cant leave open any of the windows especially at night when its…
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Foul Smell in Washing Machine
Hi All, I've noticed as of late a found smell within the washing machine upon opening the door, can this be rectified? Thanks
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Rising damp in survey
Hi Folks, need some advise please regarding damp. We are in process of buying a house and in the survey the damp ratings were high in one of the WCs understairs, specifically on bottom of the walls near skirting boards. Although the ratings were little high (around 26) on the extreme top of the walls as well and it is a…
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Extension planning: Architect vs. Design & Build company?
I'm planning a single storey extension - have a firm idea of layout, and planning permission is required. Is it worth starting out with an (independent) architect - costing roughly 10% of total budget, or or does it make more sense to deal with a "design and build" company who have start-to-finish involvement in the…
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TV wall mounting Plasterboard dot and dab (new build)
Hi All, I'm looking at wall mounting our TV in our living room, can anyone suggest the best to bracket to cover the following: Needs to be able to tilt up and down. Needs easy access to get to cables and make amendments Doesn't sit to far from the wall so gap isn't to big If anyone can suggest any additional equipment…
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Dry verges
I had a few companies round to give me a quote on replacing the timber soffits, fascias and bargeboards on my house with PVC ones. I'm a bit unsure as to the proper installation of the dry verges. I thought that the function of the dry verge is to cover the mortar and protect it from the weather. Therefore, I would ask…
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Central Heating- Stick with Storage or swap.
We are about to close the purchase of our first house 3 bed end terrace, great house great location (former housing association property). Downside, it is all electric which my limited knowledge believes is vastly more expensive than our current gas central heating. We both work full time so are out all day and home in the…
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Building Control Internal Wall Insulation
Hi I going to insulate some of my solid walls (internally). Do I need to notify building control? If I do need to, are there any consequences of not doing so? Thanks
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Odd electrical problem
Evening all Around lunchtime today the washing machine and dishwasher died. I've checked circuit breakers and they're all on, the machines themselves are ok on extensions. I went to check the electics where the 2 isolator switches are next to the worktop and i've got 6v only on the live side only, yes the meter was setup…
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What type of skirting do we have?
We've had a fire surround removed from our living room, and thought we could save (a little bit of) money by doing the skirting ourselves! We just want it to match the existing skirting, although we know it won't be perfect as we'll be joining to an existing piece along the wall. The big problem is, we don't know what our…
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Painting a fireplace
I have a 1970's fireplace that runs the length of a wall (Only half way up though) I love that we have a coal fire..... But its god awful to look at! It's made of stone, its a sandstone colour with an orange (!) Mantel. My plan is to paint the stone (either white / grey) and sand the mantel and stain. The problem is I…
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Hole on a public road
Hi I had a delivery today from builders merchant and when they were delivering, to balance there lorry, they had put it on two hydraulic posts. One of them sunk in and has created a hole on the road, who would be responsible to fix it, should I call the council or building merchant or will it be my responsibility.
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Cleaning gutters - how often and how much?
How often should I be getting my gutters cleaned? Been in my house for 3 years and never done it...I did once ask my window cleaner if he could do it but he said he couldn't and I've never pursued it since! I have checked when its raining and I can't see any problems but I suspect its something I should be doing...so how…
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Window/gutter cleaning
What would you expect to pay for a company to clean the windows of a 3 bed semi - together with a small conservatory (roof - mossy !!) and also check the main house gutters (clean if necessary) ?
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Kitchen cupboards/installing induction hob
My Howdens kitchen was installed by the previous owner. I'd like to have a few modifications like installing pull out baskets, recycling baskets and a twirly thingummy to make better use of the corner cabinet. I'm assuming this is reasonably straightforward (?) The bigger issue is the gas hob. I'd like to junk it and get…
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Double glazing
I'm sure that there's probably a million old posts on double glazing but I'm afraid that here's another! We're getting some windows replaced and have had three quotes for two windows: 1) Kommerling certass installer ~£1.3k 2) Aluplast certass installer ~£1k 3) Eurocell non-certass builder ~£850 We're going round in circles…
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Underground Cable Ducting - Is This Quote Fair
Hello I need to lay a communications cable between a building and an outbuilding. To lift and re lay 10 metres of "non-cemented" (compacted onto sand) brick paving plus 10 metres of concrete, I have been quoted over £2000. It seems a lot to me, but as I have no previous knowledge of this area of work I honestly have no…
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small leaks in bathroom sink pipe -
I have a couple of small leaks on a pipe running from my bathroom sink - the pipes are old and I have just had a new boiler installed so think it could be something to do with higher water pressure. I plan to re-do my bathroom early next year - it is functioning but I was wondering, is there a tape or sealant that I could…
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Damp course redecoration problems
hello, recently had a damp proof course done on a house i rent out and i was looking forward to redecorating it so it can go back on the system with my lettings company(i need tenants asap) but ive just been told by the guy who did the work that we cannot re-decorate for 6mths due to the plaster having to dry. Obviously…
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Help with box bay window
Hi We have a very annoying bay window in our lounge, which has a massive window sill as opposed to anymore ground space. I hope that explains it as I don't know what these type are called. For years we have just had curtains going across the whole bay and net curtains, but as our lounge is so small we have now bought an…
