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Winter extension risks
We're planning a sizeable extension (part single/part double). We've found a good builder and plan was to start in Feb/March of next year. Builder is now saying that they can start just after Xmas. My concern is that given the likely cold weather we may have issues with concrete setting etc. whilst I'm keen for the works…
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Letterbox question
Hello, So just tidying up a couple of thingies around the house. When I recently moved in this is what the inside of the letterbox looks like. Pic 1 https://i.imgur.com/30KmUWV.jpg Pic 2 https://i.imgur.com/MyR8VWi.jpg As you can see, the letterbox lid doesn’t close. This is because the brush/bristles around the letter box…
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Made to measure sliding wardrobes
Just wondered if anyone had any personal recommendations of the best place to get built in wardrobe with sliding doors? We will be installing it ourselves. I've looked at IKEA which we would happily use but the frames are a standard size and this doesn't fit properly in our room. Thanks
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Missed rubbish collection
So the bin men failed to take my rubbish last week, I've phoned the council twice and each time they've told me that it will be collected within two working days, which hasn't been the case. They state on their website that missed collections will be dealt with within two working days also. I've made a complaint to the…
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Damp smell under vinyl/lino
I lifted up the old vinyl in my bathroom today. There is now an awful smell of damp and urine in the room, which wasn't there before. The vinyl was looking very damp damaged around the bath. The previous owners weren't very tidy or careful people, so probably allowed the bath to spill over. Can anyone suggest anything to…
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Carpet Shampooer
Can anyone recommend a good carpet shampooer that will also do upholstery, stairs etc and is reasonably fast drying? I have been looking at Vax machines.
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Buying house- needs rewiring (and redecorating?!)
My partner and I are in the process of buying a house. We've just found out that the house needs a full rewire. I've been told that we'll need to plaster the parts of the wall where the channels have been. I'm trying to work out what the potential costs might be for plastering and subsequent redecoration and I'm not too…
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Ceiling light socket burnt out?
Hello, I have recently moved into a new place which has 4 pin light sockets on the ceilings. I don't like these because they only accept 4 pin Compact Fluorescent (CFL) bulbs and i would prefer LED bulbs since they last longer and are more efficient. Another issue with the CFL bulbs is that there is about a 3 seconds delay…
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Chimnet breast removal - old terraced house
Hi everyone, We live in an old 1912 mid terraced house and we are having extensive building works done downstairs..so existing kitchen knocked down and rebuilt into a bigger extension and the supporting back wall knocked through, steels inserted and opened up into a large kitchen diner. We have building controls approval…
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Algae forming on 6 month old Indian Stone with Rompox Easy
First of all, forgive my ignorance when it comes to terminology, I'm out of my depth :) Basically, we had Indian Sandstone installed back in March. We used Marshalls Indian Sandstone - Grey - 22mm Calibrated, from Travis Perkins. It was laid on to mortar on top of a limestone sub-base. We used Rompox Easy in basalt for the…
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Floor Plan
Can anyone recommend the best software (preferably free) to draw a simple floor plan. We want to extend our kitchen and think the first thing we should do is a floor plan.
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Felt flat roof replaced with EPDM - big ponding
Hi All Was hoping for some advice, I had a felt roof on a outbuilding with a lot of ponding in the middle, this eventually caused the roof to sag in the middle (because of the weight of the water) and subsequent cracking of ceiling (because of the sag) and a leak. I went on the competentroofer website and got a few quotes…
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Washing machine with separate programme and temperature controls?
Following my earlier post, it looks like my washing machine has finally bitten the dust. My chief requirements in a replacement machine are a digital display dial showing how long it has been running and separate temperature and programme controls, budget up to around £400. Can anyone recommend one with these features?
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retrofit insulation to loft conversion
A loft room was created in a roof space some years ago, but the builder left the plasterboard walls uninsulated. I have access to the back of the walls and want to put insulation between the vertical wall battens. I thought something that was easy to cut to size and attach would be good. I've heard that Kingspan can…
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Antiques
My Mum recently passed away and I am staying at the house trying to sort her affairs and the contents of the house. To be honest I want just to rehome the most of it, but there are a few items that I would like to sell, but dont know how much they are worth. I joined an antiques forum but, as nice as the members are on…
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Toilet wont flush properly
The past 2-3 weeks our toilet has been acting up. You'll go to flush it and it just wont but it'll make noise like it's filling up with water. Once it stops doing that & you flush again - then it'll flush properly. It's gradually getting worse. Any idea of what's going on with it & how to fix?
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Sewer smell in bathroom
I'm hoping someone may be able to help with this. I live in a 1930s bungalow and a couple of weeks ago we started to smell a horrible smell in our bathroom. It's definitely a sewer smell not rotten eggs. We called a plumber who replaced the waste on the bath but it's not helped. He's checked the seal on the toilet and says…
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washing machine door opened - while full of water!
I usually keep my washing machine set to on (red light on) and was surprised to see it off today but assumed I had knocked the on/off button when sorting the washing to put in. I pressed on and it lit up so I loaded the washing and turned on the washing cycle. It all seemed ok until I went to unload it later and saw the on…
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Gas fire recommendation ?
I need to buy a replacement gas fire for the lounge (5 metres long by 4 metres wide by 8 foot high). The one that's in doesn't appear to be terribly efficient and the central heating although it does the job satisfactorily does leave me gasping for air at times (COPD). I have been looking at these high efficiency jobs but…
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Boiler Guarantee
Hi, We are in the process of selling our house. Sods law, the boiler broke down after we accepted an offer. The boiler was at least 26 years old but had been very reliable and had not ever gone wrong. As luck would have it, or not, my son who is a plumber, had just changed an 18 month old boiler for a friend who wanted a…
