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Kitchen Tap
Our kitchen tap has been dripping for a few months - yesterday I decided enough was enough and called out a plumber (I couldn't remove the tap tops !) - the tap is a cheapish 1/4 turn swan neck ceramic jobHe changed the washers and told us to try it for 24 hours and let him know how it isThis morning - it is leaking at the…
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Low water pressure
Hi I’ve moved into my new house 4 months ago and have had loads of water pressure/ flow issues and need bit of advice. so when I first moved in the house I noticed I was only getting 5/6 litres a min flow (which is pretty low) got yorkshire water out and they renewed the pipe from the furrule at otherside of the road to my…
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Rough patches on wall/salt/efflorescence? unsure what to do
Hi, I have been asked to help a friend prep and paint their house. many patches seem to have these rough bumpy patches. She did say that area was quite damp. I looked online and wondered if it is efflorescence (which I only just learnt about) What is my best course of action to deal with this, whatever if is! Photo attached
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Damp and mould in our home
Our house is a detached four bed built in 1966. Ever since we’ve been here we’ve had issues every winter with mould and damp areas on the bedroom walls. Recently it’s started again like it does every autumn and winter. The outer walls are where we seem to get it. So the outer walls in the bedrooms will feel very cold and…
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New Build - Windowless Main Bedroom and Only Bathroom
Hi, I am looking for some guidance re safety and window regs on a new build. I reserved and paid a deposit for a 2 bed duplex in London. I viewed it three times but failed to notice the only bathroom has no windows. If the kitchen was on fire there would be no escape (main bedroom is ground floor) as the bedroom is next to…
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Neighbour planning application - Protect tree - PWA
Several questions all in one post. I’m not sure that is a great idea, but here goes. My new neighbour has just put in a planning application which includes a new full width extension at the rear. I’m not too fussed about it, except for the effect it will have on our oak tree, which is close to the boundary. It’s a fairly…
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Distance between incoming gas supply and CCU?
I've had an EICR and the consumer unit was flagged as being too close to the incoming gas supply. Apparently there should be at least a 30cm gap between them. Can anyone confirm this is the case?
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leaks on side of shower enclosure (where it meets the tray?) easiest fix?
Hi there, In one of the bathrooms we have a shower enclosure and tray in the corner. It's pretty old and small, but usable. At the bottom of the enclosure where it meet the tray some water leaks to the outside onto the floor. Is there an easy product to use that I can stick over it to stop the leak? Or do I just scrape the…
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Bulging wall on chimney breast
Hey all. Hope someone can offer me some advice and hopefully reassurance as you I may see from my previous posts I have a lot of house anxiety. I was in the dining room today and noticed the wall on the blocked up chimney breast had a buldge/more prominent area sticking out. Now it could have always been there but it’s…
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Budget for extension
I recently moved house and the kitchen is way too small. I would like to do a small extension to the side (for a utility room) and push out about two metres to the rear. It’s a semi detached house. how do I go about setting aside a budget? I have saved £50k for the work in total. My initial though was £30k for the building…
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Horrible taste in water but not straight away
I have noticed my tap water has a horrible taste 90% of the time, but not straight away if I leave it standing for 15 minutes it has a horrible taste and the longer its standing the stronger the taste. If I pour that same water into the kettle to use for a cup of tea then the taste goes. If it was rubber or the pipes…
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scaffolding quote
I need a roof repair but am having a devil of a job getting quotes for scaffolding (including putting it up and taking it away). I would need 2 storeys worth of scaffolding to allow a roofer onto the roof and it would need to span about 4 metres across the front of the house. No extras like rubbish chutes are required. I…
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Old storage heaters, make do or replace?
Just bought a top floor flat. Got loads of old heatstore storage heaters. I'm guessing they might be from the 90's but it's hard to be sure. Question is, are these worth replacing with something newer. Electric radiators or something else. Gas central heating and a combi boiler would be the best but it would be pretty…
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Cleaning walls before paining
Hi, the previous owners painted the kitchen with this very powdery matt paint. The room gets very steamy as we cook a lot and the ventilation is insufficient 🙄 we'll be painting next week with hopefully more suitable and scrubbable paint, but I wanted to clean it first as I'm sure there's lots of grease and dirt on the…
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How do I get this light fitting off to change Halogen ceiling lightbulbs
These fittings seem very tight and impossible to remove . Annoying light bulb randomly flashing over last 2 days means I need to act soon. Not sure if these are screw on , but they are stuck to the ceiling . Thanks in advance ..
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House water supply very hard. What are my options for our situation?
Hi, Firstly, thanks for reading. Our house is located in an extremely hard water area and we have horrible limescale marks in our bathrooms, sink, dishes etc. Our brand new pots and pans look absolutely horrible after the first wash for example. We are considering a water softener but we aren't sure if soft water is safe…
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Architect costs?
Hi. We've recently purchased a bungalow and it'll need some work doing to bring it up to date, including taking down some internal walls and adding a small extension. We're really lucky in that we have a very good friend of ours who is a builder and he and his team will be carrying out the works. Husband has a rough plan…
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Kitchen worktop upstands with splashback
There is a varying gap between the quartz kitchen worktop and the wall. Not sure how much of this is due to an uneven wall but the front edge of the worktop hasn't been installed completely level with the front of the cabinets (i.e. the front of the cabinets doesn't follow the edge of the worktop, it's slightly diagonal).…
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Flat Roof bill; too much?
Just had the bill for my new flat roofs, both garage and extension. Roofs around 4M by 3M each. Came in at £4,500 inc VAT. I'm in the London area. Three layer felt with lead flashing. Part of a joist had to be replaced in one roof, along with one board and fascia. On the other roof, all new boards plus timber firings to…
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Electric Stove Buying Advice
Hi, In search for a decent electric stove and I come across Dimplex Evandale Optimist electric Stove- has anyone got one of these and is it worth going for ? Also anyone got Gazco/Stovax electric stoves (Was looking at Stockton/Marlborough 2/ Huntingdon models) having a quick look in google shows that the aftermarket of…
