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In My Home MoneySaving sticky
Please be aware of the MSE Forum rules, notably that you mustn't post personal information. Take extra care when uploading photos and make sure that they don't contain personally identifiable information. 🏠 Here are some Forum threads you might find useful: * Please ensure your electrics are up to date * Find Instruction…
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Building Work Questions
Hi. I am a joint freeholder of a victorian conversion. I own the ground floor flat. The top floor flat has just been sold and the new owners want to do an extensive refurbishment including an extension. They want to remove and repair the floor and put in sound proofing, as part of the refurb and claim it is not structural…
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Bitumen on concrete and ufh
I removed parquet flooring in a bungalow and the concrete is covered in bitumen. A little thick in some places. I want to lay ufh matts and install ufh. How do I tackle the bitumen. Is it acting as a dpc? I don't want the place smelling with the ufh
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Keeping insects out
I've bought my first home, a ground-floor apartment. I came from a rented second-floor apartment and had almost no issues with insects or spiders in the 12 years I lived there. In my unprofessional opinion, this must be because I was at least 30 feet from the ground. Anyway, literally the next day after I moved in, there…
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Help interpreting my home survey (including blocked sub-floor ventilation)
Hi guys. I'm a nervous first-time buyer who just got back the survey on a house I made an offer on. It seemed to have a lot of level 3 warnings, and I'm not in a space to do lots of work on it, so I'm feeling pretty intimidated by the whole thing and regrettably considering backing out. The house has not been sold in a…
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Clean roof - what is the best/safest method? Steam clean or wire brush
Hi i am looking to have my roof cleaned as we have lots of trees next to us and the roof is covered in moss. I’ve read conflicting things from ‘roof specialists’ some say that steam cleaning the roof can damage the tiles while others saying using a wire brush doesn’t actually do very much in terms of cleaning and doesn’t…
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A lock with a SIM card to open via Internet?
My friend moved abroad and wants to sell his house without spending money on agencies. For that he wants to install a smart lock which he will open remotely over Internet for unattended viewers. What locks with a 3G SIM card are available on the market and which ones would you recommend? There will be no mains power, so…
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Shower keeps going cold
I have an 18 and half year old combi boiler. I run a bar Shower off of it. The said shower is about 5/6 years old and has been playing up and getting worse over the last few weeks. It gets warms for a couple of minutes and then goes cold. Turn it off and leave it then it might get warm again. I tested with running hot…
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Remove entire chimney on party wall
So I live in a semi-detatched house. There is a chimney right in the center of the building on the party wall. Half the chimey is on my side and the other half is on the neighbour's side. Upper portion of this chimney is in bedroom. Lower portion is in the kitchen. Please note that there is no loft as such through which…
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No insulation (and no space for it) = damp
What do you call the roofline of a 1950's semi - when the roofline on the first floor is such where the ceilings are virtually touching the tiles - on the outside 3 feet of the rooms ?So the house looks like it has a skirt on it. We have such a property and damp is now appearing on the ceilings
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New boiler - Vaillant or Worcester?
So I'm thinking I'm going to need a new boiler and wanted to know what make is potentially better. I always sway towards Vaillant after having one in my old place from new and it being fault free for 11+ years. However, I hear people big up Worcester boilers and the warranty is better. Which do people prefer?
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Shower leak repairing patch of stramit wall
Hi all Hope someone can please help / advise me on my shower
problem. I stopped using my shower some months ago as I noticed water
/ damp was coming through to the room below. Having taken off the tiles I can see that certainly I did have a leak. My first question is about asbestos. The House was built by Bryant homes in…
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Which Dulux paint type?
Hi I'm about to paint my corridor type hallway in Dulux Natural Hessian. I've used the Easycare Kitchen version which is good and would probably do here too. Has a slight sheen which is fine and feels scratch resistant. Have used the retail Walls & Ceilings Matt but would like the paint a little more durable. Then there's…
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Anyone found a well on their land and how did you do it?
The house we are buying has a well on our land, suspect it's under the foundations of the old greenhouse (flagstones). Without digging up the whole of the foundations has anyone ever found a well on their land by more traditional methods e.g. water divining or have tips on tell tale signs to look for to indicate where it…
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How much postcrete per swing leg?
Hi allwe have these swings for our children and wondering how much poatcrete per swing leg hole do people recommend? I'm thinking 2 x 20kg bags of postcrete for a 1m hole? Or just 1 x 20kg of postcrete for a 1 metre hole? https://specialneedstoys.com/vestibular/single-swing-frame/single-swing-frame.html
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Delivery of fridge/freezer and washer/dryer to 3rd floor (no lift) - help!
Hi everyone! I am hoping that someone might be able to help. I am at my wit's end as having moved into a new home and needing to get appliances delivered, nobody will deliver! I ordered a fridge/freezer from Crampton and Moore, who told me over the phone that there would be no issue delivering to the third floor with no…
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First time hanging a mirror properly advice appreciated.
I have hung mirrors before but the ones that have a long piece of string and just held them up with a screw before but this time as its a nice mirror I want to do it properly. What I assume is it has a piece near bottom that attaches to create a tray and the back of mirror has where washers go I'm assuming logically that…
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Thames Water - Build over agreement
Hello, I have an extension being built on my house end of this year, we have had the drawings made by an architect and have the builders in place already. They have done a drainage survey cause the extension will be built over a manhole which needs to be re located and have sent us new drawings of the proposed ground floor…
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Sticking edges of curtain to wall for tidying it up and stopping light leakage?
At my previous property in bedroom I had that foam mounting tape on each side of curtain to stop light leaking out the sides and it worked the only issue was when I moved I tried peeling it off and it was a mess with many pieces stuck on wall or curtains. At my current property I have been doing DIY to pass the time when…
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Possible Planning infringement
Hi All. My neighbour who brought the house next door at auction has been developing it for a year now. Has now decided to feed piping out the side of his new extension. This was not on his submitted plans. Also the extension heights differ from his plans we have come to notice. Where do I stand with reporting this?
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Damp in property I'm selling - got my own report - advice please
Just hoping someone could advise on some damp sorting issues on our house we're selling. I've put as much detail in as I hope you may need, queries in bold. Just trying to gain a bit of knowledge before speaking to the damp company again. A bit of background - we sold a couple of months ago to a FTB but he pulled out of…