builders talk

Hi All, chimney was taken below roofline 3-4 years ago, in living roof hearth feels damp and smells under carpet. in winter the plasterboard feels wet where the fire place is like condensation. do I need a vent? will this just add to condensation with warm air from house?

Please can I have some advice. Builder has removed some bricks to accommodate wrongly measured (by him) glass door and panel. You can see in the photos what it used to look like. He says that the structure is not compromised especially since it is not holding a second story. He is proposing to...

Hi everyone, In our porch, we have this meter attached to a wooden panel but there’s no front or sides on it. We have no door to the porch area so when there’s a storm and wind, this panel could potentially be hit with water. I want to build a base and sides on this as well as a door with a...

I have been tasked with understanding the construction sector in my county, and noticed a large decline in numbers joining the construction industry. And whilst numbers of women joining the industry are on the rise (from 12.6% to 15.8%), there were 200,000 less men in construction in the 3rd...

I've received an invoice from a builder that has 20% added. I queried and it has been confirmed that this is not VAT (they are not VAT registered) but it is a 20% tax that they pay at the end of the year. Is this common practice in the building trade so that I know for the future?

Hi guys, I work in a gang of 2 brickies and myself. I’m not your average labourer. The guys I work with, their trowels are laying all day every day, besides some pointing up they do at the very end of the day. I’m on site 40 minutes before them every day to make sure we get the first tub of...

Advice needed please on what concrete lintel needed to extend this opening from 46"to 60",I know it has to be 1800 x 100 but not sure on the height,the 1 fitted at the moment is 65 mm high,many thanks

It's a semi detached house with private man hole and drains. The soil pipe is on the side of the building and a side extension is being built. A new manhole is also being built to move the drains and then connect to main manhole. But for the soil pipe, guess there won't be enough drop. Do we...

Hi everyone, thanks for all of your continued support in my previous posts! As mentioned, previously due to myself, being electric wheelchair bound and unable to walk, we decided to look for something other than a normal property due to my access needs. I mentioned previously, there was a...

Hi all looking for some advice. My neighbours have had a room changed to a down stairs toilet and I believe they have put in a concealed cistern and cut it into the wall and when they flush it I can hear it filling up across the whole wall and it is very loud. Is this allowed or should they have...

Hi there, My partner and I are currently renovating our first home and trying todo as much as we can ourselves. We had an upstairs fireplace in a bedroom that had been blocked off so I am currently attempting to plaster over it to build it up to be flush with the wall, I have used bonding...

Hi All, I am moving a staircase and it will be parallel with the joists. As the house is 200 yrs old (not listed), the hole for the stairs actually fits between the joists (85cms wide). Building regs have asked for dimensions of trimmers and headers but I don't understand using these as I have...

Hi Guys, I am sorting my Bathroom out, have fitted my bath but now need to sort the floor. I only have one bathroom in the house and need to tile and replace the loo. So... If I tile the floor first, do I then need to wait for the tiles to cure totally before I fit the toilet? This would mean...

Hi all, Renovating my house and 4 weeks ago I had had a joiner and his apprentice and 2 floor fitters all working individually in the house with me coming and going or leaving them to it. As I was also doing work there I left my tools there including a new dewalt laser level... Someone nicked...

Hi all, Just wanted clarification on something. Im currently in the middle of a garage reno and am thinking about the external coverings. I will eventually be fitting Composite Cladding, however i want to gauge opinions on the breather membrane below the cladding (Im insulating internally)...

Just had a replacement Patio Door fitted. This was brought in from the existing position of the old door. As a result -from the outside - part of the Cavity Wall Closer was exposed and this has been covered with Trim and sealant. Is this correct to have the Cavity wall closer exposed to the...

Hi Everyone, I'd like some advice based on the collective experience here! We're in the process of purchasing a fantastic two bedroom raised ground floor apartment in a four-storey Victorian conversion. Two of the rooms are huge with great proportions, original features and 3.4m ceiling height...

Hello, Just a want some input on wether i should remove these cupboards and make a big one of update them as they are. First picture is how they're laid out at the moment, they're roughly 1000mm x 600mm each separated by a wall in between. The idea was to brick up doors in bedroom 2 and...

I will cut to the chase on this one. But we had a conservatory installed 4 years ago and it has numerous problems and the fitters have gone into liquidation. It is a decent size conservatory 8m x 4m. The frame of the conservatory cannot hold the weight of the roof. We have an idea to change this...

So, as the title says, I’ve run into an issue in my crawl space. I was down there today and planning to fit an outside socket and wire it through the crawl space however there are some sleeper walls and load bearing walls down there that prevent me getting to the points I need. There is a...