Sparrowhawk

I picked up https://www.screwfix.com/p/magnusson-bar-set-3-pieces/5341v yesterday as it was in stock and put it to work on some 2000's architrave and skirting on stud walls last night. I am disappointed how blunt/unhoned the ends are on the bars. I used the 8" pry bar and there was no way it would get down the joint. I ended up using my Xpert Deglazing Chisel (great bit of kit, best buy this year) to open it up a crack, and then the pry bar worked a treat. Is there a technique to getting the pry bar in or its a matter of honing the end or using another tool like I did to get it started?

Thanks, I've been looking for a pair that are (mostly) thorn proof. I'm tearing up ivy out and brambles are mixed in with it, and garden centre standard gardening gloves are providing minimal protection.

Thanks, I'd never heard of that before. The flatter shape means less force exerted on the surface? https://www.axminstertools.com/japanese-restorer-s-cat-s-paw-110206

If you were bothered about the plaster, what would you use? I was hoping an offcut between it and the wall would help Those look great thanks. Esp the "Zombie apocalypse tool" as the reviews brand the Fubar 😀 Not at the moment (maybe later for IWI on 1 wall). But I do have a stone fireplace surround to lift. They are sat on pads of mortar on the wooden floorboards, so a bolster looks good to break them free. Carefully is the aim as I am trying to avoid replastering, but expect to have to patch and skim. Upstairs walls are 1920s lath and plaster, downstairs may be horse hair plaster too? I also need to remove the window surrounds. Am thinking remove the trim (looks like door architrave) with a utility bar and then lever off the plank?

Showing my newbie status and lack of knowledge here: I have 2 stud walls to take down, nailed floorboards to lift, and metre upon metre of 1920s skirting to remove. I thought buying a crowbar would be the easy part, but what size do I want for these jobs? I can buy a 7-13" like https://www.toolstation.com/roughneck-toolbox-bar-set/p82899 or 15" like https://www.screwfix.com/p/roughneck-utility-bar-15/58202 or 36" like https://www.screwfix.com/p/roughneck-gorilla-wrecking-bar-36-/46975. What do I need, and what jobs are the ones I don't need right now good for?

When permission was granted for this work, was frosted/privacy glass in the window a condition of approval? As it overlooks your neighbour I would expect that to be the case.

Yes and to add, if you want to use your raised bed to grow veg, don't use reclaimed in case that stuff leaches into the soil.

I've started stripping back our bay window, which confirmed that the sides are open to the cavity. To insulate I need to remove these original wooden surrounds. My first thought was a chisel in at the corner would split the plank away from the moulding but now I'm not sure I had pictured the construction correctly. I'm now thinking there is a 2x2" or 2x1" timber behind the plank that it's attached to, and the moulding facing the room is also attached to that? What do you think the construction is and how would you go about taking this off? There's 1+ coats of lead paint under the gloss, so I'm keen to keep sawing to a minimum.

With the boundary being the wall of your garage, it seems odd that you would have an outward-opening window there, as you would be opening into your neighbour's "airspace" for want of a better term.

Carpeting the staircase solves the problem. I'll see myself out

Why didn't the developer demolish it when building the estate? It looks incongruous and they could've fitted a couple of houses on the site.

I like the shape of the back wall. If you've got the right garden that will make a spectacular view from outside - with the right cladding. Hopefully not rendered? For side extensions on narrow frontages that look better than tying in like the photo you've posted, look at London architects and how they squeeze their side extensions in. I didn't bookmark the ones I'm thinking of, sorry. These will be more expensive than that photo though. Which way's north? The architect has missed it off the drawings (pet peeve of mine) What construction did the architect have in mind with half of the first floor walls in the extension not lining up with ground floor walls? Others will be able to say if this pushes the cost up. Can you get plant on site from the Avenue at the bottom of your garden? If not how wide's your current side passageway?

Yes - it's the front and it's rendered, but cracking in places. Good thinking! The cavity's approx 100mm and the house is rendered in a mix of old (1920s? later?) on the front the driven rain side, and 1990s/2000s on the others. The 2000s stuff is nice render, rust marks from an idiotic choice of corner beading but no cracking or anything. The challenges are: much house wiring in the cavity inc 80A cable between two fuse boxes (use Perlite as cavity fill? No installers use this - so will need some rewiring) unfilled cavities open onto partial fill with batts in the extensions (don't see the problem here, fill it all) internal cavity walls throughout the house (that's what lances are for or they can drill internally and we'll redecorate) cavities need closing at loft level (somebody else can faceplant in 1980s glass fibre to do this - or it needs scaffolding & fascias off) air bricks need sheething at ground level (standard requirement) and better do a wall tie check with the 98 year age of the house + closeness to the sea, plus check the cavity's clear of rubble One company looked in the cavity via 2 drill holes, said it looked fine and did I want to sign the paperwork now. Given there's the original house + two extensions of different dates I thought that a bit superficial.

Hi and welcome to the forum. First question: what's your budget?

It's been a few months since I posted. There's little progress to show but been lots of thinking going on. We've been seriously thinking about this, but with nothing better coming up we've decided to stay, since most housing is the same age in this area and we reckon it will have problems. We've given ourselves 10 years before we move to another region of the UK. We also worked with a local architect who offered a "love it or leave it" service. The lack of light on the north aspect annoys my wife and the room layout in the extension isn't great, so as we are planning new windows and lifting floors it seemed ideal to discuss potential remodelling, removing walls and all that kind of stuff before doing anything. Said architect was most put out we aren't taking their work further, on the grounds that estimates they had asked us to get from builders were 2x-3x more than our budget (which the architect knew). And we felt their designs didn't provide what we wanted (our fault for not knowing clearly what to instruct). So we're back to widening and maybe raising an opening at the back, new glazing, and back to thermal efficiency which no one I've spoken to in the last 2 months has given a damn about. And now we've decided to stay I'm back to working on the house. First stop is thermal fabric modelling, and working out why the floor is 1.5 inches higher in one room than the next. My wife has asked for a crowbar and wants to start tearing the place apart... And I need to decide if the cavity wall insulation companies in the area can be trusted or a complete bunch of ********. The idea of a calculation of exposure to wind-driven rain meets with blank looks.

How much is that 'lite' version?

@Papillon which CAD do you and others use in the industry for 2D work? I've done a bit of 2D in Sketchup (a floor plan and an elevation) and hopeful there is something easier to use (or cheaper!) as I need to do a couple more elevation and section drawings. Thanks!

Thanks, was googling for "Socket screwdriver" which doesn't seem to exist, and "ratchet screwdriver" which is something else. Edit: Do socket sets take screwdriver bits? One 2.5 inch screw I've just taken out from a wooden fireplace surround had to be levered out its whole length, so losening just at the start as a manual impact driver seems to do is unlikely to be enough for some of these.

I have a number of stiff screws to get out, either overtightened or seized in place, that I can't shift with a screwdriver or with my 10.8V Bosch PSB 10.8 LI-2 Cordless Combi Drill. So I found a screwdriver with a hole in the handle and I've been putting my body weight on it and exerting force via another screwdriver through the handle. No screw has won - yet. But this bodge has damaged the screwdriver through the handle. As there's more to remove, what's the proper type of screwdriver to do this with?

Back on kitchens, the one thing I'll say re Howdens is their kitchens are everywhere - holiday homes, rentals etc. They have a 'look' and I suspect when you come to sell that cheapens the kitchen because people can tell it's a common kitchen. Maybe

My wife's a spender on everything and anything, and is now encouraging me to buy tools to "even things up". That wasn't quite what I had in mind when I said we should balance our spending, but okay...

Found this nice bit of reporting on the Bristol development (with a bit touching on Selby). Now they've figured out what the problems are it seems a shame to wind up L&G's housebuilding arm - the next estate(s) would have been better, and start to repay the £200M loss (or "investment" as it could have been viewed).

According to a recent Twitter discussion having the sash open at the top only is one way to address this

Did you tin foil the inside or outside of the windows?

Thanks, looks handy. Sellers don't like stating the max standing height or even safe working height in each combination, do they?! Werner have a handy page about where you should stand and do give figures on their site which I'm using as a starting point. For the fascias I'll need to stand 1.5m off the ground to work easily. Am I right in thinking that having the ladder as an A frame is more stable than leaning the top against the wall and the bottom on the patio?