Spinny

Not keen on this for the washing machine because it then means if you need to pull the washing machine out you have to take the plug out first under the sink, then somehow fish the plug back from under the sink to behind the washer before you can pull it out - bearing in mind you have no access behind the dryer or behind the washer. So you end up having to pull the dryer out first just to get the plug across to pull the washer out. Increasingly not the case as they seem to keep increasing the drum size to increase capacity by both - extending the drum backwards as far as possible - and extending the drum forwards by pushing the front loading door forward so it sticks out well beyond the supposed 60cm machine size. Marketing madness. Areas with a recess seem inconsistently positioned and often taken by the manufacturer to run a hose or site their own connections. It is a maddening thing.

Still wooden head scratching on this one. Came up with this proposal, but now I find some manufacturers put the water inlet in the top corner where I thought to put the washer unswitched socket. Is there any 'safe zone'/'unfouled' area anywhere behind a washing machine that the manufacturers respect where you can site a socket and plug ? Without chasing into the single course brick wall, will have 25mm surface box (half covered with 12mm wet plaster, then a cover plate and plug seems to add another 30mm. This then totals 13+30 = 43mm mm clearance from the plaster line required - machine is 600mm - so the minimum would seem to be say 650mm deep worktop. And only that if I can find a socket position that doesn't foul with the drain hose or the inlet hose or the top cover, or the back of the drum.

When it pours down with rain the water has to go somewhere and the patio should have a small slope or fall on it so that the water runs off in one direction - either to take the water into a surface drain with a grill or slot on it, or to take the water off to the adjacent ground where it can soak away. Typically the slope will carry the water away from the house to help protect the foundations. You could try putting a hose onto the patio to see where water runs off, or use a ball or something. Possibly the slope is taking the water to discharge over the patio edge at /above the wall. Then if the patio grouting is poor and permeable the water is going to soakaway just behind and above the wall causing the problem.

Maybe consider which way the drainage runs on the patio - is it draining down a slight slope towards the top of the rendered wall ? It clearly looks worse in line with the grout lines. Possibly put some sort of waterproof cover over the patio in the winter ? Possibly drill a hole or three in the render to then measure or assess the level of dampness behind the render/wall and compare with the dampness of the ground at a similar depth elsewhere in the garden. Is it 'filling up' with water behind the wall in the winter with no way to escape.

Have you got an insulated upstand on the rooflight ?

I think some companies were badly affected by Covid and incurred debts, then higher interest rates and inflation hit, labour costs have escalated. Bankruptcies were running at 1200 a month pre-covid and now at over 2000 a month.

Thanks Kelvin, good comment. Tried ebay without luck. Just stumbled on theusedkitchencompany.com Spouse in tears again. Our rooflight company also went into liquidation - I had to hire a van and negotiate with the liquidator to rescue our rooflight that time. Dog died last week. Counted 6 magpies in the garden yesterday though. Gonna have to try a section 75 credit card claim.

It is a bespoke slot for a standalone unit. Took some working out as we basically wanted to get a standalone model (due to the astonishing price premium of integrated) but then arrange to have the front of the doors flush with the kitchen doors, creating a special knook to allow the door to open. Width is 79/80cm - we were tight for space for the layout we wanted. Manufacturer has now gone to 90cm wide - couldn't know this at the time. (PS Why do kitchens keep getting bigger while houses keep getting smaller ?)

We ordered two kitchen appliances, paid in full, and they were held by the supplier pending kitchen readiness. Just discovered the supplier has been put into administration, all 'stock' seemingly sold months ago - no communication to us whatsoever. What is more the fridge-freezer we bought has been discontinued. What is more the kitchen we have bought is designed for the dimensions of the fridge freezer - the new models have different dimensions which will not fit. Anybody know of any sources of ex-demo or nearly new/customer return/secondhand appliances where I might desperately try to find one of the discontinued models ?

Thinking of using surface mounted plastic back boxes but then having them plastered in. So say a 25mm back box with half covered by plaster and half protruding from the wall. Any issue with doing this ? (Will be out of sight under a worktop and avoid cutting into a single skin brick wall)

Oh yes, bring me more problems to worry about. Why is this building malarkey such a PITA. We haven't even chosen top coat paint yet - far too many other issues to resolve. https://youtu.be/VoP1E9J4jpg?feature=shared

Attach some more photos - seem to have over compressed the earlier ones. I note on the external corner one side is fine, the other side if affected (see photo). Suggestion is that external corners are affected by which way the plasterboard is running/whether there is a cut end ? Spoke briefly to plasterer. He said yes he had had this happen before and said it would need to be sanded down gently and re-misted. It was because he sometimes used a bit of PVA in corners and drip marks also likely PVA from doing the ceiling second rather than first.

After allowing our new plaster to dry out thoroughly we have mist coated using watered down trade emulsion. One coat watered down to 50/50 then a second coat watered down to 70/30. Mostly fine but... As the photos show we have some areas where very little paint seems to have taken - notably in corners where the roller wouldn't reach and a brush had to be used. I noticed myself when trying to paint these corner areas with a brush (spouse did most of it) that the paint didn't seem to want to stay on the wall, almost as though it was being repelled, trying to brush more on only seemed to brush out remove paint already applied. We also have some areas where there are visible splash marks showing - something maybe splashed on the wall when the ceiling was plastered ? PVA ? What should we do ? Do we need to sand these areas and re-mist ?

Yes, but there would seem to be nothing to secure it underneath on the door side. One side would be supported by the cut down celcon block but the part over the cavity would be unsupported. At the moment the plastic cavity closer flexes (as they do), but it does rest onto the celcon block one side and then onto the outer concrete block leaf underneath the door threshold.

I see 6mm fibre cement board is claimed to be equivalent to 24mm ply for strength and stability. Could the thermal bridging be limited by stopping it short and inserting a strip of insulation between the edge and the door frame ?

That the area was not movement free and so 6-8mm of leveller onto the cavity closer/DPM would be liable to cracking up. Suggestion was to stop the flooring short of the reveal and insert and fix a metal/alu plate into the reveal as the finished floor. (This would look like the botch it is - so not really acceptable to me)

So you are saying I should cut off and remove the cavity closer ? (At the moment that is the only thing that actually bridges right across the cavity - one side trapped under the door threshold). With the cavity closer gone, how would I secure the XPS backer board on the door side of the cavity ?

Need to solve flooring problem in a door reveal - see sketch & photos. Any help or thoughts much appreciated. When the underfloor heating was laid the top board (green markings) was cut short at the inner leaf of blockwork at the door reveal - because the inner leaf of blockwork (celcon blocks) was too high to enable the top board to sail over into the reveal across the cavity and up to the window frame. So I now have a nasty gap in the flooring to resolve somehow. Floor person has already said it cannot just be filled with levelling compound. Top board is 12mm deep ply and the bottom of the ply is about 6mm below the top of the celcon block. The wall cavity has some EPS insulation in it with a cavity closer over which has 20mm insulation attached. Cavity closer is now fixed under the door threshold on that side and where it crosses onto the celcon block then creates a high point. To experiment I cut some 6mm eps tile backer board to sit in the gap as per one photo. When pushed down this lines up with top of the floor ply but the cavity closer makes it rock at that high point so not stable. Options: 1. Cut the cavity closer out at the edge of the door and remove. Cut down the height of the celcon blocks across the reveal by 6mm or so using a multitool. Take up the flooring top board and replace with longer 12mm ply top board to run into the reveal and up to the door itself. (No real fixing at door edge as the door is positioned at the inside edge of the outer leaf - so edge is over the cavity) 2. Cut about 20mm of the celcon block underneath the inside edge of the cavity closer with a mutltool to lower it by 4mm so the cavity closer sits lower with no high point. Then fix a 6mm board into the reveal to fill the gap between existing floor and the door. One photo shows an EPS tile backer board cut to fit - perhaps ? this option would be better with 6mm cement board which would be stronger ? 3. Cut and remove the cavity closer but then somehow create fixings into the outer leaf below the door across the cavity to support the board in the reveal ? As a doorway the floor is likely to be stepped on when coming in so needs to be stable - Floor finish will be LVT over latex onto the ply. Eek.

Not sure coving is that much of a fashion thing. Yes 'period' properties suit coving - higher ceilings suit coving more. We only have a 1930's semi but ceiling height at 2.62m or 8'7'' is still higher than new builds. Not sure 30's is 'period' although almost an antique, but we had it in all rooms before and it does seem to add something - especially with a picture rail. Will not be using in the open plan extension or perhaps in the utility. To me a room with a bay window or stained glass door seems a bit bare without it ? No doubt today's builders avoid every penny of cost so wouldn't consider it for that reason alone regardless.

Any advice on choosing and using coving. Only ever chose some simple coving 20 years ago. Seem to be different many types, materials, lengths available now which is confusing. Some samples seem to cost as much as a full length. Does it need to be done by an experienced decorator to get a good result ? Any good places where you can actually see lots of samples or see installed examples ? Is there a recommended approach to dealing with coving around bulkheads ?

OK, I already have the tap. Yes it comes with 400mm flexi tails. However I see online flexi tails are available in 100mm length, and good old copper tails are also available which could presumably be cut shorter to any length and sleeved in black. Just need a black 90 degree bend then ? (Seems like chrome can be spray painted black so might have to do that ?) Except when sat on the khazi.

I will need to run pipes through a wall to feed a basin mixer tap. The basin is wall mounted with no vanity unit below, so needs to be done in an aesthetically pleasing way. Ideally the pipes would be almost hidden close to the underside of the sink. However I am seeing photos like the one attached were the pipes are brought through near the waste pipe which puts them on display - looks ugly. How close to the tap can the pipes be brought through the wall ? I will be using the basin with offset bowl and an off centre tap.

I have bought a Kemper Frosti Tap from the German Amazon site. (Not fitted yet)

Pictures... Silver circle is approx position of waste pipe to come through the wall from the u/stairs basin. Silver square approx location of water pipes to go through the wall to the basin. two wooden sticks show approx position of the washer bay and the dryer bay extent. Cables down wall are switched live and live for switch in the wall cupboard for the extractor fan. So need to 'solve' routing for the plumbing and for electrical sockets for the washer and dryer - drain is located underneath the sink. I think a grid switch to turn the washer and dryer sockets on/off somewhere would be nice - would have to come off the ring main ? A washer seems to be up to around 2.5kw or 11A, and a dryer either 12A for a condenser or 4A for a heat pump. Do people still use a stand pipe for the washer plumbing, or directly connect it into a waste pipe to the drain ? And should the same waste pipe be used for washer and the u/stairs basin ? waste pipe would occasionally block with gunge on our old one.

Hopefully you don't live in the very east of Russia ? Consider asking the spouse to sleep in the back bedroom ? More seriously I notice damp/moisture meters are quite cheap on Amazon. Maybe buy one so you can check out the moisture levels in different parts of the walls. There is probably someone that could do a drone survey of the roof valley ? Have you filled and repaired the plaster in the past ? Any clues from the timing of when the cracking appeared - e.g. after prolonged wet period, after prolonged dry period, after putting your two mega-tonne anti-gravity device in the back bedroom etc. Does the conjoined neighbour have a similar problem ? Is that what used to be a quarter landing at the top of the stairs ? So the bottom of the crack is starting where the rear extension was added ? Do you know where the lintels were positioned for the rear extension ?