David001

@elite, yes, I now think I will go for the 4mm acrylic sheet which many people use for this purpose, but I won't use the usual velcro strips because I've read quite a number of reviews saying that they come unstuck in the heat, and if you go to renew them you find a nasty lot of glue left on the acrylic which is difficult to remove without using a solvent which wrecks the finish of the acrylic. So I think it had better be acrylic sheet plus window-clips. 24 Pack 3/8 Inch White Window Screen Clips and Storm Window Clips, Offset Retainer Clips for Securing Window Screens and Storm Door Panels with Easy Installation : Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools I'm looking for bits to bind the end of the vent tube to the panel. The closest I've got so far is a kit for a tumble dryer but the AC tube vent is 15cms in diameter. Wall Vent PVC Kit Tumble Dryer External Extractor Black Gravity Grille 4" 100mm | eBay UK Surely the fitting exists somewhere? If there isn't a louvre on the end then there needs to be an insect mesh and a guard to stop rain slipping down the tube and into the machine (not that there will be a sudden downpour during a heatwave, but you never know, do you?)

@Nickfromwales, the business is to open the window outwards when it's hot and the AC is going to be used, then place a panel or board against the inside of the frame of the window and clip it in place, then to pop the ventilation tube through the round hole in the panel/board. The glazed unit will be untouched. The uPVC frames are sturdy and thick, nevertheless I think you're right in triggering the idea that if the panel is, let's say, a heavy and thick piece of plywood, then there could be some degree of stress placed on the frame. So I think I will go with the 4mm acrylic panel solution, which seems to be commonly used for this purpose.

@Nickfromwales, thanks, as ever. Our window is on the first floor and miles from humanity, so there will be no security risk, but thanks for the thought. The room's exterior is timber-framed, insulation panels, with horizontal boarding, so a bit messy to create a hole beneath the window. Other thoughts?

Every year for a few weeks the bedroom in the timber-framed part of our house is too hot to sleep in. We have a small portable Pifco air-conditioning unit with a flexible (but somewhat unbending) vent which is about one a half metres long. So we ought to use this AC more effectively. So, when it's hot, I'm sold on the following method of air-conditioning: opening the window (our windows are outward-moving casements), attaching a solid panel to the inside of the window-frame (by way of window-clips), inserting one end of the "flexible" hose through a circular hole in the panel, switching on the air-conditioner. There are a few challenges: There will be considerable drag from the weight and pull of the ventilation hose. This drag will pull on the panel. The panel will be kept in place against the window frame by two window-clips along each edge of the panel (the panel will be 82cms high and 44cms wide), but the clips are small things which ought to suffer from as little backward pulling as possible, otherwise they eventually come out of the uPVC frames . Also, if the panel is cut from a sheet of clear acrylic (to let in light during the day), the panel could bend a bit in the area where the vent is dragging on it. It seems that some people use a 4mm acrylic sheet to make such panels, but I'm inclined to pay more and order a 10mm-thick sheet. An alternative would be to order a sheet of plywood and paint it. It wouldn't let light in during the day, but given that the panel would only be in position for a few weeks in summer, that wouldn't be a problem. However, the length of the shaft of available window-clips has to be considered. I've found some on Amazon which would hold a panel which is 10mm thick firmly in place. What is the thickness of the thinnest plywood? Any advice on any of this?

@ProDave, our package is called "Part Fibre", which means there's fibre to the village cabinet, and copper up into the surrounding valleys (Welsh valleys). Thanks to @SteamyTea I've now seen on YouTube that moving the socket is simple, and that drilling through the wall would be the most testing part.

Hello. Do I have to ask for a BT engineer to move a BT broadband socket, or an electrician do ti? Our broadband/phone cable comes from a pole on the nearby lane to just below the roof above the 1st floor. Then it travels west about 20 metres along the front of the house before passing through the wall of the room at the extreme west end of the house. As the house is long and narrow, this arrangement isn't helpful. It was probably made like this because the previous owner had an office in that room at the extreme west end, and can't have had a wish for wifi reception at the extreme east end of the house. Wifi throughout the house would surely be much better if the cable entered the house halfway along the frontage. I imagine that "all" that needs to be done is: - drill a hole through the 10" wall of the house (wood-board, Kingspan insulation board, plywood board, internal plaster) - shorten the cable then draw it through the hole - reposition the BT socket on the wall, and attach the cable to it. - seal round the cable on the exterior side of the wall. Is this something a local electrician could easily do? To make wifi reception throughout the house as good as possible, should the new socket be positioned upstairs or downstairs? If the socket were to be upstairs, it would be in the large living-room in the middle of the house and the router attached to it could feed the TV directly via an ethernet cable. If the socket is positioned downstairs, it would be in a small room but still be in the middle of the house. Thank you for advice.

@Spinny, 20260529_195248.mp4 20260529_195153.mp4 Thanks for nudging me towards collecting more useful evidence.

@Spinny, thank you. Why did I not think of doing such a valuable thing and with the camera close at hand! Another thing I did not think of doing is actually shaking the triangular added on "wings" at the lowest points of the two fascia boards! That was done last night by the professional carpenter who came to look at the work. He found that those triangles could easily be moved back and forth! Why? Because they've been stuck on with something like the rubber sealant which was used elsewhere! UNBELIEVABLE. It's as if the philosophy of the two workers is: build something that LOOKS LIKE what the customer wants, then squeeze payment out of them as quickly as possible.

@Mr Punter, thanks. That is exactly how I felt when I discovered what they had done. I simply could not trust them to truly remedy all their faults. I think the work proves that they are unable to judge the quality of their own work. Locating and arranging the new company, documenting all the faults, continuing to have to deal with the project: it has all eaten up further time and energy. Does this warrant refusing to pay the outstanding ⅔? What would you do in these circumstances?

@BotusBuild, thanks. I paid ⅓ at end of first day's work. Am awaiting the quote of a recommended builder to make good all the flaws (but probably as you say too redo everything except they basic structure). Should I refuse to pay the outstanding ⅔, or should I only pay whatever is left over once the making good has been completed? What would you suggest?

A certain building company, which claims to be professional, has left me with a shoddy porch hood. I paid them one third at the end of the first day of work. I have not paid them the remaining two thirds. Please have a look at the worst examples of their work. (There are a total of 32 similarly serious flaws. I have asked another roofer to look at the porch, and a carpenter is soon to look at the woodwork. PLEASE could I have people's opinions as to how to proceed?

Unfortunately I have just had a porch hood added over an external door and there are unbelievable flaws in the construction. I'm not certain which side of the roofing membrane should be facing up and which side should be facing down. The photos below show that the two pieces have been laid differently. Which side is correct? As the porch-hood is open to the atmosphere, how important is it that both pieces are correctly laid? (Another flaw is that there is a visible hole in a tile on the right side of the porch. It may not be the only hole.)

Sorry. I meant, thanks for pointing me to the gap which there seems to be under the ridge!

Many thanks @Gus Potter @SteamyTea @saveasteading for pointing me to the gap which there seems to beneath the ridge.

@Gus Potter& @Nickfromwales Thanks for asking for a photo. I hope this one will do.