carlos21

same here, not keen on the noise, but when i occasionally use my drill for screws to keep the noise i really notice the extra weight... they might be noisy but bloody good at putting in screws, i just wear ear defenders as often using saws etc anyway.

cutting up tree wood and garden work id go with a chainsaw, but you said you found sharpening difficult, a small chainsaw will be just as difficult although you can get gadgets that help. for building work the sabre saw is of more use, as any nails or grit or cement will take the edge off a chainsaw instantly. i got a sabre saw recently, i wouldnt say i liked it as they are rough to use but they do awkward cuts that no other saw will touch. long story short buy both, my sabre is a cheap one from aldi, i dont use it much but wouldnt want to be without it either.

thanks for that, il have to try and get my head around the slating system, i did help a builder with some but i found it a bit confusing, plus id say it probably isnt done correctly on this roof anyway, not sure whether it wasnt meant to have a fascia or they were really bad at measuring! would i have to lift the battens too? also you mentioned the bodge of fitting the pvc fascia over the old timber, is the thin pvc (10mm) fascia not meant to be put on a backer board? obviously not a bit of old skirting turned around as in this case, but a treated 7x1 say? still pondering whether i could extend the slate some easier way, not the right job but i find the renovation side of things takes so much energy and headspace just to try and get things vaguely ok, i can see why people say,knock old houses down!!, not sure id go that far, but having a new block extension put on was interesting to see how efficiently it went up, although maybe that was just having a builder who new what they were doing, not just me poking about!! thanks again carl

How many rows of slates would you need to take back? Other bodges?!! None of my work hopefully lol. Thanks carl

I got some genuine batteries at screwfix here in Ireland, they were about the cheapest I could find when I bought 2.

Hi, I'm trying to replace the fascia n gutter on this old stone building. But there isn't enough of a slate overhang to allow the water to drip into the gutter. The existing fascia has been put on out of plumb to try and overcome this but i dont want to fo this. I also want to render a bit higher up the top of the wall as the top edge of the wall is showing beneath the fascia. So do I bodge it with an extension of some sort, peice of pvc or the like or do I redo the bottom slate section, I don't have much experience with slating? I don't really want to push the fascia out so that I end up with a soffit. underneath. Any other thoughts, or ideas?

has the op stated what the said wall is constructed from?? or did i just miss it.

thanks for all the replies, i got the hot feed into the cistern, i seems to have stopped the condensation. as people have mentioned the humidity must be high, it is !!! its an old small stone house so humidity is a problem, but not necessarily an easy fix. i figure the lack of condensation on the cistern must be of benefit to the overall humidity in the bathroom. i did try lining the cistern as per photo, i did help but not enough for my needs. thanks for your help. carl

good point to put in a valve in hot feed, the only thing that concerns me slightly with the thermo valves is they seem to only go down to 30 degrees in temp which is way hotter than i need it, although the condensation is so annoying id nearly hook it straight up to the hot feed.

yes i thought that could be the case, but i figured the not so hot water in the pipe would still be a lot warmer the the cold feed from the header tank.

good thread, i find this time of year a pain, it just always seems to be dark!! my tips that help me, a good head torch, a blue tooth speaker with good tunes( best christmas pressie) a list of dry day jobs and wet day jobs, try not to fight the weather. take lots of build photos, look back and see that you have actually moved forward! dont start looking at tomorrow's problems when its late and you should have stopped work ages back. even small jobs help , pick a job that suits your time frame and energy levels. all the best, evenings are stretching now carl

the toilet cistern is badly condensated due to the cold water feed being very cold this time of year, so I am going to T into the hot water pipe and put in a valve to adjust the amount of hot water plus a couple of one way valves to stop cross flow, or a thermostatic mixer valve, anyone done this or have any thoughts? thanks carl

did you have to ventilate the cavity between the stone wall and timber frame,? thanks carl

thanks for the replies, il keep an eye on it ,plus i must add more rads once the renovation bit is done so i guess that may change the pressure a bit. i should probably get the boiler serviced so i will ask the plumber to cast his eye over it. yes i have some corrosion inhibitor, but i must drain down again due to a sticking drain cock that i must replace. thanks again carl

I have just redone our heating system from open vented to sealed system, everything apart from the radiators was replumbed ( due to renovation). it is an old oil boiler( not combi) I have filled the system to 1bar when cold, but when the system is hot and running the pressure doesn't rise much, is this a problem?? everything seems to be working ok, ie hot water tank is hot , all the rads heat up ok. my thoughts is the expansion vessel is too big (18L) as I didn't really calculate it, I just erred on the big side. is the lack of pressure a problem or would the system function much better with a higher pressure? any thoughts welcome, thanks carl

we are really short on head room so i wouldnt want to loose any!!, even 50mm.

thanks for the replies, i had been looking into slim surface mounted units, so this may work or i might build a sort of back box out of pir, for behind the downlight. i took one out in another part of the house and despite being led i was surprised at how much heat it generated. thanks again carl

i want to fit led downlights into a dormer bedroom ceiling. there will be pir insulation between the rafters and insulated plasterboard on top. i dont really want to cut a hole through all the insulation but iam unsure how much air gap is needed around the light unit. would surface mounted units be better? any thoughts? thanks carl

thanks for the replies, yes it is a true warm roof with all the pir board on top. the vents would be just for the ends of the rafters around the overhang area. i was on the fence about the vents then i opened up all the pvc fascias and soffit order to find that i didnt have any vents so that kind of answered that for me. i could always retrofit some circular ones with a holesaw i guess. another question, wide (350mm) 10mm thick fascia mounted onto a thick continues timber, what spaces for the nails?? i did 3 for the width of the board ie one top, middle and bottom at 800mm centers but not sure if thats a bit skimpy, i just didnt want it to look like it was peppered with nails. thanks again carl

i have a warm roof, the cavity wall insulation goes right up to the underside of the roof deck and will be airtight sealed from the inside. should i put in a few soffit vents in the roof overhang that will be soffited? i thought it a good idea to have a bit of air flow around the ends of the joists. it will have standard pvc fascia and soffit. any thoughts thanks carl

update, the joists done, i went with notching as the room wasnt square i wanted to be a bit flexible with the joist spacing, plus i got to play with my new cordless circular saw! feel a bit late to the party, what a lovely tool to use compared to a mains one , so light and quiet. i did use joist hangers on different parts of the floor and they seemed strong and easy to use. thanks again for your help.

could you fix something into the ceiling joists above?

thanks for the replies, given me a bit of food for thought. its all internal so no cold bridging issues as such. great forum, always pops up when i google building questions, so thought i may as well join up. carl