markc

Looks like an A-Team or McGuiver booby trap

If skirts are MDF get a good coat of sealer on bottom edge before fitting or they soak up any moisture like a sponge if floors are hard and get mopped

Remove the handle, and turn square bar with a spanner or pliers. This gives you more movement than the handle. Once open you can work out where the problem lies. Quite possibly it’s the handle mechanism

Has the door dropped at the hinges or gone out of square due to glass replacement? If it’s the hinge then it must have worn and easier to replace than try and adjust for a worn pin/socket

Where is the DPC? I can’t see it. And/or where is internal floor level compared to the outside

As it’s a feature and only 3 courses then no problem using adhesive, a flexible tile adhesive would work well.

Was the roof replaced over the removed stack or stack reduced? as the wet patch is so localised it must be a specific point of water entry. water dripping onto felt isn’t a problem, it’s there to catch and direct any water blown under the slates or tiles and take it to the gutter. I don’t understand air vents inside and out for a capped chimney, do you have a pic inside the loft showing the stack? And or outside?

All of the above are good points, as you say it is rainwater ingress I presume this only happens when it’s raining? Or is it just damp walls? Or a or more damp rooms?

Trend jig is pretty good, a few others available too. Not that hard to make yourself for hinges and yes they work on door and frame

Pretty sure you have to pack those hinges to get left/right movement

They just need a self charging hybrid! …. Friend of mine has ordered one thinking she never has to pay for fuel again 🙈

Morning, assuming horizontal so work on 600mm max, 160mm blocked/full is around 20kgs per meter so don’t scrimp on saddles or fixings

If they buy a lintel and fit then it’s zero rated and you should not be charged vat, if they just buy a lintel for you then it should have vat and you would have to (try) and reclaim it. Much better and easier for you if you supply all materials but you need to be on the ball or the subbies will leave themselves short of stuff and blame you.

Hi, yes cheap xps foam underlay material, works great as a moisture barrier under wood fibre sheets.

Well done and welcome

On a different note, if you go for your VAT reclaim early then you are going to loose the vat on everything after (unless someone knows of successful multiple vat reclaims on a new build). The finishing works could be a serious amount and you would be better borrowing more to fund the build and then getting the max vat back at the end.

By “permitted” you mean can you do this work without getting your neighbours approval and permission? The answer is no. This would definitely come under party wall agreement and your neighbour would (rightly so) need to know what you intend doing, how you will go about it and how you will make sure they are not affected or if so, compensated for the works you are wanting to undertake. is it possible to raise the wall? Yes but it may not be straight forward and could be costly to do so without affecting your neighbour.

Morning, looks like someone layed a dpm and insulation before the slab so all good. No need for another dpm, depending on height available you could lay something cheap foam underlay under the wood fibre, this allows a couple of mm of air space between concrete and wood fibre board.

No real need to stick it to the wall, but for ease (stop it falling over onto the slab etc) a few dabs of grab adhesive or you could use roofing adhesive/sealant etc.

Talk to another company, also send a sample in for your own benefit. It’s probably cement board so only precautions are don’t smash it, don’t grind it, wear a decent mask and it must be put into closed bags and taken to disposal site (informing them what you have).

Hi, I was thinking for someone to pop in and get you 2-4 metres under the porch with you digging access pits beforehand. Everything under the path is definitely open trench or you are looking at a lot of money

Hi, yes you will have to excavate the connections. Moving and dragging are very different. Mole is usually air powered, starts from a excavated hole and basically hammers it’s way through soil and pops out in another excavated hole at the other side of the road etc. dragging is used where there is an existing clay or iron in larger machines, a cable or chain is passed through the existing pipe and a winch pulls a cone shaped ‘buster’ through and a new pipe behind it. if the length to be busted is only a few metres we did one with a home made cone, length of chain, taped the new pipe behind the cone and pulled it through with a mini digger. But if you allow 800-1000 for someone to do it you won’t be far out … speak to someone at your local utilities contractors or council depot, they always know “someone”

If it was just a straight pipe a drag buster and pull in new pipe would be most cost effective way to save the path but still not cheap. Your big problem is the two connections as these cannot be done without access. I would sacrifice the path to save the porch (assuming the pipe isn’t concreted in you will be able to get a new pipe under the porch by digging access pits either side. not easy to price but a gang of 2 with a digger should do it in 3-4 days depending on access and obstacles etc.

Good morning and welcome, and yes that definitely an unusual bungalow

M10 is 8.5mm tapping drill. If you don’t already have a hole in the stud then spot the centre (needs to be very close) then drill something like 5mm then open up. Problem with cast iron is that it machines and drills very easily and drill bit will want to break out of the side of the stud and go through the iron instead. Chucks do not need the grooves so unless you are drilling accurate holes then a bit of wobble isn’t an issue for most jobs.