Oxbow16

Hi "Green" as in new? No, if that's what you mean. It's 20+ years old. In terms of using breeze and concrete blocks as heat protection... I think the concern is more with plaster blowing than major damage to the blocks... Many thanks for your help

Hi all We're looking to have a wood stove installed. It will go into the corner of a room, at 45 degrees to the walls. Both walls are external, cavity, with plastered block / brick on the inside. One installer has said so long as the two back corners are 100mm minimum from the walls, there won't be a problem with blowing the plaster. But another has said it is best to follow the stove guidelines for distances to combustibles (even though the wall isn't combustible; but to prevent blowing) - which in our case would be 400mm. Quite a difference! Would anyone mind sharing your thoughts on which sounds most realistic? Many thanks

Hi, and many thanks for the replies. Do you mean you also had 1" or so gaps between the slates and the abutting wall? If so, was that for the same reason as me (old stone wall, stones protruding, and walls not straight)? That's re-assuring to hear Cheers

Sorry to be a pain, but wondered if anyone has any thoughts before I go ahead and get this done? The main question is - is it ok to have a one inch gap between the side of the slates and the abutment wall? Soakers will have a width of 165mm. Many thanks

I think I may have mostly found what I need. I can get some slate and a halfs for the back of the house where the slates are a bit smaller. And I will try to cut the slates to roughly follow the contours of the wall. For the front, I have now measured up... Using what I can get, in the worst case scenario the slate will stop an inch short, so leave an inch gap (maximum) between the side of the slate and the wall. Is this acceptable or an absolute no no? To help mitigate, I plan to use soakers with a 165mm width across the tops of the slates Many thanks

Thanks for the reply. That's good to hear. Mine are bigger than that too - 20x12 (500x300) at the back and 24x14 (600x350) at the front. I hope I can make it work because I've had no luck at all finding reclaimed slate and a halfs. I have found new ones at 500x450 (couldn't find anything bigger) but they come in at minimum £25 per slate!

Hi all I've got some repair work to do soon on a single storey roof that abuts a gable end wall. The leadwork was pretty shoddy before and needs replacing with proper lead soakers and flashing. As such, a couple or rows of slates will be coming off. I've heard it's best to use slate and a halfs where possible, rather than thin width sections of slates. But upon enquiring it seems you don't really get slate and a halves in reclaimed Welsh slates. So that leaves me two options... 1. Forget about slate and a halves, use thinner width slates as needed, and carry on. 2. Use larger format but thicker slates. One rec yard has 30" x 20" slates which could be cut down to almost slate and a half (24" x 20"). The existing slates are 24"x 14". The trouble is that these slates are quite thick compared to the existing. I've never done and am no expert on roofing so am not sure whether the slates being thicker would cause more problems than I'm trying to solve?! Any thoughts gratefully received! Many thanks

Hi Following on from my lead replacement thread... In the same area of roof, we have a hole in the sarking board and felt from where a flue was removed. While the slates are off to redo the leadwork, we'll be looking to put this right as well. I've just been up to measure and it is 11mm thick. The existing is ply. Can I use OSB for the repair or would it be best to stick with the same and use ply? I note ply tends to be 12mm whereas 11mm OSB is readily available (not sure how much 1mm difference would matter though?). If OSB is suitable, what type/grade would I need? I'm don't really know anything about OSB to be honest... Many thanks

Having asked about and thought about this some more, here's what I'm aiming for: - Individual soakers beneath the slates, with 75mm upstands and 150mm horizontals. - Slate and a halfs for every other slate, instead of using thinner cut slates. - Flashing in lengths of 1100mm, with 150mm overlaps (so the actual exposed lengths will be 950mm; 4 of which fit the length of the roof perfectly. - Flashing in upstand only, with NO horizontal pieces on top of the lead. I'll use 150mm width lead for that. So with 25-50mm in the chase, the remainder will be enough to cover the upstand of the soakers. And I won't be stepping the flashing - just straight lines parallel to the roof. Does that all sound ok? I think perhaps I was overthinking and over-engineering with my idea to have the Z shaped flashing so that a horizontal section could cover the slates. So I'll do without that now. But for peace of mind I'll use slate and a halfs, and 150mm on the soakers (had originally planned for 100mm). That should keep water from reaching the end of the soakers and creeping in beneath them... Hopefully! Many thanks

Thanks for the thoughts, but it is a really small room with only one join. So we decided not to skim. We'll just fill the join and will be putting a fake beam to cover (old house, so will suit). So really just need to know about the use of filler over the aluminium tape, and the PB edges - whether they need priming/sealing first and if so with what? Thanks again

It's a bathroom. Ta

Thank you. No, all solid walls. And just to be clear, I won't be skimming. I'm planning to paint the plasterboard as is, after going around the perimeter edges and filling screw heads. I'll prime/seal the plasterboard before applying the final paint. Cheers

Thank you for the reply. There is already a gap between the end of the plasterboard ceiling and the wall. Does that not count as a valley? I'd be reluctant to cut the PB more as some of the screws were already quite close to the edge due to slim joists. Also, even if I did cut the PB that wouldn't change the ali foil situation... Ta PS - also, will the exposed/non paper-lined plasterboard at the edges need sealing before filling?

Hi I have recently insulated and plasterboarded a ceiling . I put silver aluminium foil tape around the perimeter of the insulation. I now want to fill the gaps between the plasterboard ceiling and walls. There is aluminium foil within this gaps, both at the back and a little on the wall. Is it ok to use filler directly in here or will the aluminium foil need primer (or something) to help the filler adhere? If it makes any difference I've got Toupret filler. After filling I was planning to finish with caulk before decorating. Many thanks

I'll have another look when I get up there. I don't think the gaps are that big. And the slates are being replaced, so the gaps will be smaller still once the new ones are up. Many thanks

That's good to hear. And yes, 100% to the soakers underneath It won't be all that visible due to the lay of the land around the house, so aesthetics not massively important. Also, I was thinking the horizontal on the slates could be 100mm, so perhaps less than in the photo. Unless anyone thinks is needs to be more than 100mm (that being said, 100mm is 100mm more than nothing, and people usually have nothing, so...)

Many thanks for the reply. Would the hidden gutter work even though the wall is not straight (it's curved like a banana)? Also, there are sarking boards so there's only a depth of 25mm beneath the slates. Would this depth be enough for a hidden gutter? To be honest, I'd rather stick with soakers and flashing as I've spent time looking into that system and figured out what I'd need to buy and do. It's also what was recommended by roofers who looked at the job. I thought it was a standard way of dealing with such an abutment? But if it really is a poor solution, then I guess I can look to revise. I should add that it is on the side of the house which doesn't see much driving rain/weather. Previously there was nothing more than a simple flashing crudely cemented to the wall (no soakers or anything beneath). And it didn't leak when it was like that. Soakers and flashing done properly will be a vast improvement to how it was. But will be intrsted to hear more if you think it's a bad solution. Likewise would be great to hear what anyone else thinks. Many thanks

Hi My house needs some lead work at an abutment. The wall is stone (random rubble), so it's undulating rather than flat. Also, the wall is rather banana shaped. As such, I imagine the slates won't sit tight up to the wall and there will in fact be various size gaps between the slates and the wall, and these gaps will expose parts of the soakers beneath. I hope that all makes sense! In all I've seen and read, flashing - when with soakers - tends to be just vertical. In my head it would make more sense to have an L shaped flashing given what I tried to describe above. If it was just vertical, it would almost encourage water into the gaps on onto the soakers. I appreciate that's what they are there for. But with an L shaped flashing, the horizontal section would direct water away from the gaps at the intersections, and onto the slates. Just wondered what people's thoughts are on this please? As it's not commonly done like that, I just wanted to check I'm not overlooking something. Many thanks

No worries - I won't! Can I use Zinsser Bullseye 123? I already have some so it would save a shopping trip, and it is only a small area. Plus, it's nice and thick and I would rather use something that isn't runny/messy as some of the lower sections of the room have already been done (don't ask!). But is it suitable? Many thanks

OK, thank you both So is this a case of two different opinions/options? Or use a gypsum primer AND mist coat? Or are you classing a mist coat as a gypsum primer? Still a bit confused by the options! Thanks, I'm familiar with mist coats and have used it on bare plaster before several times in the past. I've just not used MR PB up until now so don't know what is needed for that in particular. And I'm still struggling to understand my a mist coat on a board that is designed to resist moisture; although I'm equally happy to accept that could be just my thinking going awry!

I read that elsewhere and must admit to being a bit confused by it. I understand the need for a mist coat on standard plasterboard and skimmed walls, because they are absorbent. But if MR is - as the name suggests - resistant to moisture, then presumably it's less absorbent and less in need of a mist coat to "soak up"? Or am I missing something? This is also something I read mixed opinions on. Some people seem quite adamant that if you skim it you're completely nullifying the point of using it in the first place. I think their argument is that it would be like wearing a moisture resistant coat, then putting a cotton or wool jumper over the top of it. That being said, whatever the answer I won't be skimming so all I really need to know is what the MR board needs before painting. Many thanks to you both for your replies.

Hi all I'm going to be putting up some MR plasterboard on the bathroom ceiling today. There'll only be one or two joins, so I won't be having it skimmed (that being said, I've read in places that you shouldn't skim MR plasterboard anyway). What I don't know is what prep the MR PB needs once up? I've done some reading on the subject and there's a whole load of different opinions and answers. So I wondered if anyone here can set me straight please? Does it need a sealer? A primer? Or just paint straight on? In case it makes a difference, the room is part ceiling part skeiling, so I will be looking to use plaster or whatever to round off where the two boards meet. Many thanks

Thanks for the advice (and sorry I forgot to come back sooner to thank you! I forgot all about it...). Space is a bit tight between the toilet and boxing, but I got in as much as I could. Cheers

A few things got in the way but now returning to this and wondered if anyone has any thoughts please? Many thanks

Hi I’m in the process of insulating my bathroom. I’ve taken the plasterboard down and put PIR between the rafters and joists, with more PIR beneath, perpendicular. We have a cold roof. The bathroom is more skeilings than ceilings. In the rafters, I’ve left a 50mm air gap between the topside of the PIR and the roof felt. In the corner of the room there is a sewage/stench pipe from floor to ceiling and through the roof. I plan to box this in. I’m a bit confused about how best to tackle the stench pipe from a insulation and ventilation point of view... Presumably it will form a thermal bridge? - Should I insulate and seal around where the pipe goes through the ceiling and PIR? - Can I insulate around the pipe from floor to ceiling inside the boxing? That’s what I had planned to do, but I then got confused as to whether this could cause problems with condensation or anything else on the pipe seeing as part of it is outdoors? The solution doesn’t need to be top notch from an insulation point of view; it’s an old house which will always have compromises. But with the pipe being out of site once boxed in, I want to make sure I get it right and don’t cause any hidden problems. Many thanks