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Has anyone got any tips on how to remove an 18inch tree stump which has grown round a pvc coated chain link fence. I've tried a wood splitter but the stump is fresh so it didn't work. I can't use a chainsaw for fear of damaging the chain on the embedded wire. Any suggestions welcome.

I am embarking on a kitchen/diner and repair project on my home that will require the installation of new/replacement windows and a bi-fold or French door. My property is a grade two listed building so my planning/listed building consent is conditional. The conditions are that I use wood for the construction of windows and doors and that they are painted white. They will have to have Georgian glazing bars and these will have to pass through the window so no stuck-on bars will be permitted. Each pain will have to be an individual unit such as the Wescountry Heritage range http://www.westcountryglass.co.uk/westcountry-heritage My application can be seen at https://planning.eastdevon.gov.uk/online-applications/simpleSearchResults.do?action=firstPage I am contacting joiners at present and have had a number of different suggestions as to the type of timber to be used. The suggestions include: Accoya Douglas Fir European Oak Utile Idigbo Baltic Pine/Scandinavian Redwood I have contacted the Wood Window Alliance http://www.woodwindowalliance.com/, which is already providing me with some good information. I would be grateful for any views on the suitability of timbers in my list or alternative suggestions. Also any links to useful sources of information or forums would help. Many thanks in anticipation!

I am starting work on the main living room and need to provision for the installation of a wood burning stove. I am having trouble understanding the seemingly conflicting building regs. The house is being built in Scotland, and is based on the 2013 issue of the Scottish building regs as that is what was in force when out building warrant was submitted. Stoves and flues come under section 3 of the Scottish regs and you can download it from here http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Built-Environment/Building/Building-standards/publications/pubtech/th2013domcomp Sections 3.19 is what is giving me trouble. It is a timber framed house. I do NOT have a constructional hearth. I could install one, but it would be a LOT of work. Now, what I normally see, is a stone slab superimposed on the floor, and a stone slab up the wall behind the stove. That is what most people seem to do. But I am trying to make that fit with building regs. 3.19.1 starts by saying combustible material must be 200mm from a flue. 3.19.2 modifies that by saying a "system chimney" (i.e. insulated twin wall flue) only has to maintain the manufacturers stated distance from flamable material, usually about 50mm. So the flue looks straightforward, un insulated plain flue sections >200mm from flamable material. Now onto the stove itself. 3.19.5 talks about the hearth. It usefully gives the minimum size of hearth. Then starts to contradict 3.19.5 a A constructional hearth 125mm thick. OR 3.19.5b b a 12mm thick superimposed hearth IF the manufacturer states the bottom of the stove will not exceed 100 degrees. Then it starts to contradict and later says a superimposed heart must be at least 50mm thick AND positioned on a constructional hearth There seems so be mo mention in building regs about the usual stone slab up the back of the stove. It seems if I wanted to, I could just have a plasterboard wall and as long as the stove is 150mm away from it, that would be okay according to the regs. I think in practice it would most certainly NOT be okay. I know the sides and back of a stove can get very hot indeed and I would say some protection IS needed. So the first purpose of this thread is to determine just what I need to do to the floor to put a stove on it? We have a timber floor (JJI joists) covered in OSB. There will then be 25nm battens to create a space for UFH pipes, then solid wood flooring probably 22mm thick. So idea No 1 is leave that empty where the stove is going, lay the floor, then pour a 47mm thick slab of concrete level with the top of the floor. Then lay a superimposed hearth over that, overlapping the floor slightly. That would be the best we can do, but depending which of the conflicting regs you read, it may or may not meet regs. Any other ideas? I am planning to use the Burley Springdale 3KW stove with ducted air intake. It has the option of an additional 170mm base, which I believe (I need to check) would meet the 100 degree max so would be okay for a superimposed hearth. So it all boils down to interpretation of just how thick a superimposed hearth has to be and upon what it has to sit.

Hi everyone! I'm a DIY enthusiast who's just bought their first house and is looking forward to starting multiple projects! I'm hoping for some advice on my first project. I've recently bought a new house (terraced, Victorian) and was delighted to discover pine floorboards beneath the carpets. My excitement was short lived when I realised that the depth of the boards is only 16mm. Am I correct that at 16mm, these boards are already too thin to sand down before refinishing?

My lounge is roughly 14sqm and I'm looking into having my chimney lined and a log burner installed. What KW burner would be sufficient? Or is there a website I could enter details on? Also anyone have any recommendations on burner brands i dont want a really modern style as it's a late 1800's cottage

I have 20mm polystyrene sheet to insulate the interior of the roof (the polystyrene is appropriate to this use, relevant BS EN standards - the 'outbuilding' is my new posh shed not a dwelling of any kind ? The roof (sloping not flat) is constructed of 20mm OSB on wood joists (photo) and covered with heavy duty bituminous felt externally. I'm thinking of applying the polystyrene direct to the underside of the OSB using a spray adhesive. Is it ok to do this?...Im wondering if there could be any issues with the OSB being 'sealed' both sides? Thanks Andy https://photos.app.goo.gl/hR3GJWvXyNuwqsVJ6

Hi All, I’ve just had 2 rooms tiled with oak effect ceramics and I feel a little disappointed with the final result. The tiler used self-leveller to even the floor prior to laying but I feel that this should have been done with more care, and that many of the subsequent problems are a result of this… I’ve used the closest thing I have to a 2m straight edge to check the flooring and I’m finding regular deviations of around 5-6mm. Offering up the skirting has highlighted a couple of areas far worse at 10mm & 14mm. The tiler has offered to rectify these two areas but I still have my doubts about the overall quality of the job and feel it was rushed. He spent no more than a few hours on the screed and then 3 days to lay both rooms totalling over 30 sq.m. I worry that in correcting these local defects with extra adhesive or whatever, he simply creates new problems elsewhere. There are also several areas of lipping affecting at least half a dozen tiles in each room of 2,3 & 4mm. The British Standard BS 5385 seems to say that 1mm is the tolerance for such narrow 2mm joints? The standards also seem to suggest a tolerance for levelness of 3mm over a 2m edge? I’ve only garnered this info online and haven’t actually read the specific standards but I’m wondering to what extent I could use this as a stick to beat him with? I’ve already paid £1000 in labour for the job but frankly I feel it isn’t justified. I know he’s legally entitled to try and rectify it but short of ripping it all up, I can’t see me getting a result that’s compliant with the relevant standards? I feel the best outcome for me would be to get him to fix what he can then attempt to get compensation for the rest.. Sadly I’ve already had to sue someone for a failed floor in the past so I’m all too familiar with the small claims process! Any help much appreciated., please see attached photos

I'm starting off this topic as it has been mentioned on this forum various time :Combined material orders. I have organsied something similar for roofing materials and since have become engaged with the roofing company as well as some door/ window manufacturer, but would not want to start being a distributor for every single item I am planning to order. I just very often get quite good offers for whole truckloads of timber or tiles and just can't make use of it as I am missing the storage. Maybe some members on here are interested in saving substantial % of their orders by ordering material early and storing it (for others) and therefore combining purchase power. I am aware of the logistics problems that arise with it as well of the warranty and payment issues. It s not for the savety/security driven builders but more for the risk-takers on here. This is not me offering to organise all of this neither saying that I got the best connections/offers but I think that a lot of members on here stumbled (by accident or not) across a great offer(e.g. Half a container of tiles, Oak flooring by the truckload or anything remotely similar) that was just too much to take by themselves. I do also think that one-off or fire sales are not suitable as you would need to react and buy quickly, making it difficult to coordinate with potential other interested parties. It could be organised via some shared platform like Airtable. Depending on amount of interest I might just start a Buildhub Airtable, but mainly want to see what opinions are like and have others input or initiative.

Two roof gables project outwards from upstairs bedrooms and onto balconies, and these need to have some sort of finish on the inside verticals and underside of the roof. I thought about real timber initially, but I don't want the colour to fade unevenly or have to do any maintenance on it, so I was thinking about some sort of flush weatherboard. There are a couple that I've seen that are okay, but my real dilemma is that we're going to have a brise soleil in front of the high floor to first floor ceiling height window and I would really like them to match as closely as possible to stop the look of the house being too busy with too many textures and colours going on. I can't think of anything other than wood that the brise soleil can be practically made from, but then I know very little about these things. Does anyone have any suggestions re. materials for the brise soleil, who I would approach to have one of these made, and alternatives for the finish on the gable inner sides. Ta very much!

Hello folks, As I've recently said I'm really impressed by the comprehensive answers to other topics in the forum. This is the reason why I'm sure someone of you will have the knowledge to help me. My problem: The oak wood floor in my bedroom is suffering from some kind of hazy buildup. I'm not sure what exactly caused this but it looks very much like a cloud. I think that a service like a floor sanding can solve this problem but I don’t have such budget at the moment. So I'm wondering if any of you can share experience in dealing with such problem. I've found a possible solution online (with ammonia) on this website but I'm not sure if this is the right thing to do in my case. I would appreciate if someone says if it's adequate option, because I don’t want to do more damage to the surface Thanks in advance.

We were set to buy engineered wood flooring and tiles for our ground floor when our builder told me his brother had laid Karndean flooring of “wood” and” tiles “ in his own house and he could not tell it from the real stuff. I have always thought “ pretend” flooring would never look like the real stuff. We also have UFH and been told Karndean is better than wood for this anyway. The wear layer on Karndean is only 0.4mm but it will never need re treating ( like wood) so with care will need no maintenance. A big dilemma for us, I would like to hear your opinions on this matter please folks ?.

Hi, We need to pick a wood to clad the underside of our porch area and the underside of a balcony. As it is undercover it should never get wet. My wife asked for something with more of a brown colour, I am leaning to brown/grey, we don't want anything too yellow. I am leaning to cedar, one thing I am not sure of is how will it weather if it never gets wet and is not exposed to direct sunlight, will it still weather but just more slowly? Thanks

Hey all, My architect specified larch. I'm less than sure - it doesn't seem that durable (5 -> 10 years). What's the "best" cladding? by that I mean last the longest and require little or no maintenance? My architect tends to add sometimes 'pretty' features (like timber framed windows); but doesn't think of the practicalness or maintenance - I guess he likes timber Cheers

In terms of the wood varieties you can build a roof with, what have people used and why? Our original plans specified green oak, the architect told us it was all the rage at the moment as if that was a selling point. The dimensional instability of oak puts me off a bit, I rented a new oak build in France for a few months that was almost on the other side of the road by the time we moved out. A friend is building the trusses and he seemed to think most hardwoods could be made to work and it's all down to the sizing of the beams. Douglas Fir has been mentioned. One gable truss might be exposed to the weather, depending on how we glaze it - I guess that's significant as we wouldn't want to use anything that had to be treated or otherwise maintained. All thoughts appreciated.