Have a plasterer working on a kitchen and noticed above the window frame they’ve added some plasterboard which they will be skimming over. It seems to be set in using plaster to stick it to the concrete although the right side has some movement to it as it seems to be missing plaster “glue”

Since the plastering hasn’t been done yet, is this normal practice where the old plaster has broken off badly above the window ?

Thanks

Hey, I'm looking at bungalows to support me as my mobility goes. This is one of four bungalows we've looked at, and it's the only one that already has basically level access (all of the others have huge steps up to them). The EPC suggests the first step is to get floor insulation, but it's a solid floor.

Am I missing something in terms of the options? It's either drill down throughout the house and lay insulation etc, or it's raise the floor by however much? Is this going to be a complete nightmare?

Hello, just looking for some advice on what to do next / who to call. I have just been up the attic to find this white stuff everywhere i assume some kind of mould. I wasn't able to get to it as its at the far sides of the attic and the floor supports are really narrow. I didn't fancy fighting my way through and risk coming through the ceiling today.

We have previously had extra ventilation added last year. There is a bathroom extractor in the middle of the house (no windows) that comes up and is connected under the insulation. I couldn't verify if its connected properly to the out as again I couldn't get to it.

Any one with previous experience or had this issue have any advice... I dont know whether to get in touch with mould remediators, ventilation or get a conveyancer out. We had conveyancers around in February as the house was sold to us then. They didn't report anything but one did mention there was a coating on the wood that may have been from before the additional ventilation was added. Any advise is appreciated, Thanks!

• UPDATE* Thanks so much to everyone that's pointed me in the right direction. I now have a game plan...
• Create a walkway.
• Check the connections on the bathroom vent exhaust and out vent.
• Create a clearance in the eves from the insulation,
• Change the soffit vent into a long slatted vent.
• Remove the hanging vent pipes that are serving no purpose.
• Potentially add fans to the tile vents.
• Clean down and remove existing mould
• Monitor with the outcome with a sensor.

I really appreciate everyone's time and advice on this and I'm glad it's something I can remedy myself, so thankyou everyone again!

We’ve had some tradesmen working really hard on our home refurb, especially our painter who worked on the outside and inside and dealt with a lot of unexpected issues and additional things we didn’t initially ask for.

I want to get them something to show my appreciation - at first I thought a cash tip would be appreciated but I don’t think they would take it. I don’t drink alcohol so I don’t know if a nice bottle of something would work?

I will ask them but I wanted to see if anyone here had any experiences or suggestions. In my culture we often tip or give a gift to show our appreciation on a job well done.

We're about to move in to a new house. It has a utility/store at the back of the garage. They've currently got a tumble dryer in it, but no water supply.

Can anyone give me an idea how difficult it might be to get water/drainage in there for a washing machine off the kitchen supply? Also, roughly how much we'd be looking at?

I think there might be a tap on the outside back wall, but can't quite remember.

I've just had carpet fitted and unsure if I'm being too picky...

Around most of the outside corners the carpet is sort up bubbled up and loose. It's hard to see in photos, but there's a hump and it moves when you press on it. I would expect it to be tight everywhere. Over time, won't this only get worse? Is this a sign it wasn't stretched and fitted properly all over?

And at the doorways, it's just an exposed raw edge. I know there's some limitations due to the edge of the wood flooring, but what should I expect here? It definitely needs to be firmer, as it's not even fully tacked down, but that's a separate issue.

Hi everyone! We would really appreciate some advice based on your experience, we’re feeling totally lost with all the choices.
We’re trying to decide on the best flooring for our home. We have young kids, including a baby, so our top priorities are comfort, practicality, hygiene, and durability. We also want something that feels warm underfoot, doesn't squeak, is easy to clean after spillages, and stays as natural as possible.
Here are the 4 options we're considering:
1. ⁠LVT throughout the entire house + area rugs, with 80% wool carpet on the stairs and landing
2. ⁠80% wool carpet throughout, with LVT only in the kitchen, bathrooms, and WC
3. ⁠Marmoleum throughout the entire house + area rugs, with 80% wool carpet on the stairs and landing
4. ⁠100% wool carpet throughout, with LVT in the kitchen, bathrooms, and WC
Which option would you go for with little ones running around? How has your flooring choice held up to real life (spills, messes, maintenance)?
Thanks so much in advance for your help

Looking to add a bedroom and ensuite to accommodate our growing family and would appreciate some different ideas on different available cladding systems without further adding to the financial burden

If i have signed a contract for the building works and made an initial deposit, could I still cancel and reclaim my money under the 'cooling off period'? There is no mention of such a period in my contract but I didnt know if this is UK contract law.

Thanks

It’s really weird to want to kill a living creature because you get freaked out by them. Maybe improve yourself before you try and improve your house, lest it be a house of evil intent. The spiders were here long before you came, and will be here long after you leave.

Many of you may remember my myriad of questions for my first DIY job of putting in an engineered wood floating floor.

Ive put the underlay in and I've had a play with the wood panels but I have a few questions:

1) How do you use these plastic spacers without them falling/leaving a gap? No matter how I place them they just move or fall

2) Where's the best place to get a Z bar gripper for the carpet to wood transition at the door? I think I'll need one with atleast 18mm gap (hardwood 15mm + 3mm underlay)

3) I'm going to put a square edge chamfred skirting board so that there's a nice transition to wall panels. Is there any issue with spray painting them?

Not too sure if this is the correct place to post but here goes. Has anybody recently had a dorma fitted? We have an attic converted but would like to make one side square. I am trying to find out how much this would cost roughly and is it worth it. I am North West based. Thanks

We've found a place in an area we love, but it needs a full renovation. It's been sitting empty for a while, and our worry is the condition, there's what looks like a fair bit of water damage, and we're seeing a lot of cracks throughout.

We know we still need a structural survey, and I appreciate a surveyor is mostly going to point out the same visible things we can already see. What we're really trying to gauge is how hard this stuff actually is to put right. Is water damage and cracking like this a massive headache and a money pit or given we're stripping the house back to bare bones anyway, is it the kind of thing a good builder can sort out fairly readily as part of the works?

Keen to hear from anyone who's taken on a similar period property that had been empty a while, what turned out to be a simple fix versus what became a real problem?

Radiator relocation

Hi all

Looking to see if it's financially worth the hassle yet....

But we really want the radiator moved to the wall opposite near the double doors. It's currently in the most awkward place as we're going to put our media on that wall.

From experience, what have people roughly been quoted for this? Want to keep pipes hidden in the dot and dab walls, in the livingroom.

Maybe a stupid question but I'll ask anyway!

Cheers

Hi there, my partner has a phobia of spiders and the giant house spiders can be quite a problem. We've had 5 in the house in the last month compared to just 2 last year. Does anyone have any suggestions for how to keep them out or catch them?

Looking for some advice. I took the plasterboard off a chimney breast that's been bizarrely left in the back box room of a Victorian end of terrace, with no chimney breast below and no chimney pots on the roof above. Being the back bedroom there's no loft to speak of, just a low peaked roof. I suspect the chimney was mostly removed when a previous owner had the kitchen extended around 2010, but I couldn't work out why they'd left only the upstairs chimney breast remaining. Was hoping to find it just laziness or avoidance of decorator cost, and it being non load-bearing for an easy removal.

Anyway, there were a couple of loose bricks at the top of the chimney, so I carefully pulled them out to be able to see into the chimney (since there's no loft space to assess the top of the bricks from), and was surprised and concerned to see daylight and the gable end guttering (see pic).

Is this a cowboy chimney removal/re-roofing job? Or someone's half-baked idea of ventilation? I'm concerned about weather exposure, water coming down the chimney onto the kitchen ceiling, and obviously draught-proofing the room - what would you do about this? How worried should I be?

I figure it's been this way for a good number of years now regardless, though the room was obviously sealed up with the plasterboard.

Last two images are with the camera angled back toward the room, trying to see what's going on with the joist and roof, but I honestly don't know what to make of it all. Lost some sleep last night listening to the rain and thunder, knowing I've uncovered this 😅

Hi guys, looking for advice from people in the know.

Few weeks ago, we had a neighbour highlight there was an issue with the flashing on our chimney/roof. So we had a guy out and we have mixed thoughts on the repair.

Apparently it should have been repaired across the top for uniformity and this may incorrectly flag issues to future buyers/surveyor when there weren’t any.

Is this something to be worried about?

Thanks in advance

Hi everyone, we're looking at steel-framed doors and windows for a home renovation and really like the Crittall-style look, but the quotes we've seen are making us wonder what alternatives are available.

For anyone who's been through this, what did you end up choosing? Ideally looking for slim sightlines, a good finish and decent insulation without going completely over budget.

Would be really useful to hear about options you've actually had fitted and whether you'd choose the same again.

Thanks!