aAsk a Tradesman

Many years ago there was a restoration plaster called Vobomo, I think, probably based on silicones which plastered on hard, on stone internal walls allowed the wall to breathe and given the warmth and air movement combined with living, cured the problem. Is this material still available in some appropriate form

We have no central heating in our home at all and are currently getting quotes. Everyone is recommending a different make and size boiler and now we are unsure what we should be going for. We have a 3 bedroomed semi, with a bathroom and seperate toilet. What would you recommend ??

L. Craig.

Our small bedroom has 2 external walls with the longer one being quite exposed although rendered has recently been sealed , the shorter one has the window and radiator. Our problem is the longer external wall has patches that damp to touch although not black mould yet .The plaster is not damaged and we have painted with a no more damp treatment and dry lined and painted. Would we better to move the radiator to the long external wall ?

I have an attached garage which goes right to the boundary line. the garage is detached to the next door property.

Can I do a single story extension for the space behind garage all the way to the boundary too?

If i wanted to double story extension (above garage), can I go all the way to the boundary?

If not could I do single story extension (assuming I am allowed to go right to the boundary line) and at some later point build above the garage and ground floor extension? If this is possible how close could the 2nd floor extension be to the boundary?

Hi, I have just replaced my Mira thermostatic shower with a Swirl thermostatic bar shower in my bathroom. The problem that I am having now is that I am not getting any hot water to my bath tap or the shower. I have found that when I turn on the hot water tap on the sink in my bedroom and leave it running I do get some reasonably warm water to the bath tap but as soon as I turn it off the bath tap water runs cold. I do have a combi boiler. Also the tap water in my bedroom sink does not get hot or the second shower that is in my bedroom as well. My heating is working well and I have no problem in getting any hot water to my kitchen tap. Any help would be much appreciated.
Mick

Hi,

I want to rip up the carpet in my 1 bed flat and lay wooden flooring (base is concrete). I don't want to go for a laminate or "wood effect", I want real wood or at least a real wood top.

Q: Can anyone recommend particular wooden floor manufacturers I should look at (am after something in an oak colour)?

Q: What sort of labour cost can I expect for laying this? Lounge, Kitchen, Hall and Bedroom = 47m2. And how long would it take?

Also - I realise the skirting will need to be removed and reset after the floors have been laid. But I also want to repaint the skirting....so will it be cheaper to pay for new skirting and for it to be painted, or pay someone to sand back existing and repaint?

Thanks

Hi - I have a 1 bed ground floor flat, all electric no gas.

In the middle of the flat is a hot water heater, I believe it's an immersion heater which kicks in during the night (there is a booster switch too) and there is a small tank/cistern directly above it. The system is about 20 years old and the previous owner installed a pump to improve the hot water pressure - which now means the water shoots out too fast!

The whole setup takes up a lot of room and is quite noisy (pump switching on and off, cistern filling up etc).

Would I be better off having this all ripped out and replace it with a megaflo? Will I still need the small tank/cistern? Will a megaflo give me good water pressure?

Also - what cost can I expect to pay for a megaflo and installation?

Thanks

In the rooms just going to have a tv on bracket bed and wardrobe that's it but we was told we Could use wood and do it that way as we are council and can't afford pp and for joists we need that so would that work and be safe please

Hello everyone. First time poster. About a year and a half ago we bought a 1950s semi-detached house that needed a complete refit. Weve moved in now but to check storage space I ventured in to the loft to see what was available. First thing I noticed was the under-tile roofing felt has split/torn badly in places and is now hanging down. The tiles are visible though the gaps/cracks and a lot of dust has come in from outside and is laying on the insulation. It would also appear that at some point snow has blown underneath the tiles, melted, dripped through the insulation and stained the bedroom ceiling. Going by looking closely at it the "felt" is Kraft paper (even has the Kraft logo on one edge). Its formed of several layers with fibres in between and is brown on one side and dark on the other. It would appear that futher up the tiles have been lifted and another type of felt has been laid which looks like string net encased in a sheet of thick, black plastic (best way I can desribe it).

Speaking to next door they had the same problem and ended up paying £3000 to have a firm come and raise the tiles and relay the felt for the entire loft. We dont have that sort of money and as it is only really the bottom half of the rafters that its coming away I attempted to fix it by using a staple gun and insulating tape. This failed as when a draft came under the tiles it ended up tearing in other places and hang down again.

Now to the advice I need. I have 2 ideas:

1). Put sheets of hardboard over the rafters which would then cover up all of the gaps and stop the draft/dust coming in. I have been advised to leave a gap at the bottom to allow air to circulate in from the eaves.

2). Cut lengths of hardboard the exact width of the space between the rafters and then lay them between the rafters (over the tiles/kraft paper) and attach them to the rafters some how.

Assuming I still left the gap at the bottom would either method work as air would still be able to circulate?

I am also thinking of stapling several lengths of double sided foil/buble insulation over the rafters to give some of the heat in and then boarding over that. Would this be ok (condensation-wise) as there would still be an air gap between the foil layer and then underside of the tiles. What about if I did this with the second method and glued the foil to the underside of the hard board and then laid it between the rafters over the underside of the tiles? Would it still cause condensation between the tiles and the surface of the foil layer and drip down into the loft floor/cavity wall?

Thanks for any advice. If anybody needs further info or clarification give me a shout.
Thanks,
Mike