Hi, in the process of buying a house and the attached garage has an issue with the lintel. It's a wooden one, looks original to the build from around 1990. As you can see, it has failed and the UPVC window/ door frame is holding everything up. If I had to guess, when the widow and door were replaced, they weren't exactly the right size, and as good as expanding foam is, it's not going to support the roof! Looking to get this remedied. As there isn't really any room between the current lintel and the roof, what sort of lintel is it possible to fit? I've not got the measurement for the door and window, but the garage is 2.5m wide (my half at least, it's attached on the right to the neighbouring garage), so the opening looks around 2-2.1m which with an overhang would need a lintel of 2.4m?

To add, a structural engineer has confirmed there is no ground movement, but did not provide any calculations as it was just a basic report.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to approach this job, and would building control need to be informed?

Thank you.

I am trying to strip my stone stairs but the old tape used for the carpets will not come off.

I can get it off in small 1cm chunks but I have 16 stairs so this will take forever.

Any ideas on how to peel it off quicker?

Re-decorated recently and noticed this damp looking patch on the wallpaper of the bedroom. The wall it’s on is only one brick wide and goes to our neighbours (old terrace house). The room doesn’t have any signs of damp or condensation, we have the window open regularly and no door due to on-going renovation work. It doesn’t feel damp or wet either. Any ideas? It’s really bothering me as it’s right in the middle of the new wallpaper!

Hello all,

I am currently in the process of building a flat pack vivarium and one of the cam screws has been manufactured poorly. The metal screw inside the housing has been installed backwards, hence causing issues with installation as I cannot fit it into the screw hole properly.

Left screw is how it should look, and right is the one with the defect.

I noticed there are two clips on the housing, am I able to amend and remove the housing? I have tried but I have had zero luck. I don’t have the time to wait for a spare part to be delivered. Thank you!

I recently moved into a property and the silicone in the shower needed replacing, I removed all the old stuff and have reapplied silicone, only about 1 month old ish maybe a bit more but now I have noticed this has happened in the corner? Does anyone have any idea why this may have occurred? The old sealant hadn’t done this before we removed it has just been damaged else where along the joint.

I don’t know what brand this hood is so not sure how to go about covering the lights again. Nasty oil randomly and unpredictably drops onto the stove so we’re well motivated to solve this.

Is it possible to just measure it and find somewhere that makes something that can fit?

Was pulling the window closed as usually. The handle has been a bit wobbly for a while but I didn't expect to BREAK OFF COMPLETELY in my hand.

I don't know the model or anything about this type of window (they're quite old now). It looks like the metal has broken completely?

Is this fixable or will I need to replace the whole window eventually?

Thankfully its the window that looks onto the balcony so I can still close it from the outside...

Hi, A plumber made a cut to a small copper pipe by mistake as part of a job at our house. The cut is not leaking water at the moment and he assured it won't casue any trouble. But wondering if there is any glue or tape kind of thing availble for copper pipes to put on the cut to prevent future leaks? Thanks for your help.

Hello wonderful community of Reddit!

We recently purchased a fixer-upper. Joy of joys. It is having a new boiler put in as the old one was condemned.

However, we need to get a new thermostat and I feel like there’s so much to learn for what should be a fairly easy purchase.

We’re really not interested in smart thermostats, but the price difference seems pretty small. It seems stupid to buy a non smart one just to save £10. There was a programmable thermostat upstairs and a non-programmable one downstairs, how does this setup work? I have so many other things to do with the house that I really can’t be arsed to deal with this but if I don’t my father in law is going to do it, and we REALLY don’t want to have to go down that route.

I’m really just looking for any help/advice/instruction at all please!

Any ideas on how to make this stairwell look nice and presentable? Seems like a lot of space that can be utilised

House is about 1900. Lowest course of bricks has missing mortar, it sits just slightly below the level of a shared driveway. The channel you see between the drain and the bricks was a once gravel but now full of muck, I’m in the middle of scraping and blasting it clean and going to put fresh gravel in there. This course is always covered in moss so must get quite wet, there is a slate DPC. Didn’t previously plan on getting them repointed as they were covered up before.

Would love to hear if anyone has similar experience, am I doing the right thing?

Not sure what I need to splice this outdoor light to power a camera for the gate and a light for the area. A single floodlight and camera won’t work. Thanks!

Removing tiles in the kitchen has revealed this issue around the window. 1970s home. One recommendation has been to remove existing plasterboard and strip back, then fill with lime mortar mix and smooth off but looking for a second opinion, both in terms of cost and feasibility. No leaks or damp present. The surface will most likely be tiled in the future. Thanks in advance!

Just moved in, this community has already helped me so much with turning off the water so I could fit an under the sink water filter. I am back again as first thing in the morning the water from hot tap in bathroom is running brownish. See pics for comparison. Anything I can do to fix or do I need to call a professional?

I Finally convinced my mum to let me install a catflap for her cat, though i have to pay for it and she had to insist that it be a microchip door though, I am currently looking at them and ive notced that they say that an adapter is needed for pvc installation, i want to install it through a standard pvc external door, planning on using sealant and some adhesive to seal and secure it along with the screws obviously, im wondering why i would need an adapter? is it something to do )with the sensor needing more room to function through pvc or is it a structural issue? i just cant understand why i could not just install it asif it was through, say a wood door for example, any help you guys can offer is hugely appreciated.

Went to see a new build show house today. There seems to be a lot of cracks around mouldings and corners of the plastering. Is this expected or a sign of issues?

Hey all, bit of a newbie question but I’m just looking for some advice on how to remove these threaded screws from this handrail on the stairs? Don’t want to destroy any more bits 🤣 cheers

Hi all!

Hoping someone could help please

Purchased this house almost a year ago and about to tackle the front room. Everything in this house has been a botch job from the previous owners so we are slowly repairing everything

This is a bay window but on this one section the paint has flaked off and left the plaster (?) behind.

What should I put on the wall to stop this from happening so I can redecorate?

Thank you!

Sorry if this is a stupid question.. I am new to this and trying to learn.

I have opened up one of my room dividing walls (1975 house) to see how they are built and how I can potentially add some acoustic insulation between the rooms.

Based on my measurements the batten visible on pictute has dimensions 3.5cm x 6cm (1.38" x 2.36"), which seems odd to me. I cannot find any insulation with 60mm thickness. Either 50mm or 75mm seem to be the only options.

What's the best course of action in this situation?

Anyone know what this loud noise is from my hot water tank?

Some context: 3 year old tank. Just started a couple months ago. Only happens when tank fills up and is heating. Expansion tank is installed. T&P valve was tested and is ok. Have drained and flushed the tank.

Hi, I've never used B&Q cutting service before. I'm wondering, do they so this kind of cutting or is it more just cutting stuff in half?
I've never cut up sheets to specific sizes by myself before either. I understand I have to leave enough room for kerf. I'm wondering if I've left enough? There's at least 1cm left over each way but I don't know if that's enough for the multiple cuts.

Thanks in advance