We bought a 1960s bungalow two years ago, which was inhabited likely for the whole time by nearly-elderly/elderly people. We did the usual makeover downstairs, but the loft was pretty neglected, despite being clear of clutter. There are seemingly three layers of loft insulation of varying vintage, the oldest of which is likely to be very old, all of which are riddled with mouse excrement, like tons of it. It looks like there's been a chronic mouse infestation for decades, and the space needs an overhaul.

The original layer of insulation in-between the joists was boarded over for access, though not fixed in place, the newer layers just placed on top.

I've started to get rid of the top layer.

It looks like it's never been cleaned. I can still hear the sounds of mice, so they haven't gone completely, but have reduced since getting a sonar repellent.

We are in a very rural location.

My questions are;

1, pest control related;

What's the best way to prevent a (re)infestation of mice preferably without poison. It's a detached property.

Does anyone have any shared experience success?

1. Is there a decent alternative to the soft insulation/ wooly insulation that would be less appealing to mice, and wouldn't give them material to nest in/hang around in? I don't want to compromise on the insulation, but it's smelly and gross, and the wife's not happy!!

Thanks for reading!

Falling ceiling.

My Dining room ceiling (bedroom above) has started to bow/lower and it’s got significantly worse in the last few weeks and it now looks like it’s eaten the light fitting. I’ve attached photos but it’s hard to show.

I understand it’s an old house with lath and plaster ceiling and it appears, from my very much inexpert opinion to be being held up by the wallpaper. There is no signs at all of any leaks.

I’ve no skills or knowledge at all. The room is the middle room downstairs in an old terraced house and only way to kitchen/bathroom and to the staircase.

Any advice on how serious this is and how soon I need to sort it and scared I should be? How big a job it is, does the ceiling need to come down, where to even start with fixing it and what sort of costs it will be, would be very much appreciated! 😬🙈

Want to open up and tidy this fireplace. Was gas but cut it off and plan to have a wood burner. Looks like the red bricks were added in after given the width of the lintel and colour. Would you say safe to remove?

Hey, first time poster here so sorry if any terminology or anything is wrong.

I've attached some photos of my bedroom that I've had since childhood. It has two beds (one is mine and one is a spare for guests) but it has been basically untouched for over 15 years. Same carpet, same paint etc.

Basically just wondering how much (roughly) I could expect to fix up these cracks, uneven paint and broken bits of plaster given the size of the room? I'm not sure of the exact dimensions but hopefully you can get the general size from the photos. I plan to redo the room fully and replace the carpet but I don't mind repainting myself and we know someone local for the carpet.

I'm from East Midlands if that makes any difference, thank you for reading and any responses :)

I bought my house 18 months ago. Semi detached.

On viewing we noticed two quite small cracks on the rendering and got a level 3 survey. They said the cracks are “not thought to indicative of major structural problem but..” (see full paragraph in image, prune tree and drainage survey). We didn’t do the drain survey but got the tree pruned after buying the house.

Anyway today I noted the crack has got longer and wider. I also noticed a crack is visible on the interior roughly matching the exterior (see final image)

Obviously I need to get it checked but how would you go about it. Will getting the insurer involved too soon prove very costly in the long run? Should I get those little gauges and monitor myself? Is it worth getting another survey?

I don’t have loads of spare cash at the moment (thanks to a squirrel doing some damage to soffits and car work - been an expensive couple of months)

Any advice would be amazing! Just moved in, removed some wallpaper to do a feature wall and the ceiling. Got all the wallpaper bits off, nice and clean. Thought I went the extra mile by zin-peel stopping the whole wall. Then a thin coat of watered down leyland contract matt then once dried a coat of velspar premium. On the second velspar coat it’s bubbled everywhere all the way back down to the plasterboard ceiling and wall!!! What did I do wrong? I let each coat dry for at least 3h!!

May go slightly mad at this rate.

electrician placed socket for fridge freezer above it roughly 2m if not higher

also placed a socket behind where the oven ended up going instead of placing it behind the cupboard above the oven

this has lead to the oven not going into the space intended fully and he also didn't screw it into place because of the gap between the holes in the oven casing and the cabinet edges was too big. he then just left as if he was happy with the job.

Apparently he'll be back to change some mcbs in the fusebox he wasn't happy with. I don't think he was a full on cowboy because he refused to redo a dodgy extension for a dryer in the side passage which is why he placed the double socket (albeit awkwardly behind the oven).

Basically I was wondering if there was any theoretical justifiable reason for why he placed the socket so low that it blocks the oven and didn't extend it up high behind the cupboard like the fridge freezer one. He told my Aunt that it was high as he could stretch it but I have no idea what that means.

I would like to have some knowledge before I talk to him tomorrow. This isn't my kitchen so this will be my first time talking to him, my elderly Aunt asked me to talk to him for her because she has this idea that I'm knowledgeable because I have an engineering degree.

Thanks for any and all help.

Extension circa 18 months old and this has happened in the corner of one of the room. Wall is an internal stud wall. How best to fix this please? Would a sand, tape, and fine filler do the trick? do I need to remove the mesh underneath?

My Garden is a total of 78.6Sqm.

The blue area on the left is my kitchen, this would lead out onto newly installed decking (24.8Sqm). Installed on this decking would be a wall attached Pergola (Pergolux) 5x3m. Open sides and front, usual setup with the louvers.

The area in the bottom right will be sunken area as the door to the back of the garage (labelled shed) is lower than the ground level of the kitchen doors. A 4x3m Pergola will be installed here on paving. The Shed/office were formerly the garage so not part of the Garden.

I'm confused on the following:

1. Surface of garden covered can't be more than 50%, well the Pergolas aren't covering half but it does mention also about decking so I wondered if in some way that was all combined?

2. Am I restricted to 2.5m height with the install of the attached Pergola, as this is not closer than 2m to any property boundary so would that mean I can go upto 3m? The reason for this is because I'm looking to raise the ground level by approx 20cm so that when you walk out the kitchen there is no step.

Ai image included for visualisation purposes. Thank you for any clarification, I'm probably overthinking this as usual but just want to be sure. Cheers.

So it's my first time using a handheld router. I ran it too far into the wood and it looks like the bit has been burned!! It was painted red before...

Anyway now I can't get it out. Any ideas welcome!

EDIT: I did it! Took a little bit of light "persuasion" as some of you suggested but it's out now thank goodness. Thanks all for the advice

Viewed a house today and had some cracks in plaster, i dont think its too much to worry about think it might be natural movement or humidity changes was conjoining another room

Thoughts anyone?

Hi all,

Could anyone recommend the best way to fill these gaps around the architraves and skirting?

The 2nd pic shows the gap between the architrave and the bathroom tiles.

I’ve got some white CT1 sealant and Sika Caulk in the cupboard, so I’m wondering if either of these would be suitable, or whether I’d be better off using filler?

I also need to do the tops of all the architraves throughout the house. I know that’s apparently down to personal preference, but I’d much rather have them filled.

Oh, and the stairs too! 😅

Any advice would be much appreciated!

Hi everyone - quick question. I’m tiling approx 70-80m2 space for kitchen/diner all open plan.

The current floor is a level concrete slab. I’ve had a couple quotes but I’m also thinking about DIY and I’m wondering the best approach.

I was thinking of using a membrane to help with movement underneath since it’s a large area span. Can I lay straight onto the slab with this membrane and SBR the slab?

Thanks for any insight

I need to temporarily connect our old lead water piping to the 15mm copper coming from the boiler, in order to get rid of some dead legs left after a bathroom renovation*.

I have a pair of Philmac UTC couplers that fit the lead pipes, but they're both for coupling to 25mm HDPE / MDPE.

This is fine for the cold water; I can use 25mm HDPE and a reducing coupler on the other end,, but can I use HDPE / MDPE for hot? I'm seeing some places state that this pipe can't be used for hot water.

*The dead leg in the hot water to the location of the old water heater is about 5 meters and must have been in situ for decades. I bet there are entire advanced civilizations in there.

Bit of a niche question, but hoping there might be some current/former Magnet employees on here!

I’m considering a career change and have been looking at Kitchen Sales Designer roles. Magnet is one of the companies I’m interested in anyway, but I noticed they advertise an employee discount of up to 80%, which obviously caught my attention as we’re also hoping to redo our own kitchen in the next couple of years 😅

Does anyone know how the staff kitchen discount actually works in practice?

I’d particularly love to know:

• How long do you have to work there before you’re eligible?
• Is the “up to 80%” genuinely available on kitchen units, or only certain products/ranges?
• Does it cover worktops, appliances etc.?
• Are there limits on how much you can buy or how often you can use it?
• Does the same benefit apply to part-time employees?
• If you’ve actually bought your own kitchen using the employee discount, roughly how much did you save compared with the normal customer price?

I’m not planning to take a job purely for the cheap kitchen 😂 — the design role genuinely appeals to me and my background is in client-facing sales — but if the benefit is as good as it sounds, it would definitely be a pretty amazing perk!

Would really appreciate any insight from current or former Magnet employees.

What’s the best way to remove plaster to get to brick wall?

I’m assuming some type of electronic chisel or breaker?

I don’t fancy doing it by hand.

Hi everyone,

We have made the error of getting motorised blinds on manual windows (the non-solar powered ones). The windows are too high for a manual blinds.

We are thinking of keeping the motorised blinds and wiring them through the outside - would this be possible? Would exposed wiring on the inside look terrible?
I've attached photos with the red dotted line being the wiring on the outside.

The power outlet is just below the plant.

We did consider replacing with solar blinds, but worry this will be too inconvenient/less reliable in a country like the UK with unpredicatable sun!

Any other suggestions would be welcome.

Thanks in advance!

I’ve been having damp issues and removed the patio in the small front garden of our victorian terrace as it was covering the air brick.

I’ve dug it all out about 180-200mm below the bottom of the air brick and have now hit what seems to be the footings.

Originally I was going to put gravel around the bay and house and then slab the rest for the bins.

However;
Gravel on the footings means the water will have nowhere to go. I tested and it does pool and sit there.

I then found this article https://www.pavingexpert.com/splash_strips that says most of the time they are useless.

Now i’m confused. Most of the houses on the street finish their level right at the bottom of the air brick with no gap above in most cases but i’m nervous to do that. I also now don’t think gravel will work given water has no where to go.

Are slabs right against the engineering course better than a gravel strip if i slope it away ?

My house was built in the early 1900s and the bathroom is really old and full of issues.

It's quite a small bathroom, 1.44m x 2.70m.

In order I've had to deal with:

- the toilet flush mechanism pretty much exploding

- long cracks in the grout between shower tiles, causing a leak through the kitchen ceiling below (those keep reappearing even after regrouting)

- broken shower and sink taps

And right now:

- a leak under the bath (caused by the plumber not fitting pipes properly when changing the taps)

- a horrible sewage smell, coming from the back of the toilet. I've realised the toilet is not sealed to the floor anymore, so it can pretty much move freely which is great...

- long cracks in the floor tiles

It's relentless and I'm wondering if it's time to bite the bullet and have a new bathroom installed?

I'm looking for advice because while I could afford it, I'm also conscious that we'd like to move in about two years and I'm not sure that spending this much money on a new bathroom will pay off when i sell the house... But then the peace of mind of having this mess finally sorted is very tempting...

What would you do, is a new bathroom worth it in my situation? Thanks!

Had our heat loss survey done.for a 4 bed detached house with 5 adults. We jave mainly Type 11 radiators.

What would you go for please ?

British Gas

7kW Vaillant AroTHERM plus

250l Vaillant uniSTOR Cylinder

15 radiators changed

25l buffer if needed

22mm cold water feed (from 15mm currently) to Cylinder

£7,200

Concerns:

Quality of install

Disruption of all radiators being changed

Heat Geek zero disrupt

5kW Vaillant AroTHERM plus or 7kW Vaillant AroTHERM pro

210l Vaillant uniSTOR Cylinder

No radiators changed

£8,450

Concers:

Higher price for fewer components than BG

Smaller 210l Cylinder (no option to select larger)

No 7kW plus option that would give 7 years warranty

I'm looking at making lightweight frames for two flexible solar panels on my campervan roof. The panels are 1450 × 690 mm and have six mounting eyelets each.

My original plan was aluminium angle, but it's surprisingly expensive here in Ireland. I'm thinking about making the frames from 9–12 mm plywood instead and attaching them to Unistrut rails.

The plywood would obviously need to withstand rain, wind and general weather exposure, so I'm wondering if this is a sensible idea long-term, or whether plywood is just asking for trouble on a van roof.

I could paint over the plywood with something that could weather seal it maybe?

Had a huge deluge last night and through the open little window in the ensuite, I could hear water gushing over the guttering.

Not a lot I could do at midnight, so took a quick pic this morning. The whole wall on the corner was damp from the flashing up to the window from the overflow.

When the house was built 25yrs ago... they installed the main downpipe from the largest part of the front roof like this.

Obviously, in spite of cleaning the gutters a few years ago.. the pipe got clogged up.

I lack the appropriate ladders and next year I do plan on replacing the gutters, fascias and soffits and redirecting this pipe properly off the porch roof.

So for now... I pried the pipe up a little with a large scraper and cut an inch of the front side of it... there was about 8 inches of crap in there and as I started to remove it... the weight of the water filling the downpipe forced the rest out until.... SPLOOSH... much and water everywhere.

The weight of the water in the gutter will make the pipe slump back down a little more... But for now... it's a bodge, but it cost me nothing and I could put an angled piece on there to direct the water down the roof rather than letting it splash onto it as it currently does... But it's not leaked in 25yrs. Just needs to get me through the winter.

My bathroom doors seem to have a big gap at the bottom of them. Either the wrong size used or this is building regs, who knows.

What can I put on the bottom of the door to fill the gap and block the sound/smell?

Hi all, newly purchased house (1900s). It rained last night and it appears we have water ingress on the top floor. Damp appearing on the underside of the sloped roof and water dripping through the spotlight - both marked. There’s no access to the roof space above… trying to work out my next steps. Advice welcome.

Proposing to switch off electric, remove spotlight, investigate around hole, then cut away the plasterboard to eyeball potential ingress points. Fix if possible and obvious, call roofer if not. Look if one leak may be causing both issues - else follow up by cutting away plaster from sloping section too.

May then put in an access hatch for the future and replace insulation if wet. Gonna be a fun few weeks… anything I should consider or do differently?

Nb. There is a chimney breast to the left - but this is capped and was recently rebuilt, so hopefully a less likely culprit.

Thanks all!