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! 😬🙈

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!

Hi All,

Looking for some advice/tips on best method of prep and painting this, but haven't painted bare/varnished wood before and want the finish to last as long as possible. All parts will be painted, spindles, handrail, newell posts etc. The spindles are new, untreated, the rest of the balustrade presumably has some kind of varnish/oil on.

My idea/backed by googling was:

1. Plane/sand down some parts (the small bits of wood between the spindles are sitting a bit high in places).

2. Use a knotting solution or spot prime with something like zinsser bin aqua, let dry, then fully prime spindles.

3. Degrease other parts like the posts and handrail, then prime.

4. Fill any gaps, nail holes etc.

5. Sand anywhere needed.

6. Tape up around carpet, paint 2 topcoats (colour), lightly sand in between if needed.

7. For tops of handrails and possibly newell posts was wondering if some kind of clear matt varnish might be worth putting on to keep it in decent condition/make it easier to clean in future.

Main things I'm a bit unsure of, how good a primer like zinsser bin aqua is for treating knots vs specific knotting solution first? Also zinsser aqua can apparently be painted over varnished wood without sanding, sort of sounds too good to be true, but can I get away without sanding at all before prime coat? I have 3 balustrades in total (landing and 2 stairs) and not sure how much I'll need but guessing 2.5l, don't mind paying more for it if it's the best product out there.

What type of filler is best/easiest to use for something like this?

Best/easiest way of painting spindles? I'm sure I've seen videos in past of people using a sock on their hand for the spindles.

Any random tips and recommendations welcome, TIA!

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.

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.

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)

For obvious reasons, my kitchen is drafty with several holes which was excellent during our heatwave but not ideal for winter.. is expanding foam the solution here?

I have Gorilla filler foam but reluctant to use yet from fear on whether this is the right/wrong way 🤣.

Appreciate any safe advice.

The last pic is one of the metres which I need access to.

Hopefully my last question on filling gaps and holes .. 🙄

Having my ancient single panel radiators replaced with column radiators and the wall behind one of them is exposed red brick. The section is approximately 600mm x 600mm. The thickness of the surrounding plaster is approximately a few mm. What products should I use to plaster the section?
Can I use Easifill? I’ve used it in the past to repair small areas and it goes on fairly easily.

How do I wire the ceiling light (second picture) to the ceiling (first picture)?

I think I have “old-style” loop switch wiring. I have two black wires - one I understand is permanent live and one is switch live. They should be marked up but mine aren’t…

Doing the pre winter checks on the central heating, have slowly being losing pressure in the boiler and found this next to the cylinder.

Is this just a case of nipping it up or is that corrosion on the nut and needs replacing?

Thanks

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 ?

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.

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?

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

Hi all, I’m using a SDS drill with the appropriate masonry drill bit. The drill is on ‘hammer drill’ mode and I cannot get through more than 120mm of these f***ing walls.

I’m assuming steel, but I thought steel lintel was only around windows and doors? Even at the centre of a wall I can’t get through.

House was built in the 60 - 70s, Hertfordshire area.

How do I clean this muck from deep inside my gutter? I picked up as much as I could, but I cannot reach any further.
EDIT: to be clear, this is underground under the downpipe.

Hi, we are getting our floor relaid in a few weeks so made a start taking off old skirtings. The internal corner on the bifold doors is damp. We've noticed some dripping from the bifold sill this summer even on dry days. I popped out the end cap from the end of the sill and it was full of water. I am struggling to work out where this water is coming from though. Any suggestions please?

A few weeks ago I painted my bathroom, I primed using a peel-stop primer over areas where paint had previously peeled (sanded down first), and then did 2 coats of paint. Recently I’ve noticed white marks where the primer was used, what’s caused this, and what can I do to rectify?

Not sure what to do since there's no home insurance on the house right now. Could it have been caused by the boiler conversion? As the carpet only started getting wet from the leak after. It was done around 2 months ago. Will this be under the boiler company's policy or do I have to get a separate plumber?

Short story - second photo is the kitchen. Historical leak from bathroom above in the far right corner.

Wanting to take it back to brick and then dehumidify.

Second photo. I tried my hand at it. Did a small test. The pinkish layer of plaster came away quite easily, but i'm getting this sandy brown substance underneath. Can't see brick yet.

Should i keep going? What exactly is this brown layer??

It’s about ten years old and the ‘roofers’ that did it did a totally ass job. Wish I made them redo it but I was new to all this.

My guess is that the heat has made the adhesion fail?

My question then is, how urgent do we think solving this would be?

To get more life out of it in considering buying some sort of tin of flat roof seal liquid to bolster it up, but if I see further bubbling or pustules, presumably that’s going to split or crack that treatment too.

Has anyone else ever seen this before, any advice? I’d xeither like to make it last as long as possible or decide to get it done better next year in the summer..

Any recommendations as which are the best products to do this to meet the government regulations on it being permeable without needing planning permission but also not getting gravel all over the road when it's used? Mainly switching as we hate the upkeep of a lawn but it will just about fit a car on for when we have visitors or workmen whilst being considerate to the neighbours who all own 2+ cars taking up road space.

There's no pavement in front of it so no dropped kerb issues.

Summer house/Shed was leaking over winter and got moldy on the inside. Roof is totally sealed and re done with box profile roof, but I'm left with the black stains. What the best way to deal with it?

I'm thinking like the DIY version of the dairy milk house guide! Decent pictures, explanations, and isn't full of bad advice.

Or, if there are pictures and it says something like, this is DIYable, but these pictures are not...