Ok, a bit tongue in cheek, however I'm currently renovating our house and have had numerous trades coming in to look at jobs. Without fail, every single one (at least 7 so far) has given a "cash price" and a "non cash price".

Off the top of my head:

Roofer

Joiner

Plumber

Electrician

Window Fitter

Stove Fitter

Removal Company

I've never once asked to pay cash (apart from the cheaper rate, it's a PITA having to go and get it out!) but it has really highlighted to me the absolute vast scale of tax fraud which goes on within the trades. Looks like it's only us PAYE idiots who are actually paying their taxes these days!

I have removed all the floorboards to insulate under there, is there anything else I should do while I am at it?

I will put dpm bits under the joists where they rest on bricks just in case and most likely put telescopic air vents to direct the flow a bit lower as the air vents are only slightly lower than joists at the moment.

Is it worth changing the pvc radiator pipe for copper? Or is it worth changing 15mm to 22mm copper pipe?

Also after removing all the nails I sanded the top of every joist as removing the nails raised loads of fibres ecc and didn't want them to interfere with the fitting of whatever I am putting on them, do they now need treating at all?

Thanks!

Edit

There's 8 sockets, 3 of which are where the tv is (behind me). The cables have been run down from the ceiling in the new rewire.

I ll add noggins as adviced👌

Oh and insulation around the pipes.

Thought I'd share a few pics of how I improved the insulation of the two external walls in this 1970s bungalow bedroom. Maybe it'll inspire someone else to have a go. I was getting black mould on the walls at the studs as they were thermal bridging, also viewed it through a thermal imaging camera.

Replaced glass wool with Knauf 35 90mm frametherm. Sealed any gaps at floor and ceiling. 25mm PIR boards over the front of the studs to break the thermal bridge. Applied air guard and foil tape to create a vapour barrier. Screwed battens through PIR into the studs behind to create a service void for socket backboxes so didn't cut into PIR. Then plaster boarded and jointed.

Also previously insulated suspended floor with 150mm mineral from below, held up with garden fleece.

The glass wool is the original insulation.

I’m new to DIY. I’ve always just hired people to do the work. However having bought our first home I decided it’s time to learn and save a bit of money. And gain new skills.

I’ve not had any major injuries other than cuts and scraps oh and getting a nail right into my index finger.

It got me wondering; what sort of injuries have people had and lessons learnt. Might help someone else avoid an easily avoidable injury!

Hey guys, I have a heat loss problem. I’ve attached my loft as you can see it’s not in the best shape. It’s insulation then directly under its plasterboard with joists running along.

My heat loss is bad, here is a recording I took:

Entry 1
time: 16:43
temperature: 23

Entry 2
time: 16:54
temp: 22

Entry 3
Time: 16:59
temperature: 21.5

Entry 4
time: 17:12
temperature: 20.5

Entry 5
time: 17:17
temperature: 20

These recordings are all from a single room. Upstairs is where it’s really cold so I do think it’s related to the loft insulation.

Windows are double glazed and I can’t feel any air coming out of gaps (that’s I’m aware of)

I'm pretty proud of how these turned out! Never really worked with wood before, apart from chopping it up for firewood.

Next job in the house, it has this old alarm system, no power light, can I just remove it?

How to fix/ plaster this area behind old dishwasher. Old plaster is a flaking away maybe old leak but no leak now.

Could I diy or get a professional

Something has gone badly wrong with this relatively recently installed French door (maybe 4 years old or so). The door is very hard to open, and has daylight coming through the top when "closed".

Looking from outside (actually an ancient conservatory) the brickwork above the centre of the door is showing cracks. The rest of the brickwork around the door appears OK.

Door installer says the brickwork is nothing to do with him, as it is above the Lintel. Could the lintel somehow have broken and so the door has weight on it?

Checking a kitchen install I recently had completed and came across the hob extractor fan wired up to a mains cable like this.

The mains cable runs back to the fuse box and is on a single breaker

What would be the best solution?

I've checked the extractor and it is fine to be put on a standard plug socket with a 3 amp fuse. Should I just get a plug box connected on the end of the mains cable and plug in the extractor.

Just moved into our first house. I was checking the plug sockets because our lighting circuits don’t have earth wires so I wanted to see what the sockets were like. I thought it was fine until I looked at the back and saw all this exposed copper. Are we in trouble? 😬 I am going to be booking an EICR test soon but would like to have some idea in the meantime.

...the list is probably long.

Here's what I did so far;

Using Gyproc easifill 60, taking it metre by metre.

I have been quite delicate when applying and smoothing.

I have mixed the easifill to a consistency of thick yoghurt. Used a hawk trowel and putty knife.

Attempted to smooth at a 20⁰ with hawk but having difficulty in pulling the mix off when doing it.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Hi All,

We purchased a house end of last year and are still doing renovations. It’s slowly coming to the end and one of the jobs are Glue down herringbone LVT. A lot of people have told me not to DIY Glue down LVT but I’m stubborn and have proceeded to do it anyway.

I need advice with how to start the herringbone pattern and how you would approach it. We want to retain the skirting and is has been left on. We have plyboarded (SP101 grade) on top. Current images show what we have at the moment, and you can see we done a simple triangle as this was our starting point, only to find out the skirting was not square. All of the YouTube videos I saw were working with perfectly square rooms or working without skirting, neither of which are the case for me. I’ve lined up the middle of the floor and also marked the middle of the pattern (which I also understand isn’t the point).

Any advice or guidance would be much appreciated

Quick question to the floor - I live in an old Victorian house with an oak front panel door which leaks air and heat very much. Luckily we have an inner porch door and thick insulated curtains to stop the draughts. Without replacing the door itself, is there anything I can do or use to insulate the door? Air is coming in through the panel gaps. The white stripe on the photo is tape Ive used to try to seal the tiny gaps but it doesn't work well.

PICTURE IN COMMENTS Hi all, I'm in desperate need of your help please. I have 3 floor-length windows (living room and bedroom), where the uPVC window meets the subfloor. Previous owners have made a right mess of the subfloor, which was only revealed when I lifted my carpets. The floor isn't level and isn't massively sturdy,

I'm having laminate installed next week, and after talking to the fitter, we've concluded that installing window boards across the windows is the best bet. My only issue is that I am a DIY-novice and now need to:

A. buy window boards before the weekend - where should I be looking? might be a rookie question, but can I buy planed timber or does it have to be specifically sold as window board?

B. work out what type of window board to buy - I'm leaning towards moisture resistant MDF, but have heard mixed things. Has anyone got any advice, either way?

C. What additional materials will I need - grab adhesive, decorators Caulk, Moisture-Resistant Primer (would Zinsser Bin work?), Low-Expansion Foam - anything else??

D. any ideas on how to prep the space to fit?

and also any tips/tricks/recommendations? I really can't postpone the flooring install past next week due to having planned surgery in mid-Nov :(

Cat flap is in use but cat gets locked in the house on a night time. Have realised tonight that flies are entering the house through the cat flap through a gap where the lock is, temporary solution overnight just putting cling film over it to stop them getting in but will need to take off tomorrow when my cat goes out.

I can see the cling film is ‘breathing’ so there is obviously a gap letting a draft in too. How can I seal this up?

helping out a friend fix these tiles that have blown around the bath

i know how to tile but the issue I’ve got is that they have blown because the bath warps when they stand inside to shower

surely this will just happen again or am I being paranoid

Any clever ideas you lot?

I’m replacing my tap and plug/waste unit, but I just can’t get a strong enough grip on the brass locknut on the underside to loosen it off. Before I attempt to remove the whole basin unit, does anybody have any handy DIY tips I can try?

There doesn’t seem to be enough room to reach all the way round with some water pump pliers unfortunately.

In the past I've had an electric shower removed and although not ideal, I filled the holes with silicone. I've got some more holes now I've removed a cabinet and also need to fill these however I'd really like to try some tile paint so looking for something that will dry hard, waterproof and can be painted over.

Any thoughts or experiences?