concrete

I have a small lamppost fixed to the ground with threaded bar (set deep into 2' of concrete). Unfortunately the M8-sized bars aren't long enough to go entirely through the base of the lamppost. My plan is to use an M8 to M6 reducer as I have a long length of M6 threaded bar which can extend the...

I live in an 1950s ex local authority house with walls that are made of what appears to be aggregate mixed with concrete and I need advice on drilling. It’s not smooth pebblecrete as I would call it as it is lumpy stones of approx 20mm+ across loosely glued together with a sheen on concrete...

I'm putting up an aluminium lamp post next month 2.15 metres tall. On the base of it are 3 10mm holes to allow it to be bolted to the ground. My plan is to dig an 18" deep hole in the ground twice the width of the post, fill with 1:4 cement/sharp sand, allow to set for 2 weeks and then bolt...

Hello I'd like to erect a heavy trellis with 70mm wooden posts using concreted-in metal post supports. Please see the photo below. The trellis will be 7ft high and although it is quite heavy, since it is full of holes, it will not catch the wind in the same way as a regular fence. My question...

Hello all, My brother has just had a new boiler fitted and the gas engineer routed a new copper pipe directly from the meter to the new boiler. The old copper pipe that fed the previous boiler came from under the concrete floor, where it tees off to feed the gas supply for the cooker. Although...

Hi, I have a bit of a conundrum with how to tackle my floor. I have a large kitchen/diner/utility on the gound floor - approx 30m2 This part of the house was renovated and extended about 15 years ago, when doing so the previous owners had underfloor heating put in, and then tiled with...

Morning all, my project for the coming year is to build a wooden framed snooker room in the back garden, floor plan of approx 8m X 5m, concrete base, I'm looking to do as much of it myself starting with the base, any pointers? Under a very thin layer of topsoil the garden is heavy...

Hi I am prepping for two new concrete slabs in the kitchen and utility (12m² + 6m²) of a Victorian house to replace stone flags over bare earth. Following builder's advice I've dug it all out to 300mm (+/-20mm). What's to choose between the many various types/brands of insulation board?! In...

We are currently doing a theming project. Its a commercial application not domestic and we have had to build up rooms that are meant to look like an old prison. The walls are made from cls studwork and fireproof plasterboard. We need to do a cement render over to make the entire room(s) look...

Hi, Had a couple of questions on building the concrete floor base for my extension to my house. we have already built up to DPC level brickwork now so next going to add and compress hardcore and sand then pour concrete slab. 1) 150mm Hardcore - what is the difference between Loose Type1...

Hi there. We've got a small retaining wall on the boundary of our garden as the neighbours garden is higher than ours. It's perfectly functional but it's not very straight so I'd like to replace it as part of some landscaping we're doing. The problem I have is that it intersects with the...

Hi All, We have recently had outward opening french doors installed at the rear of our house. The installer let us know that we need to have an initial step of 1.2M level in front of the door to allow them to open. I am looking now at how best to achieve this. I could try and destroy what is...

Hi, We recently bought a 9ft kids slide from a well known catalogue/store retailer to be used in our garden. The instructions advise to dig two 35 x 35cm holes, fill them with concrete and fix the slide to them with plugs and screws. An alternative slide which was 10ft from another well known...

Hi All, We have recently had outward opening french doors installed at the rear of our house. The installer let us know that we need to have an initial step of 1.2M level in front of the door to allow them to open. I am looking now at how best to achieve this. I could try and destroy what is...

I'm looking to tile a concrete bathroom floor - what's the best way to insulate it prior to tiling?

Hello I’m planning to build a Pergola in a corner of my garden as a support for Wisteria and am considering how to fix it to the ground. It will be a free standing Pergola with 4 legs and about 8ft square in size. Obviously I could just concrete the legs into the ground like a fence but was...

Hi All, I have a couple of fairly large marble 'memorial stones' in my garden dating back from 1904 that I need to move and would like to remount on a brick wall. They are about 90cm X 50 each and a good 9-10cm thick. Probably weigh about 70-80 kilos each. My question is how would I go about...

Hey Guys. I have a garden that currently has wooden fencing. Over time, weathering and lack of maintenance have made a majority of it come down. I have decided to do a DIY job on it. I want to install a concrete posted fence with wood panels. Dimensions: Length 570 cm (between house and...

Hello any help would be really appreciated! Just bought a mid terrace Victorian approx 1900 Removed laminate flooring today and revealed damp concrete hearth, picture attached, the damp has spread out from it, possibly from being trapped under the laminate, and the floor board nearest the left...

another of my silly ideas. can i build fence posts using concrete blocks? the blocks would go vertically. their size is 440x215x100mm so if stacked as on the drawing i made, there would be a suitable gap for mortar. the desired height of the post is 2m so 5 layers to stack. please comment...