Home DIY

@Olly398 did yours look something like this? In-filled with brick dust and rubble... I'm guessing I'm going to want to clear this out and extend the joists for underfloor ventilation and to support the new boards.

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Just put some soil in and have an indoor garden. Simple.

Yep had to dig it all out.

@Silly_Savage is this on the ground floor? If not do you own the floor below? If the answer is no to both stop right there. You will find the hearth is integral to the floor and will need a fair bit of making good

That's a very good question. I had assumed the OP was on the ground floor (my bad if it is indeed on an upper floor). Doesn't look like you've taken too much away though.

Yes, ground floor!

Nice, and a water feature coming from behind the telly, which will permanently display a CGI animated coral scene.

It can only add value... do it.

I actually did fantasise, as a kid, about one day having a wall in my house that was actually a fish tank. Not sure if it'd meet building regs though.

Aldi did the SDS dril for £40 which is a good price for a hobby drill.

That's pretty much what both of ours looked like. I just dug all the rubble out from underneath and took a sledgehammer to them, then bricked up the hole left behind. Took far longer than it ought to have done.

Caveat: I have little to no idea what I am doing.

I dug out the rest of the rubble last night, and removed the bricks of the constructional hearth. I plan on fitting a small joist between the chimney pillars, then two from that over to the existing floor.

Ditto on the clueless bit, it's a learning curve.

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I was lifting all our boards, so I ended up putting new full-length joists in across where the hearths used to be, replacing the stubby ones either side.

Shitty floorboards removed and cable trunking laid in the lounge. Just got to get it all routed under the bedroom floor. Tomorrow will be trying to source the replacement boards and sort out the joist.

I know it isn't the standard method, but is there any reason I shouldn't just bolt the cross joist to either side of the chimney stack, and do I need to treat the timber with some kind of damp proofing if I do this?

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Recommendations for a plasterer?
And also a fitted wardrobe kinda person...?

@Silly_Savage
I think you could get away with the bolting the new joist to the joists at either side of the f/p. Obviously you're putting more weight on these two joists but I'm guessing it's not gonna be high traffic area. Re the timber treating, it depends on the air gap and contact (if any) with the leftover base material. I don't think it would be wise to have any wood in contact with the base directly but if it makes contact or is seated on it then some sort of membrane to stop damp transfer. If there's no contact then a decent air gap is best to allow air flow. With a decent air flow I don't think you need treated timbers, the originals wouldn't have been treated and they've lasted OK.

Right.
Sometime this year I asked a glazing firm to replace the cracked double glazing unit in my bedroom window. Just the glass.
I have noticed a draft/draught and have also noticed we're getting condensation on the internal (i.e. my bedroom side) of the unit that was replaced. Not in between and not external.

This suggests to me that the glass is getting cool on the inside because of the draught somewhere and the warm breath is condensing on the window. RIGHT? SCIENCE.

I've called the firm and they're wriggling around saying "ooh no, not us". They're coming to have a look. But it sounds, in my mind, that this isn't toed and heeled properly.

WINDOW TYPES ON HERE: yes? is that right? they made a mistake?

And also a fitted wardrobe kinda person...?

I need this as well otherwise it'll be IKEA.

Are you South?

Yeah...
SE4

br1

My chippy mate is coming over tonight to have a look, but we'll probably end up doing just that.

Surely the thing to do is rip up the whole floor and buy a joist that's 1' longer?

Nah, bolting an extra section to the current joist should do it, but you'll probably want it to be 3x as long as the unsupported section so you can get it nice and secure, otherwise squeaky floorboards 4lyf no?

I don't see the need to rip up more floor. The new joist will be supported at both ends. One at the existing joist / sleeper wall, and the other on a new cross joist / wall plate at the front of the chimney breast. It's just quite how and where we attach the latter that's undecided.

In other news, I got a free belt sander today, just because the previous owner didn't think to change the belt and though it was broken. Win.

I was mostly kidding.

Sounds like you've got it covered.