Home DIY

Two questions if you pls:

1. Can anyone recomend a decent affordable cordless drill? Fed up with borrowing father-in-law's deWalt. Are they all much of a muchness?

2. Moar general damp related issues. Now that closed window season is upon us the condensation/damp has returned with a vengence. Established last winter that internal, external and cavity wall insulation are not options. The problem is condensation caused by lack of ventilation and lack of insulation (have ruled out water ingress and rising damp)

Have managed to stop actual rivers of condensation running down walls by using a dehumidifier, stopping drying laundry inside and unblocking vent bricks etc but it's still very humid and we're now getting mould growing everwhere. It's worst round windows, in cupboards and worst of all on the back of any wooden furniture that's up against a wall. We're spending a fortune running a dehumidifer 24/7 but it's still so damp that towels don't dry. Even hung out, not folded they stay damp for three days by which time they've started to smell musty. The whole place smells of damp and mould.

Next in the battle with humidity is an oil-filled electric heated towel rail (going in this week) which, while I think it will help in the bathroom will only evaporate the moisture out of the towels into the wider flat.

Next week we're getting a tumble dryer in the foyer which isn't something I really agree with but given that it's a two bedroom flat, we can't dry stuff outside and as we're on the ground floor and we're both out all day every day can't leave windows open, I can't see what other choice we have.

Going to get a beefier extractor fan in the bathroom and have even started looking at new double glazing with vents and a "lock open" option. Any other other ideas for hardcore damp avoidance?

Thanks,

A

I had this problem, so i bought the exact same dewalt drill as my dad's (as i know you can buy all the spares) from ebay. super cheap. I collected so it was about £5 for a £300 drill. noice.

I reckon (unfortunately) there are a lot of self employed tradesmen going out of business in this economic climate, so ebay bargains are aplenty.

I had terrible condensation problems in a rental place. The landlord (to his credit) put in double glazing, cavity walls and a machine that pushed around air to supposedly improve air flow - none of it worked but he did more than most landlords would.

There is not much you can do other than get a better dehumidifer and spray stuff to kill all the mold. I have heard that dry heat sources (like a wood burner) make a big difference.

I am hoping to install a wood burner for that very reason.

I still would appreciate a recco for a bricklayer, btw.

I am hoping to install a wood burner for that very reason.

I thought you had already done this Dammit. I'm in the process of quotes. Do you have any? Wanna chat £££?

I need the wall doing first- however yes, very interested.

I'd be happy to take a quote for the wall work from the woodburner install chap, thinking about it.

I am hoping to install a wood burner for that very reason.

Thats exciting, I'll keep an eye on your progress. A woodburner is my dream and I am currently in the process of buying a place. The problem is that its a mid 90's top floor flat so no chimneys. Does anyone know if its still possible to fit a wood burner? I was thinking that just having a flume going out of the exterior wall but dont know if this is possible/even legal?

I've got a single plug socket that I want to replace with a double. Problem is that the existing wiring is incredibly tight and I'm worried that any replacement I buy might have a different layout of connections and won't fit.

Would I be ok to wire the existing mains cable into a (15 amp?) terminal block, and then run short lengths of the red/black wires between that and the socket?

Tell me more about this woodburner Dammit?

or did you already post about it upthread?

Our block was put up in the 1930's and each flat has a chimney- around 80% of the flats have blocked them up at some point previously, but they are still there.

I'd like to plumb my woodburner into the existing chimney so I can go back to a more 1930's style of heating the flat- abundant "dry" heat, with the windows ajar to promote ventilation.

Our windows can either lock closed, or lock ~1cm open.

We had a terrible mold problem when we moved in.

So, I seem to have quotes of £3-4k. Thats for a defra approved, 5-6kw, flume for the chimney, lots of work to the fireplace and possibly making the chimney taller. looks to have been bombed in ww2 and is now shorter that the regs allow.

This fits in nicely with my experience of quotes - guess how much it will cost then double it.

Hmm, that's more than I had hoped.

I was budgeting ~£500 for the woodburner and around £500 for the work.

I may be being hopelessly naive however.

Wouldn't a second hand wodd burner go for cheaps? Haven't looked here, but looked in sweden and you could get lovely ones for a few tenners

I was thinking around £1500.

I'll let you sift through the formatting. its unit, item, cost per item, total.

1.00 OCTOBER STOVE INSTALLATION OFFER 1,666.67 1,666.67
1.00 125mm 316 MF Liner 10 Metres 0.00 0.00
1.00 Stove and register plate fitting 0.00 0.00
1.00 Pot Hanger Cowl 0.00 0.00
0.00 Bohemia X60, 8kw Multifuel, smoke exempt 0.00 0.00
1.00 Front hearth, 380mm x 1100mm, H20mm, 1-Section, 165.00 165.00
riven slate
1.00 Back hearth, templated, 790mm x 380mm 80.00 80.00
1.00 Hearth fitting 75.00 75.00
2.00 Removal of raised back hearth, 2 hours 75.00 150.00
1.00 Cut out floorboards abutt the existing skirting to reveal 40.00 40.00
constructional hearth
1.00 Paint Brickwork black with heatproof paint 45.00 45.00
1.00 Floor vent, (Chrome or Brass to be confirmed) 75.00 75.00
6.00 Chimwrap, 6 metres 30.00 180.00
1.00 Fitting of Chimwrap 45.00 45.00
1.00 900mm x 200mm terracotta pot 110.00 110.00
1.00 Pot fitting 65.00 65.00
1.00 Chimney Sweeping 70.00 70.00
1.00 Co-Detector 21.28 21.28

from THE CAST IRON FIREPLACE COMPANY.CO.UK LTD

I was going to have a crack at doing it myself, but would need to alert the building regs officer at the local council: http://www.stovesonline.co.uk/lining_a_chimney.html

We are also thinking of getting a non-specialist who we trust, opening the 2nd hand market and leaving me to do labouring and easy stuff.

I think we need scaffolding for the chimney work but not sure. My GF got the quote.

We have a flat roof with a standard door giving access to it- makes that side of things a lot easier.

My local pub has a wood burner like this:

I told the landlord I'd cut a cherry tree and had a load of wood, he said "No thanks, people give it to me and it ends up rotting", he said he can't burn it for ages cos it would ruin the flue and set fire to the chimney.

£239, http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/8kw-NERO-C1-Contemporary-Modern-Woodburning-Stove-Stoves-Multi-Fuel-log-burner-/390684542426?pt=UK_HG_FireplacesMantelpieces_RL&hash=item5af69d05da

I wonder if it meets UK regs?

http://smokecontrol.defra.gov.uk/appliances.php?country=e

text search on that page says no.

There's more to woodburners than looks. It's worth getting something proper with good efficiency where you can control airflow both in and out. I've used stoves where I could keep the fire glowing through the night, and others that went out in just a few hours as the vents were too large.