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Hi, I have am having a loft conversion done and one of the builders accidently caused a mini flood back in Oct 2016. Basically the cold water tank had been relocated to the scaffold temporarily and some pipe was inadvertently directed in to the loft when roofers were working. The water came through directly below in to the rear bedroom, front bedroom and bathroom of first floor and then in turn in to living room! In addition to structural damage the double bed in rear bedroom and sofa in living room got wet. We also have good quality laminate flooring installed in living room and bedrooms. My builder admitted liability and says he will sort out the damage. It is now Jan 2017 loft conversion is nearing completion albeit slowly. I assume this is covered by his liability insurance? My dad didn't report this to his insurance company as he didn't think they would pay out...did he do the right thing? As it was builders fault I assume he can claim damages from his insurance company and so he won't be out of pocket in putting right the damage? So clearly redecoration is required. The bedrooms had ceiling paper which has been painted and the walls painted lining paper as well as laminate flooring. So builder will have to put right. Wrt to laminate flooring, it looks okay apart from slight curling along length of boards. Would boards need to come off to check if underlying subfloor of timber floorboards was okay? Would this need to be done in living room too? Some advice would be most appreciated. Many thanks.

I have a 3 x 6.75m area to the left side of my property in Sittingbourne, Kent that I wish to get a brick (or similar) built outbuilding, with a flat roof, to act as large shed/garage (without the garage door) built. It needs power and light and double opening doors either end. I can see it falls within permitted development (on the planning portal website) but wanted to know where to start, who to contact first and what the my budget may need to be? Thanks

We have a ground floor victorian terrace flat. We want to make our corridor, tiny kitchen and tiny dining room at the end of our flat into one room. That means knocking down two supporting walls, one of which includes a massive chimmney (around 1m wide by 50cm deep) and is around 3m long and the other is about 2m long. It would definitely need two steels which would form a T shape. Any idea how much this would roughly cost? We'd need a door put in, new floors and new kitchen (we are thinking ikea). Only looking for rough cost!!?? The other option is the same as above but with a 5ft side return extension (around 5.5m long) with glass in the roof and double patio doors at both ends (one to garden, one to courtyard as the side return can't go too far back or it will block off bedroom and bathroom windows). Ideally this would be all part of the same room above, or a separate narrow conservatory. Again, any rough idea of costs?? Desperate to know; thanks!!

Hi there, I am buying a mid terrace Victorian house and it has pebbledash on the front and the rear of the house which has been painted yellow. How much would it cost to remove and repoint the bricks? A rough estimate? The houses next door are normal brickwork. Thank you Lottie

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My chimney is slightly off centre so was looking at moving it approx 500-750mm to the right to centre my room up and install a log burner

I have recently been informed that there are jobs for bricklayers. I am a apprentice and looking for a new company due to workload

Had two tradesmen from checkatrade, built a new porch for us, they said roof was solid and secure. They also stated the roof didn't need replacing. When they first came to do the job, they put the steel posts up to hold the roof in place. When putting the steel posts up, one of the posts went right through the roof but apparently didn't break the felt. After this they put up a false ceiling in the porch to cover the damage. When we asked afterwards what the dip was in the roof the said we missed the joist with the steel rod, but did confirm they would put a false ceiling in to cover it and the felt had been not broken. They put up the false roof and it was ok for approx 2 weeks until it rained heavily. When it rained heavy the roof was leaking really bad. We rang them just before Christmas to complain and they never came back and we never heard from them. After Christmas, I rang again and they said they would come in the next couple of days, they did with another guy who I had not seen before, he said your roof is old and rotted tried to say it was our fault. It had never leaked before the work was done, and the workmen at the time said it was a solid roof and did-not need replacing. I will not be letting this drop and would like your professional opinion on this matter. Many thanks

Had two tradesmen from checkatrade, built a new porch for us, they said roof was solid and secure. They also stated the roof didn't need replacing. When they first came to do the job, they put the steel posts up to hold the roof in place. When putting the steel posts up, one of the posts went right through the roof but apparently didn't break the felt. After this they put up a false ceiling in the porch to cover the damage. When we asked afterwards what the dip was in the roof the said we missed the joist with the steel rod, but did confirm they would put a false ceiling in to cover it and the felt had been not broken. They put up the false roof and it was ok for approx 2 weeks until it rained heavily. When it rained heavy the roof was leaking really bad. We rang them just before Christmas to complain and they never came back and we never heard from them. After Christmas, I rang again and they said they would come in the next couple of days, they did with another guy who I had not seen before, he said your roof is old and rotted tried to say it was our fault. It had never leaked before the work was done, and the workmen at the time said it was a solid roof and did-not need replacing. I will not be letting this drop and would like your professional opinion on this matter. Many thanks

Need a specialist trades men to. Install. A extractor fan. In a first floor bedroom

To fit. A extractor fan in. A first floor. Bedroom to remove. Condensation

Just moved into a converted property, and there is a leak between the extension join and original building, on the outside of the building, running along the join is a waste pipe from the bathroom, so the leak could either be from the join or this pipe where it connects to the roof along the extension outer or a leak in the roof itself. the leak has appeared in the kitchen on the original side of the building, do I need a builder and plumber to come and look at it? how do I establish where the leak is coming from?

Who would be best to ask about damp patches on internal walls of ground floor flat and water marks on walls