Recent content by Ivor Windybottom

You do know this is a DIY forum? The clue's in the title. Smash it out, prepare then get concrete delivered. You'll pay less than £1000, depending on the depth. If you prefer to sit in your armchair then obviously you'll pay lots more.

It definitely works, the question is how long for - especially if you drive a car over or store anything heavy on top of it. I have a stock room full of literally tons of stuff, all on a floating chipboard floor that's held up only by Celotex. I expected it to have sunk, but I don't think it's...

I got most of a concrete mixer truck pumped by a separate pump truck up a long drive for £1300. Don't know where you got £4000 from. If it has moved then it will probably carry on moving. Then cracking. Either accept it as-is or redo it properly, any middle option is probably a waste of time...

They have at least one big fan here, personally I don't like the concept. You're putting all the weight into a few small spots, so making movement more likely. Usually foundations spread the load over a larger area. Either accept it as-is or rebuild properly. Re-use the shed, just unbuild...

Actually if you are doing just the front then it probably isn't a big deal. Slabs on edge butted up to it would work well. Just ensure they're not higher than the concrete so you're not trapping rainwater that would end up under the doors.

I too have done retaining borders with ex-council slabs. They look great, especially if they're well worn so the pebbles are exposed.

The problem is that there's loose infill under it that's held back by the wood. As soon as you remove the wood it will fall out, and the concrete will be in the way of stuffing it full once you've built a wall in front of it. So you could weaken it by replacing it with something stronger. The...

It looks like it's built on top of topsoil, so probably isn't going to last long whatever you do with the edges. It would be worth having a dig alongside it to see exactly what it consists of. I'd either leave as-is and hope for the best, or take the shed down and make a new base from scratch...

Check beyond the gully, a bust pipe near the house will make great use of the house as a soakaway. I'd suggest your neighbour had the right idea - concrete, as it's pretty shallow so it won't cost a huge amount. You'll end up with a much better insulated floor so will have lower heating bills...

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It's a symptom of another problem. There's definitely an issue there - either a water leak or the driveway isn't sloping away so is funnelling water into the wall. Have a look after it's rained heavily or just wet it with the hose to see what happens. And/or check with a spirit level. What's...

Washing up liquid will release the seal but will also damage it. Use silicone grease or pipe lubricant. Wiggle it around slightly while rotating, it should come free. You will need to take care that you don't pull out the section of pipe that it's connected to somewhere deeper underground -...

It's very likely that the only difference between them is that one was on top of the stack in a timber yard so has faded from sunlight and rain, the rest haven't... yet. Just doing nothing is probably by far the best option. The rest will go the same way if you give them chance, they just...

To me it just looks like the layer of "fat" has been lost from when it was skimmed, i.e. a few mm deep. In which case it's nothing to worry about. You'd need to show us a closer photo to see what it looks like. If that surface where it's blown is an intact, reasonably flat surface then you...

Bear in mind that if you demand a discount, however justified you think it is, the seller is perfectly entitled to tell you to clear off, leaving you with a load of fees and no house. What really matters is whether it's typical condition for its age/period (it probably is), whether it's good...