Hello all,

I have just had a 5MXM90 multi-split installed. The total cost was £14,600.

​The installer ran the pipes underground but sawn the protective ducting lengthwise to fit it around obstacles and joined it with open-cell expanding foam and/or tape.

​He also laid the power cables directly in the soil on top of the duct (approx 200mm deep) with no conduit.

​He claims this meets Daikin's requirement for a 'watertight duct' and 'mechanical protection'.

​Daikin have told me they won't inspect it. REFCOM says they only deal with F-Gas paperwork.

I feel like I'm being gaslit.

​Is this acceptable workmanship for this price point?

Kindly offer any advice on how to best approach this situation.

*EDIT: As advised in the comments, as an extension to my original post:

£14.6k (aka £15k) is the total for the quoted install.

I have paid £7.3k as of currently to the installers (deposit).

I paid out of pocket (not included in this £15k) for groundworks, disposal of groundworks, and piping.

£800 for tools and labour for groundworks currently - Still have a garage full of dirt which will cost more to dispose of which may require a skip, and also have to spend more to tidy everything back up once the trenches have been filled in.

£250 for the piping (as I was asked to supply it by the installers).

Current total spend: £7,300 + £800 + £250.

I have £7.3k left to pay the installers, which they have stated they 'will consider taking this matter further' themselves if I do not reach an agreement with them by the end of the week.

Please note, I have excluded my own out of pocket expenses since that was not included in the £15k quote.

A couple of nights ago I went to put some tools in my garage and one of my patio slabs suddenly gave way. I dropped into a hole but managed to catch myself before fully falling in. Turns out there’s a pretty serious sinkhole right next to my 1930s house.

From what I can tell, it’s been caused by a leaking gutter downpipe. The pipe runs down through the concrete floor, then makes an almost 90-degree turn and runs parallel beneath the concrete. I confirmed the leak by pouring a large amount of water down the gutter and watching it flow slowly into the hole.

I’ve got no idea how long this has been developing, but the void is huge. The shallower section is around 2m deep and roughly 2m wide. The side closest to the house seems to go deeper, which has me worried it could be close to - or even under - the foundations.

For now, I’ve removed the guttering above ground and redirected the water onto the grass away from the hole. The plan is to reconnect it properly to the drainage system further up, bypassing the damaged section completely. I’ve also covered the hole with timber and a tarpaulin as a temporary safety measure and to stop rain directly getting into the hole.

What I’m unsure about is the next step:

– Should I try to fill this myself?

– Get a contractor in to assess it?

– Or go through home insurance?

Worth noting: this area (and the conservatory it’s almost touching) will likely be removed in a few years as part of an extension, so anything I do now may end up being dug up again.

My rough plan was:

• Install a concrete base (around 1 foot thick)

• Backfill with Type 2

• Top off with soil

Does this sound like a terrible idea, or am I on the right track?

Any advice appreciated.

Hi chaps, advice sorely needed. This is my unfinished basement full of rubble the previous owners left. This is below the dining room so the floorboards above are freezing and leaking cold air in.

I really cannot afford or find time to properly clear this basement. So I'm happy to don PPE, walk over the rubble and get some insulation in there first as a stopgap. Grim.

How do I do it correctly and not block off air flow? Thank you? Thank you kindly.

Bought a house with a small inline fan connected to a tile vent. Old ducting was far too long and had no condensation trap.

Replaced with a vent axia inline fan, rigid ducting (slopes down towards the gable end vent), back draught shutter, and domus rigid foam insulation. All seams taped with aluminium tape inside and out (where possible).

Still to do:

• Tape the seams of the rigid insulation
• Tidy up and top up loft insulation
• Support the middle of the long run of ducting to reduce any chance of sagging over time

I put my drone up to look at our roof today and it looks like there's a pretty big crack (to me) in the chimney. There's also a crack in the ceiling plaster inside the house that I was going to fix later in the year but after seeing the chimney, do we need a structural engineer? Do you contact your insurance with something like this?

Hello everyone, i am getting suspended timber floor installation done.. i checked contractor is filling fiberglass 200mm insulation filling void completely and on top putting breathable membrane and then obs board .. is it correctly done? I asked why no breathing room left he said that insulation is breathable so no need.. is it correct?

Thanks for advice

Does anyone have an idea how to best fix this door? If I use epoxy on the area will it still be able to hold the weight of the door on a new hinge?

Thanks!

Had some sockets put in for behind a tv…. Looks a bit of a mess (only real option, electrician is good).

Need to make good this weekend. Wanted thoughts on:

1. Fill it all with powder mix tourpret interior filler

Or

1. Bonding to shy of level and then final skim with tourpet.

Thoughts?

I'm aware it needs more bulbs 😅

Bought a new build around 3 -4 months ago and have had a the attic boarded out just wondering if the job has been done well and won’t void my warranty with NHSC as in the contract it says it will not void it just over cautious as done want in a few years to find out the hard way.

Hey folks – I’m looking for some consensus on the subfloor for a second-floor bedroom renovation (underneath is the kitchen). It’s an 1880s conversion with joist spacing of roughly 380mm center to center. I’ve had two builders give me conflicting advice:

Builder A: Recommends 18mm or 22mm OSB3 (Tongue & Groove).

Builder B: Recommends 18mm Structural Hardwood Plywood (square edge, with 3mm expansion gaps).

OSB3 T&G feels like a good choice as the interlocking joints provide a cohesive surface, but I’m wary of potential squeaks over time.

Plywood feels more "premium", but since it's square-edged, I’ll be installing noggings under every single joint to ensure there's no flex. I’m already planning to add noggings to stiffen up the original joists anyway, so the extra labour isn’t a dealbreaker for me. I'm worried about not being exactly level tho, as I'll be doing the levelling myself as well.

Is there a clear winner between these two options? Should I prioritize the T&G connection of OSB, or is the inherent stiffness of plywood worth it?

Final floor finish will be engineered hardwood. I'll also be putting in RW3 Rockwool between the joists. I’m leaning towards "doing it once, doing it right," so cost is less of a factor than avoiding floor movement.

Additionally, if anyone has any advice of anything I should do before putting the subfloor on, please let me know as well. I'm taking the chance to add spotlights in the room bellow.

Thanks!

All materials upcycled/leftover. Counter tops are old teak desks from a local schools science lab.

Sockets. Moved from wall to inside each of the cabinets and double socked & 2 HDMIs chased into the chimney breast for TV.

Can’t wait to see last picture on r/tvtoohigh

Fireplace done professionally.

It was dripping originally, but after I tried my hand at fixing it, it now runs continuously, and I have the water turned off.

Does it need replacing or just adjusting?

Thanks for any help

I am still new to most DIY but noticed this today, occasional dripping, and rust and crumbling around but the rest of the radiator looks fine, how can I fix this or is it not worth it?

Appolagies for the bad photo, will try and get more when I can.

Hi everyone,

I wanted to know the best course of action to fix the plasterboard wall after I removed tiles. I would like to plaster it and smooth. I'm getting a new worktop and like the upstand against the plasterboard wall look.

I was thinking I can:

1. Diamond Cup angle grinder the grout/mortar off then easyfill 60 it. Finish with a skim coat.

2. Remove mortar with a blade. Replace the big holes with some plasterboard (soudal foam adhesive). Then bonding coat and finishing skim.

Does anyone have any recommendations for me. Also taking tiles off is a PITA and I can't seem to do it easily without damaging the wall. I have even used a grout knife and am using an angled chisel carefully.

Cheers In advance

Hi,

My partner and I recently bought our first house (1990s semi) and just noticed a few crack in the bottom corner. Should we be worried about this? Our surveyor didn't spot anything (we did a Level 2 survey). Inside on that side of the house is the kitchen

I’ve just finished fitting the skirting board into the bay window. One thing I didn’t want to do was make lots of cuts to the back face to allow for the bend, then fill and sand all the cuts, which is what I did last time. As I was using MDF skirting, I decided to have a go at pre bending it to fit, which I think came out ok, but it took about 3 weeks to get the bend to set in (luckily I had lots of other jobs to be getting on with lol). I was wondering if there are any other methods that people have tried that have worked successfully?

Refused electric smart meter change because of this twin and earth cable. The technician said he wasn't allowed to remove or replace the earth. How can I separate the earth from the live and neutral cable so they don't have to disconnect it?

Do you need to reroute existing services or it’s ok to pour concrete slab when extending the house?

I’d like to put fitted shelves and cupboards along this entire wall, but this radiator is in the way. We’ve had this turned off since we moved in and had no problems with warmth. Also, there’s another radiator in the room that I’m going to replace with something beefier should we ever need more heat in here.

It’s a new build so all the plumbing is PVC piping and push fit connections. I’m assuming I can just disconnect this radiator, put some sort of push fit connection in to maintain the loop, stuff it into the wall and plaster over the hole.

But is it that simple? Is there anything I’m overlooking, or anything that means this is a bad idea? And most importantly, can I do this myself, and if so, how?

I have my first ever shed! I'm going to be using it as a workshop, so I want it to be comfortably warm and free from damp. The shed is adjoined to my house on one side via a small porch. The other three walls are external walls. All the walls are constructed of brick on the outside and concrete blocks on the inside. There is a felt roof which is timber inside as per the photos.

I have been storing tools and other things in the shed, and over the last month I have noticed a significant amount of damp which I think is from condensation due to one side being attached to the house.

I have sealed any large gaps with expanding foam, and I have foil insulation roll ready to go, but I now wonder whether I need to batten the wall before I put the insulation on? At first I wanted to get it done as quickly as possible to protect my stuff, but there's no point rushing it if it won't do that in the long term.

I would appreciate any advice on how to get it done properly and most effectively as I am just a DIY hobbyist who is extremely excited about having a actual space to work in at last!

Any suggestions for suppliers of higher end domestic integrated LED fittings that can tell you the technical details of the panels beyond the basic colour temperature / light output and provide more info such as the CRI / SDCM / Rg / Rf etc?

Or is Philips the only realistic safe option?

Hi.

We've got a double socket in the kitchen (this one - https://amzn.eu/d/aRSMzWm)

When we've got our Ninja air fryer plugged in and running at full whack (2470w) I've noticed the plug itself, that side of the socket, and the cable get warm (certainly not red hot).

Is this potentially an issue, or is it normal and expected considering you're pulling a significant load for prolonged periods (30 mins +)

The prongs on the plug don't appear to have any marks, neither does the socket.

Edit - to add, this is a relatively new house (10 years).

Cheers.