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It's not a difficult task to replace an old toilet, as long as you can connect it to an existing branch of the soil pipe. You can cut your water usage significantly by fitting a dual flush toilet mechanism.

Step 1

Follow the manual's guidelines, assemble and insert the flush mechanism. Make sure you include the rubber sealing rings where necessary.

Step 2

Place the large rubber gasket into the flush ingang of the pan.

Step 3

Insert the  bolts through the holes in the cistern, using the rubber and large metal washers supplied.

Step 4

Lift the cistern into the pan so the connecting bolts fit through the holes. The threaded section of the flush mechanism should go through the rubber gasket on the flush entrance of the pan.

Step 5

Fit washers to the connecting bolts, and tighten the wing nuts. Make sure you fit these securely - but don't over-tighten them.

Step 6

check if there are no either pipes or cables below the fixing points. Put the toilet in place, and slide the pan outlet into the flexible connector that's attached to the soil pipe. Then drill some pilot holes into the floor at the fixing points. If it's a solid floor, you'll need to make the holes with a hammer-action drill and plug them.

Step 7

Push plastic protective inserts through the holes in the base of the pan, and insert the retaining screws through and into the floor. If the cistern has fixing holes in the back, attach it to the wall by drilling and plugging. Remember to add rubber washers before you tighten the nuts.

Step 8

Connect the supply pipe for the cold water feed, using a push-fit tap connector.

Step 9

Fit the hinge assembly to the seat, following the manufacturer's instructions.

Step 10

Connect the seat to the pan by securing through the holes at the back, using the screws supplied. Then adjust it to sit in the correct position.

In recent times, more and more home and property owners are starting to come to terms with the large returns and little investment in cavity wall insulation provides. For a relatively little amount you can achieve a lot, from an increase in your home’s energy efficiency and reduction in heating bills to a huge boost in your property’s resale value and lots more. This makes you wonder how an ordinary insulation can help you achieve so much, right? Well, you’re definitely not alone! Several other potential investors are also eager to know exactly how the cavity wall insulation works to deliver all these juicy benefits. In this post, we’re going to go provide you with a detailed insight on how cavity wall insulation works. Let’s take a look!

Typically, cavity wall insulation works as acting as a shield which prevents the escape of heat from your home. It features a reflective surface which serves as a barrier to reflect heat from one side of the panel, effectively minimizing the amount of heat conduction that escapes through. This protection of your home from heat penetration comes with a couple of benefits with the obvious one being an incredible thermal efficiency. An insulated home or property is able to maintain a much more balanced temperature throughout the year – staying a lot cooler during the summer months and retain the heat generated during the winter months. However, a less talked about benefit is the fact that when an insulation is done during the construction of a house, the whole development phase can be completed a lot quicker. This is mainly because insulation offers total protection against weather conditions which enables internal trades to continue without the need to wait for brickwork or cladding to be completed.

While some small plumbing jobs can be completed yourself, it’s recommended that you use a certified plumber for bigger jobs. Installing toilets or sinks, repairing leaks, and replacing pipes are all jobs that qualified plumbers will be able to undertake.

Sewer is simply a set of pipes or drains that’s usually underground and whose primary function is to remove waste water as well as other waste materials. Generally, there are three main types of modern sewer systems and they include sanitary sewers ( also commonly referred to as foul sewers), storm sewers or surface water sewers as well as combined sewers. Now let’s take a look at each of the sewer types!

• Sanitary sewers or foul sewers. These are the sewer systems that are mainly incorporated to transport waste water and other waste matter from both homes and businesses to waste water treatment plants. Normally, they include pipes, manholes as well as pumping stations. Their function is, however, not only to carry waste water to treatment plants, but also to maintain the water quality as this is essential for public health. Here, gravity is commonly used to remove the waste water. However, in low lying areas, pumps can be incorporated especially when the waste water needs to reach an area that’s at a higher elevation
• Storm sewers or surface water sewers. The primary function of this sewer system is to carry rain water as well as melting snow ( unlike sanitary sewers that are designed to carry waste water) from the roofs and roads and then direct it straight into the streams, rivers and also other water bodies. These sewer systems can get clogged with leaves, litter and other debris which can ultimately lead to flooding.
• Combined sewer. As the name suggests, these sewers are combined. This implies that the make use of a single pipe to carry both waste water and storm runoff water to wastewater treatment plants. These aren’t very common anymore as the sewer can overflow especially when there’s a lot of rain which makes the system incapable to handling both the waste water and surface water.

If you’re planning on adding a house extension to your property, you’d probably be worried about whether or not your proposed extension would require a planing permission. Well, it may be relieving to know that not every house extension project would require a formal consent, and in fact, several extensions are covered by the permitted development rights. Not only can this save you a considerable amount of time especially at the project’s planning phase, but it’ll also save you money on the application fee. In the UK, single storey extensions to the house’s rear can be 3 metres deep for both semi detached houses and terraces or 8 metres deep for detached homes.

So how do you know when you’d require a planning permission for your home extension? Well, if your extension plan fits these criteria explained below, then your project is most likely going to be allowable as a permitted development.

• Extensions, which includes previous additions, must not go beyond half of the original house’s total surrounding land area.

• The main elevation, or side elevation where it fronts the highway, must not be extended forward.

• For single storeys, the rear additions must not extend more than the original house’s rear by more than 3 metres in both semi attached homes and terraces (4 metres for detached houses).

• Extensions to the side must be a single storey with a height not exceeding 4 metres and not going beyond 50% of the original house’s width.

• Extensions hat within 2 metres of a boundary should have a eaves height not more than 3 metres.

• Multi storey addition must not extend beyond the original house’s rear wall by a maximum of 3 metres or 7 metres of the boundary opposite the rear wall.

• Permitted development rights do not apply in listed buildings or designated areas.

An asbestos survey is a property inspection to check for the presence of asbestos. A professional will go around your building and look at and take samples of any materials that they think may contain asbestos. These will then be tested to see if asbestos is present.

There are two types of asbestos survey, a Management Asbestos Survey and a Refurbishment and Demolition Asbestos Survey. A Management Asbestos Survey is mainly conducted to check if any materials containing asbestos pose a risk to inhabitants during everyday use of a building. A Refurbishment and Demolition Asbestos Survey is designed to check for any asbestos exposure risks before building work is started on a property.

Do you want your house to be built using brick? Or perhaps you just require the professional services of a bricklayer. Regardless of your bricklaying needs, the cost charged depends on each job as every job is unique. Bricklayers generally look at each task individually and charges based on the complexity of each. We’ve put together this guide to give you an idea of the costs charged by bricklayers. Let’s have a look!

Generally, bricklayers charge either based on a daily rate or a fixed price for a particular amount of bricks ( usually a thousand bricks or 10 - 12 metres square). On the average, an experienced bricklayer can charge within a range of £150 to £200 daily rate and if a labour is needed for the job, an additional £60 to £100 may be included to get the job completed in a quick and fast manner. If the quoting is done based on the number of bricks to be incorporated, then a thousand bricks will be quoted in between £350 to £450 which should be completed in a couple of days.

You should however take note that most times, the bricklayer’s cost will depend on the amount of work involved in the project. As a result, a more tedious and challenging project will most definitely cost more than a simpler one. Examples of some difficult projects that’s likely to cost more are hard to reach areas, difficult sites as well as second storeys which are considered to be more challenging than single storey buildings. What’s more? The complexity of the project is also a great cost factor. While some projects are basically direct and straightforward, others involve curves and more complex designs which will ultimately make the cost jump up.