OHW

Schag wrote:

If the leak was on the utility side of the meter, how could the meter have registered the extra flow?!?

It was on the pigtail pipe just past the meter that connects to my line.

Ah, that makes a lot of sense!

I guess i should have come back to this and told about the solution. I found a wet spot by the water meter and dug some. Turns out that the water was flowing down and under the street keeping me from noticing it in the first place. I found a small hole in the pipe and called the water company. They...

I'd definitely recommend a flat finish and advie against oil, acrylic or latex paint on plaster! Period appropriate paints are milk paint, distemper (also known by the brand name Kalsomine, sometimes spelled calcimine) which is basically cellulose glue with powdered chalk, mineral paint (rarely used...

Right now the dehumidifiers don't seem to catch any more water, but as of this week, they installed a cavity dryer, which blows hot air into the joist bays (through holes drilled into the plaster & lath). Unfortunately the dryer connected is so bodged we had to shut everything down - the main hose h...

1) In terms of finish quality I don't think there will be much of a difference. However, joint compound contains a whole bunch of additives that some people consider harmful for old walls. I have to admit I use it, at least in dry locations. 2) You don't need the PVA anyway. Just moisten the old pla...

You need to downsize the pictures on your computer before you post them. Get a free image editing software such as ACDSee (if you use Windows) and scale the pictures to 800x600 pixels.

I guess we can't really give any advice over the internet. Have you had a structural engineer look at the house? That would be the best thing to do in this situation I guess.

Without looking at it, I would guess that this is a pretty good place to start http://www.nachi.org/collar-rafter-ties.htm Can you elaborate? Do you think the problem may be coming from above and not below? Could be, but I'd expect the walls to spread at the top in that case, and both the rear and ...

Well, with decent insulation the boilers I mentioned can probably heat up to about 4000 sq. feet on several floors. The smallest size combi boilers put out around 60k BTU/hr, going up to 90k. Above that you get to freestanding boilers that look more like US models (had to look up the conversion on t...

Well, as I said, probably economics of scale. Here you can get a boiler complete with all accessories (expansion tank,...) and even an indirect hot water tank for €3500, which is roughly $4.5k, and that's including installation. Pressed steel rads start at €29.99 for the smallest ones, for €100-200 ...