What are the benefits and disadvantages of project managing a house extension? How can I tell whether I should do this or leave it to a professional? Does it depend on the type of extension that’s planned?

I am renovating a small 2 bed terrace house. There are numerous repairs required. These include roof and chimney repairs (stripping slates adding weather barrier and refitting), ground floor repair / renovation and damp tanking (floor joists rotted at front wall), kitchen door move (to existing window) / wall alteration (RSJ) and new fit units, bathroom new fit, new windows / doors (6 windows, front and rear door, 1 small velux), possible rewiring, yard wall demolition and rebuild, free standing garage demolition and removal. I am currently looking for quotes for works required. How much generally should I expect to pay? High and low estimate?? Cheers

We would like to brick up our kitchen doorway and replace (and enlarge) a window opening, fitting small bi-folding doors (around 70'inch opening) on the same wall. Any ideas how much this might cost (minus the glazing)? Thanks.

How can I tell if a wall is load bearing? I know that seeing 'if it sounds hollow' isn't necessarily enough!

Could you please advise me as to what product could be used to bung up the hole/s, in the cement, under the fascia, of my roof? Which would set hard, and be rat-proof. Rats have climbed up the drain pipe, to crawl into the hole, and entered the roof space. I need to deal with the problem quickly. Would I need scaffolding, as opposed to a ladder? It is in an awkward place. I have posted a job, but no one has got back to me, so I am considering doing it myself. Is there any kind of guard, that could be put around the drainpipe? To stop the rat/s from climbing up it.

How can you prepare the ground before having a carport fitted? If I do it myself will it mean less of a charge if hiring a contractor to install the actual carport? Or does it depend? What do you think should be the case usually? Thanks.

How long does concrete floor screed take to fully dry? Can I speed the process up at all?

I am having an internal wall taken down and RSJ put in but i would like the RSJ to be flush to the ceiling. The builder has said he needs to cut the joist back and then will re-join with 300mm joist screwed to the orgional ones and then hand these on the RSJ, is this strong enough ? or should bolts and longer pieces of timber used.. if bolts how many per joist should be used.

Hi. We recently had insulation done in a small extension that has a small apex roof. The man doing all the work for us, advised us that we could heighten our internal ceiling by removing the ceiling joists before putting the insulation in. We had a back and forth about safety and he said cause it’s a small roof, there wouldn’t be too much weight on it. It’s about twenty five square metres of a space. He said that he could cut out blocks of wood and screw them in between each rafter so that each rafter was connected to another one with a small block of wood between them, but no collars or joists. Insulation went in, plastering completed and now about 4 months later, large hairline cracks are appearing in various spots on the roof, one side to the other. Got worse after a storm. Were we played for fools by listening to him? And will it eventually collapse or spread so much that it cracks much worse?

Need a gatepost replaced. Blown over in a storm. Size needed 8" square 53" high above ground (+ whatever needs to go underground) To support the smaller of the two part farmgate. How much would it cost?