Skill Builder Guides & reviews for building and construction

Condensing boilers have undoubtedly become more reliable over the last few years, but the last couple of winters saw thousands of householders caught out by frozen condensate. Manufacturers offer clear guidelines for avoiding freezing, but not every job offers the opportunity to do things by the book and terminate the condensation inside the building. If the pipe runs to an outside drain, then there is always a chance that it will freeze. In response to this, we now have a number of products on offer which will stop condensate pipes from freezing.

I am currently working on the building site from hell. It was a job I took on against my better judgment. When I was pricing it, alarm bells were ringing in my head because there was a new spec and drawing almost every day. The job itself isn't actually that bad; it's a complete re-plumb on a large central London house with an ensuite on every bedroom, and underfloor heating throughout. The money is good, but what makes it so difficult is the bloke running it. He calls himself a builder, but he has no idea...

The golden rule that I have followed through years of fault finding is ‘never assume and never jump to conclusions’. OK that is two fault finding golden rules, but the basic message is never say you know something until you prove it. This has stood me in good stead, where other tradesmen have come and gone from a job missing …

The number of carbon monoxide poisoning incidents has increased over last year. The reason isn't entirely clear, however Nearly all carbon monoxide poisoning results from open-flued appliances, such as gas fires.

Have you noticed any increase in the number of scrap metal men doing the rounds? I certainly have, not least because the scrap metal I had set aside recently on one of my jobs walked off after just ten minutes. Two hours later I had another visit from someone who was similarly interested, but this time he didn’t particularly care …

Have you heard about the huge increase in the cost of raw materials for the building industry? The price of Bricks and concrete have reportedly soared by a potent 20%! Tax laws are an important factor fuelling inequality within this market. While average inflation, according to the retail price index, shows a 2 or 3% rise, the cost of 'trade' inflation could be much higher..