Roger Bisby has a go at laying some Karndean flooring under the watchful eye of Karndean laying master Richard Daniels. It seems to me that once you have seen Karndean flooring and recognised its unique look, you just never stop seeing it. For those that don’t know Karndean is a vinyl flooring product made primarily from calcium carbonate (limestone), polyvinyl …

High performance, made-to-order wooden windows and doors have been specified by a leading London-based property developer who has  chosen Lomax + Wood for their most recent project in Wimbledon, South West London. The four-storey, period style private residence, which includes a converted basement and contemporary light wells, is built of brick with lavish use of stone to back and front …

Roger Bisby takes delivery of two Swiss made heavy wrecking bars and goes in search of jobs that need this kind of leverage. The Swiss made Murxi bar sounds like something you might want to eat but you would do serious damage to your teeth if you took a bite out of this drop forged wrecking bar from the Swiss …

Everyone in the building industry knows that fixing things to plasterboard can be a bit hit and miss. If the plasterboard is on a stud wall you might strike lucky. Or you may not. Sometimes you may be able to position the item, i.e. kitchen wall cupboard to fix across two studs but nothing is guaranteed. There is of course …

Shortlisted for the British Safety Industry Federation (BSIF) Awards 2016, The Harley Scientific Fibrecheck 6 (HS-FC6) from SMH Products provides a real-time warning for tradespeople and others at risk of inadvertent exposure to airborne particulate. Fibrous particles, such as asbestos, produce distinctive scatter patterns when they break a beam of light. The HS-FC6 works by drawing a constant air sample …

Roger Bisby lays some Knauf Brio dry screed flooring. Although it is perfectly possible to use warm water underfloor heating with timber and floating floors it is generally acknowledged that there is a loss of  thermal transmission compared to  pipe buried in sand and cement screeds. Knauf Brio dry screed board bring thermal transmission comparable with wet screed system in …

Isuzu has bolstered the D-Max line-up with the launch of an extreme version. The new Isuzu D-Max Arctic Trucks AT35 is engineered to take on the most arduous terrain, according to the manufacturer. Available in either double-cab or extended-cab configurations, Isuzu says the AT35 is the most capable pick-up it has ever put on sale. It is priced from £30,995. …

UKATA explains the importance of following HSG247 guidance – particularly concerning respirators The UK Asbestos Training Association (UKATA) has highlighted the importance of government guidelines surrounding Asbestos: The licensed contractors’ guide (HSG247) to ensure proper removal of asbestos. One area of particular concern is people often not being aware of rules on wearing respirators, and thus significantly increasing the risks …

This month sees the launch of two new site fire alarms from Bull Products, the specialists in safety and security for construction sites. The Bull Site Siren systems are designed as stand-alone temporary fire alarms on construction sites.  These affordable alarms are fully self-contained and can be used separately as a stand-alone device, linked by cable or linked with a …

Snickers promises a hard wearing garment that’s easy on the pocket with the new Snickers Core Range but does it live up to its billing? Skill Builder takes a closer look. If you are someone who has looked at Snickers trousers and decided that they are a bit beyond your budget you might just be stopped in your tracks by …

Roger Bisby takes a walk across some Isosonic Dekfloor 30 from Thermal Economics as it is being installed in a refurbishment project. Sound insulation can be a tricky business, things that work well in the laboratory may fair less well on site. There are so many things that can undo all that design work, a nail, a screw or a …

I have just returned from a one week holiday in Cyprus. It was a cheap break and we weren’t expecting fantastic weather at that time of year but we stayed in a 5-star hotel with plenty of facilities and a good sea view. We would both have been quite happy to sit and read a few books but as it …

I have always been a sucker for a challenge. If someone tells me that they have a problem that nobody has been able to fix, I am there. Rising damp is not usually baffling but rising damp in a third floor flat is. Yes I do mean rising damp and not penetrating damp, the proof being that some of it …

I had a call-back on a job today. The kitchen unit doors were knocking together. I assumed it would just be a simple matter of adjusting the self-closing Blum hinges and I would be on my way. It turned out that the hinges causing the problem were not Blums but the hinges attached to the washing machine. For those of …

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 …