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Looking for someone to do the yearly service on an Ideal logic+ 30kw combi boiler. It was installed in 2014 so still has 5 years on the warranty. Can't seem to get in touch with Corgigasman, who did a great job of installing it.

Without wanting to be harsh - your neighbour is taking advantage of you because you are letting him. Give him two weeks to shift it or you'll report it as abandoned & remove it yourself. Or get someone to tow it away when he's out & claim ignorance...

I'm thinking of doing this - a few of my friends do it & it seems like a good idea. The rents on spareroom.co.uk are actually higher than I anticipated so a single room in a well kept house could rent for £300 a month. Making a very generous assumption that £100 a month is consumed in extra costs (bills/no single person discount on council tax etc) then that is still £200 a month up. Obviously, the risks need to be thought about. And whether I could cope with having a flatmate after years of living alone. But I'm thinking the company would be nice & as I'm away a lot, someone to look after the house for me.

Had two big air bricks put in when the flooring was replaced, but little wind outside there's not much air movement. I've been down there this morning mopping it & checking. The condensation is only on the (very cold) gas pipes & on the foil side of the insulation board, and some wooden batons nearest the gas pipes. It is most noticable nearest the blocked coal chute, so I'll get that sorted. Any recommendations for someone to do the work welcome! On my day off I'll put a fan in there & leave the hatch open to try & get some air blowing through.

Looking for a tradesman to open up a cellar coal chute, to increase ventilation. Any recommendations?

I'll put a job advert on SF to get that done asap, hopefully it'll sort the problem.

I thought about a dehumidifier. I once put 6 of those crystal moisture traps in there. They made no difference due to the air bricks just drawing in more humid air! So surely a dehumidifier would just go the same way? I'm gonna go & mop it all up in the morning & see how much water returns by night time. Aside from putting a heater down there to raise the temp I don't really know what to do!

With the recent high humidity I have found that my cellar ceiling is dripping with water. The cellar is noticably cooler than the house, & there is quite thick insulation board fixed to the underside of the suspended wooden floor of the room above c The whole of the wooden floor was replaced 3 years ago due to rot caused by poor ventilation. Also a visqueen membrane & concrete floor in the cellar was installed to reduce moisture along with two additional air bricks. These normally keep the cellar dry, other than when we get weather like we are getting now. Basically, the cellar is cold & the water vapour in the air is condensing on the ceiling/insulation/gas & water pipes. Aside from going down there to mop it up everyday - how can I sort it out?? Can I insulate the gas pipe, for instance? & will opening up the coal chute make a difference?

£120,000 - in London, that is very, very cheap. Probably at a huge discount to cover the cost of obtaining the freehold. Also, sold at auction - probably to cash buyers only as it was practically unsellable to anyone else.

Simple - don't buy a house with a short lease! Or if you already own one get it extended or bought long before it hits the 80 year mark. My house is leasehold -850 years on it. I wouldn't consider a house with less than 80 years unless it was significantly reduced in price - enough to cover the cost of purchasing the freehold.

Pretty much, yes! That is why extension of the lease or purchase of the freehold gets very expensive once the lease length drops below 80 years. Google "marriage value" for more info. I viewed a house that only had 88 years left on the lease. Wouldn't touch it with a barge pole! And neither were any other buyers, according to the EA. at around 60-65 years it also becomes practically unmortgagable too.

Dykes Hall tesco has never been a metro. It's been an express store since the day it opened - i know the manager who opened the store! The expresses are more expensive than the larger stores, though.

You can easily try to buy a ticket on the next available flight back out, but just be aware that it may cost you a lot of money. There is no such thing as cheap last minute flights anymore. An example is a Ryanair flight I booked from BCN to MAN two months in advance -£28. The exact same flight a day in advance - £260.

I'm a single person, two bed terrace, well insulated. Been paying £40 a month over the winter. It'll drop significantly over the summer. Most of that £40 was on heating (both gas & electric, I like the house to be warm). Everytime I provide meter readings my credit balance is adjusted & my direct debit is too, if I'm using less/more. If you want accurate charges, give regular readings. I'm actually going to do the opposite this summer - not give readings, keep paying £40 a month then when winter comes I'm well in front with my payments without worrying about putting the heating on. During the summer, the standing charges usually cost more than my actual usage, so I can only guess that it's heating that is using up all that money. My yearly spend projection is £480.

Seconded! I took my 2008 Dell machine to Gosh (Mozalan) this week, just got it back & it's like using a brand new machine. Great service & a very nice bloke. Highly recommended!

Corgigasman (Steve), from the forum did my new boiler and did a great job. Very honest tradesman & I would highly recommend him.

Can anyone recommend a builder or gardener who can repair or rebuild a retaining garden brick wall? The wall is approx 4 foot high, boundary wall with next door & only holds back the higher bit of garden for about 4 metres. The wall is bulging where the earth is behind it & needs repair along the rest of it's length.

I've been getting them every week since I bought my house 3 years ago! Houses often come up for sale on my street, which is probably previous FTB's wanting to move up the ladder & the houses sell pretty quickly. Maybe the leaflets do prompt people into actually selling rather than just thinking about it? My mortgage company also told me that my house has risen in value by £10,000 since I bought it so others must be similar. Maybe people are tempted to cash in.

I'm in my early 30's & I now do an entry level job, earning about £1100 a month take home. I used to have a job earning twice that but I gave it up to travel as all I ever did was work & be stressed. I'm happier earning less but spending it more wisely! & more importantly, my time is now my own rather than chained to a desk for 70 hours a week & suffering fatigue. My living costs are low so I'm able to have enough money spare at the end of the month to put away for holidays. It's an enjoyable way to live!

Mostly alone, sometimes with friends. I enjoy "backpacker" style travel. Hand luggage only, staying in hostels or Airb&b's. I've met some incredible people on my travels so far & i've seen my confidence in myself grow massively. It's incredibly rewarding & so easy to do cheaply. I have one expensive, long haul trip a year in the summer to somewhere sunny & then other cheap week-long trips out of season around Europe. I've been doing it for a couple of years now, & it's so worth the money I do spend on it! My cheap trips usually cost about £300 for the whole trip (including spending money) but that depends on the exchange rate to Euro's.

Ryanair. Seriously! I can afford to go on holiday 5 times a year. In fact, most times the train to the airport costs more than the flights to Europe. My happiness, quality of life & feeling of contentedness has improved enormously since I started hopping round the world every couple of months.

https://legacy.ryanair.com Try that version of the website.

Or just download the app to a smartphone & use the electronic boarding passes?

If you're looking at any terraced house with on street parking, then make sure you have a drive up after 7/8pm on a few different nights & check how full the roads are & that there is space available to park. Streets look empty during the day but rammed at night. This was a deciding factor in the house I bought, & the furthest I park now is round the corner if I get home after 9pm. I've lived in rented houses where if I got home too late I'd be parking 5 or 6 streets away, it really grinds you down after a while! & I ended up not driving in case I couldn't park up again.

I rented a 1 bed flat for 4 years before I bought a little 2 bed terrace. The flat had it's advantages - always warm, very secure, off road parking etc. But I eventually got cabin fever, craved a garden rather than a balcony & was always at the mercy of noisy neighbours maybe moving in next door/up/down. I much prefer the house. It's bigger, has street parking & no tenants next door changing every 6 months. Think carefully about of you were eventually selling the property on as well. Apartments can be harder to sell. Also there's no management fees with a house, but you pay to maintain it all.