Send in your questions to Steve. . .

Q I put toilets under the footpath of a Georgian building 19 years ago. I was very successful in damp proofing the area with a German product . . . HEIDI slurry . . . and a bonding agent which looked like milk. My problem is getting a person who does this. Have you heard of it and can you lead me in the right direction, which is hacking off wherever dampness occurs and applying the HEIDI three times?

Colm McGreal

A I have never heard of this product before. However, I looked on the internet and it is actually called Hey'di, manufactured by Tamms Industries. Check out www. tamms. com. Who undertook the work for you before? Is this another house in a different part of the country or did you use the product in another country? I would suggest that any competent builder would be able to organise this for you. As long as you follow the manufacturer's instructions then all should be well. In my opinion people do not follow the recommended applications or mix ratios on products and then they wonder why the product does not do the job it was intended to do. I once had to replace four shower doors in a brand new house. The reason? I found four unopened instruction books. Why not 'Post a Job' on my website www. tradesmenireland. com under the damp proo"ng section.

Q I have been living in a new house for almost a year. It is a storey and a half and is 54ft long and 29ft wide. I know now that concrete slabs should have been used for the upstairs but my husband thought that the house would be warmer using timber. There are 9in joists with 100ml insulation in between; 8 x 4 x 1in shuttering plywood sheets were used for the floor and good-quality underlay and carpet was laid on top. The problem is the floors are squeaky and uneven. Every step can be heard downstairs and there is poor sound insulation. Can you suggest any remedy? Would it help if the plywood sheets were lifted and a timber floor put down instead which I would still carpet?

Anne Concrete

A Slabs would have been a better sound insulator from room to room and could have been insulated for heat at the same time but what you decided to do cannot be said to be wrong. You have the correct size timber joists fitted; maybe you could have gone a bit further with the insulation in between the floor and ceiling but the shuttering ply is certainly a good thickness. Your floors are squeaking because the timbers may have not been sufficiently braced. Bracing is where you fit timbers in between the floor joists so each is attached to the next one, creating a more solid mass. Depending on the size of the room, it is generally recommended that the distance between the runs of bracing is 1350mm. The joists running parallel to a wall should also be attached to the wall by means of a packer (2" x 2" or similar. ) at approximately 6' centres. The joist ends that are built into the wall should be bedded all round solidly with cement. If these steps are taken your floor should be very rigid and will not move or squeak. It would not make any difference if you put floor boards down instead of ply, in fact the problem could well be much worse. I'm not sure what you mean by the floors being uneven as they should be fairly level. If they are not then you will have to apply packing pieces to the tops of the joists before refitting the ply. This is a very time-consuming job.

Q I wrote a while back about building a chimneybreast in my living room and installing an electric fire. You had said this would be a good idea but I never thought to ask do I need to build the chimney breast out of some fireproof material? Or make it fireproof? The fireplace is an electric hole-in-the-wall one with a fan heater type effect. It doesn't really give off much heat. I just want it as a focal point. I was hoping to build a chimney breast from wood, 160cm wide, insert the fireplace into it so the back is concealed in the breast and then skim the walls with plaster. Would this be okay? I didn't think fire safety would be an issue as everything is concealed and it's electric. Could you advise?

R Smyth, Dublin

A There are a couple of ways of approaching this job. 1) Build a fireplace out of concrete block and plaster the blocks, then paint the walls. 2) Build the fireplace out of bricks or stone. That will definitely provide the focal point that you were looking for. Why not add a couple of shelf inserts where you could position ornaments. Try to conceal all electrical wires. If you are looking for someone to undertake this work for you check out my website www. tradesmenireland. com for bricklayers or stonemasons in your area. You can also 'Post a Job' which will be sent to every one of them that is registered with us in your area. My preference would be for the brick or stone fireplace.

Before you engage a contractor, ask to see some previous work they have done and ask the customer if the tradesman carried out the work in an efficient manner.

WRITE TO US

If you have a building-/renovation-related query that you'd like Steve to help you with, email: doorstepdoctor@tribune. ie Steve Guerin is managing director of www. tradesmenireland. com, the one-stop website that will help you find a tradesman, a site for sale, a property to rent or buy and all the plant hire and machinery you need to complete your house build or renovation