Recent content by Bornloser

Thanks for these suggestions. I couldn't find an answer anywhere to the question of whether you can have a 90 degree junction of chases - so discounted that. It did seem from bits of regs I found online that I could have chased diagonally if I used metal conduit (but I still didn't want to...

Thanks for tips. The power lead for the cooker hood exits inside the chimney. To follow your suggestion I'd have to make an exit hole in the side of the chimney and, as the chimney is fairly narrow compared to the width of the hood below it, I'd need at least a foot and a half of cable draped...

Hi I am installing a cooker hood with chimney above a gas cooker. The cooker hood/chimney is a 'stand alone' unit (there are no wall units on this wall). I have a double socket on the ring main 10cms to the left of the cooker, above the worktop. (Is that permissable? The cooker was...

Hi I'm refitting my kitchen. I intend to use the existing sockets with new fronts. Now that I have ripped the old kitchen out I have discovered that a large portion of the existing wiring is a surface mounted extension to the ring main from a socket. (Basically the previous sparkie had...

Hi guys I have a leak from where the boss is solvent welded to the soil pipe. To be certain of curing it I would like to rip the old boss off including grinding off the old solvent welded collar. And then reassemble with new fittings. Can anyone identify the boss fitting? (If its any...

My Wickes flat pack kitchen wall units are suspended from 'suspension' plates which must be fixed to the wall. No guidance or parts provided by Wickes. A rival manufacturer's web site insists that 75mm screw be used for this job. Seems fair enough. So my question: how do you plug a wall...

Hi My house was built in the sixties or seventies. I have been installing seven 35watt downlighters in my kitchen ceiling. The old light (three 60 watt spots on a track) ran off a junction box which had four cables into it. I assumed that these were: switch, lamp holder, supply in...

Hi Garykim You seem to know your Hotpoints! I didn't find any rubbish in the sump pipe - but did find that the pipe was kinked (not shut but definitely a restriction) where it comes out of the bottom of the water filling bits down from the float/microswitch area and bends around the...

Hi My Hotpoint Aquarius leaks a cup of water every time it fills. With the side off I can see that it fills in three cycles, and on the third cycle the water comes out of what seems to be an escape hole. The microswitch that looks to be worked from a float has a ten/twenty degree bend in the...

I am re-installing a hearth, ready for a coal effect gas fire to be professionally fitted. The vertical hearth stone is thinner than the depth of the rebate in the wooden fire surround. This vertical hearth stone was previously packed out behind with offcuts of foam pipe insulation - and...

Hi Chris Thanks for tips. Are 'cable slings' some proprietary item? Or am I guessing right that you mean the cheap and cheerful, loop back through themselves, locking ties for bundling cables together? I can see how these would go around the pipe and insulation - and I could nail /...

Hi I'm moving a radiator across a downstairs room. The floor is wood boards on wooden joists with large air gap underneath. The pipes to the rad are presently resting on old bits of brick - which doesn't seem right. I need to run about 3m of pipe to each end. How should these be...