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I have a large double garage of new build construction. The walls are a single brick thick with block pillars. I'd like to use part of the garage as a storage area for some of my junk from the house. However the junk in question is reasonably valuable being my model car collection. This could...

When my floor tiles were laid they were laid right up to the face of the door jam. If this is done then the door threshold bar sticks out from underneath the door. So I want to cut back the tiles in situ by a few mm so the threshold bar sits underneath the door (as it should) when the new...

I have a light switch, part of a 2-way circuit which operates back to front. So the light is on when it should be off and vice versa. The switch at the other end is okay. Both switches are the correct way up, ie the word top appears at the top. Is there anything I can do to fix this? I don't...

Is there a tool to strip the outer sheath off flex cable? With Cat5 cable you get a tool which you 'clamp' onto the cable and then twirl through 360 deg. It does a great job of removing the outer and leaving the inners untouched. I have simple strippers with an adjustable v-notch and...

I'm wondering why boilers are fitted with 3 terminals to directly wire the pump when an overrun facility is present. Why can't they just have a switched live terminal and the pump takes it's earth and neutral from the wiring centre? Thanks, Robert

I'm modifying the supply cabling in my central heating system ready for a new boiler to be fitted (not by me I hasten to add). The old cable is 3-core and earth for supply live/neutral/earth plus a switched live. The new boiler has a pump over-run facility which requires a 2nd switched live...

We have lightweight thermalite blocks faced with dot and dabbed plasterboard. I have to hang a boiler on there. I'm scared stiff the thing is going to come off the wall as the blocks are so fragile (made like that, they aren't damaged). What fixings do the pros use? I'm prepared to go to...

I have to hang kitchen cabinets and a boiler onto a wall of lightweight thermalite blocks faced with dot and dabbed plasterboard. Finding a suitable way of doing this seems like the search for the Holy Grail! The best methods I have heard of so far are: 1) cutting out a 2 in square of...

I've decided to get a Honeywell CM67 room thermostat to control the Central Heating. This will require leaving the central heating on constant at the timer, while of course I'd like to continue to control the hot water in a timed manner at the same timer. However my Switchmaster 400 timer...

We're just about to have a new boiler fitted. With the ceilings down for other work I have the opportunity to re-run cables and relocate the Central Heating/Hot Water timeswitch currently in the upstairs airing cupboard to downstairs (ie into a more convenient place), replacing it in the process...

Just wanted to thank everyone for their help over the last 2 months with advice for getting my kitchen re-wired. The re-wire is complete, the kitchen is fitted and I just have some tiling jobs etc to do. I can honestly say (touch wood) I believe I have done the job effectively and to regs and...

Have made a big mistake by using silk as a guide coat on my ceiling for a final coat of matt. Don't ask... I now understand that matt doesn't stick very well to silk. Crown hotline advised me to sand it down first. Apart from a being a pain in the b*m and hardly fool-proof if I miss a bit...

I'm having a very bad time using a pot of vinyl silk. I've just had all the walls skimmed. I'm quite certain the plaster was dry and it was sealed with PVA. In 5 or 6 places now the paint has blistered and once you start pulling it can be a very big patch. And what comes off isn't just the...

First of all thanks to all those of you who have answered my questions to date on the new circuit I have now installed for my kitchen sockets. It all seems to work and I understood what I was doing which is usually a good sign! I'm tackling the lights now. Is it permissible to run a lighting...

I managed to cause a neutral/earth short when the neutral cable touched the metal face-plate. The RCD tripped even though the circuit I was working on was switched off. Is this expected behaviour?

Does anyone know if there is a minimum or recommended length of cable to use when daisy-chaining modules in a grid switch? Eg 2" might work but 6" is recommended to avoid over-heating a short length etc? Thanks.

Is it sufficient to just turn off the master switch at the CU when adding a new circuit/MCB? I'm thinking it might accidentally get knocked back on. Thanks.

I have finally seen sense and realised I have a golden opportunity with the ceilings down to put in a seperate circuit for the kitchen sockets. With the kitchen off the downstairs ring, should I do some calculations and see if this can be downgraded to be protected by a 20 Amp breaker, it is...

I'd like to have 2 sockets (switched from a grid switch) vertically aligned with each other, maybe a couple of feet apart. Is it safe and within regs to run the cable of the upper one through the metal back box of the first? In one instance the first box reached would be the cooker plate with...

The plumber started to move the kitchen sink and associated plumbing today. He got half-way through and won't be coming back till later in the week. The new plumbing (minus sink) has no earth bonding yet. The old sink is fully disconnected from the plumbing but still earth-bonded. a) How...