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We have dark grey concrete coping stones on a low garden wall, didn't realise when we got them that touching them would leave you with black hands are that it would get on your clothes. We are looking for something to seal them with to stop that as well as help protect them from weathering so...

Hi not sure if this is the best forum for this question. We had damp on a wall which has now been identified as being caused by rising damp. A chemical DPC has been injected and we need to use an antisulphate on the wall to neutralise the salt before it's re-plastered using sovereign renderlite...

Our garden slopes towards the house and water runoff pools in a space between a patio and low wall. The soil is very heavy clay and I want to dig it out and put in a soak away. How close to the patio and wall foundations can I dig without compromising the structure of both. The area I'm...

Hi We've finally got round to installing LED plinth lights in our kitchen, the electrician had wired it all up bar needing to do the final connection in the light switches, leaving us to install the LED strips. There are two areas of the kitchen that he wired up and one section works the other...

Hi Brought a 10W LED outdoor flood light to replace a broken halogen one, the current cable is looking a bit ropey and a small part of the cable will now be open to the elements as the light fits off a bracket where the current one fits direct on the wall and goes straight into the garage so...

Hi we have a 1950s house and have found damp in the dining room on the internal wall shared with our neighbours. The wall was covered up to about 2 foot with a foil backed wallpaper and then papered over the top. The chimney has been blocked up at some point and there haven't been any vents put...

We are having a patio laid which has a path coming off to the right next to the house, the garden is a bit higher than the patio and has a brick wall around it. The wall for the path fits in 900mm of slabs plus mortar so no cutting was required but the patio was started at the back working...

We've got two bulk bags of hardcore for a patio but unlike the other bags we've had these have no larger stones in at all and are just basically sand and really small gravel. Is that normal and would it be ok to go under a patio? Thanks

Hi need a bit of advice on the level against our house to start the patio. The patio has two different extensions next to it, one where it starts and one on the left side and a manhole cover. The issue is the damp course and engineering bricks on the two different extensions are at different...

Hi we're having a new patio laid and are doing the digging out for it. What is the recommended depth for the MOT 1 I've been told both 50mm and 100mm from different people. The sub soil is clay, so it is quite heavy work digging out, can't get a digger in, so I don't want to go overboard but...

My other half was putting up cupboards in the kitchen and drilled through an electric cable, the trip went and he also got a bit of an electric but luckily is ok. I've been trying to get hold of the electrician who originally did the work as it's in an extension which is only about 18 mths old...

Hi, sorry this might be a bit of a silly question. We are fitting a kitchen and had planned for the wall cabinets to line up with the bottom of the cooker hood. Stupidly forgot to account for the cornice on the bottom when fitting, so I'd like to move them up 20mm. Question is as it's such a...

Hi, we have fitted a new kitchen and wanted to install LED striplights inside a couple of wall cabinets, as plinth lights on base units and under a worktop on the island. The wiring has been put in place by an electrician but we are installing the lights. Can you buy one large roll of...

Our house has an old boiler and imperial rads and although it is all working well at the moment we thought it will eventually need replacement so would be a good idea to do it now before we redecorate and put in carpets and flooring (whole house needs doing) A plumber came round yesterday and...

We were looking to replace our radiators as we decorate each room as they are looking a bit tired and the ones upstairs are only single panel, but they are imperial ones. I have looked into what we can do and have come up with three ideas and was hoping for some advice on which people think...

Hi, I'm looking for some advice. We've moved into a house which needs complete redecoration and eventually the replacement of a very old boiler (probably in about two years depending on funds). As we are decorating each room we were also thinking of replacing the radiators (they are being...

I have an in built cupboard which I'm putting shelves in and it will also need a top. The walls were re-skimmed and now cover up to the wood on the right hand side and back of the cupboard so the top does not have a lip to rest on (front and left side are fine). What type of wood would...

I'm preparing some doors for painting and I've spent ages trying to sand them flat but there are still lots of brush marks from when they were previously painted. I will be using sikkens rubol BL satura to paint them is this likely to self level over the previous brush marks? It does seem...

Hi we're putting up some shelves in a brick built cupboard and I'm after some advice on materials. The shelves will fit the width of the cupboard at 1090mm and will be 300mm deep. I was going to use timber around the three edges to baton it. The shelves need to take a fair bit of weight...

I have a tin of Homebase water-based primer and undercoat, and the lid has gone rusty and left flakes in the paint. Any idea why it's gone rusty? It's not the first time it's happened, and I've always kept the tin in the house. Is there any way of straining the paint to get the flakes out?