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I have just fitted a Hive thermostat and two TRVs. The system works correctly with the new thermostat and standard TRVs and I have balanced the system so that demand for the boiler is removed before or more or less as the TRVs shut down. The idea of fitting the Hive TRVs was to be able to set a...

We have just switched on the washing machine for the first time after a CU change. Needless to say, it trips the RCD. We then discover this in the machine instructions: I know there are different ways of fault detection but I can't find any reference to this symbol. What is this type and is...

I am converting part of a garage to utility area and want to raise the floor to house floor level. (The area is to be sealed from the garage with fire break.) My idea is to make footings from two 45x95 timbers resting on mortar beds onto the existing concrete floor then lay joists over these...

I want to convert the part of the garage that is integral to the house to a utility room. It is currently a double garage and a quarter of it is under the main house. There is a pillar in the middle supporting the corner of the house so it is a matter of separating it off by filling in two gaps...

We have a double garage that is quarter integral with the house. The idea is to convert the bit under the house to a utility room. There is a pillar in the middle of the garage which holds up the corner of the house so it is a matter of closing off two openings and cutting a door through from...

We have a half integral garage and want to convert the integral part into a utility/cloakroom so it properly becomes part of the house. The meter and fuse box are currently together at the back of the garage so I assume one basic requirement is that the meter is moved to the front. The fuse box...

Measuring pipe temperatures on my heating, I notice a convection flow effect driven by the HW cylinder during system idle periods, likely resulting in wastage. My thought is to put a non return valve between 3W port and cylinder. Is this suitable for CH...

On re-doing the bathroom a thought occurs about bonding. The main water supply pipe, bonded to the supply, runs up the bathroom wall to the tank. Taps and radiators are equipotentialed. Connection between the supply and the other pipes is then incidental. The supply pipe was previously...

I was starting a project to add another radiator so had drained the system down. Except water was still coming through. Isolate the cylinder and sure enough the water was coming out of the heating coil. More than 5 litres/hour. The water level in the CH header tank is nominally about a foot...

My Baxi Solo had a very noisy solenoid and it was getting slow to turn on the main burner. The fan, igniter and pilot work and although the pilot is lit, it keeps sparking and won't reach that last step. The problem is intermittent which tends to suggest the fault is not with the electronics...

I don't know whether this is the best section to post this but here goes. The management committee of a small block of flats (of which I am a member) were not aware until recently that asbestos and fire surveys of the communal areas was an obligatory requirement. We have been going round...

My daughters ch has been lacking output for some time. On first inspection the boiler return was taking along time to warm up. Although the pump was making all the right noises we speculatively changed it. No difference. So we then flushed the system with mains water. After putting it all...

I am trying to identify a problem with a pneumatic flush mechanism that doesn't always shut the flow off properly after flushing When this happens the inflow is not fast enough to fill the cistern so it is not possible to flush again without having a fiddle with it to persuade it to close enough...

Our dishwasher recently stopped working because it wouldn't fill. The tray was flooded and so the flood switch had tripped. I cleaned the gunge out of the pipework around the level & flood switches and took the water out of the tray. It worked again for a while but it was still filling up...

I was looking around my mother's flat and noticed that a double socket is only being held with one screw. The slidy ear (metal back box) has broken off. Is there a simple solution? My inclination would be something like a self tapping pillar.

My mother lives in a retirement flat built in about 1980, meaning that the original telephone point was put in the hallway. Since then, two extensions have been wired to this point without a master socket. One side goes to a bedroom to a socket with suppressors in it. Two wires are used...

I have just bought one of the above. It has an earth terminal E and another marked SE. The sheet says: "Important Note. Standard use, for electrical safety ensure that the two connections E & SE are linked together using a green/yellow sleeved copper wire. Note: when using product for clean...

Looking round previous threads I can't find a precise answer to this so please bear with me. Is it permitted to run a spur from a junction in one room through a wall into another (bedroom to bedroom)? If so, I have a junction box, accessable inside a built in cupboard in one bedroom that...