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I am having a new kitchen and need to sort out the lighting. Currently it has five halogen 40w downlights and this is adequate, and we frequently use the dimmer. I will have to replace these five lights with six new downlights. It has been recommended that I move to LED lighting, which I know...

I am about to install an oven, a combination oven/microwave and an induction hob. They draw 3.45kw, 3.65kw and 7.2kw respectively. I need to use 2 core plus earth cable for each. BUT I have been given conflicting information about the size of the cables. One person said 6mm and the other 10mm...

I purchased a Honeywell ST9100S. A simple single day timer ideal to replace my old Switchmaster 805 programmer that recently packed up. The Switchmaster originally controlled the heating and water but was later changed to operate the hot water only, the central heating is now controlled by a...

I am building a ‘Red Arrow’ sit in plane for my young grandson. It is made of plywood. I have painted it with 2 coats of acrylic undercoat and then a bright red Dulux oil based topcoat. It takes a long time to dry. I desperately want to get a super fine finish. I now want to paint a complex...

My daughter bought a house with a monitored ADT burglar/fire alarm. The monthly cost was more than she could afford so had it disconnected (from being monitored) and used it in unmonitored mode with her owning the hardware. She had a problem with it about two years ago, got the ADT people in...

My daughter recently had a Mansard loft extension, it has an en suite which has a fan in the (flat) ceiling. The ceiling was painted with emulsion. After the recent rain there is a water stain all around the fan. She hopes to find a roofer that can fix the leak as soon as possible. I seem to...

My daughter has just had an en-suite built. The ceramic tiles used were of a neutral colour and a slight satin finish. The work is now complete, but the tiles look a light lighter than they should and the satin finish seems to have disappeared, there are also runs from tile to tile. My...

I need some help as to how to go about re-painting an external door. It is not a normal door though, it is one made by Paladin. It is steel plated (I had a breakin!) but has a simulated wooden surface. From the look of it you would not know it wasn't wood. I assume it has a thin plastic coating...

My daughter has one of these horrible boilers, it is about two years old. For sometime she have been complaining about the delivery of domestic hot water. She says that she turns the tap on, the boiler lights and delivers some lukewarm water before the boiler switches off. the water goes cold...

A couple of years ago I laid a very expensive walnut (real wood) floor. It really is lovely and I am very proud of it and want to keep it nice. Unfortunately over time some items have been dropped on it (mostly by me!) which have made small indentations. Although they are not highly noticeable...

After reading GCOL's brilliant amatures guide to tiling you could think there is nothing else to ask. I recently stayed at a hotel where the bathroom was completely done out in large limestone tiles, this was floor and walls. The finish was superb and I would like to do something similar...

My daughter's bathroom has a very large mirror covering most of one wall, I would guess the mirror size at about 8feet by 4.5feet - it is of very thick glass. It has no visible means of support, no corner or side fixings, but is located on top of some very cheap tiles, some of which have cracks...

I want to emulsion my daughter's ceiling. It is almost certainly lath and plaster and lined. Most of it looks sound but there are some parts where the old emulsion (and perhaps the lining paper too), has cracked and curled away from the ceiling. I dont fancy stripping the entire ceiling and...

Many of the questions in this forum are similar to my own, but none addresses it specifically. I want to increase the amount of insulation in the roof. Currently there is about 50mm of fibre glass. I want to improve this by laying additional 170mm fibre glass, on top, between the joists. Like...

I have one of the above which is about 8 years old, in the main it has been a good boiler. About a year ago we had a storm with horizontal rain, some of which got into the balanced flue and stopped the boiler working. Our plumber came round, sucked out the pressure tube, and all seemed ok...

My daughter has one of the above boilers. apparantly it will not light. It has been regularly serviced. She is reluctant to get someone in at this time as she is afraid it could be very expensive. Is there a likely cause for this failure, if so is it in the cheap or expensive category to fix?

My daughter has a condensor boiler. She plans to have an extension in the roof space, it will have an en suite. She would need a power shower as the water pressure is very low. Question is, will a power shower work with a condensor boiler? Thanks

I want to replace a large old fashioned cistern and toilet with a modern slim one. This is a very small cloakroom with a concrete floor. The current soil pipe goes into a hole in the ground. I know that it is connected to a plastic pipe that goes under the concrete floor and under the nearby...