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Hi all, Our heating randomly turns off once or twice a day, usually after it's been on for a few hours. E.g. it's just happened now at 6pm having been on since 3pm. Only realised because the house starts to chill down, then check the stat and it's 2 degrees under temp, rads are cold and the...

Hi all, I'm considering replacing our old manual bypass valve with an automatic one. Is it possible to do this without draining the system? We've just had a new boiler fitted and inhibitor added so I'd rather not drain it unless I have to. Please see photo. If I close the zone valves, the...

Hi all, We have a problem with our old Potterton Prima 80. It runs fine for a few hours and then just randomly turns off (even if the room stat is demanding it to be on). Only way to get it to come back on is to turn the mains power off and on again. The reset button does NOT pop out...

Hi all, Got a problem with the chimneys in our 1930's house. Both upstairs bedroom chimneys. Chimney 1 was already blocked off and vented when we moved in about 2 years ago. It had some signs of damp at the time which were gradually getting worse. The roof was shot anyway so we had that...

Hi all, We want to move the boiler into the garage. It's a Potterton Prima 80. You can still buy flues for it. Is it worth moving or should we plump for a new condensing one? i.e. are the energy savings likely to outweigh the extra cost? Thanks, Rob

Hi all, I'm planning to create a new standard width doorway in an upstairs load bearing wall (joists run perpendicular and roof trusses sit on it). Will 1 Acro + Strongboy and a 100X65X1200 concrete lintel be sufficient? Thanks, Rob

Hi all, I have an original sawn off newel base and a new complete newel, both square. I need to join the two together. I gather mortise and tenon would be the optimal solution, but I'm wondering if a simple tongue and groove joint would do the job. i.e. cut a big (1/3 width) groove in...

Hi all, I'm planning to fit a new banister. While I'm there, I'd like to make some changes to the landing (left of photo). For some reason it's about 6cm wider at the far end, so I'd like to straighten it up. I'd also like to narrow it by one board width to accommodate the handrail...

Hi all, Keen to take out this wall (red) to open up the landing. It's masonry but there's no floor below it and it sits on a floor joist (parallel). Technically it's an old external wall as the area beyond the opening used to be a balcony (now enclosed) but it's single skin and...

Hi all, I need to fit isolation valves on the hot and cold feeds to the upstairs shower mixer. The mixer is leaking and I can't afford a new cartridge yet so just want to shut it off for now! Thing is we had a WB combi fitted a few months ago. Before we had the combi I would have just shut...

Hi all, We've had the builders in and over time dust has gotten trodden into our oak floor. I'd like to know the best way to return it to it's former glory. It's engineered oak I think, and appears to have a 4-5mm layer of oak on top of the engineered boards. Is sanding an option or is...

Hi all, I'm deciding which WB combi to go for, from the 28si up to the 37CDI. 4 bed house, 1 bathroom with shower, possibility of loft extension including shower room at some point. 28si would do for now I'm sure, but looks like the 27CDI or 30CDI would be worth a bit extra for the HW...

Hi all, I'm fitting a new fence at the bottom of the garden. I've got the old fence out but have found a fox burrow under it! Our garden is a bit higher than the neighbours and the foxes have tunneled a foot or so in to it and pretty much all the way along the boundary (20ft or so)...

Hi all, I recently pulled down our garage in order to reclaim the garden and am now left with a fiendish 24ft x 10ft x 6" thick slab of concrete to break up and remove. I bought an 18kg breaker having been advised it would be up to the task. I've just had a go and progress is...

Hi all, The plastic casing on the cold end of my Centrigen 2000D shower pump has busted open and water now spews out of the 3mm gap when the shower is on. Any ideas what the cause might be and how to fix it? Thanks, Rob

Hi all, I've fitted a new kitchen tap, cheap but sturdy unit bought off eBay. Described as having "ceramic disc cartridges" and requiring a minimum of 1 bar water pressure. It's connected to the hot/cold supplies with 10mm flexi hoses. Problem is, the hot water pressure is now a trickle at...

Hi all, I've just installed a new sink in the kitchen. To do so, I obviously needed to turn the main stop cock (in the street) off. I've now turned it back on and the sink taps work fine - bags of pressure. However, last night when filling up the bath, the flow of cold water stopped. I got...

Hi All, We're about to fit a couple of worktops (one each side) to our galley kitchen. Cutting out the holes for the sink and hob sounds fairly straightforward - just jigsaw'em and seal up the exposed edges with PVA. Cutting the straight ends should just be a case of drawing a straight...

Hi All, We're in the middle of refitting our kitchen, top to bottom. We bought all the bits up front, including a double built under electric oven to repace the old gas banger. Problem is, when we removed the old oven (should have seen this coming I know) we discovered the gas fittings...

Hi all, The house I moved into some 9 months ago has a power shower, which until yesterday had never skipped a beat. However, now when I turn it on, it doesn't get any cold water pressure. Hot is fine, but it's clear the cold just isn't getting through, as if I turn it all the way to cold...