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My house has wooden boarded cladding which now need some maintenance. Do they need sanding first, or can I just paint preservative on them?

Hi everyone - I'm 57 yrs old and my b***t***d husband has been having an affair, so I'm out, and after 33 married years we're divorcing. I'm buying a house for myself and have had an offer accepted but the present boiler - an AGA Raeburn - needs replacing. Also I think at least one more...

The centre part of my loft is used for storage and I want to keep it that way. So I'm intending to use two layers of Space Board. But I understand I need to make sure my loft can take the weight. How do I find out about that?

I want to replace the carpet in my hall and dining room and maybe the lounge as well with an easy care solid floor. Which type gives the best finish for the least work? Also....... is this type of flooring cheaper to buy in France?

I've been monitoring our water usage ever since moving here in 2006 and have now noticed a possible problem. Average water cost is 0.1127 per day for the first two years. The next six (summer) months are much cheaper for unknown reasons at 0.0625. BUT the six months up to 16/4/09 are a...

I have a bungalow with enough roof height for a loft conversion, which would have a truly great view. But why is it that I cannot find any information whatsoever about having a conversatory in my loft? Is it totally out of the question?

I'd be interested to know what you think my chances are of selling part of my garden to a builder. The piece of land I'd sell used to have a building - the ruins are still there and the building is shown on maps in the record office. However, the plot is in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...

To keep costs down we've bought plain white 150 square tiles and plan to use mainly these, but in every quarter sq mtre the plain white tile will be cut in three strips, the centre strip will be replaced by 3 x 50x50 glass tiles. Problem is the glass tiles are a fair bit deeper than the plain...

I'm considering glass splashbacks in our kitchen. Biggest problem is the cost! BUT - the old secondary double glazing is still hanging around somewhere and I wonder if I could take that glass to someone to cut to size and finish the edges. Would it be suitable?

What is the chance of being able to remove wall tiles in our kitchen and making good the walls well enough to emulsion?

My patio job is almost complete and I just need to point the slabs. Advice so far is to use cement/silver sand 1:1 dry mix and brush in where the gaps are less than 1/2" and where gaps are greater, to use cement/builders sand 1:3 and again brush in. The above is on the basis that it will set...

I'm redesigning my patio with new walls, flower beds etc and relaying the old concrete slabs. I've bought a 9" angle grinder and have used a stone cutting disc for cutting bricks. Now I need to cut 19 metres of old-fashioned concrete slabs into single brick-width copings plus lots of cuts in...

Is there a spirit level available which has a large, clear display? I'm building a brick wall and having trouble seeing the display clearly and getting the level exact!

Any tips for preventing cement sticking to the inside of a cement mixer? I clean it out after I've finished for the day, but poking about inside it with a spade is a pain!

I have a ride on mower with trailer which I use to bring heavy materials to a new area of patio. I need to access the far end of the patio and I can choose between driving over a rough area and possibly puncturing the trailer tyres (they've been punctured 3 times by thorns in the last week); or...

I need to estimate materials for laying a patio and building various walls. It's been suggested I buy limestone for bedding in the patio slabs and I estimate I'll need one cubic metre for this. For the foundations - what quantities of what should be used? I'd prefer to use the combined...

I've spent the last 6 weeks demolishing a wall and cleaning the bricks to reuse. The local salvage yard told me they had reclaimed London bricks, but when I went to look at their stock I was told they couldn't match the face on the bricks I've been cleaning. As I need quite a lot more bricks...

I'm redesigning our patio - quite a job for me. I'll soon need to learn how to lay bricks and sometime after that, will need to lay the patio slabs. I don't want to hire a mixer as I think the job is likely to take quite a while, so I'm looking to buy. What kind of mixer should I go for? I have...

Does anyone know of a good forum to post ideas about interior design?

We've just taken the old bath out and found it was channelled into the wall. Is this the way a bath should be fitted??? We thought we'd fill this channel in and tile the wall behind where the new bath is going, then use a sealing strip. Is this the right way forward?