Search results

Greetings DIYers At the bottom of my garden is a 1930s sheet metal garage. Because a bit of it is below ground level, the metal has rusted and there is a fair bit of water ingress. The frame is made of timber and seems pretty sound, but I have an asbestos cement roof. I plan in the future...

Hello I'm hoping to build a new garage at the end of my garden next year, to replace an aging corrugated sheet construction. The garden leads into a lane that is shared by all houses in the street. I have a potential problem. When I bought my house a few years ago, we were told that the...

Hi Had a new bathroom fitted a year or so ago. We have a back to the wall pan with concealed cistern. The plumber screwed the pan to my tiled floor (travertine), but last night my wife used the loo and there was a grinding sound, when I checked, the pan has moved slightly, and I was able to...

Hello I had my bathroom tiled about 6/7 months back. We used a polished travertine tile on the floor (30.5x45.7). I overboarded the floorboards with 12mm WBP first, screwing down every 4". Last night I noticed that the light was reflecting strangely along an (almost) straight line. This...

Hi I have a very small rad in my cloakroom. I have opened the lockshield valve fully, and also the TRV is set to 5. The rad only warms on the bottom, and only lukewarm. My first thought was to bleed the rad, but nothing comes out (no water OR air). I have even opened the bleed valve fully...

Hi I have just purchased a new doorbell, and I didn't realise its a recessed type. I have a PVCu front door and surrounding PVCu porch. Looking at the doorbell ringer, it needs a hole approx 1" deep and approx 1/2" in diameter. My question is, can I actually drill a hole in a PVCu...

Hello I am about to move into a house I've been renovating. Its a 1930s semi, with corrugated garage (which has an asbestos roof). I also have a damp rather unpleasant shed (again with asbestos roof). I had originally planned on getting the garden landscaped (new patio, built up with...

Just had some polished travertine floor tiles fitted. Overall very happy with the job, but I've noticed that the surface of the tiles if covered in very fine surface scratches (only really noticable directly under the glare of the spotlights). I called the tiler back last night to look at...

Hello I had a new PVCu front door fitted yesterday. The door when left wide open is fine, but if its left anywhere less than 90 degrees to the opening, it closes all by itself. This suggests to me that the hinges are out of line. The porch its been fitted to isn't quite level, but the...

Hello. I have been renovating my 1930s semi. My kitchen extension is made from solid brick, so I have had the inside rendered, battened, kingspan type insulation fitted between the battens, and then plasterboarded and skimmed. I have had water leaking in through one of the windows...

Hello Can anyone give me an opinion on which colour grout to go with for the following tiles - floor http://www.stonehousetiles.co.uk/detail.lasso?stn_id=2a4444f4c7019ada&-session=STN:892C407D076c8198FCRWK32AB9B9 Wall...

Hello I've recently had my whole house re-skimmed, and new celings put up/skimmed. I've started painting yesterday, and found a patch where there seem to be splatts/run marks, and I just can't cover it up. I'm using Dulux Trade Supermatt (watered down to 3 parts paint 1 part water as per...

Hello I'm in the process of sanding my parquet floor. I'm going to be finishing it toward the end of the week, and wondered if I could get some opinions on which product to use. I've searched the site, and noticed it seems to be a straight fight between Bona Spectre and Osmo Hardwax Oil...

Hello I'm in the process of sanding my parquet floor. I'm going to be finishing it toward the end of the week, and wondered if I could get some opinions on which product to use. I've searched the site, and noticed it seems to be a straight fight between Bona Spectre and Osmo Hardwax Oil...

Hello Just had my house reskimmed internally, and the extension re-rendered with stucco. First attempt at stucco failed when the render blew. Plasterer hacked off, replaced (inc scratch coat). This was 1 month ago, checked yesterday, render has blown again in similar places. I've phoned...

Hello I've spent the last day on my hands and knees using a heatgun to remove the bitumen from my 1930s floorboards, longing for the day when I can finally start sanding. Today, I happily powered up the edging sander to get to work, as I worked around, I could see vein like structures...

Hello, I've recently had my kitchen plasterboared and skimmed. I've noticed that I've now got some mold growing on the internal cill, which I think is being caused by water ingress from the window (had the outside rendered too). I suspect there's not enough sealer around the window, which...

I've had my walls skimmed. I'm getting ready for painting, bought my Dulux trade supermatt in white ready for mist coating. The house is filthy dirty after being renovated - what's the best way to clean the walls ready for painting? Should I use sugarsoap? Also, do I need to lightly sand the...

I'm about to paint my house, going over the old skirtings, architraves, picture rails and doors. I intend using an eggshell finish. I've been advised to sand it to get a key for the new paint. I've read that I should use a primer. As I'm painting over old paint, is this really necessary...

I'm going to be tiling my bathroom very soon. I will need something to cut the floor/wall tiles. I was thinking about getting a cheapish wet saw, but read something on here about using an angle grinder. I will be using 13mm Travertine on the floor and just ordinary ceramic on the walls...