Recent content by AMS1

Thank you for your replies. I don't think there's a steel or concrete lintel above the window, it was just a small wooden one set into the brickwork and closer to the window itself than where I'd actually be drilling. I think I'm just going to have to contact the plasterer and ask him how he...

Hello I've just had a wall skimmed in a bedroom. We'd taken all the old plaster off surrounding the window as it was blown really badly so the plasterer put drywall onto the brick work and then skimmed over it. Now I want to fix a curtain pole above the window but I'm wondering if I should...

Thank you for the responses. I've actually got a post hole digger, but I didn't know about painting the bottom of the posts which come out of the ground in bitumen. I've got a year now to think about (and save up for!) a taller fence which I want to build from scratch (this existing fence is...

Can I just ask one tiny extra question (about fence design)? On the Wickes' site it gives a tip stating: "A continuous, flat run of timber fencing is most susceptible to wind damage. If possible, incorporate 90-degree returns at the ends." What do they mean by 90 degree returns? "Even a...

Fair enough - I did wonder about the integrity of the soil if I attempted to backfill - I'm guessing soil takes longer than one thinks to compact enough. When I do my fence next year I want to use individual pickets (or boards or whatever they're called). I've got a year to worry about the...

Hello I've just replaced 5 fence posts in the back garden as the original posts were very old and had rotted, bringing the fence panels down in high winds. Obviously I dug out the original concrete boulders housing the old fence posts, and they took up quite a bit of room (and bags of...

Thank you for the response (it went so long without a suggestion that I eventually stopped checking, lol). Do you mean sand down all the walls, or just where there's streaking?

Hello I had my kitchen ceiling skimmed a couple of weeks ago. The stuff which the ceiling was treated with prior to skimming (presumably PVA? I never watched him, I just let him get on with it) has streaked in places down my walls (which are painted with vinyl emulsion) I went round the...

Guys - thanks for all your responses, I really appreciate it. Unfortunately I haven't been able to take a look inside the isolator switch yet as I work full-time and have been going straight from work to my OH's property to tile his kitchen, and not getting back home until late each night. But...

Thank you - I'll take a look when I get home.

Hello This morning my electric shower kept cutting out during use. The shower is a Mira Advance and we've had it for about 7 years. What happened is that it would work for roughly a minute, then it would just stop - the red light at the isolator switch would go off, and the light on the power...

Thank you so much for your replies - I really appreciate it. This just reminds me why I spent most of my time as a teenager staring out the window during physics lessons. Clearly I should have paid more attention.

Thank you for the replies. This is awkward then, as my OH's electrician is a football mate of his :). My OH would really prefer a higher wattage oven, but when it came to fitting it his mate will probably take the hump with us for doubting/disregarding his advice. I did think it a bit strange...

My other half is looking to buy an electric cooker for his house he's hoping to rent out. Most of the cookers he likes are around 9KW+ and in the specs they all say that the fuse rating is 32amps (which is what he's got). However, his electrician says that he should get an oven no greater than...