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Around 18 months ago I used Osmo Top Oil (couple of layers of Acacia colour to give a lovely deep honey coloured stain, then a layer of clear matt for additional protection) on the solid oak kitchen worktop. Due to standing water near the sink an area had started to become blackened, so I sanded...

Resurrecting an old thread I started... Under the lead flashing, the felt of the felt roof comes up about two inches and is firmly sealed against the wall. In the heaviest of rain it remains absolutely bone dry. However, I pinned down the source of the leak by hosing the wall down along the...

I rebuilt my garden shed around five years ago around the remains of an outhouse. It has brick walls to sides and back and waney edge larch panels on the front. Pent roof slopes down to the front wall at around 10 degrees. 2 by 6 treated beams run left to right about 0.5m apart and decking is...

I rebuilt my garden shed around five years ago around the remains of an outhouse. It has brick walls to sides and back and waney edge larch panels on the front. Pent roof slopes down to the front wall at around 10 degrees. 2 by 6 treated beams run left to right about 0.5m apart and decking is...

My second 12V AC, 60W garden lights transformer has just died. Both lasted around 6 months and were left running for 4-6 hours a day continuously plugged into a timer. Transformer itself plugged into 240V domestic supply in brick outhouse which is cold and damp but certainly not wet, thought the...

Hi would really appreciate advice on finding the source of and repairing a roof leak. Setting - Victorian terraced house. At some point kitchen had a single storey extension out at the back through removal of part of downstairs rear wall (above which the brickwork is supported by RSJ). The...

The stairs in my Victorian house from ground floor to first floor are very short and very steep. The staircase is in the form of two runs of six stairs, with a landing at 90 degrees. The height of each riser is 21cm and the nosing to nosing going is a mere 18cm (which is well short of the...

Having my hallway tiled, 10m long by 1m wide in a Victorian terraced house that originally had geometric tiled floor on compacted cinder but it subsided and cracked beyond repair. Had the whole lot dug out, joists inserted every 30cm so as to be super rigid for taking tiles, then 18mm plywood...

So would a primer like the Zinsser range work and if so what to get? Tried misting once before in another room and still the paint wouldn't bond properly so seems a lot of faff if it won't work and still have to try sometyhing else.

Advice appreciated for painting a small but awkward shaped under stairs cupboard in my Victorian terraced house. The plaster was probably reskimmed 50 years old and painted magnolia many years ago. I started putting on new Dulux matt white emulsion today with a roller and it's all peeled off...

Thanks, that's what I was looking for. Videos of folks in the USA doing it makes it look like a real alternative to removing plaster completely and starting afresh, but also is there something about them using horsehair in their plaster so it holds together better too? Sounds like best option...

Why not, what could go wrong?

I need to redecorate one of the bedrooms whilst we're in lockdown. It's a Victorian house, original plaster, thick heavy patterned wallpaper. Three walls have brick and plaster which seems sound, the fourth wall is lath and plaster but there are a few areas where the plaster has come loose from...

Yes I have - the thread of the "green" ring was obviously stripped and just wouldn't stay put on the bottom part of the lampholder (ie the bit with the external thread that screws onto the stem). So it's off to get a new lampholder, and I've spoken with a specialist lamp shop nearby who have the...

Many thanks for everyone's advice - I tried Sunray's approach and eventually the inner ring started to move. Must have taken me an hour to get the ring off as it was almost toally seized throughout the length of thread but now it's off I can see it's going to be a simple matter to fit a new...

Thanks for advice so far. Not getting on terribly well unfortunately. Sunray - the "top" and "bottom" rings in between which the shade is clamped that you kindly marked with red and green arrows are simply spinning past each other. No matter how many turns I make, they won't unscrew from one...

Recently bought a secondhand vintage desk lamp. Very attractive, and bonus was that it had supposedly been PAT tested. Got back from the antique shop to find the thread of the lampholder had stripped leaving the lamp (with bare live prong) sticking up in one hand and the lampshade and...

If you do decide to go wireless I can recommend the piezo electric button systems available on Amazon and elsewhere that generate enough electricity when someone pushes the button to trigger the alarm inside without requiring a battery (that will eventually wear out and then you wonder why noone...

As per question. Project to keep the wife happy over the New Year is to strip the existing oak kitchen worktops and oak upstands of the horrid Danish oil (the stuff that has to be reapplied every few weeks and lasts a week before going black again) and treating properly with Osmo top oil like it...

If you're in central Birmingham there are two places in Tyseley that I've bought from before and found helpful. Both have extensive showrooms. Try Edwards on the A41 Warwick Road B11 2JR (car park behind via Weston Road) or Bathroom City on Seeleys Road B11 2LQ.