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When drilling through dot and dab into the external or party walls, I find the drill can drift quite dramatically once it hits the masonry meaning the resultant hole is in the wrong place. How can I avoid this happening? I have a battery or mains hammer drill available to me and I'll get a new...

Yes, I probably did but am not familiar with the terminology! I'd like the door to lock behind me whenever I close it upon leaving the house so that I need a key to open it from the outisde with the option of a deadlock as we have now.

Our front door currently has just a deadlock with bolts that have to be set before locking, by lifting the door handle. Is it possible to add a latch function while retaining the deadlock function? We'd like the reassurance of the latch for in the daytime where we sometimes forget to set the...

Sorry for the delayed response... It's not perfect, they are fairly heavily loaded and sometimes the baskets come off the rails. The baskets clear the doors without issue.

In case it helps someone else, I've just successfully fitted some 60cm IKEA Utrusta wire basket drawers (IKEA article #002.046.72 ) in an old discontinued IKEA Faktum kitchen cabinet that's been customised in the past for use as part of a fitted bedroom. I found that using the shims (the plastic...

We have solar PV panels (1.5kw) and I'm curious about fitting an immersion diverter to use any spare solar energy for heating water rather than sending it back to the grid. Before we do that, I'd like to have an idea if we have sufficient spare solar power for this purpose, if not then it's...

We’ve got some nice ceramic kitchen sinks and we’re nervous about cracking them by fixing on the mixer taps. The taps have black plastic seals underneath them (see pic) which would be in contact with the top of the sinks when attached. We wonder whether we need additional washers such as...

I've recently suffered water damage to a wall and ceiling in a bedroom in my 1970s built flat from a leak elsewhere in the building. While waiting to get someone in to fix it, I tidied up the damage, cut the plasterboard off the walls and pulled down the damaged area of ceiling (some had already...

We have an outdoor tap (see attachment) fitted by the house builders to which we have attached a garden hose with a spray gun on the end. When the tap is open and spray gun is not pressed i.e. no water is flowing through the hose, the tap leaks. When the tap is closed, it doesn’t leak. This...

Absolutely, there are a good few spare pieces on top of the cabinets gathering dust!

I'm the other way around and have no sealant but we do have some oil-based varnish so will use that. None of the exposed edges are visible so it'll be fine. Thanks!

Likewise, it feels an unnecessary extra job but given that the cabinets are of a height which leave a gap slightly smaller than the plinth height below them, I'd have had to break the integrity of the plinth anyway by taking a few mm off the top. For context I'm fitting the dishwasher in an...

I'm not familiar with using silicone to seal a face, I'm used to using it on an internal edge between two faces. I was assuming I would paint on varnish or something similar...

As part of fitting a semi-integrated dishwasher I’ve had to reduce the height of the kickboard to allow the dishwasher door panel to clear it. This means that the MDF kickboard now has an exposed upper edge which any water falling from the counter will soak into. Can anyone suggest the best way...

I've got one in so far and it feels very secure. It's only for hanging a calendar but I can't move the hook relative to the wall using my hand...

That's exactly it; from looking at the supplier, it doesn't look like there are other options in the range. Thanks very much!

That's a very good question, I just assumed it was for plasterboard and picked it out of a tray! No label or packaging... It's neater and far more secure than anything else I've encountered for plasterboard where the hook is visible.

The local hardware store sells these brilliant plasterboard hooks and I wanted to know if they’re part of a bigger range. I’ve tried all the search terms I can think of plus reverse image searches and I can’t find them. They’ve got MIRA and a US patent number on the back.

Where would the fun be in that? ;) Yes, it's blanked off now...

This was my eventual solution, using elements from various helpful suggestions above. It needs the plasterboard tidying up but other than that, I think it's a reasonable job. I used 2.5mm² T&E to go to a new box (fixed to the wall behind the plasterboard) on the right wall, running the cable...