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Hello In the past whenever I've painted with gloss paint it has only needed one coat. However I'm about to paint a bookcase with a dark gloss and I wondered what to do if it needs a second coat. Do you apply the second coat as soon as the first coat has dried and do you lightly sand the first...

Hello When we moved into our home in 1985 one bedroom and the bathroom had a single bar electric fire high up on the wall operated by a pull cord. The house was built in 1968 when central heating was not commonplace. We didn't like the fires too much so they were removed and blanking plates put...

Thanks for your reply. There appears to be no fixings in the plasterboard and from the amount it moves there is probably a 5mm gap behind it, so this means its dot & dab? One suggestion I spotted on the web was to drill a hole in the loose spot and squirt expanding foam behind the board to fix...

Hello I'm decorating a bedroom and noticed a crack down the corner of a wall where the plasterboard meets. This would be easy to fix, but the central part on one the boards moves about 2-3mm, so if I fix the crack and someone leans on the wall it will reappear. This an outside wall on a 1968...

Thank you for your reply, I appreaciate you taking time to help me This socket is high up on a bedroom wall. When we moved into the house in 1985 there were a couple of bedrooms that had one bar electric fires on the walls for heating. The house was build in 1968 before central heating was...

Have faced this problem several times myself. Just painted over the stains well overlapping at the edges with oil based undercoat. This can then be over painted with emulsion when dry. You could use other oil based paint rather than undercoat, but avoid gloss since the emulsion may not stick to it.

Hello I have a hole in the wall from an old power socket which I would like to fill in and then skim with plaster. What's the best way to fill the hole which gives the plaster layer something good to adhere to? Thanks for your advice

Hello I'd like to relocate the radiator in my lounge to the other side of the room which has a concrete floor. The is no neat or easy way to reach the other side of the room by running pipes around the walls, so I was wondering if it is viable to cut a channel in the concrete floor and hide the...

Thanks that's really helpful :)

Hello I'm planning on replacing the corrugated roof on my pre-fab garage and need to buy some new fixings. The fixings have brackets which attach under the metal frame of the roof, please see the attached photo. Please does anyone know what these fixings are called and perhaps where I can buy...

Hello I'd like to erect a heavy trellis with 70mm wooden posts using concreted-in metal post supports. Please see the photo below. The trellis will be 7ft high and although it is quite heavy, since it is full of holes, it will not catch the wind in the same way as a regular fence. My question...

Hello I'm in the process of renovating my garage door which is galvanised metal and so far have rubbed it down and applied primer to all patches of bare metal. I'm now trying to decide what top coat to use and have been looking at Hammerite Gloss White Garage Door Paint. Has anyone used this...

Hello We had a new central heating system installed last year, but ever since the floor boards have squeaked upstairs where they were lifted to install the new piping. To lift the boards the gas engineer cut through the tongue and groove with a circular saw and then prised them up with a...

Hello Please excuse this newbie question, but I'd like to replace the gravel/ballast on my garage roof which is flat with a slight slope. The smallest gravel they sell at my local DIY is 10mm pea shingle, but the gravel I am replacing is much smaller, here is a photo comparing each of them...

Hello I've been reading about the planning laws for fences, trellis and pergolas and just wondered if I am understanding this right... At the moment I have a 6 foot garden fence and for privacy have attached a 1 foot trellis to the top. Strictly speaking this is not within planning laws since...

Hello I’m planning to build a Pergola in a corner of my garden as a support for Wisteria and am considering how to fix it to the ground. It will be a free standing Pergola with 4 legs and about 8ft square in size. Obviously I could just concrete the legs into the ground like a fence but was...

Hello I am considering painting my two garage doors, one metal and one wood, with Dulux Weathershield Exterior Satin and wondered if anyone having used this paint before could offer some advice on any possible pros and cons? From what I have seen already it seems very easy to apply, covers...

Hello My home is 50 years old this year and has never been rewired. In recent times I've noticed that when similar houses sell in my estate they always rewire them before moving in. I presume that rewiring will have been a recommendation on their survey or maybe even a condition of the...

... out of interest, when does notification become necessary in England? I presume that it would be necessary if your were running a cable to a building (ie shed/garage) that is not connected to the house? Does it make a difference if you are running the cable as a spur from an existing socket...

That's great, thanks for your reply. I'll have to get a move on and complete the job in case they change the English regulations to match the Welsh! Regards Robin