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Ripping walls apart - not so much... the wall already needs making good going by the OP's photo - so a little extra digging up the wall is not a problem. Why not just drain the one rad rather than the entire system? Unless there is something to be gained by having to re-treat the whole system...

Care to expand on that?

If I'm seeing it right... there's an elbow in the wall, a short length of pipe then another elbow to go from horizontal to vertical up to the current TRV. Given the state of the plaster around the elbow in the wall, I'd be inclined to hack the plaster out around it - it needs making good anyway...

By way of closure to this. Firstly - Thanks, one and all, a lot of good info. I made the schoolboy error of asking my boss what the budget was for this when he called about something unrelated - the response, "£50ish". Given I was driving at the time (hands-free of course), once I recovered...

A manufacturing error that takes 9 years to manifest itself and then only when the car owner allows a known fault (your dodgy starter) to go unaddressed "for a while". Yep... Ford should definitely pay for that... in fact they really ought to give you a brand new car and a large cheque for...

Thanks a lot everyone. Wasn't even aware of brushless motors - they look a tad more pricey though. Have to purchase tomorrow for jobs on Thursday, still so many choices! Maybe I'll have to beat a definitive budget out of my employer to narrow things down. Or just spend away and hope for...

I'm a field based IT "Engineer". Work wants me to purchase a cordless drill (their money not mine), but doing a bit of looking around has left me overwhelmed with choices. I'd rather not go for the cheapest of the cheap and have to replace the thing in short order. On the other hand, it's...

Leasehold properties can be a minefield - as woody says, the lease is everything - you need to get a copy of the lease ahead of even thinking about making an offer. Identify who owns the freehold (is it an individual or a property investment company?). How many years are left on the lease...

Quite sure. I have no idea what it would do set to 'minimum' with the doors open, presumably run the compressor non-stop in a vain attempt to cool the interior and waste a shed-load of power trying to cool the entire world in the process. The thing is as basic as basic can be. The fridge and...

I have a fridge/freezer that has no "off" setting on its very basic controls - just "less cold". Plugged into a socket low down behind it in the middle of a run of cabinets. Whilst supposedly "frost-free" it needs defrosting approx once per year - and it's a real pain in the rear to man handle...

I'll tighten that strap up right away. And no, I wouldn't contemplate trying to pull an earth through from the meter to the flat, as for attaching an earth from the 8-way to the switch - I didn't notice any external terminal on that switch that might be for an earth and I sure as hell ain't...

It is certainly not connected to the silver metal clad switch. That has the incoming feed going into it and nothing coming out, it is labelled "Cooker", but there is no typical cooker type outlet in the kitchen (there's a standalone gas cooker in there now) so I assume that circuit was stripped...

Thanks - that makes sense. Hopefully it will check out OK and keep running long enough to scrape together enough for a replacement. If not, it's going to be a chilly few months :?

Don't worry about it - the side discussions are part of what makes this forum such an interesting place. They also serve to keep numpties like me in line by clearly demonstrating how very little knowledge we have and stop us taking on stuff we really shouldn't. :)

Thanks, I suspected as much. Is that to prevent the casing of the cutout becoming dangerously live in case of an internal fault on it? Hopefully the electrician will pick up on it during the EICR - if not I'll specifically ask. I have a feeling this is going to be an expensive month :(...

Yes, they go directly from the cutoffs to the DNO earth block. That's worrying. I've not so much as touched the cutoff for my flat (it's turned off currently), just the look of it puts me in mind of something in frankenstein's lab! However I'm moving in tomorrow so I suppose I'll have to...

Thanks everyone :) twgas - I'll certainly be getting it serviced as soon as I move in. Can't any boiler leak fumes into the building, or is there something specific to this one that makes it more likely? And yes - the HW pressure is pretty low, but is only used for bathroom basin and...

Before anyone goes off on one - no I'm not doing any work at all on this boiler, just want opinions from those experienced with them. I'm moving into a flat that's been unoccupied for several years that has one of these fitted (from the odd label here and there it dates to the mid 90s) along...

Apologies for the rubbish photos, I only had my ancient nokia with me and those pics of the understairs were getting sun on them hence the weird flares all over them. Yes, there is an 8 or 10 way earth block down by the DNO service head. None of the 3 flats have anything connected back to it...

Thanks for your concern. The meters and cutouts are under the stairs. The cables from the supplier heads to the meters and the wired up box things (fuses at a guess) all looks fairly new and seems to be PVC. Beyond that though it's a real mish-mash of cable types run to and from each flat's...