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Thank you JohnW2 and Sunray. This seems the most logical explanation, and of course the easiest way to prove it would be for me to paint over it properly. I suspect the problem has been there since the wallpaper was removed but just not noticed for a while. I also just wanted to check that the...

Yes, it's just a normal plastered wall, with standard emulsion paint on it. There's no obvious warmth if you touch it.

I'm staying at a relative's home, and she has a strange situation. The walls were stripped of their paper and redecorated some years ago. Now after some time, the paint has faded on the walls where I assume the cables were cut into the wall to supply the sockets. Please see attached pics. We've...

Hi, I've just replaced a kitchen worktop. Where it meets the wall, there is a gap of about 5mm (although up to 7mm in one place) between the top of the worktop and the tiles. So there's a bit of a gap to fill all along the back of the worktop. Is the best option to use tile grout to fill the...

Understood - thanks for clarifying.

Well, for the record I was never, ever, going to touch this myself! But when you say 'qualified spark' that does open it up to rather more then just the DNO. It implies I could get any electrician in to do it, which means that the DNO could turn it back onto me to sort out.

Interest point. The sticker says "Eastern Electricity - Warning - It is dangerous to interfere with this apparatus, it is also an offence"

This does seem to be the general consensus. I've contacted the management company, so I'll see where that gets me!

Well, this is what I'm trying to establish. Proving it could be difficult. Plus I'm a leaseholder, so it's just a management company rather than a landlord - does that matter?

The DNO spoke to my neighbour when they visited to inspect the work. I later phoned the DNO and they confirmed the situation.

They could cut us off by just detaching that cable, surely! It's the DNO that is asking for this to be done. They are replacing that whole cutout (it's old and unreliable apparently) - but they say the cables are too brittle to risk re-attaching to the new one. But that's outside their area of...

Finally got a picture. The two cables come from the conduit into the cutout. The suppliers, UKPN, want to replace the cutout I believe, but won't do it unless these cables are replaced first. Either that or they just cut me off!

OK, a bit more detailed info now, having investigated. It turns out that the main 3 phase cut out is in the flat below, and that the cable (I think a VIR cable?) travels inside a conduit into my flat, where it meets a secondary single phase cut out (as shown in the picture). The network...

I see, thank you Bernard. I'm London based so I guess I'm part of UK Power Network. From your experience, is it a straightforward process to get them to carry out this work? If something is old and potentially dangerous are they obliged to replace it? Would this work be done for free?

Hi. I live in an upstairs flat, and it appears that my electricity supply comes first into the downstairs flat. From there, two cables run from where their meter is, via a metal tube, into the wall and up into my flat, where it enters the black box next to the meter (is that the cut out box?)...

I have an old shed, and someone in the past has covered the roof in a black polythene material. It seems to be fairly thick and durable, and seems to have adhesive on one side, in which case I assume it just sticks down easily. Does anyone know what this material is?

What about my other question above... "Do you think that a strong bloke with a sledge hammer could get the Metpost to go through the old (rotting timber) post and into the ground" ? If that's possible then it's by far my easiest option.

No, it's the typical two foot long spike type, with the cross section that looks like an X.

Thanks again for all the replies. I'm in no rush with this so it's all useful to me to decide the best course of action. One thing I just realised, is that my new Metpost will fit into the existing hole in the concrete (for some reason I thought it was too wide). But of course the old wooden...

Thanks for the replies. I'm rather worried that the existing concrete base will be too big to shift, even if I do dig it out. Is that likely? If I do dig the old one out, is using a Metpost instead of concrete a sensible option still?