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I removed a radiator in the bathroom to redecorate and refitted at the weekend. I noticed yesterday one or two drips an hour from the cap nut. I tightened up a couple of mm and now it's dripping even more - 1 drip a minute ! Have I damaged the olive or thread ? Should I try tightening...

Just removed a radiator for decorating. The water was nasty black with a scummy sheen to it. Anyway, I have washed it out with running water and will refit over the weekend. Should I add something to it - one of the many treatments I see in B&Q etc. If so what would you recommend? It's a...

It's definitely not stove enamel and it is quite a thin coat, it peels off very easily in places. I would have blanked the holes with "radiator stops" to prevent it getting inside. Good tip about melting the solder - I will try Nitromors and elbow grease first then. Cheers John

Yeah - all my buddies say the same ! I'm reluctant to do this not just for cost but because it is quite a biggish one and I haven't seen an identically sized one in all of the DIY stores i've been in. So any new one will be a different size and therefore require re-plumbing the pipe feeds...

Well a towel rail actually & my master plan has been scuppered ! I am about to remove quite a large old central heating towel rail on which the paint is cracked and peeling. I had planned to send it off to the paint removers - "dippers" - I have done garden gates that way and it is great...

Yep - fully magnetic ! Cheers - John

Thanks Tony - it does look copper plated to me. I had planned to fit bung ends onto the holes for dipping. That is little work for me and only costs about £15. The radiator paint in spray cans will make the painting easy too. John

The paint on our central heating bathroom towel rail is flaking off and I plan to remove it, strip and re-paint. Just looking at the metal beneath the flaked paint it shows no sign of rust and is a silvery/bronze colour. Just wondering what metal these are normally made from - I thought it...

Thanks - but I forgot to say thatthe hedge is between 2 house's driveways which are tarmac'd up to 6" either side - so no real chance of working the roots through that gap. John

I have a Leylandi hedge (15 trees) that is trimmed to about 5 feet high although the trunks are getting quite fat (6 inches or so). I'm sure the roots are getting close to underground pipes. So, I want to remove the hedge with minimum physical effort on my part ! I don't want the risk that...

As Softus says - I would contact the manufacturer. Our pan is a Twyfords which also has a non-standard width fitting. I called their CS department and they couldnt have been more helpful and I got a replacement within a day or two. It wasnt cheap mind ~£50. John

OK thanks - brute force it is then - i'm good at that. John

Sorry this is a bit trivial ! I need to remove the heated towel rail for decorating. It is the "open radiator" in this Combi powered system and so the valves are not thermo's or conventional screw valves. They have white covers on them that simply spin around freely. I assume there are...

Thanks John & Jon. I have done this many times in my house but it is a real pain drilling and gouging out the plaster and the brickwork for the sunken pattress - no hollow walls for me !

Time to decorate the spare bedroom - which only has a single socket mounted on the wall above the skirt. It is on a pattress that is about 2" (47mm?) and looks a bit unsightly and bulky. I'd like to replace it with a sleek double socket. Rather than gouge out the wall to fit a new box and...

Yep B&Q rescued me. The helpful assistant (they are good nowadays aren't they) pointed me straight to the 15mm/1/2"/300mm flexi-connector with isolating valve - and the cheap pipe cutter. Cut the pipe and ftted the connector in 5 minutes flat - but unfortunately the plastic thread is shredded...

I have sprung a leak from the joint between the water supply copper pipe - 15mm - and the plastic screwthread part of the cistern float valve. Tried tightening but to no avail. May have damaged the float valve thread so will be ready to replace that if necessary. The nut on the water pipe...

I am about to replace the toilet handle on my old Twyfords Jupiter unit. The old one is fitted with a plastic bracket that has fallen apart and will all be cut off. The new handle has a brass bracket to hold it to the cistern. They supply a new bolt with dome head, a brass washer and a...

Thanks a lot - that takes care of Saturday then javascript:emoticon(':D') John

Bit numptyish i'm afraid but i've never done this before. I've stripped off the vinyl paper in the kitchen and it peeled away from the backing paper beautifully. just a few bubbles in it. So, can I just paper right on top of that or do I need to take it down to the plaster? I plan to put...