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Screws and nuts ? Use two large screws and two large rawplugs. Be careful not to over-tighten the screws - a plastic or rubber washer would also be a good idea to reduce the risk of cracking the pan. You can often buy kits comprising of the above items - and they'll also contain plastic...

I would probably seal it with PVA and then build up layers of undercoat plaster to just below the level of the surrounding wall, then finish off with a topcoat. Undercoat plaster is coarser than topcoat/finishing plaster, so is more suitable for filling deeper areas. Alternatively, you could...

The lights are wired that way in my place and this can make things tricky when replacing light switches - I found swapping a normal switch for a dimmer difficult, for example, because dimmers are often deeper than a standard switch and there's not much room for maneuver when there are three...

Yes, sorry - I do make sure the showers aren't run at the same time and do indeed intend to remove one of the showers, so perhaps I shouldn't worry - I'm just trying to cover all angles, mainly so that I can get as much of this done at once as possible.

Having checked every socket in the house, I now have a laminated chart next to the CU with an accurate and clear list of which fuse isolates which rooms :)

Is it possible that a PME cable head won't have enough room for a 16mm earth conductor ? If I had trouble inserting 10mm, then I'm guessing that 16mm will be tricky. I'll have another look at the head in the meantime - the cables from head to meter did make the earth terminal hard to get at IIRC.

No, but I was wondering what would happen if the 10.8kW and 9.5kW electric showers and the electric fan oven were all running at the same time ? Unlikely I know, but don't you have to take these theoretical situations into account ?

Thanks for all your replies. I'll try and answer as many of the points raised as I can. Borrowed neutral - sounds like I need to sort this out. Spurs - As far as I can tell, the sockets on the LHS and RHS ring mains do only connect to one spur each in the rooms below/above. RF and CPC...

Hi guys, I've got an old Wylex CU with rewirable fuses which I'd like to upgrade to a modern CU with circuit breakers and (presumably) RCD protection. NB. Main fuse is 60A. The two separate 40A RCDs serve two electric showers - 10.8kW via 10mm2 cable & 9.5kW via 6mm2 (the latter of...

I noticed recently when decorating an upstairs bedroom, that the area above the window sounded hollow when tapped. Sure enough, when I came to drill holes for the curtain pole brackets, I started drilling only to find wood beneath the plaster. My current house was built in 1972 and is a...

I use small masonary nails (approx. 1" long) for securing capping like that to solid walls - my breeze blocks seem to cope well with them. The capping doesn't tend to split, because the nails aren't that wide. If the capping is channelled as in the pic above, then I tend to finish them off...

Hi folks, I'd like to add an extra double socket in a bedroom but I can't run a spur from either of the two existing sockets, so which of the following two options is preferable ? 1) Add the new socket as a spur using a 30A junction box connected between the two existing sockets 2) Make...

Post removed to avoid confusion :)

As far as I'm aware, the Vaillant you mention has built-in hot water storage, whereas the Baxi does not - this probably accounts for the larger size of the Vaillant. I've had a poor Baxi combi in the past and would never buy one again. As you say - everybody will have different experiences...

Try inspecting all the traps from the sink, bath and shower if you have one. Bottle traps can be unscrewed fairly easily if they're accessible - just make sure you have a bowl and old towel handy. If the traps are manky, then give them a good clean. If the traps are clear and the water is...

Why is there so much visible pipework ? Do you have concrete floors downstairs, or was he just trying to save himself the job of taking any floorboards up ?!

My 10.8kW electric shower seems to cope OK in the winter and is definitely more powerful than any gravity-fed shower that I've ever used. Power shower pumps can be noisy and power showers presumably use a lot more water than the other two options that you mention, so you might want to bear...

My total distance was about 11m through one external cavity and one internal brick wall - it's obviously the brick walls that kill the signal quite severely.