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Applied boiled linseed oil to a door that I stripped and sanded. After about 6 coats (the first 2 were thinned with white spirit), the finish has begun to go glossy but is also quite sticky and doesn't show any sign of drying completely. Also, the finish is still quite uneven with the knots...

Thanks for the reply HandyHands. I take your point about the door thickness; I did notice that the doors were not as thick as the newer ones I have elsewhere in the house. I haven't ruled out keeping the rim locks; it's just that the original ones had been covered with several layers of paint...

I recently sanded my floor with a drum sander thinking I would save a few quid rather than pay someone to do it for me. The problem is that you cannot really assess the quality of the job until it's varnished and reflecting the light back at you. Of course, I made a complete pig's ear of it...

I hope this isn't a totally stupid question. I am having my internal Victorian 4-panel doors stripped of paint. In the process of restoring them, I want to replace the original rim locks with spindle and mortice latches which will require new holes to be drilled for the position of the new...

My ground floor area is made up of half original pine boards (~100yo) at the front and half new softwood (redwood, I think) at the back. When sanded to bare wood, there is a clear difference in colour between the two, the new softwood being particularly pale. I want the entire floor area to...

I wish to block up the entrance to an upstairs cupboard. This entrance is built into a brick wall and I would like to block it up with masonry rather than with studwork (I thought aeriated blocks would do). This means building on top of the timber wall plate. Can I just lay the first row of...

Bought a new RCD from Screwfix (thanks for the link Adam; £38 incl. delivery - much cheaper than the £67 my local wholesaler wanted !) and replaced it myself and now everything is OK. Thanks to everyone for their comments. At least now I can watch telly !

I appreciate all of the comments so far; seems like the general consensus is that the RCD needs replacing. Supplementary question: the RCD protects 3 ring mains each on a 32A MCB. What minimum rating should the RCD be ? The current one is 80A but B&Q only have a 63A in stock.

but the RCD is tripping in the absence of any power i.e. I cannot reset it. Also, the socket plates are (at the moment) not screwed tightly to the wall just in case they need any further attention. I'm working on the assumption that the RCD is faulty and needs replacing.

Yes, I left the main switch off while trying to reset the RCD. I don't recognise the feature mentioned in your last sentence so I guess that the answer is no. Since having the CU installed, I have had to carry out various bits of work on some circuits. One thing that I noticed was that if...

CU is a Wylex NHRS12SL 12 way split-load adjustable board.

I replaced a couple of socket face plates - straightforward like-for-like replacements - and when I came to test the sockets, the RCD tripped. I now cannot switch the RCD on even when the individual MCBs that it protects are all swiched off no matter how often I try or how long I wait. I even...

Thank you for the response. I have another question regarding the difference between thermostatic and pressure compensating mixers. Is one better than the other or do they basically do the same thing ? Anyone have any recommendations ?

I want to install a shower but am not sure whether to go electric or mixer. I have a Worcester 28SiII combi boiler. My questions are: In general, how does the flow rate of a mixer shower compare with that of an electric shower ? Does a thermostatic mixer shower have a lesser flow rate...

Thank you for your comments & suggestions. The plasterers start tomorrow so I'll have to make my decision tonight.

My wiring at present has the FCU just above the worktop. The spur from the FCU runs up the wall to what I intended to be a flex outlet. However, based on your response, I guess I could just forget the flex outlet, replace the current spur with a longer length of cable and run it up and round...

I can get a feed from the ring as you say. Just trying to decide where the cable runs should be as I'm having the room plastered this week. I figured that powering from the light circuit would mean having the cables hidden above the wall units though this might cause a problem in being able to...

What is the 'typical' power rating of the 'average' chimney hood ? More specifically, can they be powered from a lighting circuit ?

Thanks plugwash. My question about 3C+E to the rose was pretty stupid, now that I think about it.

I posted a thread some weeks ago concerning connecting an outside light by making all the connections at the light switch. http://www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=36924&highlight=looping+switch I followed the instructions I was given and it worked perfectly. I now plan to connect an...