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No, it's not a bungalow, it's a victorian semi. The problem is in the downsairs living room. For various reasons, I can;t see if there is a similar problem upstairs.

Dependent on how solid the vinyl adhesive is, you may be able to tile straight onto it, after all it does seem to be stuck fast using a single part flexible adhesive. The other alternative would be to put a latex levelling compound over the top of it and then tile onto that

We have an open fire in our front room and there is a lot of damp around the chimney breast. It is actually damp rather than any staining coming through from the chimney. The chimney breast is on an outside wall and the pointing seems fine on the wall. Do any of your roofing experts have...

See if Wickes do there own brand of cement film remover similar to the HG Brand. This may do the trick. Check the bottles you have to see if they have a tech helpline and give them a ring otherwise and see what they suggest.

Is the grout Mapei 'Jasmine'? If so, I'm sure Mapei do colour coordinated silicone.

What brand and type of sealer has been applied? Need to know this before advising further

AFAIK there is no suitable tile adhesive on the market that will bond to metal.

Along a similar subject, I'm doing some victorian floor tiles at the moment and need to rake out the adhesive where it's bled through the joints. A normal grout rake is a bit on the big side for this and I was looking at getting a dremel type tool to grind it out. Does anyone know whether these...

Along a similar subject, I'm doing some victorian floor tiles at the moment and need to rake out the adhesive where it's bled through the joints. A normal grout rake is a bit on the big side for this and I was looking at getting a dremel type tool to grind it out. Does anyone know whether...

On the positive side, if your dad's fixing them for nowt, you've saved a few hundred quid there!

Bog standard cement will definitely not do the job. The tile shop were selling you the correct stuff at a fair price. It will be a polymer modified adhesive specifically designed for porcelain tiles. The problem (if you can call it that) with porcelain is that it is virtually non porous as a...

Without knowing what sort of adhesive you've used, it's difficult to say what the problem is. Does it say whether or not it is suitable for fixing to timber surfaces? Did you prime the timber with the required primer? For fixing to timber, you should use either flexible/polymer modified...

If it's a natural stone border (ie- tumbled marble) that is how they are supposed to be grouted. It is virtually impossible to grout them any other way, save perhaps to use a caulking gun. This would then leave you with open holes in the tile which would attract allsorts of muck and rubbish.

Was it HG Golvpolish they put on as this has a brown label and is a surface polish. If so use HG Remover (yellow label) to strip it off. Possibly, it was HG Impregnator they used which also has a brown label. This sounds more likely. If this is the case, it seems like it has been over...

Yes you do need to use marble impregnator before grouting. A minimum of two coats in total. It's not cheap stuff. Might be worth asking the shop if they'll seal them for you or sell you a thimble full if they have any open bottles laying around.

Recently, there have been a lot of problems with poor quality imported, polished porcelain tiles, usually from china. Even though various sealers have been specified to use prior to grouting/walking on, the tiles have not been sealed properly causing staining problems. I don't know from your...

For fixing porcelain tiles to any floor, you need at least a single part flexible powder adhesive. Even though you are fixing onto a concrete floor, the adhesive must be polymer modified to bond to the tile which will be more or less completely non-porous. The grout should be likewise, ie:-a...

If your going to use black grout, make sure you do it in natural daylight and clean it off in natural daylight. When cleaning off, go over it several times and change your water/sponge regularly. I've used black grout on black tiles quite afew times. The first time was during the evening and...

Jamie, what sort of tile are they? I know you say ceramic, but are you sure they aren't a light coloured natural stone such as travertine or limestone? If they were and used a grey adhesive as opposed to a white one, it could be the adhesive shadowing through. The only other thing I can...

Seems like another good example of why you shouldn't patronise places like B&Q. The staff don't know their a@@e from their elbow!