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I’m looking to replace my current Wickes bath mounted mixer-tap shower head arrangement with a DIY fit-able thermostatic shower that would include some sort of flow adjustment on the wall at, say, chest height. The idea being to take a shower with a guaranteed temperature, irrespective of the...

500 plus vat - quote for new boiler was 3K ================================================================================= You could probably have descaled it and fixed the problem for £25 as a diy job, or paid a plumber for a couple of hours. Better to ask first! Mod...

I ask, because the boiler manual has very clear instructions on replacing this boiler part (the heat exchanger)0, and it is a two connections ‘water-side-only’ component – no gas involved at all. Any tips or potential pitfalls for a reasonably handy DIY-er would be gratefully received. With...

Wow! That's some big improvement - tap temperature up 10 degrees and 50% increase in kW output: it's going to be money well spent methinks.

Jt5, that makes perfect sense - thanks, I had noted that with the kitchen hot tap (next to boiler) running full on, I can hear the flame constantly re-igniting - proof of bunged up 20 years of gunge in the PHEX. That removes any niggling doubt about replacing the exchanger, only to find it was...

Thanks for that - si it's a 24ci then, that would explain a lot of confusion regarding spare parts availability! Of course, its 20 years old as well. "can't get the parts, mate". I'll try your test - so if the ch pipes get hot when ch is off and the dhw running, it's the diverter not doing its...

My 21 year-old Gloworm 24cl needs replacing, (I know, I'm saving up), but the engineer said the fault of lukewarm water and warm/cold intermittent showering water was due to the the heat exchanger needing replacement: however the central heating works fine with radiators almost too hot to touch...

25 years-old Glow Worm 24cl needs replacing, but no-one will take on the job, because of difficult/impossible access to the outdoor vent pipe. Since the boiler's original installation in the first floor flat's kitchen, a conservatory roof has been erected below, in such a position that no...

The installation is about eight years old, exposed to all the weather from the open garden beyond, I reckon you are right. Replacement gboxes are available for £20 and a DIY job it is then. Thanks for your input.

Thanks for that - I'd already given it the WD40 treatment, and when I went to reassemble the handles and spindle, the handles worked again, properly. Half an hour later the handles did nothing again, yet when I loosened the screws and tried just one handle, it turned and the catch retracted -...

The single large uPVC external door won’t close: the wedge shaped catch is jammed halfway and will not retract or move at all: and the spindle cannot shift it. I’m not talking about the multi-point locking system, just the normal open and shut with the handle movement – a single catch on the...

I'm booked in for complete 40mm external wall insulation and rendering: the contractor says he will chop off the stone cill supports which extend 3 inches beneath the 100 year old stone window cills, as it will 'make for a neater job'. I'm worried that these 'supports' are not just old fashioned...

It's dripping, not too bad but steady. Needs a replacement cartridge, I reckon. But how to take this chunk of polished steel apart without marking it? I'm assuming that the stationary sleeve conceals the cartridge, but all my attempts to unscrew it, or pull/twist it, have not shifted it. Even...

Hmm, that sounds like a much less invasive idea of the hammer-chisl-ing-off of the render - blind drilling small holes and checking the drill bit for mortar or brick dust; eventually a small scale 'map' of the area could be built up, and the proper 12/14mm drilling could commence, with...

Very true...I'm going to have to chisel away a large enough area of rendering at each mounting point so that I can be certain of drilling into solid brick. Shame, as the rendering is sound and crack-free.

Thanks for that - your experience of similar is useful to know. For peace of mind I think I'll spring for another central bracket as they are the two holes per bracket versions. Worrying to hear about the expanding plastic plugs, I was hoping they would be an improvement on those Fischer...

When the awning arrived, I was struck by how heavy it was - nearly 19kg in its packing and 17 kg unwrapped. Supplied with just two 35mm mounting brackets and 4 x 100mm expansion bolts, the instructions make it very clear that these will only work if fitted into 12 or 14mm holes in solid brick -...

Agreed - there's a double trouble - fix-one-thing, and end up with another. The tiles at present are not streaming with wet, that's all on the plaster, but, undoubtably once the foil/plasterboard interface plus bathroom paint is installed, there will be a new problem, only to be solved -...

Shan't be taking 'start from scratch' route, as the room is now in daily use. The tiles stay put!:) I intend to fix the foil-backed-plasterboard by screwing the sheets to the sound plaster, sealing the edges and joints.

Thanks to you all for walking me through this: the far-from-ideal situation of the bathroom sticking out into the elements on 3 sides plus roof I'm stuck with. The outside walls are rendered and sound, the roof Celotex on inside and new rubber skin with cavity filled with insulation outside...