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In 2008 a builder fitted a shower in my bedroom. No idea where he got the shower valve from. It's a triple-valve: top knob for the rainfall shower head, middle for the temperature control and bottom knob for the handheld. The middle knob has corroded internally and fallen off. Two plumbers...

(NOTE for context I live in a small seaside town where rates of pay are far lower than in big cities. Also I am a disabled pensioner.) My previous painter/handyman charged me £20 an hour and did a perfect job first time every time. Sadly he retired to Portugal last year which is why I looked...

Well folks I've gone and done it! Whilst designing the replacement of one side of my tiny kitchen, after much thought I took the plunge and took two radical steps: no oven, and no inset hob. I cook everying in the air fryer and rarely use the oven, which takes up a lot of space just to cook a...

I'm redesigning part of my kitchen in a very cramped space. I have never bought new kitchen units before and wish to ask, if I buy this 50cm wide cooker hood will it fit into a 50cm wide wall cabinet? I suspect 50cm is the exterior width of the cabinet and so internally it will be a couple of...

I'm having a shed tailor made (because I need a shape that isn't available "off the peg") and it's going to be made of tannalised timber. The carpenter making it does not do painting. I want to paint it in blue and white stripes and wonder what paint to use. I am thinking white oil based...

Had a quote from a decorator. The outside of my Victorian front door has a few chips knocked out of it over the years and needs a repaint. Just had a painter and decorator round and he quoted me £400. It's just a regular door, and only one side needs painting. Is this a fair price?

I am thinking about removing the traditional lock and putting a keypad type on my Victorian timber front door. Our door is right on the pavement, no front garden. I currently have one of those fancy locks for which you have to send off for every spare key @£40 a pop. My reasons are, I use a...

I employed a handyman whose list of skills stated painting and decorating. He started work yesterday and one task was a small job touching up some water based paintwork - wall emulsion and a water based satinwood. I was working at my desk in another room but smelled white spirit and called out...

I'm very inexperienced in employing builders. I've just had a job done (installation of new wetroom) and the builder quoted me £1,500* for materials, which on request I paid him a week after he started work. He later asked for another £100 saying prices had recently risen and he'd not asked for...

Spent ages searching for a definitive, correct answer. Old house but inside it, a section of the kitchen has been taken to create a small downstairs wetroom. This contains a toilet, basin and a shower on a riser. There are two windows in the room which both open. I have been told categorically...

Please can someone help? The builders finished creating a new wetroom today. They are coming back tomorrow (Sat) to finish the associated decorating. After they left I had a good look, and I really don't like the way the water pipes are so prominent and noticeable. So I looked online at...

I'm in charge of choosing everything for my new tiny wetroom. By tiny I mean it is literally 1200 x 1200. Really just a toilet with a shower handset on a riser rail. I have builders doing the work but it's up to me to make all the decisions and to pay for it all :) So, my query is, how to...

Hi, ignorant amateur here! I am going to attach additional shelves into this unit. https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/brimnes-wardrobe-with-2-doors-white-40400478/ I know how I would do it with a wooden unit - battens screwed in then shelves screwed down into battens. What's the best way when it's...

I have a handsome 1930s basin I'd like to install in my bathroom. Its 69cm wide and 47cm deep (fron to back). I don't want it on a vanity basin or a pedestal or brackets. I'd like to construct a timber frame to support the basin and hide the pipework. The wall is a solid, Victorian brick...

I want to search the Net for suppliers of a certain type of MDF decorative panel which I have seen in various designs, such as chinese characters, waves, and perforated with starfish and fish. It's a very thin panel, maybe 6cm high, and you can use it to put a front on a shelf. This...

I know absolutely nothing about plants. In a cafe's conservatory on the Isle of Wight I saw a beautiful, long grapevine strung across back and forth. Now I am wondering if I could have such a grapevine in my own UPVC conservatory. I live on the coast near Hastings. Would the...

Hi folks! I need some ideas for what to do, and hope people can make suggestions. [Sorry for mixing imperial with metric.] I am having a shower (760 x 1200 tray) fitted in the corner of my bedroom. Now, because it is a bedroom I don't want a glass cubicle as I find them rather cold and...