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How would a plumber go about diagnosing water hammer? There are five pipes that go up to the attic, including one for a current cold water tank and one for a decommissioned and empty hot water tank. We sometimes get knocking sounds, which can occasionally be really loud. The source of the noise...

There's a thermostat in the hall, wired from the Drayton box as far as I can tell. Not going to try it though, think Derry's right. Presume a plumber would be able to fit one, as we have some other pipework to do. In Scotland if it makes a difference to electric regs.

We currently have a Vokera Compact 24SE boiler with a Drayton SM1 mechanical timer. The timer is on the wall next to the boiler and linked with a thick plastic cable which I presume has multiple power/switching wires inside it. Looking to fit a wireless thermostat instead - would I be able to...

Thanks, the warranty thing makes sense and the fitter confirmed that. They said it was fine to supply myself and the labour costs wouldn't change, but if something didn't go right it would be more hassle for me, so I'll stick with their selection.

When the weather is colder sometimes the boiler does not fire up - Vokera 24 Compact, it tries to start up but the ignition doesn't take and the solid red light comes on. Easy enough to reset it, but just had to keep waiting until the boiler decided it was okay to start up. Our kettle is near...

A bathroom fitter has given us a pretty good quote (labour lower than I expected) but is quoting list price for furniture and fittings from the KB catalogue. Are they likely to be getting trade discount on those prices? Just trying to work out if wed be better off sourcing our own stuff in the...

Could someone link to some suitable cement grout please, finally getting round to sorting this (after 15 months). :) I've used Polycell quick dry cement filler before, but only for little touchups, and it's way too expensive for something like this. Almost dries too fast to work with too.

Just checked the cupboard and we have access to Rustins yacht oil, and Ronseal Hardwood Garden Furniture stain, which does look like it has protective properties so probably doesn't need the varnish on top. The wood guy recommended just teak oil, to let the wood breathe and be less prone to...

I'm refurbishing a cast iron bench with some new wood slats, and someone told me I should use either stain or varnish, but not both. Any reason why? Surely the stain would be for colour while the varnish would be for protection, or does it not work like that? The wood is mahogany so once I see...

Been dry since the 10th December, but showed itself again last night (very windy again, probably not a coincidence). The felt seems to run up behind the flashing, so looks like that is in order. I'll renew the mastic between the felt and the flashing, just in case. We have had problems with...

Its congregating under the ceiling wallpaper of our bay window, but it seems to be level with and running along where the external wall is. So underneath the flashing, yes, is the long confused answer. :)

Probably like a lot of people, we discovered a leak in our flat roof last weekend. Photos of the flashing/seal between the wall and roof: The little grey strip looks to have crazed every inch or so, and in the second image there is a small section missing - is this the culprit? How do I...

Some of our floors are uneven and unlevel, but how would I go about measuring exactly where the problems are and how bad they are? I presume a straight edge and a spirit level is involved, but beyond that I'd be working blind. How would a joiner do it, especially if the fix might involve...

Thanks for the help - National Grid came out this evening and sorted it (apparently - I'm not there at the moment).

The gas section on this forum is locked, so hopfully someone can advise me on this. A car reversed along the side of our building, breaking and damaging the external plastic sleeve of a pipe. The pipe is yellow, about 1 inch diameter, and a neighbour told us it's a gas pipe. I don't think the...

I've had quotes from professional painters to re-paint exterior of our house (painted render) but a few non-professional people have warned me to wait until spring because of dropping temperatures. Who is right? The painters would use Sandtex masonry paint or similar, which states not to use if...

Got it thanks - I hadn't actually refitted the new pendant yet so the two neutrals weren't touching. Have reattached the plastic block and now the lights next door are working. Will fit the pendant tomorrow in daylight. Thanks for the help,

Thanks, that make sense. The lights in the room next door now don't work - could this be because I pulled the cable to get a little more length to fit the new pendant? Only pulled it a centimetre or two, but it was already fairly tight... I'll have a look in the fitting in the room next door...

Just want to doublecheck that I've got this right. My ceiling wiring has: 1 green earth wire 1 red live wire 2 black neutral wires in the same sheath, but they were both screwed into the same hole in the plastic block The plastic block then fed five bulbs in the old light fitting. I've been...

Our upstairs walls are not built directly over the downstairs walls. One is offset around 50cms from its downstairs equivalent, and the other about 80cms. So what are they resting on? Floorboards and joists? Surely that would make joists part of the structural elements of the house, which I...