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I have a couple of the sonic cat detectors you mention and they seem to work quite well. They also like long grass and soft earth to mess in, so I would always keep the grass cut short if you have time.

Hi I have some old paving slabs which are very thick and heavy. They measure 2ft x 2ft 6" and are 3" thick. I think they used to be called council slabs. I'd like to cut one of these leaving a straight edge to finish a path. What is the best way to do this please? I thought about putting a...

It's only small about 9ft square

Hi One of my bedrooms is going to re-carpeted soon but there are oversized gaps between some of the floor boards. These were caused when central heating was installed in the past and they cut through the tongue and groove. Some of these gaps did show up as lines in the old carpet, so I'd like...

Hello I need to replace a radiator on plasterboard that has been fixed to a block wall using dot & dab. I presume its not a good idea to fix the radiator to just the plasterboard, using something like spring toggles, in case the dot & dab comes loose. So was planning to drill through into the...

Hello When emulsion painting a wall with a brush what technique do you use to leave the least brush marks please? I know that you apply the paint in all directions to work in the paint. But when that's finished do you lay it off with vertical or horizontal strokes, or just leave it with strokes...

Hello I'm looking to replace several flat panel radiators and wondered which merchants or shops you would recommend? I'm looking for good quality with a nice bright white finish and hopefully a 5-10 year guarantee. Thanks for your advice Robin

Hello I've been painting a bookcase with oil based liquid gloss paint and had a problem with one of the shelves. As it was drying some dust blew over it which has now set in the paintwork. Therefore I would like to rub it down enough to remove the dust and repaint it. I know that gloss is dry...

Thanks for your reply, I'll buy an extra length of coving just to practise my corner skills! I did put up some coving about 20 years ago and remember that it went well at the time, but cant remember how I cut the corners. I see that Wickes sell a plastic triangular template for cutting corners...

Hello, We've had our CH boiler about 6 years and it's connected to a Siemens RDJ10RF remote thermostat/timer. After about 3 years the receiver on this unit died and so we replaced it with an identical unit, but last night when I switched on the power to the boiler this replacement also failed...

Yes, I've been trying to figure out how much extra coving I should buy to make up for all the mistakes I'm bound to make! Some of the corners in the room are also not particulaly square, so I should have some fun o_O

Hi I'm planning to fit some coving and wanted some advice on cutting the corner joints. Can you use an ordinary mitre box to cut the 45 degree corners, or is there anything special about the mitre boxes they sell specifically for coving? I've watched some videos on cutting coving and it appears...

Thanks for your reply, I think I'll take your advice and use eggshell instead, there are lots of minor imperfections on the bookcase which I'm sure will show up with gloss. Perhaps you could give me some more tips on painting bookcases, do you use a brush or small roller, do you paint the ends...

I thought a new consumer unit would be a good idea because rcd's are a lot more sensitive and trip out more quickly than old style fuses. So just wanted to assess what extra work might be involved. If it's too disruptive and expensive and the electrician insists on making changes to the...

Thanks, so they can't bond it in the airing cupboard where all the pipes converge, they need to go back to the actual point of entry and then run a new earth wire all the way to the consumer unit? One final question... the house has no earth on the lighting circuit, since this was not required...

Thanks for your reply. If I have the consumer unit replaced then I presume the electrician would also be required to upgrade the earth and install bonding if required to meet current regulations? So I can't just have the consumer unit replaced if the earth is below current standards...

Hi I have an old style fuse box and would like it upgrading to a modern trip switch consumer unit. However it appears that there is only one earth connection in the house which goes to the main incoming supply cable, so an electrician would also need to improve and bond the earth. What does...

Hello In the past whenever I've painted with gloss paint it has only needed one coat. However I'm about to paint a bookcase with a dark gloss and I wondered what to do if it needs a second coat. Do you apply the second coat as soon as the first coat has dried and do you lightly sand the first...

Hello When we moved into our home in 1985 one bedroom and the bathroom had a single bar electric fire high up on the wall operated by a pull cord. The house was built in 1968 when central heating was not commonplace. We didn't like the fires too much so they were removed and blanking plates put...

Thanks for your reply. There appears to be no fixings in the plasterboard and from the amount it moves there is probably a 5mm gap behind it, so this means its dot & dab? One suggestion I spotted on the web was to drill a hole in the loose spot and squirt expanding foam behind the board to fix...