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Time to call a plumber I think!

Many years of living with a gas Aga tells me that the copy valves have a control knob made from inferior plastic, meaning that the heat drives off the plasticiser and the plastic becomes brittle and snaps. It's a complicated little injection moulded piece with some delicate bits.

Thanks for the sensible answer. So engineers CAN get genuine Aga spares; Aga don't restrict them to their own dealers.

Understand that a lot of shower pump noise is nasty high frequencies, which are easily soaked up by sound-absorbing material nearby. If you've ever been in a cafe or restaurant where the owners have understood this and hung sound absorbing panels up you'll know what I mean. My pump is enclosed...

I know. That's why I turned it off immediately.

Greetings all, I don't post very often on here nowadays but I'm sure someone on here can help. We have a gas Aga (yes, yes, I know but I'm married to a woman who is always freezing cold) and over the years have had two non-genuine gas valves fitted; the first because the valve wouldn't work and...

Stop worrying about it and get the job done. Asbestos was usually wrapped around metal pipes to insulate them, that's the bad type. There was also asbestos cement board but I can't see any of that in your pictures. It's not very hazardous especially if you remove it carefully and bag it up.

Yes our cats have a scratching post but they seem to enjoy scratching the sofa and the carpet as well. I have had some success in tidying up the tats with a good quality pair of kitchen scissors, laid flat on the surface.

Paint will grow bacteria, especially emulsion paint. Cheap paint will contain less biocide so might go bad faster, especially if stored in a warmish place.

Can't answer your question but once you've got the system drained why not add a good quality valve and a drain-off pipe?

Whenever I've smelled damp plaster I have wondered about it and hoped it would go away and then a few days later I've been at work and the phone has rung: "There's water coming through the ceiling - what should I do?"

Can you open windows on two sides so as to create an airflow? Exterior blinds or shutters would help; the shortcoming of curtains and internal blinds is that they don't stop solar radiation from entering the flat.

No, very little of our export business goes to the EU; we export to around 100 countries so even if we have to produce a little bit of extra shipping documentation for EU customers it won't make any difference. Tariffs probably won't either because our EU customers have no choice where they buy...

My export job consists of convincing Africans to buy our product so my emails have to be clear and concise. Word processing an email on Outlook before sending it is something I enjoy - I constantly ask myself: "Is that clear to the reader?"

When I fitted Mermaid shower boards in our bathroom the kit included a very good sealing strip, which sat on top of the shower tray and behind the boards, you then filled the gap with sealant, which made for a very smart job. Can you get a similar bead from a bathroom supplier?

Laundry detergent with enzymes. Works a treat on baked on food on cooking pans. Allow time to soak.

Are you sure there isn't some hidden heating like underfloor or skirting board? Some people don't fit rads to rooms because they are tight or they just don't like heating. A plumber should be able to extend the CH circuit to include those rooms; you might even find that the pipework is already...

Heat-proof rope is sold widely for use in stoves, mostly as door seals. It doen't contain asbestos.

It's not kerosine, it's a heavier fraction so it will take longer to evaporate than kerosine, which is quite volatile. Think of diesel fuel spilled on the garage forecourt; it will eventually evaporate leaving a waxy deposit but in cold weather it takes a long time. Heavy oil is also very smelly...

If the design is the same as in my Honeywell 3-way valve, the flow is controlled by a black rubber ball on the end of an arm, which moves under motor power and opens or blocks the two ports or leaves them both open.