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After you've turned off both radiator valves, you'll need to drain the radiator before you remove it, by cracking open one of the valve to radiator connectors (NOT the supply pipe to valve connectors!) and then opening the bleed valve at the top of the radiator to let in air. When the raditor is...

I can appreciate your reluctance to get new radiators. However, if a lot of black sludge comes out when you hose through a radiator, this is an indication of quite extensive corrosion within, and the likelyhood of pinhole leaks developing when in use again. I don't think there is any effective...

A lot of newer float valve arms are now plastic which will snap if you try to bend them. I'm not sure if heating will help. If you can, find a float valve with a brass arm - these are readily bendable and this was the old way to make adjustments, before the float ball was mounted on an...

Unless you were able to buy a new valve that was idential to the old one, there is no reason to expect the new head to fit the old valve. Your new valve is not identical to the old one, as Nozzle has pointed out.

It seems likely that one or other of the motorised valves (the rectangular silver boxes in your picture) has failed - probably the microswitches that fire up the boiler when the valve is powered open have become unreliable. New heads are available containing the motor, gearing and the...

PTFE tape works well but I've found you need more turns of it than you first imagine. You need sufficient so that there is definite resistance felt as you screw the valve tail into the radiator threads. Bleed and blanking plugs now nearly always come with rubber sealing washers and, with these...

If you're replacing your roof, then it is surely better to take the opportunity to go for "in-roof" solar panels. On roof panels give issues with bird nests under the panels and any repairs to tiles under them need the panels to be removed. I'm also not convinced that the brackets holding the...

You could fit two 90deg bend fittings immediately above the drain cock branch as this will be below the floorboards (and therefore the fact that it doesn't look good won't matter!). Then run a new piece of pipe up against the wall and join it to the top part of the pipe above the swept bend with...

As suggested, a bit of wood lodged into the gap, maybe with some sealant around it, will stop birds, and insects getting in again. But how did the gap arise? Is the plastic cracking up and this bit just dropped out, or was the gap carelessly left by the original installer? If the former you may...

I don't think that can be plaster, and plaster is certainly not a good way to repair it, because it'll collapse when it gets wet. What is the fascia made of? Normally this is wood or plastic and from the photo it looks like it may be wood that has been eaten away by rot. The way to repair this...

Just get rid of the old cistern and replace it with a plastic one. Cleaning off all the old rust and converting what's left will be VERY time consuming and may actually perforate the cistern anyway. Any treatment you then apply to "waterproof" it may not last long and end up flaking off and...

It seems unlikely that a gas pipe would have a drain cock fitted to it.

Yes, don't bother with replacing the diaphragm - just get a complete new inlet valve, they are as cheap as chips

The plastic 4" cap on the right will easily allow a wooden dipstick to be inserted. Some tanker drivers use this aperture to fill the tank with a nozzle rested into the aperture, rather than bothering with unscrewing the metal cap and screwing on the delivery pipe.

The easiest way to fix this is just to fit a new inlet valve assembly - they're very cheap. It's really not worth the bother trying to replace internal parts - even if you can get them. But as you say, it's really the housing association's job to do this, but if that's true, why is the water...

Yes, go for quality even though you'll have to pay more. In a new house I noticed the builders had fitted very cheap looking isolation taps. The first time I tried to use one of these to replace a tap cartridge the lever shaft broke off and a jet of mains pressure water shot out. The only way I...

Mixer taps do work with cold and hot at different pressures. I have one working on HW supplied via a loft tank, and CW from the mains. It's just that you don't get equal mixing with the mixer control in its mid position. To get enough HW in the mix you need to move the control further over to...

Your points taken. But if the OP has a basin with two holes in it and wants to fit a central mixer tap, the only option - other than trying to find a mixer tap system that spans the two holes - is to replace the basin with one that just has a hole in the middle. Covering one of the holes in the...

You can get monobloc mixer taps that have a base that covers the 2 holes in an originally separate taps basin. Just Google "mixer taps for 2 hole basins" and you'll see quite a selection

You can get monobloc mixer taps that have a base that covers the 2 holes in an originally separate taps basin.