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Oh. Thankyou. In that case, I'll use the Polyvine. I feel like we're being pushed away from oil coatings, but that would imply a conspiracy, and that would need a degree of intelligence on the part of the govt.

So now it's varnish... the old tin of Rustins from maybe ten years ago had separated to the point where I couldn't be bothered to revive it, so I buy a new tin of the same stuff or what appears to be the same. Yacht varnish, satin. After 15 hour's it's still tacky. Complete pain. I used a...

Wet edge with waterbase... now there's a magic trick. That is the reason I only use waterbase outdoors... quite hopeless on anything like a panelled door. Thankyou.

I never tried it before as I feared it would make the paint dry too fast and leave brushmarks. Do you find any difference in use?

I found it. Tapsplitter, like this. Levers against itself. No more bodging around with big spanners. I remember over forty years ago a tap so tight that I ended up splitting the basin in half.. Araldited back together. But this tool didn't exist back then.

What used to be a normal tap. Basin tap. Hot. Maybe 60 years old. Half-inch rubber washer, which I need to change. The cross-head comes off OK and the easy-clean cover, but the body is soooo tight. I remember there was/is a tool you put over the tap then it levers on itself to undo. Quite...

Well I did say that I've used the paint before... about thirteen years ago to be precise, and even though it's been sealed it does appear that old paint 'goes off' . I bought a bottle of terebine driers and it says that it revives old paint that takes a long time to dry. The driers were prompted...

Urrgh, I was thinking that it might be a hundred years or more. It's not worth doing anything about the render until you know why it's cracked. Are the cracks all in much the same area? Or distributed around the house? Are there similar houses nearby? Is it on an estate? Have a look, see if...

The render is cracking. Was it cracked before it was painted? How old is the house? No use filling or painting over it, it will crack again. Yes, to a degree you do need to worry as damp will get in behind the render and eventually the render will start to blow off, especially if we have a...

A bit late, dare say you have done summat by now... I would sand it with a detail sander, see if you can flat it to a taper edge. Then try one drop of the lining paper and see. If you are wallpapering over the lining paper, I would think you'd be OK. Matt paint, perhaps OK. Anything shiny...

That second one looks like a plasterboard join that should have been scrimmed, or perhaps over a stud. In a corner or against wood for instance, I use decorator's caulk, in a tube, flexible and seems to last well. In plaster, good old Polyfilla, the powder stuff, it goes off quickly, grips...

Painting an old internal door. Part old paint, part sanded to bare wood. Oil primer, oil undercoat, Sikkens AZ oil topcoat, all of which I've used before. After sanding, I used a tack rag before painting. Sanded between coats as well of course, and tack rag again. The rags, kept in their...

Spray in warm dry conditions. Several light coats. Observe the time between coats, as per the can. That way it will last.

After removing the paint, electric fittings can be polished up like new with Solvol Autosol metal polish. On woodwork, try sanding the paint down, see if you can get a sharp edge. If you can, then repaint, but if it keeps flaking then the adhesion is not good, burn it off and start again...

Bad luck! It's a pain finding that the PO was a decorating slob. Where it's loose you'll be able to get a scraper behind it and take most of it off in sheets. Where it's stuck, you either rub down to a fine edge, or take it off with stripper, I used Peelaway 7 which doesn't need neutralising...

So, thankyou, I got as far as cutting out some of the grout, then the project evolved as one might say, and in the end no tiles were removed. One reason was that although the tiles are white, or appear white, it seems there are a gazillion shades of white, and I couldn't match them. Doesn't...

Google, a source of dodgy ideas sometimes, but here is this chap using a multitool to get behind the tiles. Albeit they are quite newly affixed. I could try that... and the water. I'll let you know.

I need to remove three 6x3" tiles from the top of a row. Preferably unbroken. I'm raising the tiling height above them and I can't just go on up as they are rolled edge so the grout won't stick or will look too thick. I'm also concerned about loosening the nearby tiles. I've cut out the grout...

Over what height? Leaving aside potential issues with shower enclosures that may be harder to fit alongside a leaning wall, if the wall is flat, the lean doesn't matter, the adhesive will easily cope. If it's a bit wavy it's easier to lose the waves with smaller tiles. Otherwise you have the...

Interesting, thankyou.... As a rule I've been using the shower on its middle setting, but a few weeks ago I turned it up to high which is 9kw. Perhaps that accelerated the failure. It seems rather odd that a switch should be so poor at switching. Just as well light switches work better. I...