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We have a sewerage treatment works at the end of the garden and it hums away to itself. I've noticed that in the evenings my smart meter is showing around 2kwh of load and the works seems to be a bit louder at this time. I've turned every light/appliance off in the house and the load still...

Hi all, I have a path in the garden made of these grey pavers and I want to put another in to match. I think that's easy for the straight lines, but where there's a significant bend the last person managed to cut the slivers of the pavers rather neatly. How would I go about doing the same? I'd...

The fill on my Ideal Standard cistern is very slow and I think that I need to replace the diaphragm which is looking old and crusty. But I can't seem to find the equivalent online - all the ones I see have a white peg in the middle. Any ideas what to search for or would I just be better off...

I have moved in to a house that has oil fired central heating. One side of the house was used as a granny annexe and I think this might be why I have this situation. The oil boiler is in a shed attached to the back of the house and next to it is an 'unvented indirect cylinder'. This has a power...

I have just moved in to a house with solar panels on the roof of the garage. They are an older installation and therefore, I'm told, benefit from a reasonable feed in tariff which is currently being transferred to us. What I don't understand is how we are using the electricity they generate...

I'm moving house soon and where we are going the garden isn't yet dog-proof. I can quite quickly throw up a post and sheep wire fence as I've still got a post rammer and tensioning tool, but I need to sort something that will be suitable for a week or two. Doesn't need to be particularly high...

The downpipe from the roof has been reinstated to its (almost) original position but it doesn't quite line up with the drain (and the cover). Is it going to be possible to correct this with standard fittings? The pipe is 70mm. I thought perhaps there might be a flexible fitting, but I can't...

Does anyone have a favourite brand/source for door hardware? I need to buy 3 sets of T-Hinges for new FLB doors for the sheds and I want something good quality that isn't going to wobble all over the place.

I have a close coupled Vitra toilet and this morning the cistern is not filling. There is water going in but it's leaking straight in to the bowl. If I fill it using a jug it continues to leak but will flush. Where do I start? It looks like everything is attached inside the cistern as there are...

This is more of a craft thing., but you lot are knowledgeable about tools, so I thought I'd ask here. I'm looking to make some small model buildings for a hobby project and since I want them to be hollow, I thought I might cut a series of shapes from 5-10mm hardwood and then laminate them...

I am redecorating the lounge for the first time in our 1959 brick house. In one corner of the room there was a bit of hardboard screwed over a hole through the wall to a grille on the outside. Why is this here? It's been suggested that this is because there is a gas fire in the room. It's been...

I am removing the old corrugated roof from some sheds. It's a very low pitch pent roof (just under 10deg) made of single skin blockwork with a couple of courses of brick to make the pitch. It has a single joist centrally, the length is about 2.3m. Then I'm planning to use a solid roof, poss 18mm...

We are in some sort of hell with our 2 year old Grant Boiler. It was fitted by a local company that has now gone bust. It hasn't worked well until we had it serviced by an unconnected chap a couple of months ago. It's an oil fired floor standing Vortex Eco model. The original fitter did not...

I'm building a small brick wall as an edge to a new path in the garden - nothing fancy, just a single skin straight line - probably 8 courses or 15 bricks. I need to top it with something. I don't want to use overhanging tiles. Other walls at the front of the house use a row of half bricks on...

I need to work on the gable end of my house - repointing a bit and then painting, but there is a single storey extension below it with a sloping slate roof. If I could stand at the top of the roof I could reach most of the bits I need to. So I've been looking for some sort of folding ladder...