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I have a leaking caleffi trv, around the actuator pin. I have a couple of old valves, which were not leaking, and inserts came out without any problem. I cannot source new inserts from caleffi in uk (why not is a good question) and freezing pipe is diificult. Draing gravity fed system very long...

Hi all, quick question. A friend is doing up his house, and was advised by his sparky that they couldnt do any work on the electrics until a fused isolator switch was fitted between meter and CU. I suggested it simply needed to be an isolator switch, as tge fuse would serve no purpose (I have...

I have a house which has the strangest electrics ever - converted from 3 phase. Originally, it used a three phase board, but lighting circuit, power circuits etc were random - and highly dangerous, because I could have sockets on one phase and lights on another in the same room. I had a sparky...

Hi - I need to drill two 22mm holes exactly perpendicular through a very thick (520mm) wall (once external) to meet existing CH supplies. I need to be exact, but these pipes are only 100mm and 130mm above floor height respectively. Does anyone know of a jig or frame that can be bought or hired...

I have serious damp on brick window pillar. Having hacked off the render (clearly been bodged - mix of sand/cement on top of plaster finish in places!), clear that significant damp coming through from external wall. This is the original part of the house, and I believe it has solid walls, or...

I am trying to find a three way diverter which doesn't follow the normal T geometry, ie inlet at the bottom, diverts either left or right. I am looking for inlet at one side, normally open straight through, diverted out of lower outlet when called ie on a standard diverter inlet B, NO outlet A...

I am repairing a hardwood floor that has been fitted without any expansion gap which has caused it to bow. My intent is to remove the skirting boards, and take 10-15mm off each edge, and put new skirting board back (this time matched to the rest of the house - doh!) I can do this with a hand...

I have a garden wall which suffers damp, because no drain was placed behind it when it was built. This retains the ground behind my house - only about 3ft tall, but it is the first thing you see when you look out of the window and is unsightly. Currently, top layer render is coming off, or where...

Having received some excellent advice about the best way to service a small number of individual services form an emergency generator on this forum last week, further investigations have thrown up a question and I am looking for a "best practice" solution. The house has a 3ph supply, presumably...

Looking for some advice as to the art of the possible prior to making a numpty of myself in front of my electrician. Current board is three phase which has been split so upstairs circuits on one, downstairs on another and outbuildings on the third ( house used to have all electric heating I...

A while since I have been on the FORUM. I have been advised by an architect to get some structural engineer calcs done, but the quote for two calculations is more than the architect charged me for the entire set of plans! Basically, I need a 2m access in what was an external wall, but is no...

Hi - recently changed sockets in a room - and behind one, I discovered one of the neutrals had been disconnected and taped over. Sockets do not show any neutral faults, so the ring is complete one way - but when I connect the "taped over" neutral and remove the other, I get a neutral fault...

a spotlight that can be adjusted to light a picture, ie throw a square light beam onto a wall? I have looked everywhere, and they are all bog-standard round spots. They can do this in the theatre - can I get a mini theatre style light to do the job? Any pointers welcome. Thanks.

I thought I might demonstrate to you the correct way of terminating a live electrical installation in a wall prior to wall-papering your dining room. It is of course important to ensure that you leave no indication of the live terminal for the people who buy your house from you….especially...

I am trying to fit a single wall mounbted spout to a bathroom. This spout has a single 3/4" inlet, designed I assume to come from a mixer tap. However, I would rather use seperate taps, which means I need to connect the outputs form hot and cold into a single pipe. If I use a standard T...

I am replacing a bathroom light - it was a standard metal ceiling light fitting, in zone 1, connected using taped up chocolate block. Need we tremble. And it also acted as the junction for the entire upstairs lighting ring However, the lights I can find which are formally noted as "for...

I am very limited for space in my bathroom, and want to fit a wall-hung toilet, flushed direct from the mains. I can get a product in Australia that does this: http://mainsflush.com.au/index.php?page=commercial-toilets but I cannot find them in the UK. THe water regs say these are...

Hi all - I have a Ryobi ETS1526AL Table Saw which appears to have a hole to take a router, with 4 screw holes for fixing. However, my (very old) B&D router doesn't fit - and I cannot find out whether a ryobi router will fit or not. Anyone happen to know? I would rather not have to buy a separate...

I wish to fit a rayburn into an existing fireplace. However, the existing 28mm plumbing comes into the wrong side of the fire place, and I am going to have to run the pipes behind the rayburn and into the other side. This will introduce at least 3 x 90 degree bends on each of supply and return...

I am building a 22m long retaining wall from 9" hollow block, which will be reinforced with steel hooked into a reinforced foundation. My question is, at what centres do I need to insert 12mm re-bar? I had estimated about 1 every metre - is this sufficient? second question - Wall will be...