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Hello, I am completely puzzled as to where the leak in my washing machine is coming from. Lots of water pour out from underneath the machine. Three clues: 1- There were some bits of white plastic (as the plastic the outer drum is made of) last time I took out the wash after flooding the...

I installed this woodwork in a garage, frames for door and window. The wood was bare and untreated and I was going to treat it and paint it with exterior paint. But I left for several months and it was exposed to the constant rain this year. The door is internal but I thought that I could...

Hello, I have a damp patch that does not seem to want to go. It has mould growing on it. The builders who worked on it put a thick layer of it and painted on it before it was fully dry but that was months ago. I do not think it is rising damp as the wall on the other side does not have the...

I am having a carpet installed on a floor that has very old synthetic tiles which I am leaving as they provide a smooth surface and it is too much work to remove them. The carpet will have an underlay. But it has some tiles broken and missing leaving a change of level of 4mm approx. The carpet...

The people who decorated my house before did a shoddy job painting the walls without using masking tape. What is the best way to remove the vynil wall paint from UPVC frames, tiles and gloss paint without damaging the adjacent painted wall? Thanks

I have a conservatory with an interlocking laminate floor, measuring 3 x 3 metres. There is a bead around the floor plus 2 door thresholds. The morons who installed the floor before did not leave room for expansion of the floor around the perimeter. Now the floor is bulging and lifting. Is...

I installed a conservatory but Building Control want me to isolate it by adding a DG window and door and to remove the heater in it. The thing is I have access to a toilet from the conservatory and it will be horrible to use the toilet during the winter with it being outside the heated envelope...

I am installing a kitchen with an L shape. The long part fo the L is aginst the wall and screwed to it. The short part of the L extends from the wall, away from adjacent walls, and is tied to the long part. It protrudes 1.2m from the long part. The cabinets are tied together and fixed to the...

I am working on a garden that was neglected fo years. It had weeds 1.5 metres high. I hope there were none of of Japanese things. My people removed all the overgrowth and old grass plus some of the soil. What do I need to do to the soil so that the weeds do not grow again? At this time...

Hello I have got an Dewalt jigsaw (about 7 years old). It has done a fair amount of work and it is good quality. it suddenly stopped working; the plug fuse is OK. Could this be burn-out? Is it worth trying to repair it or is it time to buy a new one? If it is worth trying to repair it, where...

Hello, I have this problem with a DIY conservatory I installed. The conservatory company just gave me this aluminium channel to install against the wall on the house, under the roof tiles. The thing is they did not give me any real connection system to the rain down pipe. And still I have to...

Hello, My builders and I are installing electrics in a separate garage as shown on the picture. There is an armoured cable going to the garage. It is an exclusive circuit from the CU, in the house, and it is not shared with anything else in the house. There will only be a double socket and...

I have just installed a conservatory and, as the photos below show, we have a dodgy joint of the roof with an existing flat roof. The latter has that bituminous felt and the photos show gaps and a first attempt to put silicone in the joint, which I doubt will be enough. Should we add roof felt...

I am refurbishing a property, where the stairs structure is in good condition. There was carpet on them but I do not really want carpet again. I am trying to think of how to provide a finish to them. This is not a luxury house so no solid oak covering. I need to do the steps and the stringers. I...

I want to add a cable for a new electric oven (10mm) and I wonder if the regulations will allow me to install the cable behind the kitchen units but exposed on the plaster behind, so it would be between the kitchen units and the plasterboard and out of 'the zones' Also, can I fix the DP FCU on...

Hello, Can people recommend a seller of kitchens, who sells end of line kitchens or online, etc. I am looking for the type of supplier where people like small developers buy. This is for a standard estate house (no fancy kitchen). I am looking for a low price but without MFI quality! A...

I have a discussion with someone as to whether it is good practice (or even allowed) to connect a wall light (e.g. cheap B&Q light) as on the picture here. It involves adding a connector block inside the light enclosure to connect the live wire to the light switch. This is at the end of a radial...

I am replacing some old windows with new UPVC DG ones. I have some old problems with distortion of the window apertures: - On this photo, the top row of bricks is bowed down up to 10mm in the middle: Is the remedy for this one to use the rule of deducting 10mm from the smallest aperture...

There is one thing I cannot find in the 17th edition of the wiring regulations about permitted cable zones. In order to reduce 'cable mileage' (and voltage drop) I am thinking of running some cables in the empty roof spaces of my house above the joists and at an angle, like from corner to corner...

Hello, I did the calculations to install heaters in my home and the bathrooom came up as 670-900 watts. The towel rails barely reach the 600 watt mark. Is it generally accepted that using a towel rail, instead of a panel radiator in a bathroom it will give less heat as it is not a room...