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Hi, I've just had my floorboards stripped and varnished and they look great. I've put new skirting on, but as the floors are 120 years old and not perfectly flat I've got gaps of a few mms in places. What do people normally do with these? Fill or ignore?

Hi, It's 4 foot wide, 1 foot back and only 1 inch deep (it's to repair damage to existing concrete slab.

Hi, I have a hole where a fireplace hearth used to be and want to cement it flat to bring it to floor level and then paint black. I've bought cement (plasticised) and sand and don't know what cement/sand mix to use for this. Can anyone help please?

I've got 2 items I need to keep and clean up, both of which are filrthy currently: a wired smoke detector and wired alarm buzzer. What would be a good product for cleaning these bearing in mind I can use a damp cloth, but not a wet one on them?

I've been using this to paint old door architraves and it knocks very easily. I presume I need an oil based equivalent to give a more hard wearing finish. What would that be?

You can purchase masks that will protect you from this vapour, but the last one I got was about £18 in Screwfix. The amount of work involved i nthis to get a good result will be massive! You'll spend a longtime stripping eac bainster and then have to sand then afterwards. If you're tempted...

I have some experience of wiring and a degree in Electrical Engineer so all the principles and calculations side of it's straightforward, it's more how todo things in accordance with IEE guidelines that I'd need to learn. How hard is itto become Part P qualified? If there's an intensive...

Thanks folks for the advice. I agree that it would be easy for me to mess up and I'm also put off as it's a pretty noisy & dirty job. What do you think of the price - 2 14 by 14 foot rooms sanded and varnished for £550 cash. The guy said 2 of them would do it within a day and I'm wondering if...

I'm going to get 2 rooms sanded (each 14 by 15ft). I've had a quote for: £400 sand only £550 sand and varnish with polyurethane (3 coats). The floors are original oak from 1880 and have mild stiletto marks and rasing of boards in cetre, so I'd presume a standard sand. Is this price...

Thanks folks Re: voting for the electrician, I want to make sure it's done properly and safely, regardless of whether he's liable. I've ony got a 1 bed flat, but spotlights in most rooms (5 sitting room, 6 kitchen, 2 bathroom, so: 18 spotlights = 900w 3 normal dangley lights (2 entrance...

I currently have a 6A standard MCB covering the lights in my 1 flat. I'm getting an extractor putinto the bathroom and the electrician says it will take me over this 6A current and that as the wiring is 1.5mm he can fit a 10A RCBO. I spoke to my dad and he's sure that you can only use 6A for...

Thanks Eric. I've addd spurs in my sitting room before and am happy to do this and not notify anyone (and indeed I've read that this is not notifiable in my Collins DIY manual). Is adding extra low voltage lighting to the bathroom more controversial than this? I fail to see why if all the work's...

I deiberately chose a fa of the same make/model so it was a trivial swapover. I haven't changed it yet and would rather getan electrician in to do this if it is, but it seems a bit ludicrous. Is this really notfiable?

I'm replacing my bathroom fan (timed one) with the same make and model model and the new one shows that a fuse is needed on te permanent live feed. The existing isolator switch is a 3 pole one outside the bathroom and doesn't have a fuse so I've looked for an isolating switch with a fuse and...

Yikes... Glad I learnt how to add a socket spur and add recessed lighting to my bathroom and not ask here or else I might have got as many lectures on electrical work ;-) FOund this really useful: http://www.screwfix.com/prods/55127/Security/Alarm... In the end, the 2 black wires went...

Be warned though - when you come to connect up the radiator again, you'll have a nightmare with the joints you've undone leaking. I'd geta plumber in - it's a small cost to pay to avoid a tricky and complex task that you may need to geta plumber in to repair your work for anyway!

I meant I disabled the detector region for my flat. I met tehguy who services it each year and he knew less abot it than I did and he was fine with me replacing the sensors. He said they're all standard for heat and smok and it was him who showed me how to disable my flat sensors in order to...

I want to replace both a heat detector and smoke detector in my flat. The detectors are linkd to a central system for the building and all flats. I've managed to disable this for the change and having boughtnew ones from Screwfix, took the covers off the old ones to find the attached. The...

I'm considering putting a wall mounted, flueless gas fire into a flat I'm renovating to sell: http://birmingham.gumtree.com/birmingham/37/47397937.html I've got a mate who's a gas fitter who can connect it for free, but says it needs venitaltion of 100cm2 and I can't access the external wall...

I thought this needed buildingcontrol or a plumber registered under the competent persons scheme, but I've had 2 plumbers over for quotes andthey say that tey've never had anyone bother with getting building conrol involved. I need to sell the flat next Easter, so will probably have to declare...