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We've just moved into a property that we've had renovated by a building contractor. This included replacing an LPG boiler with an air source heat pump. When I asked for the MCS Installation certificate so that I could apply for the RHI scheme it created panic with the builder and their...

Our builders where initially mystified by five of these drains along the wall of the bungalow they were renovating for us. It turns out that they are set into the various bathroom, toilet and kitchen drain runs leading out to the septic tank. Each one included a trap as shown alongside here. So...

Our 'new' house has power cables in surface mounted trunking throughout. The cooker has to move left of its original position for the kitchen I'm installing, as shown. Can I tidy it a little by running the cable in a channel behind the splash back tiles? If so, I'd rather the visible trunking...

I've pulled out an old kitchen and found that a small part of the floor beneath is not finished to the same level as the rest. Unfortunately I want to put a refrigerator on part of it so I need to level it up. I don't have much skill with a trowel and stuff that goes off while I'm farting about...

I've pulled out some old kitchen units and exposed this soil pipe connection. I had to drag out an old cardigan and some socks before taking the photo so it must have been causing a problem in the past. Right now it's only very slightly damp around it and there is no smell, but the house is only...

This is the stop cock in the house we're renovating. You can see a water droplet forming below the gland (or whatever it's called). I'm happy doing basic plumbing but this looks a bit scary to me. Does it need replacing or is there an in situ fix?

I want to construct a curved gravel path, radius about 5m. If I could bend it ok I would use the 200 x 25mm timber I've used for the straight paths but I think it would be a struggle. I would welcome advice on this.

I've read the sticky on DIY gas so maybe the answer is "don't" but.... We have a gas fire fed from a Calor gas bottle a little way from the house. The pipe looks like 15mm copper plumbing pipe but sheathed with green plastic. I'd like to move the gas bottle which would mean extending the...

We're having a proper driveway built (hooray!). In the future we might like to install an automatic gate opener so this seems like a good time to lay a cable. If we used the low voltage type could we get away with laying it along the bottom of the kerbstone setting shown here? If yes, what spec...

I've bought some twin walled poycarbonate to glaze a greenhouse we've been given. How important is it to seal the ends? I've also bought some aluminium tape and what's called "vent" tape as recommended but I'm not sure if it's really necessary or how to use it.

Our house came with this tiled box within a shower. The box was made of plaster board and eventually water got in and it swelled and let more water through etc... So I rebuilt the box in exterior ply and re-tiled it. Two years later and the same thing has happened again. I guess...

I have to lay some slabs for a garden seating area - about 3.5 x 4m - and I would appreciate some advice on how to go about it. So far I have at least 50mm of scalpings whacked down over a weed suppressing fabric. There will be very little traffic so the plan is to lay the slabs on screeding...

I am constructing a pond and some surrounding landscaping. A path runs right along one side of the pond and I have brought SWA cable up a metre away from the pond on the side of the path away from the pond. (It's positioned like that so that we can hide any connection box etc with planting.) I...

We are about to put up 36 trellis panels (6ft x 6ft) and 9 lap panels all pressure treated. We want to colour this black or ebony. We just need a stain, no protection, and we don't plan to do it again even though it will fade! Any suggestions for something that we can spray and won't cost as...

We are having a short section of wall built in solid concrete blocks to act as a sound screen around a garden seating area. It is L shaped in plan with lengths of 3.5m and 5m and a height of 2m (9 courses). If we have pillars half way along each section can the wall be a single thickness of...

In a previous post I was advised that I'd need to get an electrician involved with our landscaping project. Well I've tried, but they all seem to lose interest when they find out that it's a small job and in the garden. So now it's getting desperate. The "man-with-a-digger" arrives tomorrow and...

We are embarking on a large garden project which will include about 60m of paths and a couple of ponds. We want to provide some lighting throughout but nothing spectacular. I assume this should all be low voltage to make things easier from a regulations point of view - and safer. The longest...

We have a Mira Excel mixer shower in our spare room. The max temperature seems to have recently stuck at lukewarm. It works fine between cold and lukewarm! The shower is rarely used. As a new cartridge looks like costing me around £100 I'm keen to know if there is something I might do to fix it...

I need to disconnect the washing machine in my mother's house but one tap won't close properly. Mum's gone into a home and we're selling the house. The new owners will be sending the builders in to extend the kitchen rather than moving in so I only need to seal the connection. Can I get a cap...

A friend had an oil leak in her Arga which has left a smell from the oil that got onto the concrete plinth. Is there anything that can be done to remove the oil/smell?