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We had a backdoor replaced last year as part of a renovation with a new UPVC door. It fit just fine when first fitted but since the weather got warmer it's been more and more reluctant to lock - now it's stopped altogether. It shuts ok, handle lift is a little tougher than previously but does...

We're looking to get a washing line set-up in our back garden. We live in a valley so our garden is quite elevated from the house - as such there's not really a tether point on the house suited to attaching a line. The previous owners appear to have had two scaffold-pole like tubed concreted in...

Hi everyone, We are in the process of renovating our under-stairs cupboard into a more useful storage space. The wall (external wall) the stairs are on is unplastered and rather dusty. My partner was keen that we board it - but I'm thinking (to save on space) of just painting it to seal it up...

Hi there, We had our house replastered and rewired throughout. The builder who did the plastering did a pretty messy job generally (should have found a dedicated plasterer I know...) but particularly rough around the sockets/light switches. He has offered to come back and tidy with some filler...

Hi folks, I spent some time over last week installing our Tado kit onto our central heating. We have a Baxi 830 boiler with 11 standard radiators and one towel radiator in the bathroom. All had TRVs when installed except the towel rad. The whole system - boiler, pipework and rads are new and...

Any Tado experts lurking here? I had a go at connecting a Tado Wired Extension Kit (wired so it supports OpenTherm) to our Baxi 830 boiler earlier. All seemed to go well according to the app - but changing the thermostats right down to zero doesn't seem to do anything to the heating and the...

Hello, Hoping for some advice on fixings. We've had our bathroom redone. As well as the new suite, the walls have had a new skim of plaster and then been clad with 'Eazipanel' plastic sheets in a mock-tile effect. (8mm plastic cladding). I now need to put up a bathroom cabinet, toilet roll...

Hi all, Hoping someone can help. We've restored a lovely old minton floor in our hallway - but have been struggling with handling the threshold between this and our kitchen laminate flooring. The kitchen floor is 2cm higher than the hall tiles (kitchen extension floor was always higher but less...

Hi everyone, We've been renovating an old 1900s terraced how and finally have plaster on all the walls. I have a decorator coming in on Wednesday to spray a mist coat onto all the dry plaster (he's using Leyland Trade emulsion watered down for the mist coats...). I have a 30% discount with...

Hi all, We've had our original rim locks restored (new springs, paint stripped, refinished) and they've come back looking lovely (photo below). Sadly the original dome-top screws were beyond saving. Any suggestions of a sympathetic modern screw type for mounting these back onto the doors...

Hi everyone, I'm in the process of renovating an old (1904) house in South Wales. We found under lots of boxing in the original stair case was mostly intact - but it is missing a couple of spindles. I'm struggling to find this exact style - lots of similar ones on the various stair part sites...

Hello, We are currently renovating a early 1900s house in South Wales for us to move into. The house came with a tiny kitchen extension and we'd asked our builder to remove the dividing wall (which previously just had a wide door opening) between this and the dining room to allow us to create...

We're considering buying a Brita filter tap for our new kitchen - but wondered if anyone has used one/knows if they're reliable (as they're quite pricey)? Or if anyone knows of any Brita P1000 compatible taps from other brands? Thanks in advance, Steve

Help... I've been reading reviews of smoke alarms and getting nowhere. We have a 1900s terraced house in Wales that we're renovating. We're having to re-wire, plaster and decorate throughout so now is the time to install mains smoke alarms if we are going to have them... This is where my...

Hi, We're in the process of completing on a mid-terraced house. The chimneys have all been closed up with the exception of one that used to hold an old coal boiler and now holds a freestanding gas boiler (about the size of a dishwasher). None of the chimneys actually extend out beyond roof...

Hi all, We had a leak from under our kitchen sink yesterday and it turned out the pipework connecting our mini/rinse sink to the waste had rotten away. I've struggled to find the right replacement bits of pipe/connector. It's a standard 40mm waste/plughole connector going to exactly the same...

Hi folks, After some advice. We have a bathroom basin where the pop-up waste has failed. I have a replacement waste to fit - but the plastic connector onto the existing pop-up waste seems to have been fitted by someone who didn't know they're meant to be tightened by hand only. I can't get...

Hi all, After some advice. Our house has 8 MR16 spotlights lighting the kitchen (with some separate under-cupboard lighting). Two of the bulbs failed at the weekend - replaced one no problem the 2nd wont come back to life. Tried 3 bulbs now and no joy with any. Father in law suggested...

Hi all, I'm having some doubts about some advice from B&Q this evening. I need to repaint the walls/ceiling in our bathroom now that we have a new extractor fan and the dehumidifier has dried out the walls. The chap on the paint desk in B&Q advised to leave the bathroom paint and use...

Hi all, Pretty new to this whole homeowning/DIY world - but trying to do more around the place each month. Need some advice here though. Our bathroom extractor fan failed just before christmas - and for various reasons it took the electrician several weeks to get a replacement up and...