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A crack in our solid oak kitchen worktop, fitted around five years ago has just developed. It extends back around 12 inches from the Belfast sink, and the first 6 inches or so looks quite deep, whilst the rest is superficial but looks like it could open up further. It isn't a failure of stave...

I have a few 12V AC garden lights, wired in parallel to a 240V transformer which is plugged into a wireless-operated switch which is plugged into a standard plug socket in rhe garden shed. The shed is properly wired to the house (shielded cable, fitted by electrician etc) and a wireless switch...

Around 18 months ago I used Osmo Top Oil (couple of layers of Acacia colour to give a lovely deep honey coloured stain, then a layer of clear matt for additional protection) on the solid oak kitchen worktop. Due to standing water near the sink an area had started to become blackened, so I sanded...

I rebuilt my garden shed around five years ago around the remains of an outhouse. It has brick walls to sides and back and waney edge larch panels on the front. Pent roof slopes down to the front wall at around 10 degrees. 2 by 6 treated beams run left to right about 0.5m apart and decking is...

I rebuilt my garden shed around five years ago around the remains of an outhouse. It has brick walls to sides and back and waney edge larch panels on the front. Pent roof slopes down to the front wall at around 10 degrees. 2 by 6 treated beams run left to right about 0.5m apart and decking is...

My second 12V AC, 60W garden lights transformer has just died. Both lasted around 6 months and were left running for 4-6 hours a day continuously plugged into a timer. Transformer itself plugged into 240V domestic supply in brick outhouse which is cold and damp but certainly not wet, thought the...

Hi would really appreciate advice on finding the source of and repairing a roof leak. Setting - Victorian terraced house. At some point kitchen had a single storey extension out at the back through removal of part of downstairs rear wall (above which the brickwork is supported by RSJ). The...

The stairs in my Victorian house from ground floor to first floor are very short and very steep. The staircase is in the form of two runs of six stairs, with a landing at 90 degrees. The height of each riser is 21cm and the nosing to nosing going is a mere 18cm (which is well short of the...

Having my hallway tiled, 10m long by 1m wide in a Victorian terraced house that originally had geometric tiled floor on compacted cinder but it subsided and cracked beyond repair. Had the whole lot dug out, joists inserted every 30cm so as to be super rigid for taking tiles, then 18mm plywood...

Advice appreciated for painting a small but awkward shaped under stairs cupboard in my Victorian terraced house. The plaster was probably reskimmed 50 years old and painted magnolia many years ago. I started putting on new Dulux matt white emulsion today with a roller and it's all peeled off...

I need to redecorate one of the bedrooms whilst we're in lockdown. It's a Victorian house, original plaster, thick heavy patterned wallpaper. Three walls have brick and plaster which seems sound, the fourth wall is lath and plaster but there are a few areas where the plaster has come loose from...

Recently bought a secondhand vintage desk lamp. Very attractive, and bonus was that it had supposedly been PAT tested. Got back from the antique shop to find the thread of the lampholder had stripped leaving the lamp (with bare live prong) sticking up in one hand and the lampshade and...

As per question. Project to keep the wife happy over the New Year is to strip the existing oak kitchen worktops and oak upstands of the horrid Danish oil (the stuff that has to be reapplied every few weeks and lasts a week before going black again) and treating properly with Osmo top oil like it...

The brick wall in my garden is coming apart. It forms an L shape being in a corner and consists of 3m of half width (? technical term - a single course of bricks) and a further 3m of double width (ie two bricks side by side) with a pillar inbetween; it's about 80cm tall. The bricks must be 50...

My ensuite bathroom has a very elderly 8.5kW shower that I want to replace. Flow rate is generally poor despite excellent water pressure to the house, temperature adjustment is usually either "too cold" or "too hot" and if water is drawn anywhere else in the house (e.g. flushing a toilet) when...

I have a standard lamp consisting of a wooden pole and a plastic lampholder at the top. The on-off switch has jammed (thankfully in the "on" position) so the only way I can turn the lamp off is by turning off at the wall switch which is a bit of a faff. I removed the lampshade and bulb to see...

I'm installing a new garden fence for the back garden. There's an alley between the house and neighbour's house followed by a short stretch of fence about 1.2m long between posts B and C (post C attaches to the back wall of the house) then a 90cm wide gate from post B to post A and thereafter...

In our utility room there is a sink, central heating boiler, washing machine and tumble dryer. The room is about 7.5 cubic metres and has no opening window so to meet building regs needed an extractor fan. When we had the kitchen redone end of last year the sparky fitted a quite expensive (£100...

Hi not sure if this is an electrical question or a decorating question. We are in the process of decorating and trying to recreate an "arts and crafts" style room with fabric pasted onto the wall (specifically hessian or burlap, rather than wallpaper). All the sockets and light switches in the...

My wife has decided we need a Kilner jar chandelier in our kitchen, something along the lines of this: However, as we're looking at close to £1000 for a specialist company to put together an old cartwheel, eight earthed and hooked lampholders, a bit of chain, some old jam jars and some heat...