Search results

We had some work done to our house, including replacing all the smoke and heat detectors. We have an Edwardian terrace house (3 floors including loft conversion) in London and now have: Aico EI144RC Mains & Battery-Powered Heat Alarm in the kitchen; Aico EI141RC Ionisation Smoke Alarms in the...

Last Summer we had our consumer unit changed during some other refurbishment works. The electrician did all the work, then told us that he couldn't issue a certificate for it because there was no Earth connection for the house. It took us a few months, but we finally managed to get UK Power...

We recently refurbished our house and installed solid bamboo flooring, floating over a cork underlay on top of floorboards (and concrete in the kitchen). Unfortunately the builder has botched the ground floor: he laid the floor then built the kitchen on top of it so the floor can't expand and...

We renovated our kitchen/dining room and had new solid bamboo floors installed floating over a cork underlay. The builder asked me if we wanted the floors to extend under the cabinets, and stupidly I said yes. My thinking was that if it didn't the cabinets around the walls would be at a...

We are having work done on our Edwardian terrace, involving removal of most of the rear wall on the ground floor to make room for a large door/window. We have the drawings of a structural engineer but I am unconvinced: he has planned to make a vertical rectangle of steel to fit into the new...

This is a picture of the front of our 1902 terrace house, the wall below the ground floor bay window. It is the north facing side. The paint seems to be bubbling around the pointing, but it looks brick coloured where the paint comes off. Any ideas on what could be causing this, or how to fix...

Hi, I am building a summerhouse and want to lay an underground cable to the main house for electrics (it's only about 10m away). I will get an electrician to link it up to the house's electrics, but was wondering what sort of cable I will need. It will need to power a maximum of 3KW of...

Hi, We've never had a problem with damp stains on walls in the year and a half we have owned our home, but this January several have appeared on the external walls on the first floor. The stains are on the wall of the house facing southwest, and the walls are solid brick. The outside is...

Hi, I have a central heating/hot water system which is misbehaving. It has the following components: 1 potterton boiler 1 potterton timer switch with controls for hot water and for CH 3 Honeywell zone valves controllong HW, half the house's CH, the other half's CH 1 HW cylynder thermostat...

I have an Edwardian House with the original wood-framed windows around the front. Drafts occur between the frame and the panels which open, and I was wondering whether there is a way to seal these. Self-adhesive strips seem the easiest but the window won't close properly if I put them in. A...

Hi, I'm having trouble with the shower in our new house: the water is always too hot! Even when the temperature control knob is right down at the lowest temperature the water is really hot. I believe it's the mixer valve for a couple of reasons: 1. Hot and cold water work fine in the bath...

Hi, I've just bought a house and am trying to figure out what's wrong with it. The radiators come on even though the heating is 'off' and just the hot water is 'on'. A bit about the system: We have a Potterton Promax FSB HE boiler, and a hot water tank on the first floor. There are three...

Hi, I have a Stuart Turner Showermate 1.4 bar twin positive head pump which I need to replace. A friend has offered to give me a pump he used for only a couple of months before changing his whole system: it is a Stuart Tuner Monsoon N3.0 bar twin, negative head. Can I use the one he wants to...

Hello, I would really appreciate some advice. I have just bought a house and the first floor bathroom's shower and bath are fed by a Turner Showermate 1.4 bar twin pump. The hot water works fine - the pump starts and keeps a good steady pressure. The cold water does not: the pump starts and...