Search results

Hi everyone. I've got a 1960's semi with the world's loudest creaking staircase. I have tried many things over the years but ultimately it comes down to the fact that most of the wood is shot. It's got cracks through it where previous occupants have smashed various nails and huge wood screws...

Hi all, We have a Worcester Combi in the loft. On the ground floor we have the kitchen. Whenever I run the hot tap it can take a good 30 seconds to get the water really hot in the sink, we can be wasting half a bowl of water or more every time. I'm not up for installing a separate tap and am...

Hi everyone. I have an old 1980's computer. The power lead appears to be a moulded .75mm flex that feeds into the power supply and is connected on L and N using a female spade connector, the earth is a ring. The computer is fused at the plug with a 3amp fuse. It's damaged and I want to replace...

Hiya, I have a shed which will have a UPS in it, it'll run things like a 3D printer, Laptop, PS4 etc (not at the same time). I hate trailing cables... I like wall sockets! This is a £450 UPS so I don't want to waste it but only has the C13 sockets in the back of it so no 16amp out I can feed...

Hi, A friend has asked whether I can run an ethernet lead between his house and a neighbours about 50 metres away so he can share their ultrafast broadband that he can't get in his road. Of course, that's easy but I have only ever done to outbuildings on the same electricity supply before and...

Hi, Whenever we put on a 60 degree wash the cycle starts but on the wash cycle the time keeps going down and then back up again before it gets to the rinse. We think it only happens on a 60 degree wash whereas normal 30 degree seems to be ok. My theory is that it will be a broken thermister...

Hi, I have a detached brick single skin garage (no dpm), on the whole it's pretty dry save some occasional 5mm damp marks where the brick meets the floor, where I have painted the inside the paint is mostly still there save occasional bits over the mortar (planning on treating the outside with...

I have a detached garage that is 2m from my house. The garage is 2.3m high from the floor of the garage. The house level is 2 feet higher as it's sloping ground with the garage cut into the slope. The garage is around 1 foot from the property boundary. I am having a new roof put on and wanted...

This isn't strictly electrics but you guys will know the answer! I am trying to run some CAT5e above a suspended ceiling (15m run). I was going down the route of catenary wire, attaching eyebolts at each end and supporting wires along the length attached to the concrete ceiling. There are...

Hi all, After a bit of advice. I have a combi boiler in the loft (baxi 105e) but there is a fairly long run to reach my hot water in the kitchen, maybe as much as 14 metres. I wonder if there is such a thing as an inline water heater that can be fitted in the kitchen that will heat the water...

I have concrete floors in my 1960's semi. I have pulled the carpet and stripped off what looks to be the original lino tiles. Towards the patio doors the last 500mm of concrete raises up by nearly 30mm in a slope and sounds hollow. There is a small crack where it starts to lift. I broke a hole...

Hi, I currently have a non retaining stud wall separating the kitchen and dining room. I want to pull the wall down and then create a waist or chest height wall as a back for the kitchen cabinets and to add sockets into. It will be able to fix to the concrete floor and to one brick wall and...

I am looking at getting a wicks kitchen and fitting it myself with a friend. I am getting all of the electrics done by someone qualified of course. Trouble is the appliances seem very expensive, I am looking at a single oven with grill and then a built in microwave with oven function above. I am...

Title says it all! Follow the instructions, pilot lights ok, fire lights ok but after about 30 seconds it goes out with a click. Was working up until a week ago. Have gone through the instructions and the only thing that I read was that it has an oxygen depletion sensor that can shut down the...

I removed a fitted wardrobe the other day so was finally able to get under the floorboards to see why it creaked when the heating was on. I found that all of the hot water pipes route along perpendicular to the joists. They have not been clipped and are rammed into two huge notches taken out of...

I have a Baxi Combi 105e that currently has a Honeywell CM67 thermostat. The thermostat has been messing with me, it decided today that today no longer existed and just stayed on. I believe it to have some kind of thermostat dementia as this in not the first occurrence. I would like to...

Hi, My aunt has a small cottage in a tiny village in France. When she bought it one of the rooms was a bit ramshackle and sticking out of the floor a couple of inches from the wall is a pipe with some live cables that used to have a socket for a washing machine in it. I am going down there...

Hi all, I have a full time job in IT which I cannot afford to give up for full time training. I've been (carefully) messing about with electrics, wiring circuits etc for a few years on my own properties but am now thinking of changing career. (not sure if electrics is a good move!) Just...

Hi, Last night my RCD tripped whilst both the dishwasher and washing machine were on. The MCB for the circuit they are on did not trip, just the RCD. Firstly, why did the MCB not trip also? Secondly, what could be the cause? - I turned off the dishwasher and the tripping stopped. When I...

Hi, I live in a semi with a dormar that continues all the way across both houses. I get a massive amount of sound from next door when they talk, babies crying even snoring... This was built in the 60's and it wasn't insulated at all. The outside wall resonates sound from outside and next...