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So I am wanting to change the light fitting in our living room. This existing one was in when we bought the house. After detaching it from its bracket. There are three wires from actual fitting, live neutral and earth each connected to a separate block. From the ceiling I have: 3 black...

Hi, I’m in the process of decoding the Hall, stairs and landing and looking at top coats. We like a colour from the Crown Crafted Flat Matt range but given the area to be tackled, I don’t think a flat matt of this type would be practical. Decorating Centre Online can colour match this colour...

I have 4 original 1930’s doors that we’ve uncovered and I’m fairly sure one side is lead paint. Seems in good condition so I don’t want the hassle of removing it, regardless of lead paint or not. I’ve read about encapsulating it but all of the products seem to be from the US. Can a Zinser...

We have 4 doors upstairs that had compete flat panels over the them. Once removed they are the original 1930’s doors underneath. One side is varnished which I know needs to be removed but the other side is painted. We intend to paint them again but do I need to remove the old paint or can I sand...

Rookie mistake! I need to trim the bottom off an old wooden internal door due to new carpets. I used a jigsaw with a guide clamped to the door and thought I’d done a great job until I realised the underside had veered inwards and taken a chunk out that I didn’t need! Lovely straight line on top...

Hi, we have 4 x 1930’s internal doors that we’ve discovered are original (once we removed the plan panel of wood from each side) and we want to restore them. One side is painting and the other varnished for some reason. I have a dewalt random orbital sander but wondering what grit paper would...

Hi, I’ve tried removing a couple of old radiators so I can remove the wallpaper behind, get it plastered and with a view to have new rads fitted. The nuts are totally seized and I’m reluctant to try too much brute force in case I fa age the pipes. Then I’m really up the creek… One thing I read...

Hi, firstly just want to say I’m not a plasterer (and would never attempt it) so apologies if what I’m asking/moaning about is actually a recognised plastering technique! Been stripping the 1980’s anaglypta wallpaper from the house. Back breaking sweat box of a job but done the hall stairs and...

So I’ve bought a decorative polyurethane light weight ceiling rose just to add that little something to our newly decorated room. Currently we just have a big standard plastic rose with lightbulb and light shade. We want to keep this but just add the decorative rose. My dilemma is making the...

Hi, the white plastic beading on the exterior of our double glazed window has come a bit loose. Can this just be stuck back in place and if so, what would you recommend using? Or does it need replacing please? I’ve attached a photo as my description isn’t very good. Thank you Jay

Hi, I’m about to give up on putting some coving up but thought I’d see if there are any pearls of wisdom before I stop. I have bought some polyurethane coving from Screwfix and the adhesive they recommend. I’ve watched a million and one videos to get an idea of what to do. I’ve got my head...

Hi, we’re decorating a bedroom after having it skimmed. Most coats done etc. We would like to put some MDF panelling on one wall, which is where the bed will go along. We were thinking an MDF frame, then just vertical panels down, spaced apart. The only issue is, we have a light switch and a...

Hi all, we have bought two new wall lights from ikea to replace existing ones (Which worked fine). i cant get them to work though. To test, i have made up a make shift plug and cable and they work fine when plugged in. Im confused at in each fitting, there are three grey cables coming out of...

Hi all, After some advice for how to reinstate some picture rails in a bedroom please. The walls are brick and then plastered on top. I’ve seen loads of sites saying to use a nail gun (who wouldn’t want to own a nail gun!!) and nail into the studs. Obviously we don’t have studs and plaster...

Hi, we’re in the process of decorating our living room and planning to replace the existing fire place and fire. The new one it slightly higher than the old one and so we need to make the opening slightly bigger. One row of horizontal bricks will plenty. Just after advice as to whether it would...

Evening, Our 1930’s house has an integrated garage (used for storage, not a car), with a bedroom above. We’ve had the asbestos ceiling removed so now have the joists and can see straight up to the floorboards of the room above. I want to insulate and plasterboard the ceiling. Would it be ok to...

Hi all, we’ve recently had an asbestos ceiling removed from our integrated garage. My plan is that the wiring left behind is sorted by an electrician when he fits the new consumer unit but I want to insulate and plaster board the garage as my son’s room is going to be directly over the garage...

Morning all, We’re in the process of decorating a bedroom in our new home. We’ve had it skimmed and waiting to paint. We’ve removed the old panel radiator and plan to replace it with a column radiator but struggling to find one the same size. My question is, am I best to get one slightly...

Hi all, Sorry if this is a stupid question. We are having a room skimmed so loosened the switches and sockets at the plasterers request. The main light switch which is the only switch that controls the main light, as I pulled it away from the wall, a wire must have come out of it’s fixing. (The...

Hi, we’ve just moved into our new home, a 1930’s link detached. Eventually we want to knock through/extend the back but think we need to live in it a while first to decide what’s right. In the mean time, we’re pretty sure it needs a rewire. Really old consumer unit and old colour wiring in all...