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Hello. My son wants to change the tiles in his hallway. The existing ones look like they're set in concrete. Could anyone give advice on how best to remove them? (He hasn't a lot of money so will prob need to do it himself unless it would need skills that are beyond him). I suspect its a big...

Hello. My shaver light/socket (inherited with the flat a decade ago) has failed so I'm going to replace it....but when isolating it have found it's supplied from the House Ring circuit breaker (B32) rather than the Lighting (B6) one, both on the same RCD. Had planned only on replacing the shaver...

Hello. I need to open up this tap as it's sticking a wee bit and is sometimes left dribbling when people think they've turned out off. But I don't know what type it is for looking up how to get into it - I don't want to use a screwdriver to try to lever up the dome and end up damaging the...

Maybe a sign I've given it covid? The cistern - side lever, not top button - or even the supply & drain pipes behind it has started making a sneezing type of noise which I notice when the cistern is full, about once every minute or two minutes. Might also happen when the cistern is empty but...

No-one in the room. The shower screen has been in place for 6-7 years, no cracks, no obvious stresses in the screen, and it just exploded. If there was no-one in the room how do I know it exploded...because of where I found the bits - in every inch of the bathroom and they had arrived there with...

Hello. My son's new house - when the downstairs toilet is flushed the kitchen tap makes a squeaky hissing sound! It has a slight drip he tells me which I'll look at, but does anyone have any idea what'll be making it make a noise? Thanks for any help - I do appreciate it.

Hi. Thanks for reading. I have an electric shower (Mira Sport 9.0, rated 40A) and the isolator plate got damaged when decorating so I put a new one on. The old was a 45A plate and the new one 50A. Don't know if it's related but a couple of days later and the shower, which was never good at...

Hello. Sorry if this has been asked before - I went thru the FAQs and other thtreads didn't find it. I have an old Drayton LP522 which works fine. There is a mechanical wired room thermostat. I'm away a lot so would like to be able to adjust the thermostat remotely, but would be happy to keep...

Hi. Can someone help me with some advice please? I have a crack in the wall next to me kitchen window. It's been growing over the last couple of years. Today I notice that the bricks outside, above the window and presumably by the lintel (assuming there is one!!) seem to be parting company with...

Hello. I've looked to see if this has been asked before but didn't find anything - sincere apologies if it is an accidental repeat. I have a top-floor flat. Aerial in the loft above me, single feed serves mine and daisy-chains down to the two flats below. Aerial wall-plate on one side of living...

Hello everyone. I need to replace the sealant around my upvc doors & windows, the old stuff having gone grey and now showing visible gaps. Which are the best ones to go for (or conversely the ones to avoid), as there always seem to be better/worse products for any job! A decent DG company near...

I opened a tin of Jo Water Based U/c after about 6 months and it's separated into some solid-ish pigment and no doubt other magic ingredients and some thin watery stuff. Have stirred....and stirred....and stirred....and now it's thicker but still with too many tiny lumps in to use. Anyone had...

Advice needed! I've put up lining paper, 1200 grade (heavier than I'd normally use), and left it to soak for 10 mins before hanging. But the seams are lifting in places. I've woked paste underneath again but they just lift again. Is there anything I can do to salvage it, eg like try to stick...

Hello. Foolishly I've started to decorate, and when I stripped a wall I found this crack floor-to-ceiling in a corner (see pics). This is the outside corner of the house - construction is block behind the plaster then brick, then fresh air, i.e. there's no other room or building outside either...

Hi. I'm repointing a brick path and on a little bit of it thought I'd try brushing the mortar mix dry into the spaces between the bricks, to then water....and have a cup of tea and relax while it all went perfectly.:whistle: Only when the dry mix got on the brick faces it stained them white from...

Hi. I want to fix a key storage box to a steel support holding up a carport roof. I assume the best way is to use self-tappers. Is it just any or are there special ones for steel (can't be big screwheads as they'll need to fit inside the little MasterKey-type thing). And is the best way to drill...

Hi. My youngest has a second-hand Polo. It's telling him it needs an oil top up - he can't find out what type or grade of oil was used before, but can be pretty sure it wasn't done by a VW dealer so may not be the recommended one. I assume I shouldn't take a punt on grade and just top up with eg...

Hi. I have a couple of questions about some things I inherited in a bathroom. First there's some boxing-in done with faced chipboard, but the fixings won't come loose - see pic below. I always thought you just turned these but they're solid and I don't know how you guys deal with them. Do I just...

Hi. Have been changing an old outside-wall bulkhead as the casing had cracked, with a new one. The old one was earthed (the earth cable I found was wrapped around a screw which fitted it to the wall). The new one is for low-energy bulbs to 23 watt, double insulated. There is a choc block...

Hi. I have a microbore CH system in my flat with an 'old-style' non-condensing boiler which seems to have no drain valve. I've looked at the radiators and at all the pipework I can find above the floorboards around the boiler/pump/cylinder etc and there isn't one. I want to add a flusher for a...