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We need to get an wall in our living room insulated. The rest of the walls are have filled cavities, but this wall in solid brick and gets very cold and damp. We don't want to lose too much space in the room, but don't want to spend a fortune on superthin insulation, while also having the room...

I've got a "new" antique pine farmhouse-style kitchen table. It's a proper antique one. It has quite a few knot holes that have been badly filled in the past (looks like with wax, which has split, the colour match is awful and it's not flush with the top, but dips). What can I use to fill them...

What's the minimum thickness for insulation under UFH?

We're having our kitchen done. Including installing some new plug sockets and installing a new electric cooker where there was no cooker before (so all new wiring). What certification do we need and what qualification does the electrician need? My bulder's electrician apparently can't...

I've had some doors dipped (it was the only way, the paint wouldn't come off by hand!) and one of the panels on one of the nicest doors has gone wavy as it's dried. I suspect the panel has different pieces of ply on the front and back and it's only gone wavy on one side (behind is flat)...

I'm trying to work out the plans for our kitchen extension. I'm on at least the fifth redesign so far! Is it practical, possible, desirable and financially viable to have a utility room and toilet in the middle of the house, with the kitchen/diner between it and the drains? It will also be on...

I need to move my cookery book shelves in the kitchen. The only place for them to go is with the long side on a false wall and the short side on a brick wall. The false wall is about 1cm thick, goes floor to ceiling and made of chip board. Shelves are 1in thick solid pine windowsills approx 80cm...

We'd like to have the chimney breast removed from our bedroom as it doesn't give the room any character and is just a waste of space as we need the room for another wardrobe. If we have that removed, does the rest of the chimney in the loft and in the roof have to come down too or can the...

What paint stripper would you recommend for removing paint from old doors? I'm using the heat gun which is fine for the top 2-3 layers, but the bottom two are very stubborn and coming off as dust (which is a worry as they are old and I fear they may have lead in them). Don't want to get them...

I'm slowly renovating our internal doors. Been trying to remove the handles, but at some point in the past someone has nailed the (sorry, don't know the technical terms) ball part of the handle on, rather than using a screw. (the nail is in the hole the screw would normally be.) I've tried using...

Some of our old internal doors have panels attached over them (think they must've been done in the 60s when flat doors became the fashion). I can see they have been nailed on with tiny nails that look like pins. What's the best way of removing the panels without damaging the door? (Please...

I'm planning on stripping all the paint off our internal doors. The house was built in the 1950s. Do I need to check them for lead? Was it still used in paint then? If so, what's the best test to use (and preferably ones that don't cost a fortune as there are 8 doors in total!) I have young...

I've done a (very rough) sketch of another idea for my kitchen extension. Hope it makes sense. We have a fairly average sized 3-bed mid-terrace. Are there any problems you can see? Is it possible to have a loo and utility basically in the middle of the house? Roughly how much do you think...

I have been given some lovely offcuts of wood, about 4cm thick, 9cm wide, various lengths. I'm planning on using them as shelves for jars (of pasta, cereals, flour, spices etc) in my "new" kitchen. Ideally I'd like to construct floating shelves, but I'm not too confident about how well I can...

Looking at extending downstairs and considering options. How much would it cost to move the manhole cover and downpipes (if that's possible)? We have one drain which takes water from the kitchen and bathroom and also the soil stack plus one manhole cover in the patio which I'm thinking about...

Could you recommend a good, mid-range sander please? I need one that is easy to use (I've never used one before), lightweight and uses replacement papers that are reasonably priced. I'll need it for sanding wood and taking varnish off furniture. And any tips for use would be really good...

Am planning on converting brick shed into utility room. The walls are a single layer of bricks. How much depth would internal wall insulation take up, including anything that needs to go behind to fix it to the walls? I don't know if this affects it or if there are any building regs about...

I'm planning a small kitchen extension which will connect our existing kitchen to the (currently stand-alone) brick-built shed. The extension will go to the maximum of 3 metres, which I understand can be done without permission. But the brick shed goes beyond the 3-metre allowance. I would also...