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My apartment was built in 2013. I would like to change the three existing kitchen cabinets for four of Ikea’s metod wall cabinets & rails. The wall that the original cabinets are hung on appears to be made from two full thickness dry boards, giving a total depth of just over 40mm. Should I...

Does anyone know about the induction hobs from Ikea that have timers? I like the idea of timing individual heating zones independantly, so for example I might set one zone to 10 minutes for spuds and another zone to 45 minutes to cook a casserole. Does anyone have any experience of these hobs...

Hi, I'm about to buy an induction hob and I thought I'd narrowed down the choice to a mid-range hob from Samsung, their NZ64K7757BK. While I was on their site, to download the manual, I saw they offer a cooker hood that talks to certain hobs, the main advantage of which is that the extractor...

On Saturday I went for lunch at the excellent Gambas in Bristol (bit pricey, but worth it...) The restaurant is one of a row of modifed containers, along with lots of other food outlets. When your beer intake has reached the point where relief is required, you go out of the door, down the...

Hi folks, I recently moved into an apartment in a block which was built in 2013/4, in marked contrast to my previous house which was cobbled together in the 1900's - my, how things have changed! I got very used to dealing with the brick-built construction and was happy that shelves I put up...

Hi folks, can someone give me a steer on this one? Usually, if you don't know enough about a product, 10 minutes with Google sorts the problem out, but I've spent months on this and am getting nowhere! All I'm looking for is a packet of those little plastic blanking plugs that are (usually)...

I need to take the cover plate (see photo) off to get to the parts behind, but don't know how to do it. There's no sign of screws so I think it must be held by a spring - can anyone tell me the 'secret'? It's an Ideal Standard suite, installed about 2013.

I've got a De'Longhi EC146.B pump espresso machine and I'd love a quick comment from someone who uses one of these very common little coffee makers... I've read the instructions that came with it but it'd be great if some seasoned users can comment on the questions below: There's a 'tamper'...

Hi, I live in a recently-built apartment block, on the third floor with a west facing aspect, which gets the full force of the sun from about 2 pm until sunset. During the recent hot weather, the temp in the flat passes 25 degrees by the late afternoon, often peaking at 30. I find this quite...

I've just plumbed in 2 appliances in my kitchen, replacing some very untidy existing work. All is now in apple-pie order! However, the monobloc tap tails are joined to the supply by a couple of speedfit unions (minus the collars that keep them locked...) and I'm inclined to put in place a pair...

I'm about to add a washing machine twin spigot to the kitchen sink outflow pipe - where's the best place to put it, with respect to my water trap? Before it, or after it?

Just checking that I'm choosing the right fixing. I'm hanging some of those stainless kitchen storage rails Ikea sell, designed to hang tools like colanders, sieves & whisks etc. They also sell matching 'wall organisers'...

I recently sort the advice of an artistic friend on the subject of choosing colours for the walls of my new flat. She's been to art school and I trust her colour judgment. So in the middle of our chat this morning, she whips out a catalogue for Annie Sloan and her Chalk Paint. To read about this...

Hi folks, I upset my mum, I think, when I asked for a box of tools for my eighteen birthday! So I've been messing about with spanners, screwdrivers and all sort of other hand-tools for most of my adult life. Yesterday I installed an outside tap which involved a bit of manual twisting and...

Hi folks. I'm considering buying a small thatched cottage, 2 up, 2 down, which has no mains gas supply. I understand that thatched roofs are good insulators, so I'm pleased about that, but... I've lived all my life in houses with common-or-garden gas combi boilers, supplying conventional wall...

Hi everyone, I recently watched a great vid. on YT on how to set up a Stanley #4. It was very long - nearly 2 hours! but afterwards I felt I really understood a lot of about the process. The guy used a piece of granite as the bed for dressing all the sundry parts and I set about seeing if I...

I was chatting with a chum who is having an extension built by real builders :-) He is really pleased with the way things are progressing. His 20 year old Worcester Bosch Greenstar is due for replacement as part of the project and he asked me about my boiler, also a Worcester Bosch, which has...

Hi Folks - and a Very Merry Xmas to you all... I've had an Ikea monobloc tap on an Ikea twin bowl stainless sink for ages, but the other day it occurred to me that the thin metal stock means that the tap isn't very firmly anchored. Don't get me wrong - it's fixed perfectly well, it's just that...

Is there a trick of the trade to repair over-large and rough-edged countersunk holes? I have a lot of exposed plain pine floor-boards in my house and the woods is mostly in good condition, nicely sanded and treated with Danish oil, so it looks good. The boards are screwed down onto the joists...

The front external door-frame has a nice piece of hardwood reaching across the threshold. One internal door frame in my house has a threshold piece across the bottom. I've recently decided to add threshold pieces to the rest of the internal door frames - what sort of wood is usually used to do...