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Hi guys (if anyone is reading this over xmas). I had the nice present of my boiler breaking on christmas eve! Oh joy. I'm getting no hot water or central heating and the fan/flue fault (50°C) light is flashing. I know there are similar threads on here and I've read through a few of them...

I know there's a lot of these threads but I thought I'd start one specific to my project. I'm opening up my fireplace so I can have a wood burning stove installed. So far I've gone from this: to this: I was fairly lucky in that the new brickwork was set back abuut 150mm from...

Just read a post by someone who lost a friend to an electrical house fire and it's made be think about the condition of our electrics. I've recently had a son which made me all cautious about gas fittings so I get the boiler serviced annually and fiited a carbon monoxide alarm but I never really...

To keep the missus happy, I'm currently planning to upgrade our bathroom. Because the bathroom is small and the ceiling is high (and not very good) I'm planning on creating a new ceiling at lower level (metal frame and plasterboard). Currently the light switch is a pull cord so I was thinking...

Can anybody advice on a reasonables cost of replacing a upvc door mechanism. Ours has just broken, luckily in the closed postion, so now we can't get the door open. I assume that getting to the mechanism will require taking the hinges off sine it's stuck closed. Is £170ish (£65 call out...

About 3 years ago I installed a new kitchen and had the electrics redone by an electrician. Everything was ok until fairly recently when small appliances started blowing up. In the last year we've lost 2 kettles, a toaster and a microwave (none of them cheap). Could this been anything to do...

I'm about to embark on my first plumbing project; replacing a radiator and associated pipe work to the lounge. I've read some of the previous posts and i'm pretty sure I know what I'm doing but would like a few things confirming: Is plastic pipe acceptable on a sealed central heating system...

Hey guys. Our house as been fiited with upvc tilt and turn windows by the previous occupier. The problem is there are no trickle vents in the frame, nor is there a lockable vent position... unless i'm being really dim and jusy can't engage it! Any thoughts on something I can retro fit to...

I tried to close a service valve on a pipe in the cellar and it sprang a leak, squirting out a fine jet from near the screw. I opened it again and it stopped so i closed it again and i now get a very slow drip. Will the valve actually be closed or might if a broke and stuck open? Are service...

I'm going to be doing a small area of skimming, so I've scanned through a lot of threads and picked up some pointers but was wondering if someone could kindly do a quick list of the stages involved from first coat to polishing off or whatever the correct term is. So far I understand that I...

I'm going to be replacing the radiator in my lounge and while I'm at it I'm fancying some nicer valves. At the moment their is TRV on the radiator but the lounge is the room with the thermostat in it (no hallway in my little terrace house) So my questions are: 1. Am I right in thinking I...

I've browsed the forums but can't quite find the help I require. Basically I've replaced a very old rubbish plastic dimmer with a shiny new metal one. The old one had about 6 terminals in it just marked with numbers. It's just a one way switch (can you have 2 way dimmers?) so had a red and...

I'm fitting new metal plug sockets in my lounge which isn't a problem as I've done it before. the problem is that the new metal sockets have a slightly different connection arrangement to the existing plastic ones, meaning that in one of the sockets, the earth cable won't quite reach the...

Hi guys. In my cellar I've found a run of cable on my main circuit that looks like it's got a bit of a botched connection. Its seems that two cables are joined together with a mass of insulating tape. I've not looked to see if there's and connectors under the tape and I can't tell by feeling...

I want to have some recessed downlights installed in my kitchen and landing, but I'm hoping someone can answer a few questions beforehand. 1. do you need moisture resistant fittings in a kitchen as you would in a bathroom? 2. what are the pros and cons of mains voltage and low voltage...

I have a leak in my central heating pipework. It's leaking from a compression joint which I have tried tightening but to no avail. I'm assuming the joint needs replacing, but I have a sealed central heating system and everything I've read says don't attempt to drain a sealed system yourself...