Search results

Hi all, Like many of us, I topped up insulation on the loft at the beginning of winter. Unfortunately I committed the cardinal sin of blocking the eves, resulting in severe condensation and mould growth before I realised it. I have cleared up the airways, install lap vents. I have also run...

Hi all, I have these horizontal asphalt valley that runs on the two side of my roof. The valley itself is in good condition, however the joint with the parapet brick wall has cracked and the asphalt has pulled back a little. This has lead to some small leak down the parapet wall onto the...

Hi everyone, In my kitchen I have spot lights over the cooking area and a pendant light over the breakfast table that share the same switch. I want to split this out into two separate switches. I can access the lighting circuit easily on the loft, but when I try to thread another cable down, it...

Hi everyone, Not quite sure where to place this question, I hope it goes with the general bathroom/kitchen questions in here, but if not please help me move it to the right place. I'm looking to install extractor fans for bathroom and kitchen. What are your recommendation for one that doesn't...

Hi everyone, I’m just starting to make sense of the electrical system in my new place. The flat is 1900 and it has been upgraded bits by bits over the years. While most of the cables seems to be okay (PVC insulated, with a mixture of old red/black wires and blue/blown wires), the fuse box is a...

Hi everyone, I have these older style push fit fittings under my bathroom basin. The grey ones are relatively straight forward to remove, I just push the outer ring in, and pull the pushfit out. However there’s nothing I can do to remove the yellow ones. The outer ring is already pushed in, but...

Hi everyone, My bathroom has Marmoleum linoleum floor, the traditional type, not vinyl type. However it has worn and stained significantly and lost waterproofing in several places. I dont think linseed oil would be able to revive it. We are planning major kitchen/bathroom refurb work in a...

Hi everyone, We've just moved in to a property and the kitchen mixer tap has very poor hot water flow (from HW cylinder), while the cold water (from main) is fine, and they can't seem to mix at all. I understand the main cold water has higher pressure, but even when I move the tap to hot only...

I got this cast iron radiator locally, and the lady said they used to work well but didn't know too much about them. I really like the look of them and want to replace all my steel panel radiators. However are they too much trouble to use nowadays? For this particular one, I can see some...

Hi everyone, There are some section of pipes on my heating system that have these valves. My heating system is conventional boiler with small central heating tank, cold water tank and a hot water cylinder. Curiously, there is no vent that goes back to the tanks. So is this like a feed and...

Hi everyone, We have an appliance circuit for cooker and oven, this is connected directly to the consumer unit with a 32A MCB. However the cooker has been replaced with a gas cooker, and I have got a new 3.8kW oven. I wonder if I should change the fuse to a lower rating to better protect the...

Hello everyone, My neighbour wants to give me his Miele combi steam oven if I can repair it. I have figured out the issue, which is the condensate pump has stopped working for some reason. So at the moment the condensate tray is empty, and condensate water builds up at the bottom of the oven...

Hi everyone, So I got this large industrial type pendant shade from a vintage shop and really want hang it up in the kitchen. However it has no support chain, so I'm looking for a cord/cable grip or a lamp holder that can screw into the top of the shade. The internal diameter is 20mm however...

Hi everyone, I'm trying to replace the sink in my bathroom and came across this pipe connection, see photo. What sort of connection is this? I'm trying to replace the flexible hose with a longer one, but have only found the type with nuts at both ends. Where could I get flexi-hoses with these...

Hi, I have spotted some damp spots in our bathroom. This is on a party wall with no pipe this side, so I figure this is penetrating water through the brickwork from the parapet above. And indeed, on inspection I can see some damage on the gutter valley and cracking mortar on the parapet. 1...

Hi everyone, We have spotted some damp spots in our bathroom. This is on a party wall with no pipe this side, so I figure this is penetrating damp downwards from the parapet above. And indeed, on inspection I can see some damage on the gutter valley and cracking mortar. 1. Please have a look...

Hello everyone, Has anyone tried to retrofit double glazing onto old single glazed sash? The previous owners of my house has fitted a second layer of glass onto the windows (see photo). It looks pretty good however it is obviously not 100% air tight, so I wonder how effective that is. I'm...

Hello everyone, I have a conventional boiler with quite old 1970/1980 radiators (see photo). Just a few beginner questions, hope you can help with. 1. The previous owners have somehow managed to lose all the valve cap. How do I figure out which one is the lockshield valve, which one is the...

Hi everyone, We are considering of changing our traditional boiler (hot water cylinder/water tank) to combi boiler to save up some space. At the moment, the water storage tank, heating system tank and all the pipeworks are in the loft, even the main cold water goes up to the loft before going...

Hello everyone, Just moved in our new (old) house. Checking the loft, I see that the previous owners use loose fill insulation over all the loft. My slight worry is this cover all the wiring and electrical junction boxes. The wiring up here is only for lighting, and all the light fixtures are...