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Hi all, I'm hoping to upgrade my incoming lead water main with 32mm MDPE in an effort to increase the water flow. However, there would be a small section, 1 metre perhaps, where I need to drop it down to 15mm copper before it splits to service cold water outlets around the house, including...

Hi fellas, My cousin is an old skool painter and decorator and traditionally prices a job by the amount of time it'll take him to complete. He's been asked to quote for decorating a local school's classrooms, but the quote must be in price per metre. I have an idea of how you would go...

Hi guys, I've moved into a house that has had armoured cable laid from the outside wall of the house down to the garage. I need to get it into the house so I can make the necessary connections in order to get power down to the garage. I have 3 questions about this though: 1. I have the...

Hi fellas, Just moved into a new house which has recently had a potterton combi boiler installed. All radiators have TRV's fitted apart from the bathroom and main bedroom. However, there is no room thermostat or programmer, which seems a bit odd to me? The boiler has a very simple timer...

Hi all, About a month ago the main RCD in our CU suddenly started tripping out every 5 minutes. After a bit of head scratching I thought I'd try and turn on appliances independantly to see if they were causing the RCd to trip. When I went to turn the heating on I heard what I would...

Hi all, We've just put our house on the market and I've been thinking about what certificates I'm required - or likely to be asked for - buy a prospective buyer. We bought the house in January 2006. When we bought it there were no boiler, electrics or Fensa certificates...in fact I dont...

Would I be advised to thin the paint a little with white spirit before I paint it? Or should I just paint from the can as is? If I should thin, what percentage of white spirit to satinwood should I be aiming for....10%? Reason I'm asking is because I've applied 2 coats of eggshell and can...

Hi fellas, Just painted some skirting and window board with Eggshell from Wickes, thinking that it's be a non-gloss finish. However, now its dried, its still quite shiny and not the look I wanted. Existing door frames and skirting board in the house have a matt finish to them, and I...

I need to paint some MDF skirting, and I want to use a satinwood finish after I've undercoated. I have some undercoat in the loft, but when I checked it last night it said that it was to be used when a high gloss will be the top coat. Could I still use this for a satinwood top coat and not...

Hi there, I've recently fitted a new MDF window board and MDF skirting from Wickes that all came with that white coating (primer?) that I now want to paint with Satinwood paint. Do I need to undercoat them before I paint or can I just paint straight onto the white finish with satinwood...

Hi there, In our brand new office at work, where they've fitted new door frames and skirting board they've used white silicone sealant to give it a nice finish between the joins which looks really neat and tidy. I want to get the same effect with my skirting board at home, but I always...

When getting my new carpet fitted, would anyone advise going to independant as opposed to a big chain like carpet right? Do they do a better job of fitting in general than the chains? I dont want any muppets working in my house (think kwik-fit) damaging the nicely painted white walls...

Hi there, I'm about to replace some skirting board and wondered whether its better to leave a gap underneath the skirting board and floor boards so that the carpet can be wedged in. Or is it better to sit the skirting board pretty close to the floorboards so that the carpet 'butts' up...

I've never how professionals manage to get such a next looking silicone bead line. When I've done it before, I've used mu finger to smooth the bead out and it just pushed it all over the place. Next time round I used masking tape top and bottom, laid the bead in and then removed the masking...

Hi there, I'm planning to board my loft out, but cant decide whether to use the 8'x2' T&G boards I've seen at the sheds, or to cut an 8'x4' sheet down the middle. I can see why T&G has the advantage of locking together, but I also see that as a potential pain in the a**e if I ever want to...

Hi there, I've recently been trying to educate myself on what main/supplementry bonding is and why you need it, so I can be sure that my house is correctly protected. I have an earth clamp on my gas main that connects to the CU. But where my water main enters the house I dont have any...

Hi there, I've got a 'C' plan CH/HW system. I recently drained the system down to have some plastering/painting done. Refitted my rads and refilled the system as normal, however the HW side isn't heating up at all. When I've drained and refilled before, this normally always happens but...

After having my ceiling and all walls in my living room skimmed, I've applied a first coat of dulux trade supermatt. The way I did it was to use a 1" paintbrush to paint all the internal/external corners first - i.e. where the wall meets the ceiling, around the window boards etc. Then I went...

Hi guys, I've had my entire living room skimmed (over plasterboard) and have applied a single coat of Dulux Supermatt watered down by about 25% to all the walls and ceiling. Once I've filled and sanded a few cracks that have appeared, do I need to sand the walls and ceiling before I apply...

Hi there, I'm thinking about cross-battening my loft so I can increas the level of insulation to 270mm, and then board over the top for light storage. But I cant decide the best way to secure the new battens..? would a few diagonal screws through into the rafters below be ok with the view...