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Our central heating system has become very noisy. The house is a large 1950's 5 bedroom house and has a fully pumped, vented system with four zones controlled by zone valves and hot water. In addition rooms without thermostats have thermostatic valves fitted. The boiler is a Trianco...

I need to replace my back door and I need some advice as to what to buy. I would not fit upvc for aesthetic reasons. Softwood, I think is out because I don't want a painted finish. Ideally I would like it to match my cabinet doors which are light oak. I have heard it said that oak is...

We have a window in our kitchen 1800 x 1200 which we would like to lower by maybe two courses of bricks. It was above a sink but now is on a blank wall. The first idea was to replace it with french windows, but it wouldn't be in a good position for everyday access so we need to would keep...

If I were to replace the old fittings in my kitchen with modern ones (and did nothing else) would this be subject to notification under Part P? I was under the impression that Part P only applied to fixed wiring, CU's etc and presumably back boxes but not the accessories themselves...

I have some fence posts where the concrete has crumbled and the slot is no more. Is there any easy way of repairing them, other than digging out and replacing? Might this happen again - how long should concrete posts last? Any tips on how to get them out easily?

I have laid some filled travertine tiles on a kitchen floor and they have been sealed and grouted. I now need to remove some surface scatches caused by manoevring units over the floor. Does anyone have any good ideas for removing scratches? My initial thought was some mild abrasive (maybe...

I have a new kitchen tap to install with screw in tails which are parallel with no space between them. They are 10mm at the tap, and 15mm at the open end. The instructions say bend the tails to allow clearance for compression fittings - what is the best way to do this? - obviously you only...

Just wondered what size waste I should use for a kitchen sink and dishwasher? The thinner size (35mm) would be easier for me because I need to run it behind the built-in dishwasher and there is only 20mm clearance. Chasing it partially into the plaster seems straightforward enough if a bit...

I am sure that someone once recommended an online supplier of electrical accessories with bespoke labels - I'm thinking things like "fridge" or dishwasher" for a kitchen - can anyone point me in the right direction? Like a fool, I thought I'd easily be able to find the post when I needed it -...

My CH system is pumping over into the header tank. I have searched through the old posts on the subject and the general wisdom seems to be:- Top of overflow pipe not high enough above level of water in tank Corrosion Too much pump pressure. I don't think it's corrosion because...

I would like to run the waste water from a kitchen sink and a dishwasher through an internal wall into a 4" plastic soil stack in an adjacent room (downstairs wc). Is there any reason why this would not be a good idea and what would be the easiest way to connect to the existing stack. At...

I have a kitchen floor with ceramic tiles which are sound but we just don't like them. Firstly, is it ok just to tile over the top - and if so, what preparation would be required? Secondly, there is an area under units which wasn't tiled last time but has older tiles about 6mm or so...

I have a room which is about 5m x 3.5m and it has a slope of about 30mm on the short side. This room was once a double garage (before our time) and I assume the slope was to let out any water which got under the door. The problem is that any tall furniture looks drunk because it isn't...

This is a picture of my kitchen ceiling which is covered with nasty 80's polystyrene tiles. It has apparently never been plastered and the seams of the plasterboard are not even taped. To make matters worse, at one end of the room the boards run across the joists but at the end in the...

I am planning to replace my Hotpoint Mistral FF (10 years old - ish) with a modern integrated type. My Mistral capacity (according to the plate) is 205/132 litres but all the integrated ones have advertised capacities quite a bit smaller. Fair enough, I thought, maybe you lose capacity...

Has anybody any ideas how much lighting is needed in a largeish kitchen - about 15' square. All I know is that we have 3 x D-type fluorescents (16W each) and it's not enough - is there a rule of thumb per square foot or metre? I am tending towards low voltage halogen lights but again can...

I have just removed the reveal above my back door which was made of two pieces of plywood and looked awful because it didn't match the adjoining plasterwork. Here is a picture of what remains:- As you will see, there is a steel lintel above the ceiling and vertical bricks below it in...

I just wondered whether you can still buy sockets like this:- They seem to me to be safer than the sort with both switches in the middle - the ham-fisted cannot switch on the wrong one and more elegant than the sort with both switches on the outside. Does anybody know of a stockist or...

When installing the supply to a programmer, I believe you need to provide a fused switch. If this is installed vertically above the programmer, is it reasonable to route the outgoing HW and CH cables through the back of the metal box? If not, how do the experts do it neatly? Many thanks