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My daughter needs some Dulux paint for interior decoration and can't get from usual supplier so I asked my local supplier who only do Dulux trade which they mix themselves but the price is very much more expensive. They say it is also very much better. Is it worth the difference and why was...

About 10 years ago I had most of my house professionally decorated and I am pretty sure Dulux brilliant white eggshell was used for the woodwork. It still looks great, the same as it did when completed, lovely finish, covers well, doesn't show irregularities and has not yellowed at all. I am...

My handyman is decorating a small bedroom for me. It had wallpaper on the lower half of the walls, finished with a border, all of which was stripped off. The area which had been papered was rubbed down with sandpaper, washed down and filled as necessary, filler rubbed down with fine sandpaper...

After stripping off old wallpaper, is it necessary to coat with Zinsser before painting with emulsion paint or will a good washdown with sugarsoap do?

Are there any bathroom fans which remove steam and smells? Are some better than others? When we moved to this house we noticed the fan in the bathroom ceiling (close to the cornice and outside wall) didn't seem to cope with the steam when bathing or bathroom smells so my son-in-law bought a...

Now that the weather is colder, I've noticed that some of our radiators are not hot enough, even when the Drayton Lifestyle thermostatic rad valves are up to max. None of them what I'd call really hot. Potterton Prima "F" boiler on 5, i.e. next to Max. Does cut out (in the garage so haven't...

I've done as your FAQ suggested, but I can't get the pin to shift. How hard dare I hit it with the hammer? What's the next move? I can't think why the pin should be out as we've never turned off this rad, which is behind a radiator cabinet.

My kitchen ceiling has developed some cracks. I dare say I should get someone in to screw into joists or whatever but no time for that at present; want to make it look better in time for an unexpected visitor due soon. I want to fill the cracks and repaint and if that doesn't work will do the...

Even when the programmer is switched to heating only, the hw cylinder now heats up, which is very wasteful as it is on a loop to the bathroom and the heat dissipates even if no water is drawn off, so I usually heat only the cylinder serving the other bathroom and take my morning bath or shower...

Has anybody used this paint and if so, have you found it to be wipeable, as claimed on the can? I have recently had 3 rooms decorated in this and I find the paint comes off if I wipe it with a damp cloth, leaving a flat area as opposed to the slightly stippled roller effect. Dulux say they...

Our useless decorator has used some type of scrim or tape where there was plaster defects, ie bits cracking off, on the walls and you can see the bandage-like texture showing through the paint, in some cases the end of the threads. Does anybody else use this technique? If so, how is it...

Is there any way of getting dried on emulsion paint off brass door handles other than with a cotton bud and paint remover? I've tried meths and white spirit with no joy. I did have a tin of paint remover but it seems to have rotted the bottom of the tin and leaked out. Pity to have to buy...

I had hoped my decorating days were over (I'm getting past it) but when I used to do it I always washed everything down with sugar soap and rinsed. I have to say I never sanded walls, apart from obvious nibs. However, no decorator I have ever employed has ever washed anything but the present...

The tops of my fitted office furniture, which are light oak veneered, have acquired some water stains (light patches). Is there any way of dealing with these other than stripping them down and resealing and hoping to get the same colour finish as the fronts of the drawers and cupboards?

I've just had my study decorated. Its upstairs in the roof area so has a ceiling with sloping sides and the flat bit is over an open staircase so admittedly a bit difficult. The ceiling looked OK before apart from being very dirty and a few cracks in the plaster which he has repaired very...

Does anyone know where I can get hold of a tool which would clean out the dust and cobwebs which accumulate in the fins of my Stelrad radiators? It will take hours, I know, and I think they are a ridiculous design. They can't work efficiently if they get stuffed up with dirt but I haven't...

I think my cleaner must have clipped the TRV4 valve with the hoover or something. I went into our spare bedroom and found it very hot and noticed that the valve top was leaning back against the wall. The white plastic of the head is smashed off at the level of the metal ring. Can I replace...

Went to run my bath this a.m. and found the water barely warm though the hot water had been set to come on for 2 hrs from 7 a.m. I noticed the rads were hot though the hall stat didn't click off when I turned it down and was only on l8 before doing so. I clicked the h.w. button back on (it had...

Our Potterton Prima boiler didn't come on this morning although the programmer red lights were on. We had to go into the garage and press the restart button. Why does this happen? It's less than a fortnight since it was serviced, along with our other boiler at £75 each plus VAT which we...

The heating didn't come on at one end of our extended bungalow today (we have two separate systems fortunately) and the Honeywell programmer controlling it appears to be dead, can't get any red lights on at all either for heating or hot water . Pressed the reset button on it, and obviously the...