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Hi I painted our bannister and spindles in F&B Estate Eggshell a couple of years ago. I used F&B primer and three top coats. The original bannister was varnish and I sanded this back before priming. All was fine several months. Over time, the paint has blistered on the bannister, but only...

I've just painted Dulux Matt emulsion over F&B Estate emulsion and in some places I am getting blisters. I've let it dry and sanded back, but next coat I get more appearing, not always in the same places. It's had 4 coats so far, so if it was a reaction I thought it would have covered by now...

Hello My soil vent pipe used to go through the roof and the lead had corroded - the roofer suggested an AAV and slate over the hole. I spoke with a plumber who said the same and installed a Durgo valve as per the attached photos. Problem is, we are now getting foul smells in the bathroom...

Hi all My vent pipe currently goes through the roof and is held in place by lead. The lead is cracked and the vent pipe is leaning. I don't know why it was installed like this rather than as a single pipe Does the vent pipe need to go this high or could I cut it below the eaves and put an...

I have just taken up laminate flooring in our kitchen and had a look under the units and floor. The floor is mostly suspended timber but part of it is a brick base with tiles at the floor surface. It is an Edwardian house. Part of the exposed tile flooring under the units has a white mineral...

Hi I have reviewed some previous posts but I am not sure of the size of SWA cable to use for a garage and workshop. I am only planning to put the cable under the floor before some laminate gets laid - I am yet to get planning permission for the garage - but thought I would save an awkward job...

Hello, I am planning to have a central runner carpet up the stairs and paint the edges of the treads and risers with F&B Primer/Undercoat then F&B Estate Eggshell; I am just wondering how to prep. The house is Edwardian and the stairs look to have been varnished? It seems to be dark brown, a...

Hello, I am renovating an old T&G outhouse door and replacing the door frame. I have stripped the door back to bare wood. The frame will need to be replaced and I plan to use standard softwood and paint the end grain with preserver. The requirement is a white frame and coloured door with a...

Hello I have a problem with rainwater penetration through a brick wall and the water is pooling and rotting the windows from the bottom up. I am not sure what to do?? The house is Edwardian and the wall is a SW facing gable end, 2 bricks think, no cavity. It was repointed 4 years ago and...

Hello, I have reviewed some previous posts but I am not sure they have given me the answer. I am replacing a bathroom radiator that was always too small. According to some of the calculators I need about 900 watts or 3500-4500 BTUs, depending on the calculator. Room is 3.7m x 2.4m x 2.6m...

Hello Our bathroom radiator has started to not get warm or only get slightly warm very slowly. The radiator is upstairs and is the closest to the boiler on the upstairs run. It is a chrome, ladder-type towel radiator and the pipe sometimes gets hot before the flow valve but the rest of the...

Hi, my windows are painted with Dulux Weathershield satin. I seem to need to keep repainting every year as it cracks and water gets behind the paint (I think it gets between the glass and beading). I am thinking of trying gloss - would that be the recommendation of you experts? If I do use...

I was planning to install an additional outside light but I am not sure whether I can given the existing wiring in the outhouse, which would be my source. The outhouse has a double socket running on a single 2.5mm cable, so it isn't in ring main, but it is part of the downstairs ring main, so I...

I hope you help me with a plastering query. Kingspan say that K17 boards require a minimum of 2 gypsum nailable plugs. I found the Gyproc ones that come in packs of 100 but these say they are for their dry-lining system, is this what I need? - I only need about 10. I also found some others...

Hi, I am planning to dot and dab Kingspan K17 insulated plasterboard in a bedroom. Originally I was going to knock off the existing plaster back to brick but the plasterer has just told me to dot and dab onto the exiting painted plaster. The existing plaster is pretty solid but I didn't...

I am trying to prepare some interior walls for painting. They are sand/cement, no plaster, and have been left as a rough finish with lines draw it with the idea of making it look like stone blocks. This has been painted with thick gloss paint. We would like to paint the walls with a...

I recently connected a mains smoke alarm from a light fitting with 3x50w halogen spotlights in by using a junction box to break into the permanent live. All was well until I replaced the bulbs with low energy ones. Now the low energy bulbs pulse very slightly when the power is turned off and...