Search results

I know it's best to varnish them as timber, but this was an already painted old set of bannisters and I have decided I can't face stripping it all. I have looked at umpteen paints and they all say "avoid areas of high wear such as handrails". What's the least worst paint to use? I prefer...

I have one of those combi ladders that can adjust into a stair ladder. The instructions say do not stand above where it's hinged (ie the rung that the red hooks have hooked onto) I just want to double check that "not above" means the hooked rung itself is ok to stand on, just not any of the...

I removed a screwed-in burglar alarm thing from an aluminium back door (hinged) that was fitted before we moved into the house, and as I did so I noticed I could see the sky through the screw holes. I never really thought about how these doors are made before, but basically it is made out of...

I am having a gas heater fitted, but because the gas fitter is a family member, we are planning to keep down costs by having me prepare the flue hole myself. It requires a 230mm diameter hole in a 9" standard Victorian brick wall. I can't find a) any core drill bits that size and b) any power...

Due to a leak already discussed in the plumbing forum, I now have a tiny bit of laminate lifting at the bottom of my high-gloss WC base cabinet, where the MDF swelled when wet. Now it's not so bad that I couldn't disguise it wth some white filler. But before I settle for that, is there...

My new toilet has been fitted for a few days, and I have a leak. It is an Ideal Standard toilet complete with Ideal standard concealed cistern (pushbutton flush) and cabinet. Although I checked the flush assembly backnut was as tight as it would go - it was factory assembled anyway, but they...

I am pretty sure this is an empty lead pipe, travelling vertically inside a lathe and plaster wall, that used to carry gas to a gas mantle. I need to get it out of the way so I can finish making this hole in my wall. Immediately above it, high up on the wall, is a sort of capped off bit...

I have bought one of these http://www.screwfix.com/p/adjustable-bend-grey-sp560/50087 and I can't loosen its joints to change its angles. Someone has done them up too tight. You can see there are a couple of huge knurled nuts that look like they need undoing. Is there a tool for those...

After many years of successfully doing most of my own electrical work I suddenly feel disempowered. With my old consumer unit I only needed to press the button (or remove the fuse) that was directly on the circuit I needed to work on. With this new RCD one, I flipped the switch on the MCB...

I am a DIYer, with no trade qualifications. I have bought an acrylic bath, and a normal waste set (ie not the banjo overflow type). The waste set has a chrome plughole, (which is supplied with a sort of soft polystyrene gasket that goes between it and the smooth inner surface of the bath)...

I am not sure if this is the right forum for this, but anyway I want to have a lean-to type structure built against my kitchen wall to provide an enclosed porch and "outside" WC off. (Well the WC could be described as indoors or outdoors depending on your point of view and whether the door into...

1) Plastic or other non-conductive screws to fix faceplate onto metal pattress box. I have used some sunken backboxes and blanking faces in my kitchen to provide accessible joins in the cabling and would like to make sure in the event of any wiring coming loose and making the box live, the...

We get condensation on our aluminium bedroom windows in colder weather at night which runs down onto our internal window sills. The water-based eggshell paint we used on the timber window sills is sadly not able to withstand the condensation pooling on it for more than a few months. The idea...

To save myself the effort of priming hardboard, I was wondering if white-faced hardboard would make a good surface for self-adhesive vinyl floor tiles. Has anyone any opinions or experience with this combination?