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Hello, Fitting a back-to-wall toilet in loft conversion, with use of a macerator. Macerator to go behind a partition wall. I have bought a Stuart Turner WC3 and upon unpacking read in the manual that it "must be located immediately behind the WC pan and must not be mounted behind a partition...

Hello, We're in the middle of a loft conversion which includes a small en-suite toilet. It may possibly include a shower, but probably not, due to space constraints. We need a macerator. The outlet will need to go straight up about 1m, up at 45deg (along roof line) about 1m, and along about...

Hi, Apologies if this is the wrong forum - I'll repost in a different section if there is a more appropriate option. I am fitting a wall-hung basin to a tiled wall. It rocks very slightly due to either the basin or the wall not being perfectly flat. I am concerned this means that pressure is...

Hi, I have to replace a bedroom door which is a non-standard size. 715x1920mm, give or take a few mm. Most of the doors in the house are six-panel grain effect moulded ones, this sort of thing, and it would be good to have one which matches...

Hi, I'm renovating a few rooms, one of which contains a very old central heating controller: I'd like to replace this. The wiring looks fairly normal, with one output for "heating on" and another "hot water on". Can I put a new controller on in place of this one? My concern is that this...

Hello, Refitting and slightly remodeling my kitchen. Electrician is coming tomorrow to do the wiring changes. One new item to be fitted is a free-standing extractor above the hob - this sort of thing. The extractor needs a 240v supply in its "chimney" - so there'll be a backbox with either...

Hi, There seems to be a problem with my boiler or a related component: it often fails to give hot water. Description of the system Cold water and header tank in loft. Potterton "Profile" boiler. External pump, and mid-position valve. Hot water cylinder and central heating system. Description...

Hi folks, A have a run of seven wooden steps leading down from a balcony (house is on a hill). Several of the treads have started to deteriorate and need to be replaced. I might do all seven of them while I'm at it. The stringers look fine. The construction is perhaps a bit unusual...

Hi folks, We have a mature cherry tree in our (fairly small) garden. Long story short, over the years more and more of the ground around the tree has been covered up - one side is a tarmacced alley, one side is under a car port which keeps the ground pretty dry. The last two years the tree...

Hi folks, We have an old brick shed in the garden which we've recently re-reroofed and refitted. Tomorrow's job is to fit a new door and frame. Currently there is a hole in the bricks, no wooden parts left as they were all rotten. The hole is not plumb at the sides, by about 2cm. (The...

Hi folks, I need to replace a corner shower enclosure which is old and tired. I have removed all screws, doors and panels. What's left is two U-shaped brackets on the walls, each 6ft high, stuck to the walls with nothing but silicone sealant. They will not budge. I cannot get a blade...

Hi folks, Trying to replace a leaky waste in a belfast sink. I have the right waste (1.5" slotted). Fitted as follows: Sausage of plumber's mait around the plughole. PTFE tape around thread where nut will be. Drop the waste in. Sausage of plumber's mait onto top of nylon washer...

Hi all, Stumbled across an unusual piece of wiring in my house yesterday. The wiring which feeds the bedroom sockets is a normal ring for the most part - goes from CU to socket to socket to socket ... and back to the CU. However two sockets in one room are fed from a pair or spurs from a...

Hi all, I need to connect a washing machine to a 42mm waste pipe which protrudes horizontally from a wall in my (new) utility room. It's about 90cm up the wall (as the room is in the cellar and that's how the heights work out) so there's no room for a big tall standpipe. (I've checked and...

Hi folks, I am having a cellar conversion done, and it will of course include radiators. However even in the summer (when the central heating is switched off) the cellar is pretty cool. We will have to see whether the insulation being installed will solve this, but I suspect not - the walls...

Hi folks, Replacing a broken surface-mounted backbox (light switch) with a metal, recessed one:http://www.wickes.co.uk/1-gang-metal-box/invt/205261/ It has a pre-made hole in one side, perfect position for the cable (which is under the plaster) but normal grommets don't fit in the hole...

Hi folks, Last year we planted 30 crocus bulbs under the lawn. This spring, all of them sprouted good strong leaves, and then seven of them flowered simultaneously. The other 23 have still not flowered and I don't think they are going to. Any idea why not? Thanks, Mark

Hi folks, Last year we planted 30 crocus bulbs under the lawn. This spring, all of them sprouted good strong leaves, and then seven of them flowered simultaneously. The other 23 have still not flowered and I don't think they are going to. Any idea why not? Thanks, Mark

Hi, We have a single-pipe heating system. Several rads are new and have new valves (not TRV, just normal ones), all of which are completely open. All rads have bypasses under them. Pipe leaving the boiler is very hot. Pipe returning to boiler is almost as hot. The feed pipe to every...

Hi all, I have fitted a shower with a pump. Cold tank is in the loft, shower on the floor below. Pump on the floor next to she shower (in a cupboard). When it works it works well, but most mornings it will not start. Turn the shower on, nothing. To make it start, dangle the shower head...