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Stair Cleaning Service Payment
Hi guys, I moved to Edinburgh about 5 months ago after living in Glasgow. In Glasgow I lived in a tenement flat and the stairs / close was cleaned regularly and I never heard anything from the people who cleaned it. Since moving to Edinburgh, a 'company' has been cleaning the stairs one every two weeks or so posting a slip…
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Descaling hot water cylinder & pipes with Fernox DS3
Hi all, the other week the hot water tap in our kitchen suddenly only gave a trickle of water. The hot water in the bathroom immediately above works fine, so my guess was a blockage of the pipe between the two. I was recommended to use some Fernox DS3 descaler in the the system as it seemed it was probably some limescale…
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Is there anything we can do about neighbour's leaky pipe causing us damp?
Hi all, I hope someone can help! We live next door to a 90 year old man who is deaf and not very coherent. We have tried talking to him but he honestly doesn't seem to have any idea what we are saying! Anyway, the problem is that he has an overflow pipe coming from his boiler out of his back (1st floor) bedroom wall. It is…
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Tiling over plasterboard
Ok, so we've just tiled around a shower over bath directly onto plasterboard using wickes ready mixed adhesive. We've been told that the adhesive might not dry properly because the water in the adhesive will seep into the plasterboard and make it damp, but we've also been told that it will dry, it will just take longer.…
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Weed Control
Got a square patch of lawn out front (5mx3m) that gets driven/parked on occasionally (busy road have to turn cars round) looks a f*eck*in disgrace. Rest of drive is paved (big old grey/pink thick slabs yuk but can't afford to reflag) Thinking of digging out putting down weed control matting then putting say few tons pink…
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Gas isolation lever photo needed
I have to try to explain to some relatives about the gas lever in the meter box of the house they recently moved to. When I helped them move in (200 miles away) the gas was switched off in the meter box and I went out to turn it on. It took a while to figure out that the lever didn't turn until I pulled it to one side…
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Location of transformer/driver for LEDs
hi looking to re-decorate our kitchen and am keen to replace GU10s with LED fittings. Existing ones are spot lights in ceiling. I am of the impression that if i were to replace the fittings, i will need a driver (but not a transformer as it will be 230V!). Question is how big is this "driver" and where is it installed for…
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Should I still Pay contractor
Hi guys, A little advice please, about 3 years ago I had a loft conversion and found afterwards the electric consumer unit was old and required replacing. The electrician that did the loft said he would do it and came back a week later and fitted a new oneat the time he said there was a problem with the earth and would…
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Sealing/water-proofing corrugated cement sheets
Does anyone have any experience/advice regarding sealing/water-proofing corrugated cement roofing sheets? The sheeting would be ~30 years old (unsure whether it's asbestos), it's a garage roof and looks in generally good condition, no obvious cracks or damage but some moisture/damp seems to be getting through the sheeting…
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Painting interior walls
The walls in my "box room" are papered in wood chip which I'm going to remove. I want to paint the walls with ordinary emulsion. Do I really need to put up lining paper first or can I paint directly onto the plaster ? House was built in 1969 and the plaster is sound and nicely smooth. I'm useless at wallpapering and it…
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Toilet seats - GRRRRR !!!
First off, apols if I sound like a wimp ! Middle aged single woman who does many smaller DIY jobs and gets someone in for bigger things. My one (so far) bugbear is toilet seats. I just don't know how to fix them so that they don't work loose within a couple of weeks. What am I doing wrong ? I've been fiddling with one this…
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Eco egg!??
Hi there, dunno if this is the right place to put this, it's home- ish. Has anyone here used an Eco egg and are they any good for washing. They apparently are just like the wash balls/ soap nuts but I haven't used either of these. I'm thinking on investing one as it claims you never have to buy washing powder again if you…
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GRP Roof Insurance
I'm getting a loft conversion done and am getting a GRP flat roof to a very large dormer. Should I expect any kind of Insurance Backed Guarantee? I'd hate to have problems in 10 years time and not be able to find the builder.
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Replacing Kitchen Unit Doors
Hello, We have an old but in good condition Schreiber kitchen bought from MFI a long time ago and would like to update it a bit by changing the doors, worktops etc. We have seen some replacement doors in B&Q that would do the trick but the problem is that the hinges are not quite in the same place and so it might not be…
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Not enough electric sockets, but is an extension lead safe?
I've got a washing machine and seperate tumble dryer housed in an outbuilding that also contains the boiler, however I only have one socket (heavy duty with power cut out thingy). Would a heavy duty extention lead be safe to use? As its a rented property, having another socket permenatly put in isn't an option and I don't…
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can i sell my old boiler
Ideal boiler, around 10 to 15 years old, working well.... Changing mainly for the efficiency reasons. Would like to know, is it possible to sell the whole system (boiler, tanks.. only, not radiators!). Or is it possible to sell individual items.. Or is it better to let the firm changing boiler to take this away. (looks…
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House renovations / extension ballpark costs...
Can anyone give me a very very rough indication of how much we'd be looking at to do some alterations. We are nowhere near being ready to do them, which is why I'm not too keen to get in builders at this stage for a proper quote as it's a waste of their time. Our house is a 1930s semi, which was built as new with a kitchen…
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'Shortwood Carvings' Sefco Ltd.
There used to be a company called Sefco Ltd who manufactured 'Shortwood Carvings'. It doesn't appear to be in existance now. They used to make things for decorating doors, mantlepieces, pelmets etc. We are building some fitted wardrobes and would like to decorate them with these. We've used them a couple of times before…
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Fagor 5H-26x User manual
Not sure if this is the right section but here goes. Moved into a new flat recently and the oven has no user manual. It is a Fagor 5H-26X and the main problem is that the symbols around the dials have worn off so I need a manual with a photo so that I can see where the dial is meant to be even if I cant see the symbols.…
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toilet soil pipe blocked at drain in garden
not the nicest of subjects and apoligies for posting over tea! the outside soil pipe where it meets the drian in the garden has backed up into the garden. yuk. the soil pipe meets the drian where the conservatory drainpipes goes in. from looking at next door it seems this was done when the conny was built as next doors…
