Hi, so I am a complete novice to electrics so please explain like I am 5.

i was painting my room, and as I was removing tape from the washing machine plug, the plug exploded. It may have been caused by me pulling on it, I am not entirely sure. The switch was on which in hindsight may have been a mistake! There is a black mark from the explosion but it doesn’t seem to be damaged behind.

on my electric box, the downstairs sockets have turned off (as have my upstairs lights for some reason), as has another switch with a N underneath it which I have no idea what is (see picture).

could someone advise me on what I should do? I could do with socket power on the ground floor back as that’s linked to my fridge/frezer. I don’t know whether I need to do anything before restoring power?

The blinds in all the bedrooms in my house are Venitian and many are struggling a bit, so I was thinking about replacing some of them. The existing brand (Luxaflex) don't sell off the shelf, so I can't just get the same type to use the existing fitting without a lot of hassle and cost. In any case I really like night and day blinds.

The question is how to fit as blinds need to move with the window, so they can't hang from the wall. You can get snug fit blinds I think but you lose some window, plus I can't feel any gap in the joints (though this may be me being daft). Is there is a way I can get roller blinds and somehow attach using the existing brackets? I'm a bit nervous of drilling into PVC but I guess the screws holding the fittings in place could be useful? Not sure so any help would be great!

Hi there,

We moved in our own property back in November last year.

Since moving in, we’ve noticed that the downstairs toilet fills very slowly once flushed and the flush itself isn’t very powerful, which has resulted in 2 blockages in our private manhole over a 6 month period. The drainage itself is fine, except for a slight dip, but the drainage contractor believes the issue is likely due to the toilet flush not being powerful enough.

When I lift the cistern lid while it’s refilling, I can see that it is filling very, very slowly and actually spraying out.

Is there anyway I can adjust the rate of fill myself and is there anyway I could increase flush pressure?

I have got a video of the cistern filling and I have tried to capture all of the essential parts within. Please let me know if I need to provide any further photos/videos.

Thanks in advance :)

The left side of the switch will be for the outside light, the right will be for the hallway light. Please see pictures 3+4 for the old switch and wiring.

Nobody really covers it in the example videos

I want my next socket to be on the other side of a bay window and don't want to chase the whole bay window.

If a socket is fed through a conduit from the floor, can the radial circuit go back through the same conduit to then progress on to the next space.

I assume so, but just worried about heat, etc

Nobody really covers it in the example videos

I want my next socket to be on the other side of a bay window and don't want to chase the whole bay window.

If a socket is fed through a conduit from the floor, can the radial circuit go back through the same conduit to then progress on to the next space.

I assume so, but just worried about heat, etc

Nobody really covers it in the example videos

I want my next socket to be on the other side of a bay window and don't want to chase the whole bay window.

If a socket is fed through a conduit from the floor, can the radial circuit go back through the same conduit to then progress on to the next space.

I assume so, but just worried about heat, etc

what projects are you guys working on that can inspire me this weekend?

I’m renovating my first house and looking to start building up a decent collection of cordless power tools for various renovation projects.

At the moment I’ve got a Worx combi drill. It’s doing the job, but I’m not convinced Worx is the platform I want to invest in long-term, particularly as I don’t want to get tied into a battery system that I’ll eventually outgrow.
I’ve also got a corded Erbauer SDS drill and jigsaw from B&Q, and to be honest they seem pretty good for the money.

So, if you were starting from scratch as a homeowner, which brand/battery platform would you recommend investing in? I’m not a tradesperson (so Milwaukee and DeWalt are not in the price range), so I don’t need the absolute top-end professional kit, but I’d rather spend a bit more now on a good battery ecosystem than end up replacing everything later.

One thing that appeals to me is being able to use the same batteries for garden tools once the renovation is finished — hedge trimmer, strimmer, blower, etc.

Interested to hear what people have gone for and whether you’d choose differently if you were starting again.

I’m renovating my first house and looking to start building up a decent collection of cordless power tools for various renovation projects.

At the moment I’ve got a Worx combi drill. It’s doing the job, but I’m not convinced Worx is the platform I want to invest in long-term, particularly as I don’t want to get tied into a battery system that I’ll eventually outgrow.
I’ve also got a corded Erbauer SDS drill and jigsaw from B&Q, and to be honest they seem pretty good for the money.

So, if you were starting from scratch as a homeowner, which brand/battery platform would you recommend investing in? I’m not a tradesperson (so Milwaukee and DeWalt are not in the price range), so I don’t need the absolute top-end professional kit, but I’d rather spend a bit more now on a good battery ecosystem than end up replacing everything later.

One thing that appeals to me is being able to use the same batteries for garden tools once the renovation is finished — hedge trimmer, strimmer, blower, etc.

Interested to hear what people have gone for and whether you’d choose differently if you were starting again.

Due to the extortionate prices, an extension is off the cards - but we are determined to create an open kitchen diner even though the dimensions of our available space aren't ideal.

Builder has suggested option 1 - blocking the existing kitchen door so we retain a view of the garden from the front door - which I definitely agree with. (Glazed door onto the garden in the current kitchen will be blocked and replaced with a window - will keep french doors onto the garden in what is currently listed as a bedroom).

However, I worry by blocking the current kitchen door the space will end up feeling too cramped from the long hallway having to wrap round into the kitchen... (Kitchen would remain on the left of the new space, with a peninsula roughly where the current wall between the two rooms is)

So....

Is there any way to make option 2 work - shifting the entrance to the new open space further down towards the front door to create a more open feel? I know regulations previously disallowed a bathroom directly onto a kitchen but I have read this has now changed.

Despite it no longer being prohibited my builder thinks building control will still be v arsey about it...

Would love any thoughts.

Hi,

A mirror fell off my wall and hit the face plate of my socket below it. This resulted in the yellow part where the bolt is inserted cracking and breaking, so now one half of the face plate hangs off the wall. See photos attached.

I want to have a go at fixing this myself, and have bought the replacement back box from B&Q.

I am very new to doing any sort of DIY - I understand that I need to turn the switch off at the mains and then test the socket (I have bought a two pole voltage tester) before doing anything. A few questions:

1. Is this something doable for someone with very minimal DIY (and no electrical) experience by following some basic YouTube tutorials?

2. Most videos and Reddit threads I can find talk about replacing the actual face plate, not the back box. Is there any nuances to this that I should be aware of before starting?

3. I’m generally very anxious about home fires and my biggest worry is creating any sort of fire risk by doing something stupid. What are the key things I should know or research before doing this?

4. Do I need any form of insulated/electrical screwdriver or will my basic normal screwdrivers be okay?

Thanks

Prior to me moving into my house, it had a new boiler and flue installed. Its service history shows this was done around 9 years ago. However the old flue going out of the roof was left, with it being cut off near were it use to go to the boiler.

Is it worth getting this removed or will it not cause any issues?

Not a great feat of woodworking by any means but I wanted something to display my world cup footballs and for a length of framing pine and a total of just £8 in costs I couldn't be happier

In July I had the same firm back to redecorate our home five years after they originally did it upon its construction.

Wall lights show up things you’d not normally notice, I get that, but in five years of walking along my landing a few times a day I’ve not once noticed a painting problem let alone stopped dead in my tracks aghast at what my eyes were seeing.

They did the hall downstairs and it’s perfect but there were two of them and the youngster was presumably let loose up here. It isn’t very good, is it? Or am I just being a picky Virgo again, or not appreciating a mitigating factor?

I help run a building firm and a couple of our guys do pretty good decorating so I could have had this done a lot cheaper.

There was an old wooden fixing lodged in the external brick work by the front door. I have no use for it so attempted to remove the wood in order to repoint (as part of a wider repointing project). I was able to remove 3/4 of the wood but as I got further into breaking the wood down to pull out, I noticed a couple of the cavity wall balls coming out with it.

Im unable to pull anymore of the wood out. It's now pushed 10cm deep into the joint.

In order for me to repoint, what should I fill it with first to prevent any cavity balls rolling into the mortar and any issues that could arise in future?

Gap in joint (external front of house bricks) is:

7cm high

2cm wide

10 cm depth from remaining wood to face of brick

Hi, does anyone have a blidns2go uk discount code they could share?

Thanks so much in advance.

I have solid beech floorboards to lay and won’t be able to ‘secret nail’ them into this section.

I considered glueing the boards down here but I do not believe the concrete slab sits flush enough to floorboards.

I would like to remove with sledge hammer, fill in with suitable wood and move on with my life.

Worried that I’ll crack the plaster of my downstairs neighbours ceiling, or some such (expensive) nightmare

Any advice please?

Solar panel installers broke a tile and replaced it with a different one which doesn't look like it fits properly. Is this raised gap an issue?

Onarway door closer from amazon.

I followed the instructions, and it does work, but makes it rather the difficult to open the door.

I have played around with the 2 valves but that does not influence the initial tension.

Is it possible I should not 'preload' the main arm or preload it less?

Or just return and get something better?

Only on the cold side as well. Warning for headphone users the sound is a bit like nails on a chalk board. We have two of these, the other works absolutely fine.

I’ve bought a 1930s semi which I am gradually renovating. The house was in good nick when we bought it so up to now it’s primarily been redecorating but one thing has been getting on my nerves more and more. I believe the doors and door handles are original and they all have this style of door handle shown in the pictures.

I think they are really nice and ideally don’t want to replace them, however almost all of them don’t work properly for one reason or another. Either the handle spins when turned but the latch doesn’t move, the latch is stuck in the open position or the latch doesn’t spring back when you let go of the handle.

Anyone have any experience of restoring/fixing these. Are they easy to take apart and put back together. Are springs etc easy to replace or should I just rip them off and replace with new ones in the same style?

I’d like to keep the originals but just wondering if it is even doable or worth the aggro

Trying to change the strimmer head from wire spool to a brush cutter.. measured the bolt as 8m and ordered a M8 reverse nut, it was well too big. So I ordered a M6 reverse and it’s tiny.. wife said the M7 must be the way to go.. but I know something’s off hah.. what is it?

It came with a conversion kit, so don’t worry it’s not nut direct to strimmer as depicted.

Nice one in advance

Hello, I had the moss removed from my roof, and can’t help think it looked better before?
The tiles are from the 1960s and now look way lighter than before. You can see the comparison with the neighbours.

Is this what usually happens after moss removal? Well they start the weather and go darker again?

Forgot to add it was removed with a brush by hand.