clive’s buildteam.com blog

Light sockets come in many shapes and sizes. Most lamps use 120 volts, but some specialty lamps require 240 volts to operate properly. The light socket’s purpose is to hold a bulb in place and to provide voltage needed to turn the light on. A wall switch usually controls the light. Three wires connect to the socket. Two are hot wires and one is a ground wire.

Well a temporary solution would be to rub down and paint over the area with a water blocking paint, something oil based usually works, or tile the area. Temporary solutions are unfortunatley  just that and the only way to cure the problem satisfactorily is to damp proof, or in your case I think ‘tank’ the room.

The method of constructing floating shelves depends very much upon the span the shelves have to bridge. If it is narrow say 300-500mm you could probably get away with some thick MDF. If the span is more you will want to either use much thicker heavier timber or build a frame for the shelf and clad it with MDF. You can also buy specially made brackets which are two prongs which are attached to the wall and are designed to penetrate into the back of the shelf supporting it in this way. Please call me with your dimensions and I can give you some more specific advice.

This all depends on personal preference and budget. Personally I think that the ‘all’ glass option looks best but as is often the way it’s also the more expensive. The whole idea of the side return extension really should be to make your kitchen light and bright while increasing the space, full glass therefore acheives this best.

Ahh thats a tricky one. I prefer Eddy but Buddy was certainly more popular overall. My favourite of all is Elvis though. The King.

Sarah, I use wedging strips. Ask in any timber merchants they should be able to help. They usually come in pine so with a little stain you can get them pretty close to the colour of the boards.

For a big hole, I cut a piece of plaster board, larger than the hole which will just fit through. A small screw put into the board will then help you to pull the plaster board back and with the help of glue (gripfill) fix it inside the hole. The hole will then be shallow and much easier to fill. Another useful tip is to mix a little PVA into your filler then when it dries you shouldn’t be left with the annoying periferal cracxks which you often get.

I recently found one of my old chisels rusting on a shelf and I had to resort to a bench grinder to get it back in shape. However usually I use an oil stone, a good traditional tried and tested method.

Tricky one. I will have to be careful what I say. I think 30 and my cheeky mate Roy is going for 35. Any  other guesses  welcomed.