aAsk a Tradesman

had a kitchen designer in and he said we didn't need an extractor fan is that true?

I found a small crack between my wall and coving last year, then it got bigger and there were reasonably big cracks along the ceilings on both floors of my house. Not only along the walls but down the walls in the corners, by the door frames and windows. Not forgetting my FAVOURITE one which is behind the MAINS board.

I have been told these are not due to subsidence, even though some of these have appeared over the period between September and now. There are no visible cracks on the outside by outer wall is pulling away from the inner wall by my front door. So this surely can not be a figment of my imagination, and is more than just changes in room temperature.

I've started building a brick barbecue. The concrete base turned out perfect, but I didn't get much further than that. I'm having a lot of trouble mixing good, easily workable mortar. The mix I tried is 6:2:1 (sand:lime:cement). As I'm not used to laying bricks, I need to take my time adjusting the bricks into place. This seems impossible with the mortar I made. No matter how much water I put in it, the mortar dries fast and doesn't stick to the bricks (bricks that have been layed 24hrs ago can easily be removed by hand). What am I doing wrong?

Just moved in to a house which has a number of windows with condensation between the glass panels. Can they be cleaned or do they require replacing? Thanks.

Update - Thankyou all very much for taking the time to post your honest opinions - I'll be checking out your recommendations.
Most appreciated, Shona

Looking to replace my dad's boiler. Only had one quote so far which is based on a Ferroli boiler however when i research them online they are universally panned by almost everyone - clients and installers although I guess they are a source of work for the installers!! Fairly highly recommended seems to be Vaillent Ecotek but I think this is at the higher cost end of the scale.
Is there a boiler that has good reliability at a reasonable price or is it better to go with a big name like Vaillent or Worcester and pay more initially? My dad has a servicing contract with Scottish Gas so maintenance isn't an issue but all the same he doesn't want to be calling them out every 5 mins to repair it.
When I get quotes I want to make sure I'm comparing like with like and not getting a cheaper quote because it's based on a rubbish boiler.
Boiler is for a 3 bed house with one bathroom.

I have had skirting and architraves installed but there are huge gaps between them and the walls. What do I fill them with that will be best in the long run and wont crack....silicon, wood filler,cork,car body filler ;-) - anything?

I wont be painting the wood coloured skirting, architraves etc and will probably be waxing or clear varnishing them.

Thank you

Thanks to everone who answered - a lot of useful info there which I will follow.

Just to clarify - The house was built in 1930ish. The fine cracks are not all over the walls and appear in certain places assumably for certain reasons. (surveyor did write this could happen in his report)
ie New small internal wall put up - crack appeared where it joins existing wall.
When putting up curtain poles cracks appeared along the line of drill holes (plaster applied too thinly?)
Other key areas - on some walls above doors
Also the clown that laid my loft flooring banged nails into the chipboard in loft causing damage to one of the ceilings - cracks outlining ceiling plasterboard - needs replastering?
The only worrying crack for me is there is one coming down diagonally on an outside wall corner only very fine though and again has been reskimmed.

Thanks again

I have just had some walls and ceilings skimmed and i am unsure of what i should expect as i have never hired a plastere before.

I have spent quite some time filling in scratches and sanding it down before i could paint it. i also had to fill and shape some corners because the plasterer said that was not his job as he was not a decorator.

Is this the finish one should expect after having trades men in or should a skimming job be ready for paint without me having to do any work?

I live in a 1930's semi detatched home. A couple of years ago, we had the house re-insulated, including cavity wall and in the loft.

Since then, we have had issues with condensation on the windows, between the double glazing and small black moud growing in several places in the house...mainly in my son's bedroom. We removed the mould with diluted bleach and painted over it with a special paint. It seems to be coming back though.
My son has a skin condition which seems to worsen when he comes home from university, so it is essential that this is sorted out quickly.

We were told by the insulators that we would need to have the existing vents opened or some fitted perhaps, but we never got round to it. Before having the insulation done, we hardly had any condensation and NO mould whatsoever. This suggests that it is definitely a ventilation problem, but I'm not really sure about what the exact solution is, and would greatly appreciate some help/advice.