I have just had my kitchen fitted and to cut costs I decided to do the painting myself. I have painted walls and wood work before but I have never painted newly plastered walls or bare wood before and want to make sure I do the job properly. The walls have been plastered really well and have a smooth polished finish. My final covering will be a dulux endurance washable emulsion.

I expect to need to do two coats but am wondering if I need to put any other surface covering before on the walls before I paint them?

Regards the kitchen ceiling, I am considering just painting this with a white silk or matt emulsion. Would this be ok? Which should I paint first - I know I will need to be careful regarding the edges between ceiling and wall and have brought some 'frog tape' for newly painted walls. Any tips on how to achieve a crisp join between walls and ceilings - or is it just patience.

I will also be painting the new wood frames and skirting boards with a satin wood. Is an undercoat or wood primer the best option prior to the satin wood covering.

I have an existing concrete patio and am going to lay flagstones over the top. The stones will be around 450 mm square.

What are the pros and cons of using a mortar base or just sand?

when painting a room what should you i do first emulsion the walls or gloss the wood work. thanks in advance

I'm buying a house which has an old fuse box. This was noted on the survey I had done and it was suggested I update it. Is this really necessary? There's nothing actually wrong with the fuse box - it's just old fashioned? Are there any safety concerns with these old ones or is this just something they tend to note on such surveys.

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.

We've had our living room re plastered and the result is pretty poor in places, especially around sockets and near corners. The plasterer used one coat plaster which I've never come across before. I've had other jobs done and the plasterer's always used pink gypsum and the results have been much better. I want to get this guy back to improve the finish but need to know if other plasterers use this stuff.

I have a staircase and landing which was finished in a dark varnish. I hired a painter and decorator to paint it white. In his quote he said he would "rub down all woodwork, apply one coat of Dulux trade wood primer, then undercoat, then gloss to the woodwork".

Halfway through the job, I questioned him as they hadn't rubbed down the varnish to remove it all. He assured me that it would be absolutely fine and they had rubbed it down lightly. Effectively the varnish colour and glossy sheen appeared to remain in the parts they hadn't done at that point. When asking the chap, he told me that they would paint the white, then rub that down which made it easier.

They finished a week ago, and yesterday my four year old son threw a toy car which hit the woodwork and some paint has chipped off and the wood slightly dented (I would obviously expect some damage to the paintwork). However, the old varnish is showing through and it reignited my original fears

Am I expecting too much, or should he have rubbed it right down to the bare wood?

Fortunately, he's only just given me the invoice, so I haven't paid him yet giving me some leverage if he hasn't done it properly. However, I don't want to be unfair if he has done it properly and I'm expecting too much.

Many thanks.

i am going to have a new combi boiler installed and i was wondering how much i could fetch for the cylinder and pipework and is worth me selling or letting the trademan taking it.