Send in your questions to Steve. . .

Q I want to replace my garage door with an electric one.

I'm hearing all sorts of scare stories about them being dangerous and children getting trapped underneath them. I really would love an electric garage door as I hate having to get out of the car to open it.

A I have used electric garage doors myself and find them excellent. As for children getting trapped I have not heard of that happening. I recently organised a door for a customer and used Abington Garage Doors (in Ballyguy, Murroe, Co Limerick); they gave great service and turned up on time. Abington specialses in roller garage doors, sectional overhead doors, up and over doors and automatic systems and can supply and install any system to suit your needs.

Contact 061 386777 or visit www. abingtongaragedoors. ie

A I'm buying my husband a flat-screen plasma for Christmas. I know he'd like to mount it on the wall but I'm worried we'll have all these trailing wires. Is there a way of disguising the wires?

If you have a timber-framed house it should be relatively easy to hide the cables in the framework. You can also purchase a split wire loom which allows you to bundle the cables into one tube. You could use stick-on mini-trunking which looks very neat. Ask at the shop where you are buying the TV for advice on hiding wires.

Q My aunt recently renovated her house and gave me some of her old, and quite ornate cast-iron radiators. I'd love to replace the modern ones in my house with them. They look like they need a bit of work. I don't have loads of money to spend on them. Any ideas?

A Re-using old cast-iron radiators can be a bit of a lottery! They really need to be restored to their former glory by a professional restoration company. They need to be pressure-tested for leakage and if found to fail they have to be opened and new gaskets fitted and then pressure tested again. If they are in good condition they will need to be sandblasted and tested. I'm not sure what they would cost to be restored . . .as this depends on the amount of work required . . . but they would really look well when finished and painted.

Q The bricks on the exterior of our house constantly have horrible green moss over them. And no matter how many times I clean the bricks the green moss always comes back. The moss is along all the front of the house at ground level and is about four bricks high. Could this be rising damp? How do I get rid of it permanently?

A Is the moss thick or is it just a green stain? If it is thick then scrape it off with a wide scraper and treat the area with a chemical brick cleaning solution. If it is a green stain then it is more than likely algae which can be treated with a bleach solution. I suggest you mix bleach at a ratio of two water to one bleach. Put this over the stained area wait for approximately five minutes then use a scrubbing brush and clean the area. Wash the wall thoroughly afterwards. It might take a couple of attempts but the stain should disappear.

WRITE TO US

If you have a building/renovation-related query that you'd like Steve to help you with, email: doorstepdoctor@tribune. ie

Steve Guerin is managing director of www. tradesmenireland. com, the one-stop website that will help you find a tradesman, a site for sale, a property to rent or buy and all the plant hire and machinery you need to complete your house build or renovation