Send in your questions to Steve. . .

Q My house was built in the 1970s: nine-inch block, no wall insulation. I have two questions. We have gas central heating. The radiators are the original ones, installed when the house was built. All the piping is gun barrell. The system works okay but is there any benefit to installing new modern radiators? Also would it be of benefit to dryline exterior walls? If so, what type of insulation would be best?

Tony

A If the central heating system is working okay, I would suggest that perhaps you leave it alone. You may have some trouble in the future with the gun barrel pipe work; if and when that happens then that would be the best time to make alterations to your system . . . new radiators or maybe even zone the system so that you can heat certain sections of the house when needed.

As for drylining the exterior walls, it would de"nitely be an advantage. I presume you are thinking of the heat retention factor or are there signs of dampness on the walls? If there is no sign of dampness then I would suggest using half-inch plasterboard which has some polystyrene insulation glued to the back of it.

This can be fixed to the walls by drilling holes through the plasterboard and using a plastic mushroom-head fixing which is hammered into the hole. You can either plaster the wall or tape and joint the wall. If you have signs of dampness then I suggest you fix 2in x 1in battens to the wall and fix the insulated plasterboard to these or alternatively put polystyrene sheets between the battens and fix 8ft x 4ft x half-inch plasterboard to the battens. Then plaster or tape and joint the boards.

Q My brown PVC window frames are over 20 years old and have turned a purple/white on the ground level. Is there any way I can restore them to their former glory? The upstairs frames are still a healthy brown colour.

Rita Doherty

A The reason the frames have turned the purple/white colour is probably from the ultra violet rays from the sun. Another reason for the frames changing colour is that some recycled uPVC may have been used in the making of the frames: this is not as good a material as what is termed as virgin uPVC. The only suggestion I can make is that you paint the frames with a suitable paint for PVC or change the damaged windows.

Q I recently bought a house. Everything looked fine and there were no worries in the surveyor's reports. I've just started painting, however, and have noticed that the wood below the window frame is black in places. The window is a 'door' type window that opens inwards. The window is double-glazed PVC and is fairly new. The strip of wood is on the floor separating the window from the carpet. Is the wood rotten? How did it get like this? What should I do? I've no problems with condensation or anything.

Malahide reader

A If you cannot see any signs of dampness around the window internally then you most likely have dampness penetrating from the outside at the bottom of the window frame. There is not much I can say without seeing the problem but I would suggest you ask a competent builder/tradesman to look at the problem for you. It shouldn't be too much of a problem to fix. A short-term solution would be to paint the wall with a damp proofing liquid.

Q I live in a new-build. The living room is quite plain and there's no fireplace in it. I was thinking of getting a false chimney breast made from MDF and mounting a flat fire on it. Do you know how long it would take to get a false chimney breast made and how expensive a job this is? I would imagine it to be fairly simple.

Roisin Doyle, Dublin

A It would probably take a carpenter a day to build the chimney breast and then you would need an electrician to connect the wires for the fire, so you should have the job done in a couple of days. As to the cost of the job, this can vary enormously but you should expect to pay from 500 upwards, plus materials.

Why not 'post a job' on my website and we will send the job by text/email to the relevant tradesmen in your area.

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