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Our house is made from mass concrete and is approximately 80-years-old. Apart from the hallway, the downstairs has carpeted wooden floors and there are air vents at the base of the walls. Beneath the floorboards appears to be just sand and earth. We want to replace the existing carpets with solid wood floors. Some of the old boards are damaged and the boards in one corner have rotted. There is also a strong breeze coming from below the board. Is there some sort of insulation that we should consider laying below the existing floor?

Should we block up the external vents to prevent the draughts before laying a new solid wood floor on top of the old boards?

Norman Walsh, Athenry You say some of the boards have rotted from a previous damp problem but you do not say if the floor joists are rotten as well as the floor boards. If they are, I suggest that you consider putting in a new concrete floor with the necessary damp proof precautions and insulation, namely 1200 guage polythene sheeting and floor insulation sheets. If the floor joists are in good condition then you can flt plastic sheeting or chicken wire in between the floor joists to provide a cradle to keep the floor insulation in place. Do not block up the air vents as the floor joists need air to circulate otherwise you could end up with a dry/wet rot problem. Once you insulate between the floor joists you will cut out the draught problem. Make sure that the original timbers are free from rotten timber and woodworm before fltting your new floor.

My husband and I live in a small-ish two-up-twodown in Dublin city and we're expecting our first baby early in 2008. The stairs is quite narrow with small steps and I'm a little nervous about the slipping. We're thinking of taking the carpet up and sanding down the wood. What varnish should I use or how can improve the finish so that it's slip-resistant?

Mary Ellen Greene I would suggest that you keep the original carpet or replace it as carpet will give you a much better grip than a paint or varnish "nish. If it is not possible to completely replace the staircase then I would suggest you keep the carpet option. If you really want a varnished look use a yacht deck varnish as this would have the anti. . . slip qualities you are looking for. Unfortunately with the type of steps you have, the possibility of slipping is much greater due to the fact that they are smaller than normal.

I have rather large cracks around the edge where the ceiling meets the walls, can you suggest the best remedy for this.

The best solution would be to fit coving to the ceiling. The coving will cover up the cracks and will also enhance the look of your room.

Coving can be fltted in a number of ways. It can be fltted by sticking it to the wall and ceiling or you can flx a batten to the wall and then screw the coving to the batten. This batten method works well where the walls are papered as you will not damage the wallpaper. If you decide to fit coving it would be advisable to complete the look with a ceiling centerpiece fitted around the light fitting. Alternatively it may be possible to fill the cracks with decoraters' caulk. When this has set you can sand it down and touch up with paint. This is a rather tedious job and if you can afford it I would recommend coving.

Sometimes the switches in my fuse board keep tripping when I put the kettle on. Any ideas on how to stop this?

Trip switches are fitted to fuse boards for the specific reason of cutting the power supply to the problem area to minimise the risk of injury. If you have a specific switch that keeps tripping when you put the kettle on unplug the kettle and try it in a different socket for a while. If the switches still trip then the problem is most likely with the kettle.

Replace the kettle and see if that helps. If the switches continue to trip then the problem is with the socket circuit. I would suggest that you contact a RECI (www. reci. ie) or ECSSA (www. ecssa. ie) registered electrician to look at the problem for you. Do not take chances with electricity, especially if you don't know what you're doing.