Make the most of the extra daylight by tackling these DIY jobs around the house
THE Consumer Crew are here to solve your problems. Mel Hunter will take on readers’ consumer issues, Jane Hamilton will give you the best advice for buying your dream home, and Judge Rinder will tackle your legal woes. Jane Hamilton, property expert Brushing up on DIY skills SATURDAY marks the summer solstice – the longest […]
THE Consumer Crew are here to solve your problems.
Mel Hunter will take on readers’ consumer issues, Jane Hamilton will give you the best advice for buying your dream home, and Judge Rinder will tackle your legal woes.
Jane Hamilton, property expert
Brushing up on DIY skills
SATURDAY marks the summer solstice – the longest day of the year.
The UK will experience 16 hours and 38 minutes of daylight, and possibly a surge in DIY jobs as we use the extra light to get household jobs done.
To help, we have teamed up with trades site myjobquote.co.uk to find answers for the most-searched DIY dilemmas.
Can you paint over mould and mildew? Do not paint over it, or it will return. First, wash the infected areas with a bleach-based cleaner to kill off mould growth or damp spores. Let it dry then apply a primer, damp paint or anti-mould paint as an undercoat and paint the wall with the colour of your choice.
What is the white substance on bricks and is there any way to remove it? This is called efflorescence, which is the salt in mortar and brick coming to the surface. Remove the salt deposits by spraying distilled vinegar on the affected bricks and then wait for ten minutes for the efflorescence to absorb the vinegar. Once this is done, use a dry, stiff bristle brush to scrub away the salt deposits.
How do I fix paint bubbles/blisters on walls? Scrape the wall and sand the blisters. Once a smooth finish has been achieved, coat the walls with primer before applying a quality acrylic latex interior paint. Do not use oil-based or alkyd paint over latex paint.
Can I paint my decking with fence paint? Many people tend to use fence paint on decking because it usually costs less than decking paint, stain and oil. But it is also less durable. Instead, use decking oil as it effectively penetrates the decking wood and gives it longer protection from use and the weather.
Buy of the week
HEAD to Hereford to make the most of the property market bounce-back.
The pretty city has topped Rightmove’s post-lockdown buyer demand table, with a 77 per cent rise in interest since restrictions began to lift.
This picturesque three-bed cottage is packed with stylish features and a sunlit conservatory. It could be yours for £175,000 at rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-84809138.html.
Rock-solid property boost
BRITAIN’S ancient landmarks give a rock-solid boost to our property prices.
Homes close to the UK’s most famous stone circles are an average £290,262 – that is 25 per cent more than the current UK average.
Prices near Stonehenge in Wiltshire top £301,900. Colby Short, CEO of estate agents comparison site getagent.co.uk, which carried out the research, said: “It certainly seems that ancient cosmic forces are at work, helping to push property prices near these Neolithic monuments above and beyond the UK average in most instances.”
Deal of the week
THIS designer duplicate looks just like an Eames dining chair costing hundreds of pounds.
But the Linnet version is just £34.30 at Dunelm, down from £49.
SAVE: £14.70
Judge Rinder
Q) I AM employed as the head groundsman at a boarding school and have been furloughed for 11 weeks.
At a recent meeting with the bursar I was told that my role was at risk, because of the need to make savings due to Covid-19.
I was told that I could accept a new role as groundsman with a £7,000 reduction in my salary or take redundancy which is an eight-year package only. Is this legal?
Barrie, Hereford
A) This school cannot make you redundant while your job still exists or you could have a case against them for unfair redundancy. The school appears to want you to do the same job you are doing now as head groundsman but for less money using a different title.
The school is allowed to ask you to take a pay cut (many companies are) and you may decide to agree but they cannot force redundancy on you unless they get rid of the head groundsman job and are now – genuinely – offering you a different role. If they are, it will be up to you to decide what to do. There are precise legal requirements for calculating the redundancy package you are being offered.
You need to think and act quickly in this case. You should ask your employer what your new role of “groundsman” would include then find out what redundancy package is being offered and, if you think the school is acting unlawfully, get legal advice as soon as possible. Citizens Advice Bureau can help.
Roofer slated
Q) I HAD a new roof put in 18 months ago. Soon after, the ceiling started to leak in the bedroom.
The roofer said the dormer needed recladding, which we had done, but it was still leaking.
We paid £4,000 in total and he’s offered us £500 to get someone else.
Enid, Bournemouth
A) It sounds as if he has failed to complete the work to a competent standard. If so you may be legally entitled to the full cost of repairing his shoddy work, compensation for any damage he might have caused or – possibly – a full refund.
You have given him the chance to repair his bad work so are not under any obligation to allow him to continue. You need to get another reliable builder (I would suggest getting at least two) to tell you why they think it is defective and what it would cost to put it right.
Then write to your original builder making clear you will be holding him accountable for the costs of these repairs or a refund for his work.
You may have to take him to the Small Claims Court in due course. Don’t worry if you do. The law is on your side.
Q) MY sister died in January this year. She lived alone in a housing association house. We were given until March 8 to empty her home, but as the £95 per week rent would have to be paid while her stuff was in the house, we cleared it out earlier.
We emptied her home, turned off the lights and boiler, took meter readings and handed the keys back on February 19.
I contacted the gas company with readings and four weeks later they sent me a cheque for £29.
A few weeks later I got a bill for £64 from the gas company. I couldn’t get through on the phone so emailed them asking what this was. I never heard anything back until recently when I got a letter from a third party chasing the debt. I phoned them and they said that as the tenancy agreement was until March 8 we had to pay a standing charge and estimated readings up to this date.
Is this correct?
Ann, Kent
A) I do not understand how you can be held legally liable for “estimated use” of a utility when you gave a final reading and it was clear the property had been vacated. It is possible your late sister was responsible for standing charges up to the end of her tenancy.
Email the debt collection company and utility provider asking why they believe they’re entitled to charge for utilities that haven’t been used. Make clear that you expect them to remove these charges, or you’ll be taking this up with their regulator and making others aware of their conduct.
- Got a question for Judge Rinder? Email judgerinder@thesun.co.uk
Mel Hunter, Reader’s champion
Locked out of flight refund
Q) IN mid-March, four of us flew to Fuerteventura on a package deal booked through Teletext Holidays.
Other flights were being cancelled, but to our amazement ours took off from Edinburgh.
On the second day, the hotel went into lockdown and our Ryanair flight home had been cancelled and we were told that the airline was no longer flying out of the island.
Teletext Holidays told me to find another flight home. They said this was our only option and they would refund us any money lost.
Eventually I booked a Jet2 flight to Manchester costing £1,600 and we then had to pay to get back to Dumfries.
Back home, Teletext Holidays were not interested and told me to contact Ryanair, who said it would only refund the cancelled flight.
I am more than £1,800 worse off – as well as having paid for a holiday we only had one day of. We shouldn’t have been allowed to fly.
Leslie Telfer, Dumfries
A) Whether Teletext Holidays should have let you travel at all is questionable. When the proverbial hit the fan, it then left you to find your own way back.
Airlines should generally help when flights are cancelled, but on a package holiday like yours, ultimate responsibility rests with the agent.
Consumer body Which? agreed, with Adam French, one of its experts, saying: “If your package holiday is cancelled while you are away then it is the travel company’s legal responsibility to get you home or cover your costs if you’re forced to make your own plans.”
I got you a refund for the extra costs from Teletext, but it has so far not offered any further compensation for your ruined trip.
A Teletext Holidays spokesperson, who insisted you were the airline’s responsibility, added: “We are keen to ensure our customers’ needs are looked after, therefore Teletext Holidays offered to reimburse the return flights.”
Q) MY sister’s washing machine from Currys was due to be delivered in March.
They contacted her to say installation could not take place because of coronavirus, but the machine didn’t turn up at all.
My sister has spent hours trying to sort this. She needed her washing machine because she is a key worker. She was refunded for the installation costs, but heard nothing else.
In desperation, she ordered a new machine from ao.com and it was delivered in less than 24 hours, but she has been unable to cancel the order with Currys.
Mike Redding, Weston- super-Mare, Somerset
A) Your sister had to cope through the worst of the pandemic without a washing machine, and was unable to find out what had happened to it.
Currys thinks that maybe the delivery date was deleted in error when the installation was cancelled, and has apologised for the mess-up.
Currys did finally refund your sister in full and gave her an extra £50 by way of an apology.
- Do you have a consumer issue? Email readers.champion@thesun.co.uk
Most read in Money
Maddy Tooke, Coupon Queen
MY top five freebies this week are:
- Grow It At Home guide from Innocent as part of the Big Grow project. Download the free guide at bit.ly/innocentgrow.
- Hallmark gratitude cards. More than half a million cards available, but these will go quickly. Request your free three-pack at bit.ly/hallmarkgratitude3.
- Platinum Dog Food Sample. Request yours at bit.ly/platinumdogsample. Available while stocks last.
- Green Flag breakdown assistance for NHS employees. Call dedicated NHS breakdown 0800 051 0009 and show NHS ID card. See bit.ly/greenflagnhs.
- FreeMind app full of mindfulness tools and meditation to help during pandemic. Free until October 1. See bit.ly/freemindapp10.
Ten best deals
- Get 20 per cent off orders over £50 from New Look with code NLTREAT from Vouchercodes.co.uk. Expires June 30. bit.ly/20newlook50.
- Save 55 per cent on MissPap orders and get next day delivery for £1.99. Ends June 30. See bit.ly/misspap55.
- Get an extra 15 per cent off orders at Shein with code VCPUK15 from Vouchercodes.co.uk. Expires June 30. See bit.ly/shein15off.
- Need a last-minute gift for Dad? Grab 15 per cent off orders at Buyagift with code FATHERSDAY15. See bit.ly/buyagiftdad.
- Save 20 per cent on menswear orders at Peacocks with code MENS20. Offer ends tomorrow. See bit.ly/20peacocks.
- Get an extra 22 per cent off local deals from Groupon with code LOCAL22 from Vouchercodes.co.uk. Ends June 30. See bit.ly/groupon22local.
- Save 15 per cent on orders from New Balance, using code NBGIFT4YOU. See bit.ly/newbalance15off.
- Free delivery and 15 per cent off Ray-Ban sunglasses through bit.ly/rayban15offvc. Ends September 30.
- NHS staff get ten per cent off grocery shopping and priority access at the Co-op. Just show a valid NHS ID card at 242 participating stores.
- Buy six bottles of wine, prosecco or champagne and get 25 per cent off until tomorrow at Sainsbury’s. Offer not valid in Scotland due to licencing laws. See bit.ly/sainsburyswine25
- Have you any money saving tips? Email maddy.tooke@thesun.co.uk
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