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Can someone please tell me what this type of draft excluder is called. It'll slide into the thin recess in the door (as per the picture) and then there'll be a 'fat' bit (about 1cm wide) that will act at the draft protector for the French door?

We have wood treatments, I just wasn't sure whether we just go straight over these 'dots'. I think we'll treat it and paint it, and see what happens.

A few months ago we sanded our garden bench and applied two coats of Cuprinol garden furniture paint. A few weeks ago, the paint started flaking in some areas, and just on the main seating area. Nowhere else. I've just sanded it down, to treat and reapply the paint and have found, what I think is the culprit: little white areas in the wood, and these are the areas where the flaking started. I don't want to repaint this, if it's just going to flake again. Any suggestions how I treat this?

We've already got the wax stain, so prepared for that. It'll be an exact colour match. Sorry, what I failed to mentioned is the we're buying is quadrant for inside the conservatory to "seal" the area between the floor and skirting board which has gaps and also gets drafts. The saga for window beading outside continues.

They skimped on a lot of things.

We think that these windows were last painted 18 months ago. They were never primed and we think they only did one coat. We're thinking of going with Ronseal if they can match colours. They have used plywood in some places and it all needs replacing because its swelled and cracking. As a priority we're going to tackle the beading on the windows, because one of the windows looks to be getting some water in the double glazing and replacing all the windows is a scenario we really need to avoid.

We have also received that advice from a surveyor friend and will definitely be doing that.

Relieved to hear it’s all good. Thanks for the reassurances everyone.

I think they used a clear varnish.

Thanks the link. We’ve sound good stuff on their site and will probably place an order today.

The beading is shot and was never installed correctly - it’s also a soft wood. They also used lots of short lengths so there are joints everywhere and they have been sealed properly so water can get in. It’s not been the best job in the world.

As another thing I'm having to do is to seal the door in the conservatory because it's extremely drafty. Having spent a lot of time scratching my head looking at this door, I've realised that there are no draft excluders (not sure if that's the correct name) that run vertically down the door on the inside channel - if I got the right product that will allow me to seal this door properly and keep the draft out. It's missing on both doors as per the attached pictures. What is the correct product that I should buy, as I'd like the excluders to be able to 'overlap' each other to really keep the wind out.

Given the shocking level of workmanship we're discovering on an almost daily basis, I would question whether anything is sealed correctly in this house, which is why we're considering replacing the shutter.

I love the appearance of the cracks was just scared that it would continue to crack and splinter and collapse. Glad to hear that won't be case any time soon. Since it doesn't need it, I won't fill it. Should we be treating it all every few years with a coat of varnish, preserver, stain, etc.?

We have oak pillars that lead up to our house. Ive noticed that we've got some almighty cracks in them. Should we be filling them or treating them in any way?

Before I post photos of the fuse box, I want to tackle the source of this draft. I got the ladder out and scaled my way up to the culprit that's supposed to be preventing wind from blowing into the house. This cover is cheap and nasty. With the slight breeze that's around today, this thing is flapping, so I can understand why we're getting drafts inside when winds pick up. The diameter of the pipe running into the house is 9.5cm and the cover has been glued onto it - typical. So I'll need to get a decent cover that will allow air to leave from inside the house if the extractor fan is turned on, but we need something that'll be stronger and won't give in to winds blowing at it from outside. Any suggestions? Just scared to buy a replacement of Amazon or eBay that'll be equally as crap.

Thanks for the advice on the paints. I need to turn my attention to the beading around the windows now - we're really struggling to find a supplier that will provide us with hard wood beading at a decent price that as we need to replace the beading around all the windows and seal them properly - can anyone suggest a good place online that we can buy this?

It was recommended to us yesterday that after we've sanded down the paint, we first treat the knots, then put a layer of aluminium oxide on before we do the primer and paint coats. Is the general consensus here that the aluminium oxide is a good step?

Not sure if I'd have the strength for that - the invasive job of installing sprinklers must be crazy. We also have no room in the ceiling between the ground and first floor, so that in itself will probably rule out sprinklers. The guys next door have sprinklers, and they're having the odd leak here and there too, but that's probably down to a bad installation.

Outstanding advice once again from everyone. Thank you all. I'm going to look into this over the course of the next few days and update you on progress and developments.

And therein lies the problem ? Having read your description though, that may well be something I can do... always willing to give it a go with my burgeoning DIY skills.

I assume that we will need an electrician to fit this?

That's really interesting. I will definitely look into it. We were still in bed when they went off, and no signs of anything untoward anywhere in the house. I will also look into the switch you mentioned, because running around the house was a bit comical this morning.

Thanks Dave.

I never really checked for that. I will monitor the situation. Thanks for the suggestion.