Home DIY

I see. Yeah get one put in. Thats the difficulty. It may end up on the backlog of jobs and won't be done until 3 months.

Trench with a big bit of plywood over the top until they come, then fill it at your leisure (before the winter).

I guess I may need to do this. Shame that the buffoons who lived here before me laid concrete over most of the original victorian tiles, but at least I don't need to worry about ruining the remainder of them.

What is your postcode? And how long ago did you do the initial tests?

Today I went to the Johnsons trade centre in Edmonton, lured by cheap offers and bought the non trade one 10l of silk white emulsion as it is cheaper than the trade. Wonder how good it will be. Also bought some purdy 'mercan rollers as they are supposed to be really good.

Bought a £5 paint brush from fat hog. But think that is going back as I think it is over priced and a bit shit.

So feed back once I finish painting.

https://paint247.ppgnet.com/BonanzaSale.asp?magazine=BonanzaSale

E11. The guy came round in about a couple of weeks after requesting and the results came back in around one week, along with a statement saying they'd replace the supply pipe.

The results themselves were given to us a week or two ago. They make a stale water test and then flush it and test again.

Ok kool. Let me know how you get on. I don't cover your area but hit me a PM if otherwise

I think your main concern is just pipe diameters and sensible routing. Remember that every T and elbow adds an equivalent length of pipe which reduces flow rate.

Seemed to go OK, the toilet cistern flow needs to be reduced because it fills up so quick the overflow may not cope but other than that. I hope the price of scrap copper and lead is decent at the moment.

I would deffo dig up your drive and replace the complete pipe, hopefully it's a shallow weak concrete mix. If you're diy a sledge hammer and massive pick axe would be useful but don't knick the pipe!

sledgehammer and crowbar will get you through concrete. Put a sheet down if you don't want shards of concrete flying off and hitting your windows/neighbours' cars etc. A mattock will get you through the ground pretty quickly too.

It's backbreaking work though.

Hire a Kango.

Thanks for the advice, guys.

I need a new hammer drill. Seeems like roughly £150 gets me a 2kg Sds from Bosch, dewalt or makita. Which is best? Makita's good for spares right?

Can't argue with that price! I'll get 3

Can you use standard drill bits in an SDS drill like that? half of its use will probably be woodwork and I have a load of standard bits already. Would I just have to use something like this?

Yep, you'll need one of those. However if you are using it a lot I wouldn't get the Wickes one.

Seen that type before (it's a generic one that gets rebadged), they don't last for long and impossible to get spares.

So after 2 weeks my bathroom is almost finished! Obligatory before and after shots - guess which is which!

@Tenderloin Thanks for the recommendation - Marius was very, very good.

2 Attachments

I'd go to Screwfix and get a Bosch Sds. The Bosch keyless chuck adapters are ok and not too pricey but if you're serious about your wood work I'd get a dedicated drill with higher RPMs.

Well that's opened up a can of worms! The Wickes one is listed as 1050rpm no load and rated speeds. Dewalt and Makita as 1500 and 1200 respectively (no load), but the Bosch is listed on their website as being 900 rpm rated. What the fuck does 'rated speed' mean anyway?

In all honesty, I think the cheapo Wickes one will be fine for my level of professionalism and competence (low) with the price difference being what it is.

snap!

2 Attachments

High rpms alone do not a good drill make.
The ability to maintain whatever the machine is rated for under load and over time makes a good one.

Kinda before (1st day of work)

Also we got rid of the radiator and put underfloor heating instead.

Also I would really highly recommend our guy @Soul @ChainBreaker @6pt @Sparky if you guys want to get anything done.

1 Attachment

Hi all, have been doing a fair bit of lurking in this thread over the last couple of years, just wondered if anyone has been through the process of removing external render/paint from their house? Our place is covered in an awful textured paint that's starting to fail, having had various specialists out to quote the consensus seems to be either chemical removal and pressure wash, or mechanical grinding followed by repointing and sealing the bricks. Both methods seem to have pros and cons for potential damage to the brickwork, if anyone has any experience with either it would be great to hear how you got on...

That looks cracking @amey - but I'm not doing anything to this place any time soon. Would be an admission that I'm here long-term and I'd like to pretend that's not true!

Sounds like you want a bare brick finish then? Maybe a gentle sandblasting.

We had a lintel replaced that had failed and crazed the render over the years, I've taken it back to brick with a little damage but tomorrow I pick up the scaffold so I can have a crack at re-doing.

1 Attachment

I tried the details you gave me and all it did was put out a general advert... I need actual contact details please.