Home DIY

That would do my head in, I'd have to get it behind the tiles.

Totally re doing our kitchen, started as a 'lets just change doors', now half the plaster is off/fell off, electrical gremlins everywhere etc etc.

Need to decide on backsplash sockets, I hate having sockets in/on the tiles, fancy some that sit under the wall cabinets. Wickes used to supply these, which are a glorified 2 gang extension, either plug them into a socket below the counter and loop them up, or hardwire them in, treating them as a single spur off the socket ring main.

But they don't sell them anymore, I know the manufacturer is Hafele, but they also cannot supply them, found one on ebay, need two or three though!

Looked all over interwebs (maybe I'm using wrong term for them?) and only found american versions, UK doesn't seem keen on this type of socket maybe? Anyone seen some small/low profile ones that aren't nasty (don't want bluetooth speaker NFC dock I phone charging china junk)

Try looking for desk power outlets - the principle is quite similar.

As we needed 2 keys per flat the total price was £450. For a lock.

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fancy!!! Does it move up and down with the press of a button like star trek?

I want to fit a wood burning stove. Or rather, get someone else to fit one. There is an opening in the chimney breast which this is quite small. However, the Hobbit Stove (http://salamanderstoves.com/product/the-hobbit-se/) looks like it will fit and passes the mrs_com test.Attached is a photo for context.

It seems that whoever renovated the house removed any kind of hearth that might have been around the fireplace and in fact the laminate flooring "gives" a little around the fireplace so there appears to be a bit of a gap underneath.

My plan is to chop out an area of laminate in front of the fireplace (roughly the red lines), cut a T-shaped piece of ply to fit in this chopped area and into the back of the fireplace, tile over this ply with whatever we end up choosing as our hearth material and them trim around the edge of the tile which I am expecting to be proud of the laminate.

We can then get the installer to fit a liner/flue up the existing chimney (there is a draw just no idea how sound the existing lining is) and fit the stove with the flue coming from the back of it so that the stove itself can sit slightly out from the chimney breast so that we can set either one of those heat driven fans or a kettle on top.

What of this plan is completely ludicrous or what have I missed?

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I seem to remember your non-combustible hearth must extend 30cm/12 inches, (in this post/prebrexit World), in all directions beyond your appliance.
The Navitron forum is a good place to get friendly help.
Do you reside in a Smoke-free Zone, (aka Smoke Control Area)?

https://www.gov.uk/smoke-control-area-rules

You may find that the 'constructional hearth' is still underneath your laminate. I think for fire regs that you wouldn't be allowed to put ply on top and then tile, you'd have to use concrete or similar to level it and then tile.

Also that opening in the chimney breast is tiny - I expect you've got a much larger 'builder's opening' a bit higher up. If you're not too precious about the plaster I'd advise a little exploration with a cold chisel.

Aye, the Hobbit SE is for smoke-free so would go for that. I read the 12 inch rule too but I think that is for open fires, chances are I'd want it 12" out from the wall/breast anyway.

Happy with the size of the opening (fnar) and the Hobbit will fit.

I will look into the fire regs a bit more closely. I'll be chopping out the laminate anyway so if I have to concrete it will be no big deal.

I think the 30cm rule is based upon when you open the door to replenish the firewood, you have the potential for embers to escape.

I also seem to remember from the Navitron forum that two 45degree bends, with one as soon as possible out the back of the Hobbit SE, gives a better draw than one, more distant 90 degree bend.

Good point on the door/embers.

Re: the bend(s), I may be limited to how far out the stove can go and what fittings are available but I will ask the dude who comes out to recce the install.

I noticed this morning that the brand new shower I just had installed has a few tiles with strange faint grey circular marks in them. Very hard to see but it's pissed me off. Anyone any idea why this is.

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I've picked them up on eBay in the past. Sometimes you can get a pair still attached to a door!

Wrong type of adhesive staining the porcelain? I know it can happen with natural stone and I've never seen it on tiles but that would be my first guess. Maybe slightly porous tiles/fault with the glaze?

Natural stone staining when joints are sealed with poor quality silicone sealant is commonplace.
(The cheapest plasticiser for silicone sealants is normal conventional dimethicone silicone oil,
which is totaly unreactive. It remains labile in the cured sealant, and will migrate towards and into any porous surface). Cannot even be solved with correct priming of porous surfaces.
Reactive plasticisers are available, but of course are more expensive.

Sealant manufacturers instead turned to 'modified silicone' sealants, which have the curing mechanism of both high-mod, (evolving acetic acid/vinegar smell on exposure to atmospheric moisture), and low-mod, ( a couple of reaction mechanism, but broadly no-smell), but the polymers have better flow characteristics so require zero or much less plasticiser.

Did your tiler use 'silicone sealant' as the 'waterproof' tile adhesive?
The back/reverse side of domestic tiles is typically highly porous to ensure sufficient grab from water-based cementitious tiles adhesives/grouts.

I don't think he used Silicone. It was something they mixed up from a powder I think.

I noticed a couple of other tiles had faults which I suspect to be the tile cracking under the glaze, or the glaze cracking very finely.

I am quite depressed by this. I paid a fucking fortune to these people and I was left without a useable bathroom for weeks, and they've been shit. I could have done the job better myself, but I wanted to pay someone else and have no hassle. Fat chance. I really want the whole lot ripped out and redone, but I want them to fuck off out of my house even more.

arse print

I don't think he used Silicone. It was something they mixed up from a powder I think.

I noticed a couple of other tiles had faults which I suspect to be the tile cracking under the glaze, or the glaze cracking very finely.

I am quite depressed by this. I paid a fucking fortune to these people and I was left without a useable bathroom for weeks, and they've been shit. I could have done the job better myself, but I wanted to pay someone else and have no hassle. Fat chance. I really want the whole lot ripped out and redone, but I want them to fuck off out of my house even more.

This is why I have delayed turning my flat over to trades

7/10 times I/family have used trades, even after extensive research and getting feedback from previous customers, we've had an utter shit time. I try to do everything I can on everything I own, so if I fuck up, I can just blame me, but still have £x amount of money* not spent on someone elses fuck up.

*To then spend on getting bling things.

I try to do everything but plastering is black magic!

These are everywhere at the minute, but can't spare the counter space. Gonna be 3 double sockets, coffee grinder, kettle, toaster take up 3 of them, poss microwave tucked in a cupboard too (instead of integrated ones, as none will fit in the cabinets/door combo we want.

Currently watching cartoons waiting for pva/water to dry enough on wall to slap some thistle bonding coat on it. Bricks + mortar look great with PVA sealing them.

If you keep trying it's easier than you think. Most beginners put in more effort than needed. Having a plasterers bucket helps a lot as a big part of the job is getting the right consistency in the mix, then pace yourself and it just flows on.

I've made this bedside table, its for my daughters room so I want any finish to be non toxic. Wax for the pine legs I think, but what would be good to seal the plywood top?

Its joined just with dowel and glue - drilled the holes by eye, so not all are very straight.

So. I'm thinking of getting one of these: which style is better?

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