Home DIY

My side of the wall but the wall is set back so it's still their side of the boundary line.

I have this issue, would be interested to hear opinions. Do the YouTube methods of drilling holes in the grout and squirting in some magic product work, for example?

Just managed to get a 3rd Gen Nest for £24...

Sort of.

Amazon Warehouse deal for £144
£10 off with the 'BIGTHANKS' code
Unexpected rebate from Yorkshire Water for £110 due to being on a smart meter now.

No installation cost as I can do it myself.

Sweet! :)

12mm is very thin. Those spring stays work and they don't take much space. I'm not a fan of the action though. Usually they like to snap shut as they have no damping. It's not really a problem, just not very refined.

They do another one 372.91.720 which has a soft close but the Hafele list price is £27.60 per pair, that's probably ex. vat too. There are loads of hardware places that can order Hafele stuff direct.

If you look in their catalogue, search for "flap" there's loads. Loads of flaps.

Flaptastic. I might be able to beef the door up but I've fixed the wardrobes and frame with 12mm in mind so there's a nice shadow gap.
I think another worry with the cheap hinges is the lack of adjustment.

So, I decided to replace all my ropey halogen lights with LED in fireproof fittings. I start on the first one and it turns out to be 12v (all the other ones I checked are 220v). I guess I can just replace the transformer with the 240v fitting can't I?

I don't think I'm a moment too soon.

Check out the wood screw holding the 12v wire in.

What do you suppose is going on in the picture with the mains wiring? Looks like the installer used the earth as the live loop!

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Hmm... If that's what you've found on just one lamp I'd be looking at rewiring the lot.

It's probably not going to get better.

That's very unusual and completely 'illegal'. Those "sugercube" 12v light connectors are pennies so it's crazy not to replace them if/when they fail. It's strange how the market has switched towards GU10 (240v) bulbs and fittings where MR16 (12v) were so popular for so long. It seems that the GU10 format having the capacity to house an led transformer has given it the advantage.

Is it wired that way because the proper red and black are a switch line and they wanted to have another circuit that's switched separately? Either that or they just had no clue what they are doing, which seems quite likely.

dunno where the other end of that cable is, so not sure. It's in the downstairs hall, but unlike many houses the upstairs landing and it do not have 2 way switches, so I've no idea.

I'm replacing all the old fittings with new fire rated 240v GU10 ones.
The house is a mix of 12v and 240v halogen downlighters, all of which have got too hot in the past.

I am swearing a lot at the stupid positioning of some of these fittings. I think I am going to call it a day before I get really angry.

I hope I don't need a complete rewire. We had the old electrics assessed when we bought the place, and it's been decorated since.

I hope I don't need a complete rewire.

Probably not. That's a DIY wiring job but I'm surprised it wasn't found on the survey.

What's the earth connected to at the other end? Stairway lights are a great source of wiring bodges. Is it possible that someone tried to rewire 2 way switches then gave up and bodged that together?

This new place sounds very nice. Going to share and pics turn coat?

Jazzy with a capital J, does it all run off your phone? Also how did you end up with a nice hole after rough cutting it out, careful jigsawing?

Rad in the hallway isn't hearing up.
All other rads on. Thermostatic valve set to max. All radiators fitted a month ago. There isn't any air in the radiator.

Suggestions?

Mate had a similar problem recently.

Bled the (small amount of) air.
No change.

Checked the valve on the other end of the radiator.
Inexplicably it was locked shut/off.

Opened it up, radiator became instantly warm at the inlet,
and whole radiator too hot to touch within minutes.

How do I tell if the valve at the other end is locked shut/off - the locks hied valve doesn't have a pin inside it

Turn down the thermostatic valves on the other radiators and see if it heats up then. Sometimes you need to balance the flow otherwise radiators get starved. It's a common problem in shared houses where people turn up their own radiators and one or 2 rooms end up without any heat. I'm not very good at balancing them but I've seen plumbers do it to whole houses.

Microphone on the toilet bowl that amplifies any noises :)

Yeah, I can't work out how to do that with the lockshield valves because there's no pin in them and just look like an allen key fitting. Does that sound right?

https://www.traderadiators.com/acatalog/realm-satin-nickel-corner-thermostatic-radiator-valves.html#SID=606

Not a shared house - 3 bed bed but think you might be right.

Not sure about the lock shield. If you need an allen key to adjust it it's unlikely that it's been accidentally turned down. I would try turning the other rads down first.

I realise you're not a shared house, it's just that's where I've seen the most problems. Usually 3 or 4 bed where the boiler struggles in the coldest months.

That speaker's not IP65 rated, is it?

Why would it need to be?

It's in a bathroom?

I don't know it's your speaker :P

You'd want IP67 or higher in a bath, but doesn't it need to be at least IP44?

I don't know the answer but if it's not IP rated at all couldn't that plus steam be a bad combo?

We've got speakers in our bathroom ceiling but they were IP65 rated anyway so I didn't look into exactly what's required.