Home DIY

Pop in a proper tiling shop (not Homebase etc) and have a chat. There are loads of really good cleaning products, some more corrosive/aggressive than others. You want something that won't damage the stone, whilst lifting the greasy gunk and left over soap etc, that will have built up. Once it's clean (and I mean CLEAN!) I can recommend a product called 'antidrop', which depending on how you want it to look, can either be Matt, satin or gloss. I like satin finish on those...I've fitted hundreds of metres of natural stone, as most tilers steer clear of it, for the reasons you've discovered!
I'm not having a pop at your cleanliness by the way, it's just that it needs to be very clean before sealing, as the finish is better!

Cool thanks, that’s very helpful. I was sure when we viewed the house that this floor had a gloss sealant but whatever it was appears to have come away for the most part. Some stones appear dark and shiny, some light and ‘dusty’ .

I'm looking for a good joiner/cabinetry person that covers South London.

We're looking to get one normal cupboard, and one rather trickly shaped cupboard made and fitted, and could do with getting some quotes. Anyone got someone that they can recommend for this sort of thing? Or is there a Forum Joiner?

I'd have probably quoted but I'm busy coach building a bus at the moment. Very tricky shaped cupboards all day long!

What finished are you looking for and rough dimensions? i.e. 18mm Mdf painted with painted Mdf doors or veneered or plywood with or without plywood edging etc. etc.

I’d highly recommend this chap - we were extremely pleased with shelving/drawers he fitted into our understair area - http://www.jjkbif.co.uk/home

I'm looking to tile a small en-suite, slightly more complicated as it's partly a sloping roof.

Got a few quotes coming, any suggestions on roughly what kind of price I should be looking at.

Depends on sq. meterage, type of tiles, condition of substrate, access, location to name a factors. The fact that it's sloping increases wastage and cutting but it's not a huge factor, you do need to consider the cut edge if it doesn't meet another tiled wall and how you want to cover the edge. If it does meet another wall it can create a bit of a problem lining tiles up.

It's just been built so tiling onto clean plasterboard and the sloping edge will be meeting a painted ceiling. About 11 square metres I reckon. Biggish tiles, 500x250.

Hey guy, Any tips for sound deadening a stud wall?
I’ve got to put up a stud wall to make a bedroom, it’s for my teen who likes loud music and playing the electric guitar, as all teens do I guess.
I thought I’d take the opportunity to put some sort of insulation in there to keep the noise down a bit.

We have just used double lined acoustic board and stuffed loads of insulation between the studs, seems to have pretty good sound insulation.

Egg boxes

Nea the best for fire and all that jazz, acoustic Foam?

Space permitting build two stud walls that don’t touch each other.... but as Sam_w says, fill it up with mineral wool (you can get acoustic versions, Wickes have it), and then double board with acoustic plasterboard. Make sure the door closes properly too.
It’ll help, but you’ll still hear through it.

Acoustic seals on the door can make a big difference too, there's some simple white ones available that stick onto the frame. Depending on the power of the guitar amp though you'll still have to impose an upper limit as even small amps can create enough noise to defeat your soundproofing efforts.

Thanks for the help guys.
There’s not room for a double stud wall, so I’ll go for the acoustic plasterboard with Rockwool and door seals.
It doesn’t need to be totally soundproof I’m just using the opportunity of building the wall to make it a bit better than it previously was.

The building regs has examples of wall buildups for this purpose, along with discussion on how to make it effective (e.g sealing gaps to avoid transmission of sound at edges and stuff). Worth a look.

Thanks, I’ll take a look.

Planning on having a stab at replacing our ground floor WC. It's got a vertical waste into a clay pipe, sealed with cement.

How likely am I to fuck up the clay pipe trying to remove the cement and if I do, how much will a plumber laugh when I make the call?

It looks like a concealed cistern unit will fit, with a 90 degree adapter like this: https://mcalpineplumbing.com/wc-connectors/macfit/mac-8c-90deg-bend-macfit-wc-connector

Be gentle with a multi tool, rebuild any damage with epoxy mixed with ground up bits of broken clay.

How to drain down a heating system that has a drain valve above the lowest point of the pipework?

Suck on the drain cock?

Alternatively,

1) Don't
2) Powerflush
3) Cut in and add a drain valve

I wonder if you could blow into a drain valve on a rad or something and force the water out?

who's the forum approved plumber (north london)?

Undo the joint between the lowest radiator of the system and its valve?

To clarify, The drain is at a radiator on the ground floor. There are pipes running in the concrete floor. Need to repair a pipe in the concrete floor. Can't get the system to fully drain to get a good solder joint.

Tried that yesterday/saturday using a track pump and a scrader valve from a sacrificed tube. Didn't work.

Think you were right with don't.