Home DIY

Thanks - i'm fresh out of shrunken heads so stripping out and replacing sounds like the best course of action.

Any pro tips / considerations?

I was going to scrape away the blown stuff and chisel away a couple of inches of good stuff, re-render and seal around the windows then paint.

Not really my department. I would probably chisel out anything that didn't seem solid, render up to a thin piece of wood, take the wood out and fill with frame sealant. That might not be best practice though. Hopefully someone with a better understanding of the materials will come along.

I don't have anything helpful to say, but I am interested to know what you eventually find as the solution. I have a very similar situation around the door frame of our side entrance.

I am afraid to tackle it as I worry it will end up being a can of worms when I start to chip away - that the small patch that is visibly damaged now becomes a huge area that falls off.

I'll update the thread with progress.

As we're selling at the moment, I don't have the option to ignore it. Any surveyor with eyes will be straight onto it.

I don't think that's original render, when the windows were replaced they probably bashed that edge off and made 'good' after, also why the texture isn't quite the same as the walls. It's usually only on one side of the window as they can lever the old ones out/new ones in.
As said above, bash the loose off and fill with 5:1 sand cement with a pointing trowel trying not to get too much on the cill. At least you've got a 45° bevel edge, I had to do this on all our rear windows and they've got a curved edge. Luckily not to obvious once painted, from a distance with squinty eyes...

For a door latch or lock, Backset is an important measurement. That's the distance from the centre of the spindle to the edge of the door.... Internal doors with tubular latches and wooden internal/external with Yale latches or mortice locks will normally be 44 or 57mm.

Once you know your required Backset, try and find an identical sized faceplate for a simple swap. Or pick a larger faceplate and enlarge the rebate.

Old miss aligned screew holes can be filled with a bit of dowel, trimmed down then hammered in with some wood glue. Trim flush once the glue has dried and pilot drill new holes where required. Or use sausages 😁

Locks and latches are easier to replace whilst they still work (a bit). Once they fail completely and leave the door stuck shut, that's more of a pain as you need to get it open which can be 🤔😵

Thanks for this - may have a tinker at the weekend. Will get some sausages just in case.

Does anyone have any good links to DIY cctv vs Ring articles? Or budget alarm systems?

After an attempted break-in I'm now a bit paranoid.

Cheers.

Get some frozen Attack Sausages?

Or a string of Shrunken Heads?

Wanted (needed?) a saw horse to help me deal with bigger tree offcuts in our woodpile that we're looking to clear and use as firewood, owt too thick to snap by hand really.

DIY'd it using an old garden table base & some other scrap bits. Fun evening project, getting dark by time I took picture.

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There are some reasonable cheap Yale wireless systems available now, smart home compatible IIRC.

planning on laying some block paving at the weekend. Can I get away without hiring a whacker plate? The path is only about 900mm wide for the most part.

Could I just hit it with a stick (with a large bit of board on the end)?

The logistics of hiring something seems like more hassle than it's worth.

Edit: just looking at hand tampers. That'll do it.

Hand tamping is usually ok, you usually end up wishing you had a whacker plate though! Given the right mix of tea and beer it becomes less boring.

The area is raised on both sides so I'm not even sure a whacker would even work that well as I don't think they're meant to go backwards? Will stock up on beer just to be sure.

5 to 1 ratio of beer to tea should see you through it.

Wrote a lengthy response but forgot this site isn't compatible with the PIA Chrome plugin.

TL:DR DIY CCTV is definitely doable but takes a fair bit of set up. If you value your time at ~ £10 an hour or more then just go ring or whatever.

What about the snack ratio?

2 x Cheese and ham sandwiches with pickle should do it. Bonus points for baguette. :)

TL:DR DIY CCTV is definitely doable

What system do you have?

Let's take it to the IOT thread

Cheers all. Will get reading!

@TW

the IOT thread

is this a joke or a thing?

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/260435/

Anyone got a couple of acroprops I could borrow? It is for a charity as it will be some time till can organise funding for the works.

Any help?

Let's take it to the IOT thread

Remember, the S in IOT stands for security.

I've got one.

I was thrilled to discover it was holding up the flat above me (but hidden away boxed in). Since I've had a proper brick pier built now I have the prop just lying about in the garden.

In Lea bridge E10.

“It was holding up the flat above me (but hidden away boxed in”

Nice