Home DIY

It was something else; I was replacing the whole fixture. Originally it was a W32 circular fluorescent type of thing.

It does sound like you are having a bit of a time of it with your lights!

Mate, every time I try to do some kind of DIY around the house it turns into some kind of Laurel and Hardy farce.

This was me over the last few days:

All I wanted to do was replace a lightbulb, and days later I'm trying to drill through concrete with my little ryobi, waking up all the neighbours.

I know the feeling. There are months of my life that felt like that.

You have been trying to drill through concrete for months?

Fucking hand rails.

It's almost 11pm and I'm still not done. Moreover it looks average and will need more work.

There are some jobs that feel like that. After a long time in the trade I approach any job like could take forever, even changing a bulb. One of the worst for this are toilets, starts out looking like a simple job, ends up with you standing in a puddle of your own piss.

Got home at midnight last night from a work trip to be confronted by a radiator pissing water everywhere as the valve extender had cracked.

Got a replacement and am trying to isolate the radiator but this fucker will not budge.

Tried an adjustable wrench, grips and using rubber gloves. Nothing is moving it.

Any suggestions? I really don't want to drain the whole system.

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I need to buy an angle grinder. I'd default to Aldi as I only really need it for one job and it's only £20 but they're out of stock. Rental is about £18 so I figure I may as well invest - plenty of cheap options on Amazon but they look a bit suspect...

Screwfix Titan jobbie looks like I good bet?

Screwfix Titan

Yeah was considering that.

Get a Makita or Bosch. Thou shalt not buy cheap tools.

I subscribe to 'thou shalt buy cheap tools and if you break it buy an expensive one next time'

Mole wrench.

You'll probably knacker the cap, but the lockshield valve itself should be ok

Assuming it's something like this:

or this

I subscribe to 'thou shalt buy cheap tools and if you break it buy an expensive one next time'

+1

Just drain the whole system and sort the valve out. Could be when you do get it moving the valve pisses water out of the top because the internal packing has failed or will fail when you manage to move it from the stuck position. Most systems are easy enough to drain and refill, easier than dealing with the kind of problems you are at the moment.

Is Bosch considered decent these days? Not sure why but I have it in my head they were a budget consumer orientated brand, below Makita, am I wrong?

Bosch is split into two, green and blue.

Green stuff is cheap stuff, for light DIY use, Blue is their more hardcore offering in line with Makita et al.

That would explain it. I've had a couple of their green offerings before and I didn't get on with either.

Yeah the green stuff is no better than Black & decker, the blue stuff is worth considering but rarely see it on deals.

What's that saying, only a rich man buys cheap tools (as they can afford to keep replacing them).

In fact there are only a few parent brands, take of this what you will.

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HILTI is where it's at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDpvkwBBu6U

Radiators, and when to replace them. Scenario: just had two double-panel, single convector rads taken off the wall to remove wallpaper and replaster - probably 20 years old. Visually in good nick. Will I gain anything by replacing them with new ones?

Best way to repair this back of cupboard? Tried to pull it back into place but the board is possibly too warped and won't stay flat.

Nothing particularly fancy needed, mainly just to keep Mice out

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