Home DIY

Apparently it's part of new regs coming in this year

Yeah. It is. Came in January this year.

Just passed my 18th Edition test. 98% mark.

So, are you in a high lighting strike area?

I would suggest your electrician is taking the piss.

a) 18th came in Jan 2019. They should be holding a C&G Cert to say they have passed already.

b) BS7671 534 is the area of surge protection. Single dwelling (domestic) units require surge protection in high lightning strike areas and/or value and equipment of installation.

Lightning in the UK is highest in the tip of SE England and lessens as you move toward NW Scotland as a general rule.

Folding out door table.for 4/6
Wall mounted.
How do/who do?
I'm at the selling this stage.

lines starting with a 'greater than' denote quoted text

I'm at the selling this stage.

wut?

wot?

I need 4’ by 2’ of nice birch plywood for building something. Anyone got a recomended source?

What rattle can primer and paint to smarten up and old cast iron sewing table? Black fine but Country Living magazine-esque colours a bonus.

Hammerit is the obvious one.

But left field would be Simonize Tough Black. You use it for bullbars etc.

Cross Post from the shed thread, but does anyone know why you don't putty shed windows?

It would be the least flexible part of the shed. Better to have allowed movement and put up with a little draught.

Wall mounting a gazebo, 20 quid job from lidl, so that I can take it down at the end of summer but it sits over most of the yard and provides adequate shade. Is this even sensible?

Assuming its like the cheap £20 ones from Argos, it'll last one windy day and then fall apart, probably even quicker if one part is anchored solidly so all the stress is focused

Yep. It's exactly like that.

OK. Sort of makes sense I guess.

It's less the draft and more a neat way of fixing the windows in as the existing wood battons holding the glass panes in are pretty warped

Guess the other thing is they're often plastic not glass these days. So warped wouldn't matter too much.

New worktop being installed in kitchen.
Hob is gas so will need to be disconnected and reconnected.
It's connected with pipes rather than a hose.
I also need my boiler serviced. Would prefer to do in same visit.

Can I just get the hob reconnected using a flexible hose (e.g. https://www.screwfix.com/p/cookerflex-straight-bayonet-cooker-hose-12-5mm-x-1200mm/33878)
Then I assume the hob would be maneuverable enough to go through the worktop cutout so I wouldn't be holding the kitchen fitter up

Anything gas-y would ideally be done by a Gas Safe engineer. I'd take their lead on all this stuff and see what they recommend after you explain the situation.

Anyone encountered this kind of insulation in their loft before (the stuff under the fibreglass)? It’s kind of not quite a powder but made of old bits of newspaper and some other stuff. Hopefully not asbestos.

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That looks like cellulose to me, one of the better options imo.
I’m in Canada and the stuff around here was never associated with asbestos.

Can anyone advise of the right mortar mix for pointing this 1896 brickwork? The bricks are soft and fragile but I want to keep them. The existing pointing is a bit more yellow than in photo. It has got damp from run off from window sills - a problem for all the houses on my street.

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Thanks! Some googling suggests that’s what it is. Phew!

Dig it out an inch deep with a cold chisel, and use a lime mortar (NHL 3.5 for pointing) with a matching colour (I buy from these people).

They sell premix, which takes the guesswork out.

Don't be tempted to use any cement in the mix, or you'll be sacrificing the bricks in the longer-term.

Spray / splash the joints with water first too, or they will suck all of the water out of the mortar, and it will end up sandy and useless.

If in doubt, give the mortar people a call - they love to talk about this stuff.

If the sills are dripping water, it might be worth dressing them. My sills were rotted underneath, and the drip groove was gone totally - meaning that rain was rotting the brick underneath and I had damp inside.

Cheers