Home DIY

Can anyone advise what is an alternative to featheredge panels? I need to rebuild my gate and some fence panels so was looking to get some c16 treated 4x2 timbers to attach to the walls either side to build a frame

That shed looks fine to me.

That's what I was thinking.

@fizzy.bleach
New torch-on roof felt, repair the broken bits and a fresh uniform colour and it will look decent.

If you want it to be a fully insulated, weather-proof home away from home you're best starting from scratch imo.

Repainting garden fence? Mine is currently suburban poo brown, fading in places. I want dark green. Can I paint straight over? Pretty surey
don't want to sand the whole thing even in these low entertainment times.

I'm wanting to make a concrete worktop for an outdoor kitchen.... had wood on it and it got wet and knackered.

Going to do something similar to this: https://youtu.be/9866dmfJxUU

Might just take a couple of coats to get the tone you want.
You don't want to be sanding treated timber.

All the walls in our kitchen are plasterboard, as I want to hang some cabinets I think I'll need a studfinder. Any recommendations? There are 3 or 4 different models on Amazon priced around £25 and with virtually identical features, what should I look for? Or are the cheap ones all shit, and should I get a Bosch or some such?

I've got this one. Seems fine - has found studs accurately.

What i have done is mark it on the wall when found then scan above/below a foot or two to check it's not a false positive. Slow sweeps work well.

I've got a little shed on my patio with a felt roof.

I'd like to pile stuff on the top of it, like a couple of plant pots, maybe a herb box, some sticks that my daughter collects etc.

I don't think it's a good idea to put stuff right onto the felt, I feel like it could rip easily. However, I was going to make a sort of wooden rack (like a sauna grate, or a sort of roof rack) to lay on the felt, and then put stuff on top of that.

Does anyone have an opinion on whether that would be ok on the felt, or is it the case that you should just never put any weight on it?

Trying to drill a few holes in some hardened (?) steel plate but having some trouble. First hole went fine, punched it, pilot hole then stepped up to final size. For the second one for some reason the bit just won't remove any material. Got a dimple, but the bit just spins, spins and spins. Snapped a few bits, bought a fancy cobalt bit set, still can't get through it.

Can anyone offer some wisdom as to what I'm doing wrong? For reference, its a 3 mm plate, the foot pedal on a workbench castor. Combi drill on low speed.

Sounds like the bit is blunt now. Maybe use cutting oil in future.

Yeah I did dull the first bit but even newer fancy cobalt bits are not working. Would try cutting fluid if I had some- will give chain lube a go.

If the bit has been blunted, oil won’t make it cut. The oil is to prevent the initial blunting of the bit.

I need an extension lead for a freezer. Other than cost and physical flexibility, is there any issue with overspecing the lead by using 2.5mm² 3 Core?

And as a follow-up, is there any knock on implications for the plug and socket for the lead?

Cheers.

Can I paint straight over?

1. You may need more coats than you think.
   
2. As we've had dry weather I would use a rough brush and brush them with water to remove the surface crap - imagine a really agressive brushing action
   
3. If you have a pressure washer it will blast the excess old paint off and make painting over them easier.
   
   

This was worn out cedar red (without pre-prep pressure washing) and required two to three coats to get a finish you could live with, but ideally could do with two more.

To give an idea of comparison the last panel on the right you can't really see was unpainted when I put it in, and it only took two coats. There's another one you can't see on the left behind the shed which still had an excellent coat of the old stain and I pressure washed that and it only took two coats. The reason for not pressure washing the ones you can see is the poor state of the panels and lack of time.

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Would try cutting fluid if I had some- will give chain lube a go.

Chain lube will be fine, but if you're going to bodge it use something cheaper.

I'm pretty sure mine is 50:50 water and fresh* engine oil. You just need something to help cool and lubricate. Water is great for both those things but evaporates and runs all over the place hence the oil. You could also use sunflower oil and water if you don't have engine oil - although if you do engine oil would be better as it's designed to lubricate and won't go sticky.

*although it's obvs not fresh anymore.

They are only part of the process. I've never come across one that can be relied on exclusively. Bear in mind that joists are usually evenly spaced (but not always). Quite a lot depends on the age of the walls. If it's been put up in the last 15 years you should have regular spacing of joists and wiring running only horizontal or vertical from an accessory. There is an area at the edges of walls which is allowed for wiring. That used to catch a lot of kitchen fitters out, especially since there's almost always a cupboard hanging required there.

Apparently a small neodymium magnet can be employed to find p/b nails or screws, not had to use that method but it seems pretty decent.

Usually just needs a smaller pilot hole and work through more sizes to reach your goal.

It's been done last year, in Germany though so not sure if they do things differently over here. I'll give the magnets a go as I should have a bunch in one of the 7 moving boxes labeled 'miscellaneous'.

If the magnets don't work I'll get the one @christianSpaceman linked and use his trick of several passes at different heights to be as sure as possible. If I can establish a pattern based on the detected joists I should be safe.

Thanks both!

EDIT
Well well well...

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Freezers aren't high current devices, even when the compressor is running, so I'm not really sure what you're hoping to achieve by overspeccing the cable?

The only thing I'd think about doing is swapping the inevitably 13A fuse for a 5A one (assuming the motor rating was well under 1200W), although you'd do that on the freezer rather than the extension lead. It probably also doesn't achieve very much though.

Could always try using rare earth magnets

Hi everyone,
Just a quick one from me. The box on the outside of the house that the Virgin cables come into is a little tired. Any idea what their proper name is so I can get another?
This is it.

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A combi drill even at low speed is probably running a bit fast for the job, I suspect. I use 3-in-1 sometimes for cutting oil, which is better than nothing. Try a fresh, small bit with oil as slow as you can get it. I'm 99% sure the plate isn't hardened.

Cheers.

I'd read that some had a high load(?) on start up. It'll be in an outbuilding and mainly I want a specific colour to highlight it, and the one I found was 2.5mm². So I thought I may as well go for a heavier duty one as the price insignificant in the length I need.

I could of course just buy a distinctive colour plug, or even put tape over it.

I was also looking at tiling the shelf / worksurface to go above the freezer. Any forum views on that? And more importantly if the room will just see the sort of moisture associated with a UK out building vs say a bathroom would it still require marine ply?

The motors used to have a high load on start up, but hasn't the tech improved? Is it that big a freezer?

Is the freezer capable of running in an out house? Have had issues that if the outside temperature was too low that the freezer stopped working.