Home DIY

I would think a spade bit would give you the counter bore for the screw head and washer you're talking about. But I would be wary of the rest of the plaster just disintegrating and falling down anyway.

Also, if it's plasterboard the strength is reliant on the paper staying intact.

True, just thought a cleaner hole would give less chance of a stress riser. But then, that is total guess work and only what I would do if tackling the same thing myself. DO NOT TAKE MY ADVICE!!!

Personally I'd just see how well it nips in as you tighten the screw. I am lazy though.

Anyone know any residential building surveyors who can provide a useful service to a moderately capable home buyer?

My boiler's condensate pipe goes directly into the soil stack (about 3 foot from the ground so below the toilet on the first floor).

Is this right? It feels wrong but is it an issue that is going to impact on the functioning of the boiler?

Was it flagged up by your surveyor?!

Google seems to think that as long as they can vent in to somewhere that will carry the water away then happy days.

It will impact if the soil pipe backs up enough to flood the boiler (this happened to us).

Of course you do rely on feel to see how much good you can do with the screws, Sometimes I might use a plasterboard jack to push the ceiling up or make something with a board and a long piece of wood.

There must be quite a few tutorials about it online. I only offer it as a possible route out of much larger works in case you are lucky.

I don't usually manually recess the washers, as long as you have a decent grip in the joist it should be possible to nip them up. Then tape the remaining crack as well.

He flagged that it wasn't draining into anything, this was their subsequent solution.

@Dramatic_Hammer that was one of the things I was concerned about. Was also wondering whether it may create some kind of temporary vacuum as the toilet flushes as we've had a few error messages on the boiler (no idea if they're linked though).

Should be fine on to waste pipe, maybe fit a no water trap to stop any possible vacuum issues.

Fucking shitty fucking cheap skate shitty plumbers.

May you burn in hell.

If anyone can collect from Leyton I've a load of leftover flooring plywood available for free:

14 sheets of Hanson SP101 6mm Ply TFT Diamond EN636-314 - 2.8m2
5 sheets of 9mm Hardwood External Grade Plywood B/BB 2440mm x 1220mm (8' x 4')

DM me if interested.

Long.

My washing machine decided to jump out. Hasn't done it for a few years. There's a shitty bit of wood underneath and ideally I'd use the isolation mats I've got somewhere.

My question is this, how long are the hoses? Ie do I need to disconnect it before removing to remove the wood?

Cheers.

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Ignore that the front right foot thread is fucked so it's now past a one-man DIY job and will need to call someone out to fix it.

For future. The hoses should be long enough for you to pull the machine out fully. Or at the very least, long enough for you to pull the machine out far enough for you to turn off the water and disconnect them. Otherwise, how would they have been connected in the first place? Unless the installer was a contortionist/sadist and connected everything up in situ.

Otherwise, how would they have been connected in the first place?

This is what I initially thought, but then couldn't work out if they used some sort of pull string.

Not sure if it's clear from the photo, but there aren't any under the units / washers. Would a good solution to stop things getting stuck again be to put a square of ply the same thickness as the height difference?

Marine ply should be fine right?

This is what I initially thought, but then couldn't work out if they used some sort of pull string.

The water supply hose is a hand tighten, plastic nut so you need to at least get your arm in there. Usually people don't like fucking around with what they can't see, so it's usually done so that the machine comes all the way out or at least out and to the side a bit. You'd likely struggle to find a too-short hose anyway. Caveat - there is no accounting for total shit-housery.

Marine ply might be overkill, but would survive occasional wetting better than chipboard. There are dedicated risers that might be even better.

Or Tricoya , if you can find suitable offcuts

Cheers all.

Now to call the handyman our rental agents used and get measuring.

Fingers crossed I can find isolation pads the perfect height. But will leave that till tomorrow as today is turning into a shit show, the soundtrack to which is a toddler being a grade A prick.

I want to put a door in here. Gap is 82cm wide, there is no kind of frame there but would like the door to be of decent width and preferably opening into the kitchen (down the step).

I'd prefer it to look decent so may well be something I'd get someone in for unless it's easy. Any suggestions on who to speak to?

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Artex woes: previous owner has artex in the entire hallway and stairwell. Not only has this been woodchip-papered over, but then a few years later its also been painted over, even where there are big gaps where the woodchip has peeled away from the wall (because of the texture of the artex there's tons of gaps. I got it tested in January and it does contain asbestos, apparently it's "chrysotile" or white asbestos. I have to get a few other rooms plastered as they're a fucking state so I want to get the stairwell skimmed at the same time. However, I need to remove the woodchip wallpaper before I can do this. Is it safe to steam and chip it off? Or do I risk asbestos inhalation. I've done a fair amount of googling but if anyone has any professional advice, would appreciate. I considered just papering over the whole lot but there's so much air under the woodchip I can't :'(

I'd have thought, unless the woodchip is literally peeling off, then using a scraper and steamer will end up disturbing the artex and potentially knock of it off. Depends on your risk appetite.

Ceilings have dropped so far I'm having to put in new ones where some bits are 80mm lower than the original joists.

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@ioreka I have the same situation in my hallway and stairway. Asbestos isn’t the only concern, lead in paint when it becomes dust, silica brick dust also. I plan to steam and scrap off the paper, work to remove as much as I can under damp conditions and wearing appropriate PPE.

Because I am willing to take the risk, I’m not a pro, but I can remember putting artex on our bedroom walls 42 years ago and then spent many years picking it off whilst lying in bed.