Home DIY

I just couldn't find that at a quality I wanted so made it myself. I was able to make an insulated lower panel too so that was another reason to go custom. Of course that whole project was on my partners place so I couldn't recommend it purely on budget.

I did use a hardwood instead of pine because I don't have a good supplier of pine.

Eventually after dealing with all sorts of doors for many years I started to resist changing doors for clients, especially exterior ones. I guess that's just me wanting to deliver top results but knowing it's too expensive for most of my clients.

If it's tanalised wood (usually green) that is pressure treated with some pretty deadly chemicals. I think Arsenic is part of the mixture. I only handle it with gloves on. I would definitely look for a child friendly option like pine.

Am I missing something or is £300 a typo?
I bought one from a local ‘old world’ hardware store - £20 ish and it’s totally fine. I know you can spend more but £300 for a letterbox - surely that is extreme.

I'd normally budget around £150 but sometimes the letterbox is a replacement and it needs to be close to the same size because adjusting the hole is difficult, if that size is unusual then it can be expensive.

That’s a mad price IMHO. For that money it would need to automatically reject junk mail and bills!

Quite often it's a matching set of Knocker, Knob, Letterbox, Rear Plate, Spy Hole, Banham Night Latch and Mortice and that's £1k.

Whatever you do don't ask Banham for a quote for a front door, I've never known a client to actually go through with it.

For what it's worth these are not just the same thing as your £20 version. There are very different grades of finish in all the different finishes. Quite often the cheaper Chinese brass items serve their purpose very well and for a long time but some of the English brass stuff I've fitted for clients is lovely, just really well engineered and very durable.

There is bad value out there but ironmongery you can spend any sort of money and you usually get what you pay for.

Thanks for the info. Someone must be paying that though.
Might be better looking for a two stroke option though 😁
And I still dream on!

And @hugo7

https://www.bondtimber.co.uk/advice-and-ideas/post/is-tanalised-timber-safe-to-use-in-childrens-playgrounds/

TANALISED Timber is safe to use for structures in and around children's play areas. With regard to any concerns that the children may 'chew' or 'eat' the treated timber, we have to conduct safety studies to demonstrate safe use of our products as part of their approval process. These studies have shown that the preservative within the timber would not cause harm to a child in the quantities that they are able to 'eat' or 'chew'.

OK, good to know. I wonder why I was told otherwise but I guess that's how myths gain traction.

I think it used to be a bit more "agricultural". I only found that as I was researching what to build kid friendly garden furniture out of (the off cuts if which I think @hugo7 is talking about). I certainly wouldn't be making any chopping boards or turning any bowls out of it.

It was my Dad who told me about it 30 years ago. He worked in the parks department at the time and had a lot to do with playgrounds and groundworks in general. I guess the formula could have changed in line with modern rules.

Like you say, I probably wouldn't whittle a spoon from it to stir the bairns porridge :)

Formula has definitely changed here in Canada, no longer contains Arsenic or some of the nastier copper based compounds. I still avoid unless absolutely necessary though.

Tanalith timeline
https://www.tanalisedtimber.co.uk/TanalithE/media/TanalithE/PDFs/TT-timeline-2018.pdf

Cheers

It's actually this stuff: https://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Treated-Sawn-Timber---19mm-x-32mm-x-3m/p/9000036476

I went through your bits, but worried that it would be too top heavy even before an unruly toddler clambers up, then found the spare 20x30mm. Plus it should look more in proportion, whereas some of the Ikea hacks I've seen look a bit chunky up top.

Although it's rough as fuck I sanded a section of one of the better bits down and it came up OK.

Yep, I think it was about £320 for the small one. I was anticipating about £50 so declined.

Saying that, the Banham locks do look, and feel, really high quality so it probably would have been good.

that's the spirit :)

As with everything, it’s a balance between quality and price. Finding the right product at the right price is the difficult bit.
Lately, as I get older, I look at items and wonder if it is best to buy a cheaper item and replace it rather than a more expensive one which I should keep. It does depend on the item obviously. But, keeping to the letterbox topic, I bought a reasonably cheap one - £20 on the basis I could buy six of them for the price of a more expensive one - quality may be reduced but, should my wife decide to change to another style/colour etc, it can be changed cheaply. My original letterbox lasted 20 years so six should last 120 years and I doubt I will be around to worry about the last few!

It was my Dad who told me about it 30 years ago. He worked in the parks department at the time

?

Wood worker. Checks out.

Yes, that's the guy. Except with glasses and a pipe :)

You'll have to imagine him sitting me down and saying 'Son, I want to tell you about tanalised wood. If you see green wood don't suck it.'

I wish I had the tools, time and space to make my own. I need 8 so that's out of the question!
Funny you should mention exterior doors, as you wrote your reply I was on my way back from picking up a solid wood front door to replace my disgusting plastic one.

If you've got a link to the internal doors you're looking at I'll have a look at it.

I hope it goes well with the new front door. There are lots of things that can go wrong but normally it works out well enough. :)

That is such a Ron thing to say!

My mind seems to have gone blank. What do you call the white, plastic wrapped stuff that is used for kitchen cabinets, etc. I want to buy some to make some shelves but combinations of formica, veneer and laminate just aren't finding me anything (and my local homebase now just seems to be gradually turning into Dunelm with power tools so no chance of finding anything when I looked there).

This kind of stuff:

furniture panel? cut and edged?