Home DIY

I saw Adam Friday night actually - went to pick up chopping boards he made out of the leftover sections of my kitchen worktop.

He's booked out this year I believe so I hope the work required isn't urgent!

To whoever needs the number, slide in my DMs.

(I can also recommend a bathroom guy now if required)

You definitely shouldn't. I used to back in the mid nineties before this became such a big deal. The bayonet connections are easy to operate but there needs to be a drop down test afterwards to check that the bayonet is not leaking. This is the information I've had from many Plumbers during landlord gas safety tests.

May need the bathroom guys details! Weighing up how much I feel comfortable doing myself...

@chrisbmx116 I have a bathroom guy - he's done work for Matt too (replying to random post because cant @ his name...)

Oh nice, I’ll drop you a pm!

Can vouch for Marius @chrisbmx116 reliable and decent bloke. He’s done kitchen, bathroom, plaster and painting + laying parque for me.

This Aga extractor is old and pretty noisy, (and doesnt match with the cooker below it but that is less of an issue).

It's firmly fixed to the wall, so I suspect it will be a pain to replace - but what about swapping out the motor for a new/quiet one, and leaving the shell around it?

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Or perhaps get an in-line extrator fan further along the line?
There'll be wiring of sorts involved but I am space for the in-line fan might the bigger problem.

My fridge is intermittently very noisy and it seems that the culprit is a fan located on the inside (not visible from the back). Is there any point trying to access it or paying someone to do it?

I've taken the inside panel of my fridge off a few times when it got frozen up solid. There is indeed a fan in there somewhere. Was relatively easy to do (found a video online) although needed a bit of force.

I've just taken the "dynamic air control" panel out, but there was just a mechanical flap inside, no fan in view unfortunately...

Blimey I'm mugging myself. When I do such things (not often these days) I charge considerably less.

Innit! I often get asked to hang doors by people and I always say no because I thought it wouldn't be worth the time for the money. For £175 I'd happily take my time.

Got a plumber coming round moving some pipes/rad on my ground floor which is concrete/screed.
I'm knocking it out around where he's going to work but I'm wondering what mix I should use to fill it all back in? What I'm knocking out seems pretty sandy.
I have a few other places that need filling and I'll be laying some self leveling compound afterwards to then put parquet down.

We've had a leak from an upstairs rad that is now fixed. It has leaked down the pipes chased into the wall of the living room below. The wall affected is covered with lining paper which is peeling off.
Unfortunately the wall is something like 12m long with various windows and alcoves so would be a nightmare.

Is there a way to patch in lining paper rather than doing the whole wall? Or will I be able to get away with just doing from the curtain on the left of the pic to the first window? Or am I going to have to get a man in?

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Electricians, can you help explain calculating PFC? It seems to keep popping up as I need to use it to confirm the size of the CPC with the adiabatic equation.

I thought PFC = U/Zs, but with the examples we've been given, the answers are a bit different.
Also, when we did testing, PFC was either PEFC or PSC - whichever was higher. When you're designing, are you just working off PEFC as it's the CPC size I'm trying to confirm?

Say you have a building with 3 phase coming to a DB, which supplies a second 3 phase DB, which supplies a single phase DB - how do I go about calculating PFC at the single phase DB at the end?

EG:
3 Phase DB (A)--------3 Phase DB (B)------Single Phase DB (C)----
Zs@DB=0.09, 0.11, ?
PFC=5kA, 3.7kA, ?

I'm selecting equipment for a planned extension, so all the values for the single phase DB (C) and it's supply etc will be based off calculation.

It's a little hard to tell and @Airhead will give you the real answer but I'd have thought you could get away with just doing the left. The curtain and window provide a fairly natural break.
I'd line it, emulsion on, then on the join use some filler (probably on the loose side) just filling the gap and removing excess, dry and then sand with a find block. That should give you a neat join.

Ta - yes I figured I might be able to do just that main first bit and fold round into the window to finish. The only join would then be at the top left corner of the window (and below the window which is behind a sofa) which might be able to get a neat enough finish to be acceptable.

I say all this in the full knowledge that last time the missus and I put up lining paper it was almost the end of our relationship, so it is likely that someone else may be used for our sanity.

Yeah, I mean I wrote that like I would do it but tbh I'd be getting a decorator in probably! I have a good one based in Kent but he did 3 weeks of work for me in E17 if you wanted a recco.

Mate of mine is very meticulous painter & decorator, when doing lining paper he leaves a 1mm gap between the panels then fills & sands the join before painting - did this in my old flat & the finish was seamless

*edit - just like @Tenderloin said

You're on the right track but you still have to really properly even out the damaged area and once you've done that you might just skip the extra lining. Most lining makes any damage underneath stand out rather than covering it up. An alternative is stripping that part of the wall and starting from scratch but them you will need to resurface all the areas you damage removing the paper.

Wait until everything is fully dry first. I find this gives me an opportunity to delay the job for a very long time ! :) Then use border adhesive to stick the original lining back down, use a string to get under it if necessary. It won't go back perfectly but you can use a seam roller or trim it if it wants to overlap in places but really that should all go back pretty neatly. Keep the surface bvery clean of paste washing with clean water regularly.

Then apply TX110 or similar filler, and sponge the excess off once it drys, don't leave it weeks though, let it dry overnight and then use a sponge to wipe the excess, very lightly with some sandpaper if you must but finish with the sponge, feather around the areas so there are no edges. Paint the filler and surrounding area with Gardz, don't miss this step because your filler will show under the emulsion if you do.

Now you can line or paint. Personally I'd paint first and it would probably be fine, there may be aspects I can't see from the photos that would be difficult but that would be my approach.

I've just discovered that while tidying under the sink the other day, we knocked a pvc pipe joint out. Two days of washing up sink-fulls of water draining through the floorboards, which isn't ideal, but I've managed to jam the parts back together and it's not leaking.

Obviously I still want to glue this up, but I don't think I can get the unit out without removing the sink, so I'll probably have to attempt some keyhole surgery. Is this a really bad idea?

I think you need to show a photo for any meaningful advice.

As for working with limited access, I'd plan carefully and try offering up the pipes to get a feel for how much working space you have.

Edit: I feel your pain - I've had the experience of "I wonder what's under here" followed by "that's a lot of water"

Yeah sorry, bit of a pointless ask. It's all pretty standard, but as far as I can tell the sink was partially plumbed in before the unit was fitted. The joint that came apart is just below the lower hole, so with one arm under the unit and the other holding the bit in the photo, I rejoined the pieces. It seems like a quick fix would be to drill another hole in the back board, or enlarge the existing one, so I can dab some adhesive on the join and all is well.

Aside from the water under the floorboards, but I really don't want to get into that.

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