Home DIY

Central - no, not that one, the real one, Winnipeg.

That is Central! I visited Lake Superior /Sault Ste Marie back in 1994, okay you are probably two days West by car from there. Stunning landscape though.

Rocksandtreesandrocksandtreesandrocksandtreesandrocksandtress
... and water, to quote a jokefolk band.

what no mosquitoes!! I am disappoint

tidy work!

Straight back at ya, admirable attention to detail. Looking forward to the stained glass, if it’s not too tricky I might have to substitute one of the greenhouse panes :)

many thanks, yes i will let you know how i get on with the stained glass project for my front door. the applique method is used principally for security and ease of setting out each cut piece. This avoids the traditional method of leaded glass which would be easy to break through and reach latch on the inside. I will need alot of practice and patience to hand cut everything using a AGPtek Glass Cutter for natural curves. it'll be a good test for me, i remember slicing my fingers alot :) it will also determine how i decorate my hallway and what lighting i use to bring out the best in the colours of stained glass. so a full size lightbox frame to set out the panels and check the back lit effect needs to be built.

supplier details, i could spend hours here
https://www.leadandlight.co.uk/

Out here in Rwanda I have a source for very inexpensive reed/straw floor mats. They are about 4-5 mm thick and are traditionally used for sleeping on.

I rent a room in London. Am I barking mad to think I could use them cover my tired bedroom carpet?

Maybe I could some pine/oak strips along all the edges and pin these strips down to the current nasty carpet with some clever hardware or screws. If I do use wood strips I'd need about 25-30 metres. Could I do any better than this eBay supplier? For 27 metres I would pay £47.

Is there some show stopper that I haven't thought of?

@Ndeipi that sounds like a lovely idea. You are renting though. I suggest you discuss this with the owners first, especially if you are fixing through the nasty carpet. Do you know what the floor construction is below the existing carpet? I'd even suggest the landlord pays for it if you are staying a while. Or perhaps you don't fix it down, just cover the floor like a rug, with the timber edging

Electricians, what's the easiest way to integrate emergency lighting into a circuit?

Say I have 10 lights (a mix of normal bulkhead lights, interspersed with non-maintained combined emergency lights) that are all operated by a single switch, does this mean that the emergency lighting would turn on every time I switch the other lights off? Would I need to run a permanent live to the emergency lights?

Essentially I want to light a big room and operate the lot with one switch, but have half the lights function as emergency lights. Is this stupid? Should I just have some emergency lights on an entirely separate circuit?

The outside drain was full and overflowing.

Following the run of pipe I think our kitchen sink + washing machine + dishwasher all run into this via the thinner pipe on the right.

1. Is this normal?
   
2. What's the best solution?
   
   

I'm assuming I can't just pour a shit load of drain cleaner down.

Thanks.

(I've obviously scooped some of the water out of the drain to see what's what)

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Possibly just loads of mulched leaves in there under the drain cover.

Get some rubber gloves and get stuck in

Yeah I'd clean it with hands/rod.

I'd wager fat + leaves/debris has caused a blockage

Might want to get a cover that sites flush at the tip for it if the above is the case

Cheers.

Probably should have said that there is a cover which I removed for the pics.

Fat/similar sounds likely.

It's just a bit tricky as there s a fuck-off big iron pipe running into it.

I guess tonnes of bicarb and boiling water is OK to put down the drain without worrying about the environment?

A drain rod will help get the standing water down and make whatever assault you cast upon the drain (chemical or otherwise, I'm not here to judge) more effective. If you can get the grate off, sometimes even just a pokey stick can get things moving.

guess tonnes of bicarb and boiling water is OK to put down the drain

One shot is the first port of call for most trades. It is hard for non trades people to get hold of these days as cunts decided it was fun to throw in other folks faces, however if you try your luck at a plumbers merchants you may be able to get some (most will sell it to non tradespeople who look responsible).

I have a similar setup to you and when it blocks I use that stuff to clear it ~ 2 bottles normally does the trick

Just to follow up on this, have you had any success with the 'v' shaped filler strips?

WfH means I am noticing draughts from gaps in floor boards even more than previously.

Ooo, the EPP licence application process seems fairly straightforward and must get you on all sorts of lists!

Not yet. I'll be doing the floor in the coming weeks and will probably go down that route for the noticeable gaps.

you could try rodding with a normal hose pipe if the pressure is good (not the best but its something) - that drain should have a rodding point - remove the cover and rod it

or see for any manhole covers nearby to clear the blockage

you might struggle with bicarb as the fats will have solidified in big chunks

It’s the ‘one shot’ season for sure

This old chestnut

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Not bad...just have to do the rest...

@tw don’t judge me

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Loving the hoover in the sink.

Yeah. It’s overpowered for extraction* so had to stop it shifting around with something.

* and probably a bit shit at it to, but 100x better than the dust box that came with the sander. And I’m wearing a respirator.

cheers @Bobboand @musa - the hose is a pretty accessible option.

I managed to get a fair bit out and it was draining a bit better. The actual drain bit is just at a bit of a tough angle. That said it hasn't been cleaned since we moved in 5yrs ago, so right now I'm not too worried.

My wife's ridiculous hair was a major culprit. In the unlikely event I become a benevolent dictator I'm definitely locking James Dyson in a lab until he comes up with a total household cleaning and filtering solution to her hair.