Home DIY

I had a similar hall in my old place and went with a similar colour but it was a bit The Shining, particularly with the light on.

It may have been because we used hard wearing paint which was a bit shinier but I wasn't that happy with it.

My pleasure. Just PM me whenever suits.

Putting a clothes rail in a plasterboard cupboard. Fix a batten to the wall with these, and then fix the rail to that?

They're decent for light loads in shear, but I'd be inclined to go for a hollow wall fixing like https://www.screwfix.com/p/easyfix-hollow-wall-anchors-m5-x-52mm-100-pack/5643p

Different sizes exist (eg for double layer plasterboard, or 9.5mm vs 12mm), they're easier to use with the setting tool, and you can swap in any screw of the right thread (M5 here) to get a more appropriate head.

You could use a batten, or just fix the rail directly - whatever works best for space or for looks.

I guess the batten might let you use more fixings and spread the load more: if you're going to have a significant cantilevered load I'd try to ensure you're fixing into studs or into the wall behind.

The app's photoshop, but I like to think it's skill rather than magic. Tiles obviously look better on the photo than in reality, that's on my list as well.

@aggi thanks. Will bear that in mind when chosing a finish. Hopefully matt options won't suffer similarly.

Ah much better than the app!

I think it looks good there's plenty of light coming in there so you could always go for an even darker grey if that suits. Although as you said could just be the colours from their site.

As above, I'm a fan of the wall anchors https://www.orbitalfasteners.co.uk/products/m4x40-interset-cavity-fixing-rawl-pno-r-sm-04038 . Get the setting tool too to make life a lot easier https://www.orbitalfasteners.co.uk/products/interset-cavity-fixing-setting-tool-rawl-pno.-41-545

This is how mine looked (admittedly had to go for something pretty bold to cover the lime green that it had been previously)

Yeah, that's rather strong :)

I'm thinking much less red, something like Craig & Rose Cadmium or Russet.

Labour called, it wants its red wall back.

It wasn't quite that bright in real life, I suspect the photographer had used a flash and tried to brighten the floor tiles a bit which combined with the glossy paint.

The estate agents initially had that as the first picture for the property. We told them to move it to the end to start with and then got rid of it completely.

How interchangeable are saw guide rails? Would these https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/guide-rails-for-clarke-cps85-plunge-saw/ work with this https://www.toolstation.com/draper-20979-600w-89mm-mini-plunge-saw/p66271 for instance or is it just a bit of a guess?

Check out Peter Millard on youtube. He did some videos on tracks and tracksaw compatabilities that may help.

In a bit of a bind with venetian blinds.

Current ones are external to the frame and fucked anyway. I want to replace them with made-to-measure recessed blinds, samples are on the way but I don't want to decide on colour until I've painted the window frames.

However, I can't paint them properly without removing the existing mountings, which include blocks which were necessary for clearance (not my doing).

Choices appear to be having no blinds in the living room for as long as it takes to get new ones ordered and made (likely at least two weeks, even if I wait until after new year). Or paint the frames except for the top, re-fit the old blinds and then have to fix and paint the top when the new ones arrive.

Second option seems best, but I'm concerned about consistency of the result.

Edit: Just realised I could apply either of the above to just the single window separate from the bay, which makes sense.

If the concern is a lack of privacy while the blinds are gone, could you just stick some of that temporary window frosting film on them while the blinds are gone?

Our Christmas is going to be interesting. Wife has Covid and we can no longer go to her Mum's for a family knees up. To enhance the shitshow, I dropped a litre bottle of sweet chilli sauce on our hob and it's now smashed to bits. Can I just lift it out and swap in a new one or do I need a pro?

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Legally you can swap a gas hob yourself but you really shouldn't. Find a pro.

That is shit, sorry for your circumstance.

OK, thanks, will find an installer.

Thinking it loud here slightly, but I need to do a bit more deck planning over Christmas with a view to actually getting in some footings in the spring. I would like the beds on either side to sit level with the deck, I've currently excavated most of 10" below the finished level. Now wondering if I should combine the footings for retaining walls and posts (more excavation - yay!) Or maybe fix the deck frame to retaining walls. Anyone done similar?

Highly actuate CAD drawing below shows retaining walls in red.

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There’s nothing legal about it, you are contriving gas safety regulations so it’s absolutely not legal, if it was a cooker that would be fine but not a hob

Doesn't the actual legislation just state that you have to be competent? If it's DIY, that is.

Interesting. I had been told that cookers, even bayonet fittings, were off limits. Hobs I had assumed would be.

https://www.euskills.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Gas-Safe-Competence-Review-Report-2011-2012.pdf

I'm guessing competence means more than just decent at stuff but I might be wrong.

Competent doesn’t just mean knowing what your doing, you should have your ticket to show that you are. If yiu aren’t and something goes wrong your double fucked.