Home DIY

If you had one cooker and the bayonet fitting was in and brought in another cooker which already had a hose fitted, all you had to do was swap them that’s fine but it’s when you have to install stuff that you need someone.

Thank you, that's good to know. I had been told not even the bayonet many years ago. Used to be the case with the gas ovens with eye level grills that we seemed to be changing them around more often than the more recent types.

Cookers that have hoses are fine to remove as the fitting seals when you remove it. Kinda designed for getting took out and cleaned behind and stuff like that.

The law says if you're doing gas work for money, you have to be registered (ie on the Gas Safe register), but if you're doing it for yourself or as a favour you have to be 'competent.'

Competence is carefully undefined, though it's a fairly safe bet that is something goes bang then someone official will ask questions.

I'd change a cooker on a bayonet fitting for myself without too much hesitation (though I'd be wanting to sort out a manometer, even though the fitting is designed to self seal): I'd think a couple of times before doing a hob or anything more involved.

Thats exactly where it becomes murky if something goes wrong and then people are looking for someone to blame. Which is very easy if you dont really know what your doing but the can be said for a lot of stuff.

Id debate what competent is really, IMO its someone who at least got the qualification even if you aren't on the gas safe register but then again you cant do work unless you are on it and also need to renew every 5 years to be on it.

Lets face it for the price of £80 quid is it worth even risking it.

Lets face it for the price of £80 quid is it worth even risking it.

100%.

But stupidity is not illegal, in the absence of a definition of competence

I wonder if anyone has ever been prosecuted for working on their own gas.

Someone must have blown up their house/neighbour's house at some point and subsequently been prosecuted.
Darwin award material for sure.

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

Exactly. The regulations don't apply to DIY, just the legislation.

The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998

Part B, 3.—(1) No person shall carry out any work in relation to a gas fitting or gas storage vessel unless he is competent to do so

Then

Part B 3 (3) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraphs (1) and (2) above and subject to
paragraph (4) below, no employer shall allow any of his employees to carry out any work in relation to a gas fitting or service pipework and no self-employed person shall carry out any such work, unless the employer or self-employed person, as the case may be, is a member of a class of persons approved for the time being by the Health and Safety Executive for the purposes of this paragraph.

When you are at home working on your own stuff you aren't employed of self-employed so B 3 (3) doesn't apply.

It's arguably bonkers but it is what it is.

One of my kitchen light switches has failed and needs replacing. It's a stainless steel Hamilton grid switch. Anyone happen to know of a shop that stocks them in North London? Part # IR212SS-W.

I get get one delivered in a few days but would rather get it sorted today if possible.

After almost 20 litres of paint the breeze block walls in the garage are finally done. Just need to wait until the spring then will think about potentially screeding and eventually epoxying the floor. Until then I've got a few jobs to tidy it up.

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^ That Aprilia. SEXEH.

If you had one cooker and the bayonet fitting was in and brought in
another cooker which already had a hose fitted, all you had to do was
swap them that’s fine but it’s when you have to install stuff that you
need someone.

Currys charge £70 for that.

Ta! It's not perfect but it is Italian and I like it.

I've spent today sanding floors and my god it's backbreaking. I must have gone through 4 sheets on the edge sander along one wall.

Edging is (almost) all complete. Tomorrow's job is to finish that off and tackle the rest of the room.

Full day of replacing skirting boards, only managed around a bay and around a fireplace. Started from planks, planed, planed, routed mitred, scribed etc etc. I appreciated the instructions from almost a year ago and now fully appreciate that it basically takes all the tools to do a good job. My knees are on fire!

I don't work without kneepads any more. Worth looking after your knees from an early age.

Have got a pair that I usually have on, it's only been after I stopped working that I realised they were sore. Will get them back on tomorrow

Aye because they are robbing bastards, you'd be in 15 mins top to put a new hose and test it. I personally couldn't charge that money for that little time spent in a house.

You must have young knees still! Mine remind me as soon as I want to kneel on any hard surface. I like having the kneepads on because you can let yourself fall onto your knee a bit more if you're up and down all day.

Repainting the dining room with my old man. Doing a kind of accent feature wall on the chimney breast wall. Stupid question, and done some googling, but it is common to do the sides of it too right?

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Our picket fence was in need of repair. I didn’t think about it too much and decided I’d make my own pickets to replace the rotten ones. Had some fun with a handsaw and a jigsaw shaping the rounded tops to match. However, in retrospect, buying 19x70 mm PAR from Jewsons is clearly not cost-effective. Replacing the whole fence that way would cost over a grand. There must be a cheaper option.

You can do either. Depends on the room, where does the light come from, how sharp are the edges. All sorts of stuff.

Floor paints - what would people recommend? I'm looking at ronseal at the moment.

My sister did the sides of hers, and it looked great. I hadn’t considered the possibility of just doing the face.

@Airhead @Sharkstar cheers gonna do the sides too