Home DIY

Might just be the picture, but it looks like a brick-sized hole. Any reason you wouldn't just cement one in and plaster/fill over it for the internal side. Would be easy enough to remove when doing the outside if needed? That's what we were advised and have done for the internal side of a much-larger vent in the front upper room. We'll deal with it properly when we pull the cladding off the front of the house.

Other vents on the ground floor are slowly being unblocked. They have been filled with either cotton wool, expanding foam or rubble. The cotton wool is gross, the foam is crumbling away and rubble is... well... rubble...

What's the vent's original purpose? Is there a risk that you're going to end up with wet walls?

Just re-read. Solid breeze block wall on listed building? Eek.

Cheers all for the suggestions. Not rushing so going to think on those ideas for a bit.

I’m pretty sure the vent was latterly bodged into place to compensate for the awful cooker extractor that had been partially venting into the roof cavity. Fits with the other bodges we’ve inherited - it’s a long list.

Thanks for that.

I haven't had those scratches with the orbital, but I have bad memories of getting them with the edging sander and assumed that the random orbital might be similar on long boards.

If not I'll stick with it - it's only an Erbauer one but it's been great so far.

Plug, cut and dry fit success!

No picture of the cutout as it’s an absolute bloodbath and I’m ashamed. Good thing you can’t see it with the sink in!

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Wanna come and do ours? Should only take an hour or so.

I reckon I’m about 8 hours deep so far and I’d forgotten how much I love dealing with dirt and sawdust 😬

Any recommendations for a good stud finder?

We bought a cheap one off Amazon based on reviews. Opened the box to a 'leave a five star review for a £5 voucher' leaflet. Seems to do the job though.

I bought a fancy one and I hate it. Just don’t trust it. Could be our walls. The neighbour uses those tiny Neodymium magnets to locate the screws going into the studs, which is probably the cheapest solution you can buy.

I got a Stanley one (probably from Toolstation).

It had very mixed reviews (1-star reviews saying it was useless, 5-star reviews saying it was great as long as you were slow).

It's been fine for us.

If you're rushed
https://www.worktop-express.co.uk/worktop-accessories/unika-solid-wood-worktop-oil-mousse

Is good enough.
Wipe tops down. Squirt. Wait. Wipe off.
Don't let it sit too long it gets sticky.

I've used it twice and it works well.
Once the Christmas is over it's going on again.
Then hopefully at some point I'll get a chance to do the top properly.

Bosch

https://tinder.com/?lang=en-GB

I've got a cheap Amazon one and it's hit and miss. So much that I find more confidence in using a couple of small neodymium magnets glued to a piece of string to find the screws, like your neighbour.

I bought a cheap Chinese one from Amazon. It is really good. My old Black and Decker just beeped from when you turned it on to when you gave up.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tacklife-Multi-Wall-Backlight-Non-Magnetic-Detecting/dp/B07PMS1PZD/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=tacklife+stud+finder&qid=1609427635&sprefix=tacklife+s&sr=8-3

Might belong here/OCD/OYOH ...repost ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQo4sH1GuqI

Couple of bits of work in the new garage. They won't win any awards but I'm quite pleased, on a purely functional level.

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Any recommendations for somewhere to buy custom size floating shelves from?

I could do it myself but from looking at these instructions doing the hole for the bracket looks a real ballache.
https://www.hafele.co.uk/en/product/concealed-shelf-support-for-installation-into-woodwork-or-masonry-walls/000000000000b0e200010023/

Don’t paint your log store when the air is below zero, said the paint tin. I ignored it.

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That looks like an underwater scene.
Very pretty...

Er no. Do not use cement as you will create a cold spot on the wall. Plus to remove it it will be a pigs job. Plus it is listed. Bricks yes. Breeze block cut to size yes.

How much do I need to spend to get a decent mitre saw? It's for a small job and I don't have a workshed so it won't see a huge amount of use.

Outdoor flooring. We have a horrible tiered concrete alley/return thing between us and next door. We'd like it to be a single layer and covered with something vaguely attractive and non slip so kiddo can make use of it more. It's currently a litter tray for the neighbourhood cats. Thinking decking of some kind but is there any composite material that requires very little effort to maintain and isn't slippier than a slipper?