Home DIY

What brackets would I need to wall mount a desktop of about 3m ?

It’s fine now, even years ago you could do it but needed ventilation so I’m not sure what he was on.

You inspired me.to actually read the sticker, first line is " do not operate this appliance with the door open. "

I suspect he thought the ventilation was suspect.

Our kitchen is from Howdens (we didn't put it in). I'd like one or two extra shelves for the dry goods cupboard (ie nothing heavy or sharp) . Shelves are roughly 30cm x 90cm sort of size.

Is it easy to get spares, or will it be cost prohibitve and I'd be better off making some?

If making some any tips? Or just mdf + vinyl wrap?

MDF and paint?

I just used some melamine faced chipboard when I added extra shelves to one of my cupboards.

MFC offcuts from any bigbox store?

Iron-on edge strips to make them prettier.

It would be an exceptional set of circumstances where I didn't want to put at least 1 leg under that, possibly 2. So there are no hangers I could recommend.

Just had my first sparky job signed off, he was very happy with the standard of work and I’m just chuffed to have got it done with the associated hiccups experienced along the way.

Well done, I recognise the relief at getting it done and signed off. :)

I'm tempted to use a kitchen unit at the halfway point to act as a break and also a support point. And importantly to act as a the thing to tidy stuff in.

I’m still struggling with pricing tbh. Either be wracked with guilt for feeling like I’m overcharging, or feel cheated for underpaying myself.

Cheers.

Will measure up and do some searching.

After getting it tested - the answer is no! Thanks everyone

Yes, turn the structure into useful space. The temptation to make something you can slide along on a chair is strong but the requirement for it is very niche.

Yes, it's a constant problem for most trades working on their own. You learn to live with your decisions in the long run. I recommend not worrying too much about other peoples approach and try to find what works for you, even if it is constantly doing stuff for very little personal financial gain!

I've been trying to slowly migrate to making smaller pieces of furniture but it's glacial. I have everything in place except the clients and the product :)

Basically they had a quote from a guy who did their garage - £600 for the cabin. £200 materials, £400 labour. 2 days.
Then my mate saw my work, and said it was probably £1500 worth of work, with £400 of that going to materials, so £1100 labour.
I was comfortable with neither £600 nor £1500. So landed somewhere in the middle.

Got a new job lined up doing a rewire for another sparky - aka, I do most of the work on a day rate. Happy to be busy regardless!

As for building furniture- go for it! You clearly know what you’re doing and what looks good. Can’t hurt to make a few bits and try and flog them?

Its hard trying to price jobs sometimes, we make more off a job thats priced than if i had to just give a day rate to someone by a country mile.

I do most of the work on a day rate

This was my preferred way to be employed when I was learning to price jobs. I'd always write out a quote for the work I'd be doing then compare it to what I'd actually done at the end of the job.

As a semi-lurker quietly inspired by your ongoing graft on this over the past couple of years - congrats! Seems very well deserved after a load of hard work.

Cheers man. Appreciate it. It’s been a weird and winding road to get to this point! Seems to be vaguely coming together now tho.

To be clear, that was
“I’ll do most of the work, on a day rate” aka he does the admin, and organises the job while I do the actual work on site. Suits me just fine, even if the day rate is a bit slender. And he’ll come out of it better than I do financially. But work is work and cash is cash.

It’ll be a couple years until I can join a competent person scheme

Oh for sure. I’ll get the hang of it eventually! I might even find some self worth along the way, haha.

I found this a pretty big hurdle. I'm not going to get further into installing consumer units and designing circuits. I might have liked to years ago but now it's just too brutal in comparison with my other work.

I struggle to make time for the small pieces and I'm so used to joining bigger stuff together I find it difficult to scale down! I am very busy on home renovations at the moment, just had to tidy up a shower I built nearly 20 years ago. It reminded me of a lot of my struggles back then.

I’ve done some design work and projects on my course. Doing cable calcs, diversity etc. So I have some knowledge of it, and used a bit of it for the cabin wiring. But I’m aware that between theory and reality lies a rather large gap that experience will need to fill!

Hopefully I can get my NVQ, and then AM2, and then join NIC or any other competent person scheme. Hopefully within a couple years.
Seems a bit daunting taking up a new trade in your 30s, but with kiddo on the way I need some reliable income!

What is your trade/job if I may be so bold to ask? I’ve always wondered, your work seems fairly multifaceted so I could never figure it out.