Home DIY

If you installed the first one with raw plug and decent screws you should be fine to just swap it.

Went ahead and everything has worked so far. Thunder bolts are much less of a worry than wall plugs.
Thanks all. Now to connect the bloody thing. At least my daughter is happy 😁

Is it a cantilever one or just flush to the wall?

I'd be a bit wary of just swapping a cantilever one if the new TV was much heavier and it was possibly going to be used at full extension.

Did you put the first one up and, if so, do you tend to massively overspec the fixings, just in case?

Have a google of the old and new TV model and see what VESA fixings they use. You may need some extension plates like these

Thanks. All sorted now. Oddly there wasn’t a huge difference in weight - small Sony vs large Samsung and wall fixing is sound ( thunder bolts). Thanks for taking the time to respond.

I dunno everyone seems to go on about big solid bolts but my old mans hung boilers and rads for like 30 years with them and they are fine if you get a solid hole in the wall.

They are handy for heavy things like wall cabinets. One hole and fire the bolt in. Maybe over speced for the tv but better that than the worry.
I’m itching to use my new impact driver and the thunder bolt would he a great way to start with it but likely not today.

... And the winning design is:

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Wish I'd had thought about painting it. No matter what I do the predecessor's red ceder always makes it's way back into the garden. Plus I think it would actually look quite nice in black in a utilitarian way.

But in fairness I was rushing to knock it up while OH and kids were out.

Usually have a pen knife on me, so went for a beefy flat head A2 screw.

Ultimately the water butt will be covered up, hopefully with jasmine growing on a frame and maybe seasonal annuals ontop. But I'm lobbying for raised beds out of sleepers for the veg patch on the left so it doesn't make sense to do anything too permanent until that's done next spring.

Edit
Couldn't quite bare the state of the red cedar, so quickly scrubbed it with some sandpaper. Hopefully that way if I don't get around to painting it black (highly likely) it'll weather and look less shit.

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I dunno everyone seems to go on about big solid bolts but my old mans hung boilers and rads for like 30 years with them and they are fine if you get a solid hole in the wall.

TVs get moved around whereas rads and boilers are static loads. But yes I do now lol at the three massive expanding bolts used to put up a 6kg tv

It's psychological though.

Rads won't fall off the wall as they're also held up a bit by the pipework.

If a £400 telly falls of the wall it's going to be ~£400 to replace it.

The last TV I wall mounted weighed 25kg and was on a cantilever mount that could come a foot out from the wall. I went beefy with that one.

Our work tv was like that. Massive bolts. Thunder bolts come in various sizes so the smaller ones are fine for tv mounting. I have used them for heavy mirrors - biggest worry is the mirror falling on someone not so much breaking the mirror and the bolts provide a ridiculously firm anchor - I’m 80+kg and I think they would take my weight with no issues.

Disgusted with myself for asking but... artificial grass. I want to cover some of our decking in something that requires less maintenance and is toddler friendly (isn't going to be muddy / doesn't turn into an ice rink / can bring toys out onto without losing them down the cracks. Not massive area needed. Approx 5x4m. Suggestions?

Suggestions

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4. Come back in a couple of days once things have died down.
   

artificial grass

Iirc @Soul had some in his old place.

I'm about to do this on a 4mx4m area

Seems it's all in the prep. Recommendation is a couple of inches of MOT type 1 which will be about 1.5 tonnes of the stuff. Weedproof membrane on top of that and then the grass which conveniently comes in 4m width so you shouldn't need to join it.

At that size I'd look at the websites that do offcuts, you can get it from them considerably cheaper (although hefty delivery charges).

EDIT: Just noticed you said decking. In that case the artificial grass suppliers all seem to provide foam pads to go under the grass.

If you're attaching it straight to the decking, you'll need to consider drainage, state of current decking (ie is it rotten / rotting already), how you're going to attach it and what it's being used for.

I would consider putting down a shock pad to make it child friendly.

I'm guessing CYOA doesn't want to dump a tonne of type 1 on his deck...

How long does it need to last? If gaps between decking are big enough to loose toys, the grass might also sag in stripes, so you might want to put something like marine ply on top first. I think the ply and decking beneath are prone to rotting if they stay damp though.

You can get underlays a bit like for carpet, that make it more padded for little ones to play on. That all sounds like a bit of a trip hazard on your deck though... I guess you could make a little upstand to contain the toys and avoid stubbing your toes all the time (but still might cause trip ups).

Ikea do it as click tiles.

There is enough plastic in the world already though

I think I'll just move.

#bringbackrep

Nothing impressive, just a base for a circular patio. Trying to work out how light I can get away with going with the shuttering board as the heavier the board the more work it will be to get it in to shape. The pad will be about 150mm deep at most

We dug out our 3x4m lawn and replaced it with Namgrass. It's turned out to be a brilliant decision as it looks good (with brown curly strands to simulate dead dried grass, so it looks more natural), cleans easily, and drains through well enough to be dry not long after it's stopped raining. We regularly have breakfast on the lawn once it's even slightly warm. If you're doing it on decking then prep should be minimal and it can be nailed down to secure it (if you don't mind nails into your decking), but you may well want a foam mat underneath, partly to prevent the grass wearing through from movement of the decking as people walk on it.

Namgrass do samples, which is useful to check what look and feel you want to go for.

Made a wee box shelf to hang on the wall above a narrow desk. 12mm ply mostly, dowelled butt joints, 8mm mdf routed in for a bottom. My first attempt at a French Cleat, cut with some difficulty using a regular circular saw.

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Note to self: never, ever allow 'rustic' uneven tiles to be specced by the powers that be. Grouting them is a bitch.