Home DIY

I feel like I'm going to be in a similar position. I'm not yet because I'm not very proactive. I want to pay people to do things around here, but I have a feeling I'm going to be reluctantly DIY-ing more than I want to be. And then I think about shit like the chimney needing repointing... way outside of my comfort zone and also too fiddly for anyone to want to do.

There’s not let up in demand judging by the data so if there’s less work happening then...fewer people available?

I wish the guys doing our front door could just do everything else. Brilliant comms and meticulous attention to detail. But as soon as they're finished here they're on to another job refurbing 20 windows. It's taking them two whole weeks to do our front door, and that's two of them on site full time. Their tools are left here overnight and their van's parked outside so I know they're coming back the next day every evening. All priced by the job, not by the day so doesn't bother me. Dread to think how long they'll need to do 20 windows.

two whole weeks to do our front door

Two guys for two weeks? What are they doing to the door?!

Stripping the entire thing back to bare wood and filling sanding, filling sanding, refitting stained glass and safety glass. Fitting new locks and door furniture. Also doing the frames either side. Should be finished end of this week.

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Ah, that makes a bit more sense seeing the picture!

The answer really is how long it will take to swap the TRV's and how many. Is it a combi or does it have tanks as that could depend on how long it takes and sometimes its hard to put a exact figure on it till you do the job.

Id give a rough estimate if I was swapping TRV's for a customer after a few questions.

I mean they must be charging some wack to be there 2 weeks at 2 men full time and still no finished.

Ooooh yes.

Just fixed the creakiest floorboard in the house. So small but so satisfying. Immediately walked around to find the second creakiest floorboard, and so on.

I thought I had done this last year, screwing every single board down before we recarpeted the whole upstairs, now the house has moved again and they're as creaky as ever. Sigh. The joys of a foundation-less property extended with modern foundations. To me, to you.

There's also the nagging feeling when you find someone available that they must be a bit shit because everyone else is booked for the next six months and they're not.

Has anyone got/tried the Wagner airless sprayers?

I'm considering the control pro 350 models as I'll soon have a whole new house to paint and want to know if I'd be better off with just a box of rollers (I hate rollers)
https://shop.tooltalk.com/products/wagner-control-pro-350-m-airless-sprayer-600w-240v-wag2371058

If you are doing a whole house and it's empty then a sprayer is your friend. Buy a lot of masking tape and be prepared to spend most of your masking and prepping. When you do get to spray it goes on fast. You might need a mate to follow it with a roller to add texture.

https://shop.tooltalk.com/products/wagne­r-control-pro-350-m-airless-sprayer-600w­-240v-wag2371058

That's a big ticket item. There are plenty of cheaper options for sprayers; not sure about the advantages about airless vs HVLP, but airless seems a bit overkill.

If the house is not empty then the overspray is a bit of a sod and you'll spend a lot of time covering things and trying to remove paint where it isn't supposed to be. With airless it will be worse, compared to HVLP, it seems.

Ran some cat5 cable from the house down to the garden office for a better wifi connection. I ran it along the top of the fence, want something to offer protection and not be but ugly or a pita to install - This should do? Also the hole I've taken the cable through the wall what's the best method of sealing? (clear sillicon?)

That's going to be great at doing the job but possibly expensive depending on the length of your garden.

Some of the flexible conduit might be an alternative. Perhaps not better than the one you linked to though.

https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Index/Conduit_Pvc_Index/Flexible_Conduit/index.html

Wall grommets and silicon is one method

https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Index/Cable_Accessories_Index/Wall_Protection/index.html

I always have some of this stuff in my toolbox :-

https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/BIR391.html?source=adwords&ad_position=&ad_id=315107931576&placement=&kw=&network=u&matchtype=&ad_type=&product_id=BIR391&product_partition_id=933541607402&campaign=shopping&version=finalurl_v3&gclid=Cj0KCQjwwLKFBhDPARIsAPzPi-JwvBUmREPSJNy51e_bYmaLb7hQcNpNY-Ufjvo_LKFKroANukJWsQUaAj9wEALw_wcB

Very handy for sticking in all sorts of holes.

Ran some cat5 cable from the house down to the garden office for a better wifi connection.

I found those power line to network adapters adequate for solving this issue without having to install any additional cabling. Was genuinely surprised that it worked, and that it worked across the different circuits in the house, which shows how little I understand about the workings of the consumer unit.

There’s not let up in demand judging by the data so if there’s less work happening then...fewer people available?

Seems to me that's the case. I could be wrong though.

I wanted one single mesh network for the whole house - thick internal brick walls and garden size meant the three repeaters in the house weren’t getting a strong enough signal to the end of the garden. This should mean that everywhere has nice fast wireless all on one network.

Oooh matron! But that looks good and worth ordering. I think the cable guard will be the tidiest solution, if a little more expensive but might use the flexible hose for when it goes out of site behind the trees

Any recommendations to seal pine doors?

They were stripped ages ago and they now have tiny person fingers prints/peanut butter smears etc all over them. Going to sand them back to tidy up but keen to finish them with something that won't alter the colour but will protect them.

Why bother with conduit?

Armoured cat6 is a thing. Or just exterior cat6, as you're not going to be jabbing the fence with sharp things.

We used osmo oil, and it has stood up really well to consistent battering from kids and dogs

something that won't alter the colour

If you want to keep them looking like stripped pine there are a bunch of ‘invisible’ sanding sealers and matt varnishes around.
Once it’s sealed you can wax the doors if you want a sheen.

I was thinking of Briwax but like Osmo or any oil it will darken the wood.
My mate who is a master carpenter uses a very posh completely invisible sealer - I can’t remember the name but if this is what you want I’ll ask him.