Home DIY

Ah, hadn't thought of that. Although I've never had a saw cheap enough to not have an adjustable fence!

I'm soon going to be fitting a small wooden window (60x60cm) and a wooden door into my shed. It has wooden stud walls skinned with tongue and groove on the outside, it will have mineral wool and OSB lining on the inside.

Any key tips for fitting? My googling mainly throws up PVC or alu windows and normally concerns houses or much better insulated structures.

My current plan is to have the opening 10-15mm larger than the window / door, shim around it to get it centered, screw the hinge side, hang the door, adjust handle side shims, screw handle side, foam around all sides. I think I'll try and get the outside quite flush so that I can cover it with trim, then worry about whatever is left on the inside afterwards. It is only a shed after all.

Anything I've missed or top tips for all wooden structures?

I'm also considering hanging the door 'backwards' so that it opens outwards and I can gain a bit of space inside the shed. I've yet to buy the door, but the one I'm looking at doesn't have flanges or anything on the frame so I can't see why it wouldn't work.

Still looking for advice on this if anyone has any. I just picked up the 60cm window and it already has such a massive frame that I want to keep the trim to a minimum. I was thinking just using a mitred square of 24mm batons and gluing / nailing to the face.

1 Attachment

I've got a uPVC back door with bollocks all clearance to the floor, so it scrapes the floor when it expands or if there's any grit on the floor. Looks like the tiles on the inside were probably installed after it and they've not left any clearance.

Butt hinges and I've adjusted the lower ones out (pictured) and the upper ones in to try and square it but the problem persists.

Is there anything else I can do beyond getting a new door?

1 Attachment

Butt hinges and I've adjusted the lower ones out (pictured) and the upper ones in to try and square it but the problem persists.

Is there anything else I can do beyond getting a new door?

Theres two eccentric pins in each hinge. On the pictured bottom hinge, are both pins pointing in to the room?
That would lift the door when it's nearly fully open, at the expense of less seal compression
Having the top ones the opposite way could make them fail if there's a lot of compression making it hinge bound.

As a starting point, I usually set the bottom hinge pins pointing across the frame to the handle side and the middle and top hinge pins away from the door.

If there's less clearance under the handle side, taking off the beading to "heal and toe" the panel(s) would probably sort it.

Theres no official height adjustment on the butt hinges. But you can gain a mm or so, by cutting off the plastic insert above the hinge and add a washer below the hinge.

Replacing the butt hinges with flag hinges is normally possible and they have some height adjustment.

Great, the washer hack sounds like a good one. The clearance is low all over, so that might be the one. What does this mean though? Sounds like it might be above my pay grade.

"heal and toe" the panel(s)

https://youtu.be/c8kip-gPuXw

I get ya, thanks. I need to replace the lower panel one day so that's handy to see.

I have an outside vintage lamp in my garden that I’m taking with me when I move (shortly). It’s got modern wiring, single cable, to a bulb. What do I need to do / buy to safely terminate it? I’m guessing / hoping there’s something weather proof that I can terminate the disconnected cable to when I take it away?

Where is the switch? I'd disconnect it at the switch (with the power turned off at the fuseboard of course), put the old incoming cables (to the switch) into a connector block so they're not loose inside there, and replace the switch with a blanking plate. Then you can just cut the cable.

Thanks mate, that’s exactly the clarity of thought and reason that I needed. I’ll do just that, thanks again

If you are selling be careful as lights are usually included in the sale. If you remove fancy lights you usually have to replace them with a basic pendant. Maybe check with your lawyer.

Replacing it with a cheapo one from screw fix is probably easier tbh.

We have a split unit that cools a top floor room under a flat roof from 28ish to 20ish through the day and down to 18 overnight.

This is our kids bedroom so used daily and makes a hell of a difference to family life

Just paint your roof white people!

https://www.positive.news/environment/climate-crisis-white-paint-more-effective-than-air-conditioning/

Would interesting to see real world performance over their make believe calculations.

It's the scalability of these things that means they never leave the lab.

Can't imagine Dulux will be able to start cranking out 40l tins of the stuff. Also, does it stand up to the elements? How often does it need replacing? What energy / climate cost is there to manufacture it?

Window now fitted. Just need to foam around it, but I'll wait until the door is done so I can foam them both at the same time. Not a bad view from the (tiny) window.

btw, I've been very happy with the Makita 18V drill and driver I bought before starting this. The speed of the driver was a bit of a shock compared to my Bosch DIY drill, but is great now I'm used to it. I've not felt the weight penalty and it feels more comfortable in the hand compared to the 12V driver we have at work.

2 Attachments

i wish that was my view out my window.

i am beyond jealous at that view. Where is is?

Swiss pre-alps. Maybe you'll feel better if I told you the trade-off is having about 100 cows complete with bells outside my bedroom window last night?

new whitest paint ever sadly not sustainable because manufacture of its key pigment involves crushing down the limited stock of old pitchfork reviews, BBC6 music playlists and GCN videos

At this point, I suspect you invented the window problem just to flex that view.

Anywhere near Tramelan? We have friends that used to live there, now in Neuchatel.

No, we’re south east of Fribourg. Tramelan is lovely though, bloody excellent gravelling over there.

Lolol would rep.

Yep. I'm enough of an engineer to take their boasts with a pinch of salt.