Home DIY

K. I’m no use to you. We had an issue with the hugest rad in the house.

Depends how hard wearing you want it to be and what finish. I always prime/undercoat with a tinted primer. Then you can use anything from emulsion to oil based gloss.

Rustins do a fireplace matt black which might do it all in one.

Is the hole here in the front to make it easier to fit things like washing machines or tumble dryers without having to have an exposed plug?

Yes.

Spot on. ta.

Cheers

Can anyone advise best way to paint this wall bit of plaster and patch repair. will need to sand it first but will it need a mist coat or just undercoat/primer or could I just paint the colour that has the primer in it. V700 or whatever BQ call it when they mix up the paint

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Mist coat, fill any blemishes, mist over those then crack on

Lifted some skirting ahead of a reskim to find a damp patch on what I think is the wooden frame of a stud wall. The floorboard immediately 'below' the obvious damp patch is also slightly damp, but it hasn't spread any further than is visible on the photo. There's no other moisture visible, either on the rest of the visible portion of the stud frame or the floorboards along the length of the hallway.

At a bit of a loss as to what the issue might be - the only thing I can think of is an exceptionally slow leaking pipe, but surely that would have caused much more damage by now (talking many, many years without realising this was an issue)?

Could it be a historical issue that just hasn't dried out because its had skirting tight to it? Obviously I'm worried as the impacted wood is very soft.

I suppose a plumber(?) is the best way to go, but I'm really confused as to why if there is an leak it's managed to confine itself to this relatively small area? Any thoughts?

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Brilliant ta

Obvious questions but what's on the other side of the wall?

It was a downstairs loo, now storage. Pipework capped etc and fittings removed. The skirting/wall on that side is dry, though I'm lifting the tile floor tomorrow, just to see if there's anything obvious.

Is the joist resting on anything or is there mud piled against it?

I can't say without lifting the floor, but it's a possibility (although I'd pushed it down the list on the basis that I'd expect more floorboards to be damp if that was the case)

In the final stages of rescuing our decking.

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Before; it had been painted in a poo brown varnish that was failing in some bits and stubbornly resisting in others.

The right thing to do in this situation is to rip it all up and burn it then make a new deck.

But i decided to strip it all off using stripper and mechanical sanding and then oil it. Really, I wouldn’t wish this job on my worst enemy.

It took forever but I didn’t have to make decisions about how to layout a new deck I guess…

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Cat judging you there

Always

Looking good.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a set of wire strippers?

DIY, so they'll only get infrequent use / don't need Snap On levels of kit. But I'd like something that will work well for everything and won't need replacing.

Cheers

I like these for simplicity and tool for life kinda vibe. Got to be careful not to slice straight through though, takes a bit of knack.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/c-k-cable-cutter-6-160mm/9235x

I got a set of these and they are great, can't believe I fucked about with blunt snips and stanley knives for so long. They will strip the outer off a three core cable really easily.

Cheers.

I think those KROBAHN automatic ones were what I was thinking of. The snippers seem a bit too similar to a knife and pliers.

What wires are you stripping?
I’d probably go for a set of the automatic ones tbh. Learning the knack of using cutters/pliers is better IMO, but for occasional bits an automatic pair will make the job a lot more straightforward.

Little things I've learnt....
Never use wire cutters for stripping insulation, any damage to the conductor sets up a point of fatigue weakness.