Home DIY

anyone any good with oven regs?

we're due to move into a new rental in a couple of weeks and today I had a quick chance to get in and measure up but I'm really not convinced by the location of the cooker space in the kitchen and our chances of having an installer happily fitting a cooker upon delivery potentially risking hundreds of pounds.

as you can see in attached pic they've put it into the chimney breast and stuck an extractor fan.
there's a double socket on the left below hob height which i assume is normal 13A, and on the right side is what looks like a cooker switch but there's no outlet panel for wiring the cabling into inside the chimney.

the extractor fan is 161cm from the floor so would be fine for the 65cm clearance from a 90cm cooker. the width inside is 70 with just enough space for a 60cm unit to fit in the middle, the rear gas pipe fitting would also make the unit stand 2.5cm away from the rear wall.

things that concern me...
-the side walls above hob height fall within the hot zone of 9cm either side which i'm not sure is ok
-the 13a sockets are not good enough to run all but the shittest electrical oven from
-the cooker switch is above hob height but i assume 9cm outside hot zone and i have no idea how to wire it to the cooker.

i've been hoping to get a cooker installed between our move in date and christmas but it's beginning to feel like i'm going to end up with some 50cm wide piece of shit fitted plug bullshit with solid/ceramic hobs which is useless to cook on when we actually have a budget up to about 600 for something half decent (ideally dual fuel).

any experts on here willing to weigh in?

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also a very fucking weird fireplace mantel at the back of the first floor only allows the door of what was to be my man cave/study to open 50cm wide fucking up my plans of ordering a sofa bed (I'll have to remove the door entirely to see what options i have)

Class tiles though

options

Stable door…? I removed a door today to plane the bottom off, it’s not that bad

Pleased it worked for you. Heads up to anyone using it, you should use a mask.

Having recently worked with a chippie who is called Puff Davey on account of his debilitating COPD I am coming to the conclusion that I should be putting my respirator on when I arrive at work and not taking it off until I have got home and had a shower.

I'm with you on that. I have had a whiff of this deglosser and burns my lungs and makes me cough immediately. If MDF dust is bad for lungs I am due some terrible news if I live long enough.

Super fine sawdust with bits of resin made from piss and formaldehyde, what could go wrong?

Exactly, they should probably put some in every home.

Hi,

We have a flat roof and there is a gap in the guttering where the water runs off and goes down the wall. There is some evidence this is causing some damp. I think the solution is to block the water from going down that gap and divert it into the gutter. Any ideas on what to use to do that?

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You could chase in a small bit of lead flashing - under the fiberglass bit & over the gutter.

Can you unclip the guttering - either all of it or a section - and shunt it down so it closes the gap?

Then a small blob of some sealant maybe CT1 to seal it.

That's a good idea. What is CT1? Googling it seems like some sort of magic do all product

When I was looking for a similar thing I found the cooker manuals useful for the hot zone, some had slightly different dimensions and obviously that will dictate the install.

I think you're going to fall afoul of the sideways hot zone though. I ended up having to cut back some bits of worktop trim and remove a socket that fell into the hot zone.

The installers I used (ao and Curry's) were pretty strict. They had to take pictures of the work and the clearances (with a tape measure) to show it was correct. They suggested independent installers may not be as strict.

I got a full refund from ao after they delivered and realised that they couldn't install due to the regs.

Googling it seems like some sort of magic do all product

It's a sealant that also bonds, and it sets hard but can still shrink / grow with heat / cold without cracking. It's water proof, shapable and you can paint it. It will fill large gaps and set and be quite durable. But you can cut it away with a knife once set. Roofers seem to like it for obvious reasons :)

Bit of a bodge solution, the right answer is probably flashing or even cutting a recess for the end of the gutter to sit in the wall, but that's proper pro level shit.

I am coming to the conclusion that I should be putting my respirator on when I arrive at work and not taking it off until I have got home and had a shower.

This is how it feels on site. It’s never quite enough to justify putting a mask on, but it feels so constant I get the feeling that I’m severely shortening my life by just being there. Can’t wait to qualify and head for a cleaner role!

Spent some more time trying to get the handles off before giving up. Then had to pick a new tap, order it and have enough time for my amateur plumbing skills.

However it is in, isn't dripping and I don't think there are any leaking joints. Had to cut a bigger hole in the panel in the cupboard under the sink but it isn't obvious unless you are kneeling on the floor.

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Always seems to be on a Sunday afternoon when stuff goes wrong...

Bathroom basin and bath aren't draining. Cleaned the basin trap. Plunging the bath drives water out of the basin (as well as a bunch of grotty goo out of the bath plug).

The two join as shown here, and the other pipe (kitchen sink, washing machine, and dishwasher) drain fine, so I reckon there's a blockage in the bit of the pipework circled in red.

Tricky to get drain cleaner to pour in to reach that spot. Tricky to remove that section of the pipe without flexing it too much and fear of breaking something below the floor.

Any good ideas welcomed...

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I got a full refund from ao after they delivered and realised that they couldn't install due to the regs.

for the cooker and installation or did they leave the cooker and refund the install fee?

I'm worried we'll end up with a cooker no one will install. or AO say bollocks as I have to state explicitly that the install location meets the hot zone requirements they show.

argggh it's such a fucking pain in the arse.

AO customer service has been great from my experience.

Have some water in both the basin and bath then block the bathroom basin, and plunge the bath.

Common issue and from experience easier, cheaper and less hassle changing the taps. Not the easiest with the sink you have but needs must

Agree with this. If you have two plungers and people, get one over the basin plughole and hold it down so the plunging doesn't force off the plug.

Just gotta hope that the blockage is before the condensate pipe from ya boiler!

Because if it's not the plunging will force it all into the boiler?

I took the air admittance valve pipe (tall vertical one) off and had a look while the kitchen sink (upper horizontal pipe) was draining, and could see it flowing, so pretty sure the blockage is indeed in the Red Zone (TM)