Home DIY

I need to build a small bit of decking infront of our shed as the grass is taking a hammering. Does anyone have any composite decking recommendations or should I just go for wickes? I'm after a pale plywood type colour and need 5 boards at most

Just to add to the great advice from Bobbo. Be careful at this time of year with drying times. If you are doing this job in a cold space it might dry very slowly, there should be an indication of the temperature range on the bottle.

If I'm fitting some guttering to my garden studio do I need an offset bend for the downpipe or can I just run it straight down?

Would have thought it depends on the roof overhang and how you are fixing the downpipe.

I had a similar task but with two 1.85m x .65m pieces, I went for the contact adhesive because handling the pieces and getting any kind of even clamping was a little tricky. Your 100x32 cm should be fine with enough clamps for wood glue.

Yeah I was just wondering if there was another reason to have it - like something to do with the water flow or to stop gushing noises?!

I guess you could use it to tune the flow but straight through must be the best option for clearing blockages etc.

Yeah totally. Which reminds me I forgot to pick up gutter guards 🙄

These work better.

The grate deflects solid matter and allows water through. Fits to the downpipe.

That looks pretty neat. There are a load of sycamores around and the studio is directly beneath a partially dying one so there’s always loads of crap about.

Using little m6 coach bolts and like a dick I used lock nuts and rounded the wood when tightening. I swear they should have bigger shoulders than they do.

Filled up the entrance(?) hole with wood shavings mixed with wood glue leaving a pilot hole. Fingers crossed.

Washers?

In the dining room I'm planning to leave the chimney open and block up just above the opening.

Is there something I should be looking for that's waterproof insulation or will insulation in a bin bag suffice? I was then doing to place battens in the chimney and secure a thin piece of wood to hold it in place.

Or is there something that'll do all that for me?

I’ve seen inflatable bags designed for blocking chimneys - Amazon I think. Looks like a handy solution but I haven’t used one.

This type of thing

STORMGUARD 18SR796 Chimney Draught Excluder-Clear https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B071F34WM2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_ZES4N4W90NKWVB98ZJ7Q

You'll be wanting a Chimney Sheep®

Fantastic! Thank you.

Is it worth putting more insulation up the chimney then the sheep? Or is that likely to cause issues.

Is it worth putting more insulation up the chimney then the sheep? Or is that likely to cause issues.

What are you trying to achieve? The sheep or inflatable or newspaper or whatever will stop the draft. If there is one. Is your chimney capped at the top or ventilated caped or what?

As per @stevo_com, maybe?

Like some sort of serrated washer?

Otherwise I'm not sure I understand how a washer will stop a coach bolt turning?

Going to see if I can sneak into the shed at lunch to see how the glue has gone off. Didn't seem that cold overnight so I'm hopeful.

Just so close right now I can almost taste it. OH is having a girls weekend soon as well.

Will take note and use lock tight instead of locknuts in future.

I understood that as you tightened the M6 bolt its head damaged the timber.
The washer under the 'too small' head of the M6 bolt will spread the force over the area of the washer, making it unlikely you can damage the timber as the nut is tightened.

Ah. No sorry.

I drilled one of the holes a bit too close to the true size (as the previous ones were so tight a fit). Then because a m6 coach bolt only has a little square section to engage when I tightened the lock nut on the other end it forced the coach bolt around and rounded the front of the hole.

Just to stop the draft really. It's already capped at the top.

I guess it's a vented or bonnet cap to prevent water ingress. If it was sealed there should be very little / no draft.

I looked in to this and asked around the consensus seemed to be that you need to be a bit careful if you restrict both the top and the bottom, especially if the top is completely sealed, or you are asking for condensation buildup, and on a long enough time line it could get through the brickwork and at the plaster.

The balloons are for semi-permanent installation and the wooly plugs are better for those who use the fireplace from time to time.

We have the vented caps and I've put balloons in the breast - but in summer I'll take them out so that the rooms and the chimney space can breathe again.

No mileage in putting anything else up there.

Anyone know where I could find just the hinge mechanisms for something like this pull down shelf system?

Our new kitchen cupboards go all the way to the ceiling but the top is mostly wasted space as we can't really reach, so thought something like this would be great. However, I don't really want to spend £250... and the cupboards are very narrow (345mm internal) so I feel like I'm going to have to make my own anyway. Maybe my Googling isn't up to scratch, but I can't find anywhere selling just the hinge mechanisms.

Things are happening.

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