Home DIY

Water just doesn't play nice with buildings whether fresh or previously used!
Taken two full days of an insurance call out plumber team to stop the flow. Gonna be a huge task to rebuild everything, I'm hoping that they rehouse them as it's going to take months to put right,insurance should take over in the short term, but longer term not quite sure what will happen. Think they might stay with us for a bit as insurance probably only get the cheapest hotel/airbnb miles away from where they need to be.

Any advice on tidying edges up in general, really bugs me how nothing is ‘sharp’ has only a couple layers of paint everywhere but generally just average finishing, drips of paint, coving doesn’t perfectly line up on corners etc

Is it possible to tidy up without redoing coving etc? Tools required etc?

Gyproc easifil 60 or toupret smooth over. Something like that. Once you've got surfaces cleaned and dusty free, smear the least amount on that could cover the paint edges. Leave to dry fully, sand carefully.

If your good you can cover a much larger area than you need and blend it all really nicely, but more error can happen, best to do the least needed so that your eye isn't caught by the paint edges ;)

I need to build a concrete pad for a metpost fixing due to there being a lot of garden wall foundations /general concrete in the way of digging a proper hole for the post. I've already bought Postcrete, should I use that or use the half bag of cement I found in the garage and mix it as per the instructions on the bag? Hasten to say this is the first time I've used either.

What started out as 'stripping a little paint from the bannister' eventually turned into a full understairs MDF storage solution, reinstatement of original spindle pattern in Douglas fir, full skim coat, new radiator etc. The paint is just about done (a farrow and ball colour "Oxford Stone" mixed by Dulux). Just the installation of the radiator, sanding of the floors and stairs and the lights to go back on.
Thanks for all the excellent advice from this thread over the years.
The definition of scope creep here.
Here's how it started after removing the lining paper. Ceiling falling down etc.
Pic with most work done.

2 Attachments

top job! looks brilliant.

Would love to see more process pics of the cupboards. Was it your first time doing that kind of thing?

If there's any milwaukee fans here, and your thinking of getting the battery multi tool, the m12 fuel is defo enough for the job, m18 even quicker cutting but a good bit heavier and slightly higher cost. It's so small and accurate doesn't seem to wander as much as my original fein or newer erbauer corded jobs, and smaller and lighter than those.

M12 fuel impact driver is enough for diy and occasionally bigger things (driving bigger than it should hilti bolts etc), m18 fuel impact driver is a total boss and I love it, but they weight of it with a 5.0ah battery gets old if your just using it for light to moderate wood work. It's place is driving foot long 10mm+ frame or hilti bolts into big things, quickly, accurately and without shaking your wrist into a bad way like some of them do.

Handsaw advice please

Need to cut a cm from the bottom of a solid wooden door as we have had new floor coverings.

I looked at my yellow and black handled spear and jackson predator and it's a few years old and a bit tired.

And suggestions for a handsaw to do a fair job at the door, the predator wasn't a bad saw in its day

I'm a big fan of pull saws, don't really use anything else. They are available with western style handles these days although I don't see the point. You can pay a lot of money for one but this cheap one would probably last if you only use it occasionally and don't saw through any metal. The bottom of doors very often have some pins or metal in.

https://www.toolstation.com/tri-cut-pull-saw/p17458

I have a Tajima for some small site work.

https://www.toolstation.com/tajima-japenese-pull-saw-with-300mm-blade/p23958

No saw recommendation would be complete without a trip to workshop heaven :-

https://www.workshopheaven.com/handmade-japanese-saw-set-of-3.html

Thanks, my daughter uses Niwaki tools in the garden and has pull saws too.

I was thinking about something a bit more general purpose that if push comes to shove (excuse the pun) I could use on things like plastic drain pipes as well lol

Probably best to have toolstation cheap ones then. I don't think the traditional push saws are any cheaper these days. Large hacksaw is preferable for plastic anyway.

Will look at cheap toolstation jobbies :)

What’s the best 240v 1/2” router? The classic Makita one I’ve been borrowing / using is a piece of shit in terms of adjustment and depth setting, it’s also slowing falling to bits. I am brand agnostic.

Festool OF 1400.

I really like the Triton TRA 001. Brilliant piece of kit but it seems to be out of stock everywhere. Triton also do a 1400W model that is less powerful but still very good.

Depth setting on the festool is dreamy.

Was looking at the Triton, seems like a lot of power for the money. I have the dewalt combo router 1/4” - 900w but find it often runs out of steam. Is the Triton too much?

I think the 1/2” Makita is 1650w and even that seems a bit weak at times. I do set it up as a table router more often than not.

Festool is really nice, but maybe it’s not the jump in power that I need.

It certainly delivers bang for your buck.

Also if you use it in a table it's great as it's designed to be easily converted into a table router and has a lift built into it. Plus for I think £40 you can get a router table top that goes with it.

It really is excellent value for money.

It's the way it delivers the power that makes it so nice. Soft start and almost never seems to change speed when plunging which makes it very dependable and stable. It's also quite heavy so the OF1010 is kind of a requirement for handheld.

It makes light work of routing worktops with a 1/2in cutter if that's the kind of work you might want to do.

I really have no interest in selling you one! They are heavy and expensive.

I want to build an outdoor sofa area but am struggling with materials. I’d like to use wood but am concerned that anything but Teak (£££) will suffer quickly with constant exposure to the British elements. Any suggestions?

A few suggestions off the top of my head:

Larch is good for outdoor construction, it's very rot resistant. Doesn't look as nice as teak though, it's pretty cheap

Western Red Cedar is also very rot resistant, it looks amazing and has great tensile strength but it can be brittle and dents very easily. Not that cheap but cheap compared too teak.

Oak - pretty rot resistant other qualities are well known easily available not too expensive.

Purple heart is very hard, very strong and rot resistant. Tropical hard wood that is purple when freshly cut, you can preserve this colour if desired by treating with a UV resistant finish otherwise it will fade to a dark brown. Very cheap (for hard wood). This is probably what I would use.

Now I did say “best” router, but as I don’t actually use it that much, or like using a router much anyway, perhaps a budget option is fine. My dewalt is dreamy, the big one can be a bit of a lump. Anyone used or owned a Trend? Seem like no-frills very cheap for the power.

T7EK seems like a good compromise, 2100w @ 4kg

https://www.axminstertools.com/trend-t7ek-router-1-2-106851

Western Red Cedar would be my choice. Larch looks like pine but is tougher. WRC is weirdly light and the colour and grain can be amazing. You’d want to think about how your putting it together though as it’s soft and screw heads can pull in if your not careful. Flange head stainless torx could be nice.

I like Southgate Timber for their easy online shop.

https://southgatetimber.co.uk/catalog/western-red-cedar-fencing-par

Currently working towards screeding this patio slab for a padded fake grass section. I know that will get me some hate on here but I want a soft/safe surface for kids to play on and it's hardly an epitome of biodiversity at the moment. The rest of the garden will be getting a lot of plants eventually.

Anyway, current plan is to build formwork around and sure up a couple of the sides with vertical faces in reinforced grano concrete, and screed with the grano at the same time. The nearside will be one face of a flush trough water feature and the LHS will be exposed where the path will slope down to get 150mm below dpm. Currently the slab is level with dpm but there's a gap between it and the house so an Ako drain will be going in to carry rainwater from the downpipe on the right to the drains. Thinking of using OSB with floor protection sheets tacked on for the shuttering to get a decent finish to the sides at lower cost than proper phonelic ply.

Any thoughts/ideas on this approach?

1 Attachment