Home DIY

Wow amazing rescue mission, step especially makes it look proper.

Pretty certain, they're too modern looking to be from the asbestos era. And the adhesive is grey and gritty, so not black mastic.

put an offcut in the dishwasher for a few cycles and see how it fares.

definitely use something more durable than osmo oil to finish though - as @dbr said an oil based paint (or alternatively a 2 part epoxy sealer) and thin the first couple of coats with a suitable solvent so it gets right into the grain and edges.

It's quite brittle. Depends in the forces involved in the flexing though.

Made a little drill speed chart as all the ones I found online wouldn't print at the size I wanted in a legible way. Putting here in case anyone wants it too. Have the .xls to share too.

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Any idea if this seller is legit?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Makita-TD172D-Impact-Driver-TD172DZ-Yellow-18V-1-4-Brushless-Tool-Only-and-Case-/164778990931

Spent a little time thinking about my loft ladder project. Realised 99% of all loft ladders need space behind where they are mounted whereas the only useable edge in my loft hatch is nearly flush with the wall. The ladder Polygo recommended, however, looks to not need that space, so I bought that. Hopefully it will work, it is a design and company I would have never found without a recommendation so thanks!
The plan is to trim the existing hatch so that it sits inside the hatch frame on hinges at one end and slidey bolts at the other rather than resting on it. This already has insulation on the back, I might add draft exluders.
Then a light and some shelves and a gang plank (rather than a whole floor) and lastly a good clean

we have asbestos tiles on our balcony, they are a pita, you aren't supposed to jet wash them but they absorb grease and grime so easily so every now and then, when it gets really bad, we scrub them with a broom and soapy water.

Decent saw, but for the money you could get a corded track saw, which is probably more useful.

I have a large hole to put through our kitchen wall for the extractor hood. Nobody happens to have bitten the bullet on a 150mm core drill have they?
Likewise, because I don't fancy cutting mitres by hand, is anybody looking to sell on a mitre saw?
I'm keep an eye on eBay of course, but thought the internet's friendliest forum might be able to help too...

If you can’t get a core drill you could drill ‘normal holes’ and chisel the rest out.
Just a thought.

Yeah, that's the backup but I can't imagine that it stays particularly neat...

Usually there will be a surround or similar which will hide any small mistakes around the hole but it is possible to do it neatly - given time and patience. Core drill is easier though.

I have one of those! Macalister one but it's actually pretty decent once I changed the blade.

Thinking about it I'm probably gonna be better served by a decent hand saw for now.

I rented a drill and bit I think for around 50 quid for a day from Speedy. The drill needs to be serious for a bit that size including having a means not to rip your arm off if it gets jammed, which it will. Have someone with you especially if you're up a ladder. It is a crap, crap job and depending on the type of wall you're going through I cannot see chisels ever working without hammering at it for a week. The surround on the inside is large but the outside vent is typically not much bigger than the hole, so won't mask major changes in direction in case a chisel goes awry. If you've got anything like render on the outside it's another opportunity to flake a big chunk off with a chisel compared to neatly sawing through with a drill. If you're feeding a solid pipe through you can't have any snags. If you're feeding one of those tinfoil pipes through I still wouldn't want any snags.

@Airhead

I've just taken on a job to restore some original windows on a 100+ year old listed building. Fairly sure that there will be lead paint involved, what is your recommendation for IR paint stripper guns?

Cheers

Yeah I'm not really looking forward to it. I have one of Screwfix's finest SDS drills which has a safety clutch, so should be ok on horsepower. Thanks for the suggestion on hiring, but I can't find anywhere that will hire the actual core bit (excepting HSS, but that seems to have a a proprietary Hilti drive interface 🤑).

Another suggestion - have a look round and see if there are any builders working close by. They may be able to do it for a small price. A plumber may be your best bet.

I need to run some cat6 cables from outside the house to inside the house.

There is already one cable that goes through the (solid Victorian wall).

My aim is to make the existing hole into a bigger hole, and put a sleeve in it, with nice tidy end grommets.

I have a looong 32mm core drill bit.

How do I make sure that the hole that I drill goes in the same direction as the existing hole?

My first thought is to use a metal rod (I have some m10 threaded rod) or even just a loooong drill bit stuck in the hole, that can set me off in the right direction.

Does that seem doable, or is everything going to explode in a shower of sparks, shrapnel and brick.

I've used a 50mm core drill bit to chain drill a 150mm hole - overlapping holes proved fairly easy to tidy up with a chisel (1990s bricks). My rather modest corded drill was man enough for the 50mm bit I already owned - I suspect it would have failed expensively if I tried a 150mm bit!

On the subject of SDS drills. Any recommendations?

My FiL has an ancient Bosch mains one that he swears by, which for its age is a good recommendation, but its there anything from stopping me from spending 20quid more and getting a new battery one like @hamracks one.

My take on the previous recommendations for SDS drills in this thread are that even the cheapest ones are more than adequate for a DIYer. The main consideration is how much impact energy you'll be needing. Is it just for drilling small holes for shelving etc? Or will you need to break some concrete with it?

Hamracks one is mains powered (I own pretty much the same).

Personally I'd get a hefty mains powered SDS (the Titan ones seem like good bang for the buck) and then just a decent normal battery powered drill for the vast majority of stuff.

Unless you have expectations of using the SDS up a ladder a lot or all day long then the weight shouldn't be too much of an issue and the vast majority of the time you'll be using the other one. (This is based on occasional DIY use rather than you often needing an SDS).

My research split it into two groups;

1. Fuck off big ones for smashing shit up.
   
2. Small easily handled ones to drill holes.
   
   

I went no. 2 and bought a corded blue Bosch which importantly came with a box with Drill, Hammer Drill, Chisel & Variolock. It hasn't had a great deal of use and I haven't yet wished I'd stumped up extra for a battery one. Ymmv and all things considered my mates nice cordless makita was better to use. But for my level of use and based on the cost of either a dewalt one or an additional battery system it just isn't worth it. You've also got to factor in new drill bits into your budget. Your numbers may be right, but I don't think it's as little as +£20 for a cordless. If you've already got makita battery tho, I'm pretty sure they are the cheapest of the premium brands for bare units.

I'd add that I'm really glad I went for a smaller one as even small ones are big and a long way from the freewielding ease of a combi.

Edited: wasn't actually on sale.

1. Fuck off big ones for smashing shit up.
   
2. Small easily handled ones to drill holes.
   
   

I went no. 2

BORING