Home DIY

He has also said that the upstairs socket rings are on 20A and should be on 32A.

If they are rings that would be most likely. A lot of homes only have a ring for the kitchen though. I know @Nef has given an accurate technical description of this but the question I would ask him is 'have you confirmed the circuit is a ring?'

Of course if it's not a ring I'd be interested in finding out why and fixing it if possible.

How’s the 996? I feel a midlife crisis calling.

Getting well into sanding and foam rollering, prob going to stop at 4 coats, but I could carry on forever.
Don’t mind the gap so much now and filling it would be a real headache as there is about 1cm difference top to bottom.

1 Attachment

I dont think it looks that bad at all tbh and in a few weeks you'll not even notice it.

Thanks, I defo don't hate it, its just a solution is escaping me atm (not that one is 100% needed) which is kinda annoying me.
Im so into sanding now though, may lead to divorce.

It looks really good. Nice job.

a solution is escaping me atm

Trompe l'oeil.

450mm is ok though isn’t it? I mean, call him out for being a div, but all my sockets are 450 and I’m doing ok.

Looks great! Made from scratch or did you get it prefabricated?
My search skills are weak, apologies.

Cheers buddy! It was actually a bit of both, custom sized measure up and ordered from https://thecabinetshop.co.uk
I had quotes for around £1500 for someone to make this and instal it, and this cost £700 ish and about 2-3 days work inc painting, so not wild savings overall but split into an hour here which I did have unlike the 150o.

Any dos/don'ts or other learnings?

Or was it all pretty straightforward?

Ah, that's really interesting, thanks. Had come across their site before but good to see it in situ.

All pretty simple if you measure right, my walls are all over the shop and that alcove narrows by 4cm hence the gap at the front. I was a bit punchy depth tolerance wise and the doors sit proud which is another minor annoyance but nothing to lose much sleep over.

Check it's not flammable!

I'm doing our lounge hearth at the moment which has gone badly:

• Discovered painted fireplace was marble.
  
• Spent a day removing paint and cleaning it up.
  
• Discovered hearth was cracked in two and we needed a new air inlet for the stove.
  
• Removed the hearth.
  
• Fireplace fell apart!
  

2 Attachments

Those tiles are lush.
We've got two fireplaces in our flat, both painted in white emulsion. Couldn't believe it when my wife stripped one and discovered it's marble underneath - the mind boggles!

Not when all the other sockets in the room are about half that

What would be the best way to bring the front part of this floor level with the rear? The whole thing will be covered in 6mm ply then laminate when finished. Its ok on the right but about 40mm out on the left hand corner. Sister the joists? Seal it up and self level over the top?

1 Attachment

Any thoughts on this, gratefully received,

I have a hot water immersion tank, for washing up and x2 daily showers and the thermostat (standard 18” with temp dial) keeps tripping until eventually needing replacing. This happens every 12-18 months, and the trip switch thing has evidence of sparking/slight blackening around

Have replaced everything; consumer unit (its on separate ring), heating element, timer, cabling from timer > element, but still keeps happening. ….any ideas what I could do to prevent and stop burning through thermostats?

My only thought is the wiring which hasn’t been replaced, is old in-concrete-wall inside pipe conduit, and is only live (red) + neutral (black) with the pipe it’s run through being the earth. Could the draw of a modern element through older cables be causing this to happen?

I've seen underfloors with this kind of gap made up in strips of 6mm 'feathered' to fill the height difference. Sistering is probably the 'proper' way with 18mm osb or ply on top instead of floorboards usually. Self levelling would be my least favourite option.

Agreed on self levelling. The strip approach had occurred to me but suspected it was on, if not all the way along, the bodge scale.

I've got plenty of 6mm offcuts around so might try and dry fit something and see how it sits. Thanks!

Current draw should only be affecting the cables, the cables should be protected by the breaker. The earth resistance path through the pipe should be low as the pipe is a fair bit of metal.

If you've replaced the CU they should have tested the circuit resistance and importantly the insulation resistance of the wires i.e. is current passing between the conductors or from a conductor to earth because of faulty insulation as that would be a common cause for tripping.

The elements themselves are known to cause tripping because of insulation resistance failure but in this case it's mostly rusting of the element allows water in the tank to connect with a conductor? How often are you replacing thermostats and are they testing faulty when tested? It's pretty simple to test a thermostat.

I had to copy that kind of bodge on a floor recently and was surprised how well it worked. The flooring on top was 18mm not 6mm though so that might play a role.

It is definitely a bodge and I was surprised that anyone would have done it that way but it worked and the client wanted it reinstated after a flood so I did recreate it.

It's all to save lifting the boards and dealing with whatever else you find under there really.

Thanks for this info, v useful.

Have replaced the element a few years back - old one had no rusting - and the problem has continued at same frequency.

Thermostats replaced every 12-18 months, does seem to be during winter they fail with more frequent use. I’ll look at testing the failed one I’ve just taken out. The pattern is that once they trip, they’ll trip again in a week or so, then more and more frequently, until replaced.

CU has a certificate, and the person who installed cleared up a few other problems in the flat (1970’s build, legacy problems from previous) and this was flagged as an issue to test/address, but has continued since it was done, maybe 3 years ago.

It does sound like 'normal' failure patterns for a thermostat immersed in water but seems like the intervals are a bit short. On the other hand most electric immersions that I come across these days are only a backup for a gas heating option so they're not heat cycling that regularly.

I wouldn't expect rust after 12-18 months. Could be internal failure not related to water but some sort of water ingress is also likely given it's immersed in a tank.

I'm scratching my head to think of some way the wiring could be a cause but can't come up with one.

Struggling to get a tap handle off to replace a valve. I have unscrewed it and part of the handle has come off. There is a plastic part remaining on the tap which I can’t remove so I can not get into the tap to get to the valve. Any suggestions ? I have tried yanking, pleading and levering it but it just won’t budge. It has some kind of interference fit which won’t let it come off.

2 Attachments

It has some kind of interference fit which won’t let it come off.

Usually just that, it's become very tightly bonded to the extent that what seems like an unreasonable force is all that will unfix it.

Try covering the tap chrome with a thick cover of some material and levering the cap with a crow bar. Might work, might mean new taps!