Home DIY

Ok thanks, I’m going to give everything a few weeks, then was looking at Zinsser drywall. That would be the base then on top of that a good mould resistant bathroom paint.

That is unlucky. Usually you can fish a claw out since they're pretty easy to snag. Hope your plumber has more luck.

I hadn't seen the Zinsser drywall. Looks perfect for the job.

If you're South, I have a jetting attachment for a pressure washer you can borrow. Cleared my silt blocked drain.

I appreciate the offer, but have recently moved out of town. I’ve convinced myself I need a pressure washer anyway so will give this a go.

This is the top of our bathroom light showing through the insulation in the bedroom floor.
Should it have some sort of cover or cap on it before I put the floor back down?
Thanks

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Yes - these I think

https://www.wickes.co.uk/Loftleg-Loft-Lid-Downlight-Protector-Hood/p/148851

Mixer shower Vs power shower, talk to me.

Our electric power shower recently shorted and no longer works, which was a (literal) shock. We're considering changing to a mixer style for safety and to hopefully avoid this happening again. Does anyone know of a way to test the water pressure before committing to the time and money involved in installing a mixer shower/decommissioning the electric jobbie?

Flow is easier to measure than pressure, which should be a good enough analogue. If you can get 15ish l/m at ‘shower’ temperatures you should be alright for a mixer.

Measure flow by timing how long it takes to fill a 5lt bowl from the cold tap closest to your mains water in, then maths. IIRC 12l/m is minimum, 20 is the tits.

Assuming thermal conductivity values are the same, are different types of glass/mineral wool slab (multi-use, cavity, acoustic) mostly interchangeable? Have a couple of dwarf walls and studs against brick party wall to do in the loft as we put the "conversion" back together.

Thanks for the help!

If your boiler or hot water (pressurised by mains or by motor) is nearby then your pipe work shouldn't have too many restrictions, I favour aqua lisa for mixers that work well and flow a lot of water for years with no issues (new lower end Mira aren't as reliable as they used to be decades ago when they built their reputation).
As above, do the cup or bucket flow test, the bigger the test sample the more accurate.
Do the hot and the cold seperately, and then both together to see how the system performs under demand.
Bear in mind most mixer on a combi boiler fall over when anyone turns on any tap anywhere else, so maybe see how that affects it too. Worth paying a plumber £50-80 call out fee for their advise though.
Electric showers actually shocking people is a seriously rare occurrence*

*Happened to me on our latest project, previous bathroom installer had pinned the 10.5kw shower cable (6mm2+ I think of copper) in various places through the tongue and grove ceiling so if you'd touched these whilst the isolater was in the 'on' position, many interesting things would have happened. When I fully removed the old installation (new shower fitted in 2019!!!) found that the insulation on all 3 wires was cut down to copper when they'd cut back the outer insulation, and was coiled up at base of inside of shower, where it gets wet. Fucking unbelievable.

I’m building another built in unit, this time with 9 drawers on the bottom and shelving on the top.

Shelves could span up to 70cm and, although they won’t be storing anything particularly heavy, I don’t want the mdf to warp.

Was planning on tacking ply edges on the fronts (grain vertically) to stop bowing by ply is ££££ right now.

Could I get away with 12mm ply for this? What other options do I have?

I think 12mm ply is my preference as I can make the drawer boxes from it too but want to make sure it’ll hold.

Cc @Airhead / @Bobbo

Cut this bannister in half for transportation purposes. The threaded rod is epoxied in one end. The batton is there to hold the two halves together when it gets attached to the wall. I plan to use wood glue on the diagonal faces.

Should I attempt to epoxy the other end of the rod into its hole too? Or leave it floating?

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I don't think it makes any real difference to the flex. Maybe a tiny amount.

Have you tried the sagulator? https://woodbin.com/calcs/sagulator/

Why wouldnt you epoxy?

Your main problem is wood glue works best with pressure while it's drying and it's difficult to clamp long pieces with a join in the middle. I'd put in a rafix to clamp it while the glue dries but I have all that to hand.

Epoxy on the other side might be a good call if you never need to get it apart again.

I wouldn't epoxy for logistics really. Don't have any where it's being installed and would need to be stored vertically while drying. Plus if it's not perfectly aligned I'm a bit fucked.

With both halves being attached to the wall at two separate points I'm hoping there won't be too much pressure at the joint.

I hope the baton will apply sufficient force while the wood glue dries.

Replacing the fence at the back of the garden. Regretting not putting the gravel boards in at the same time as the posts. Lifting them in is going to be a challenge

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Contemplating sanding some half painted stairs back to the bare wood (the bit that the carpet usually covers). What sort of sander would be best, I guess it would kill my little Bosch palm sander!

Are they painted?

Currently all carpet but they previously had a carpet runner / rods up the middle but there is white paint either side. Thinking about going back to the runner /rods but remove the white paint and stain.

Do you have an angle grinder?
Just shaving a few millimetres off each side, if necessary makes it much easier to get the concrete gravel boards down the fence posts & level.

No but everything's in the right position, just needs some muscle.