Home DIY

Yes, I came to this conclusion but sadly it was after I'd put the posts in!

All the measurements check out, just gotta do the lifting to get them in now. Hopefully I'll never need to use this knowledge

Is the ceiling rose absolutely horizontal? I’ve found if it isn’t, then it’ll leak in the fashion you’ve described.

the screws of an internal door ripped out at the weekend. It's a bit of a bodge in the door frame with snappped screws, screws at angles and corrugated cardboard used as a spaces.

I'm going to drill some of it out and glue in some doweling to repair the holes. my questions are; how do I remove the snapped screws and is there something better to use as a spacer than cardboard?

Glazing shims or packing pieces if you need packers, although they’re brightly coloured.

Try and dig out around the end of the snapped screw and get a set of mole grips on it, or the jaws of a 3 jaw chuck on a drill. The drill method is why I usually do but it’s hard when the screw is snapped flush.

It sounds like you might be better cutting the whole section out and glue/screw a new piece in the frame if the old piece is such a mess.

Another random question on something i’ll have to deal with soon.
Insulation boards are 240, ceiling is 245, i’ll use a lifter to raise boards when fitting and will use fixings (for fire regs) as well as dot/dab.
Not sure what to do with the gap? it looks like rolls are available for a thermal break but not 3-4cm, would spray foam work? there is a solid iroku floor and an ‘insulating quilt’ below that over concrete slab, i’ll be fitting skirting over this gap.

An update to our blocked outside drain issue.

We had someone wet vac a load of silt out, but it didn’t help much and the block is still there. Finally managed to get hold of the couple who lived here before us who have confirmed our suspicions that it’s a drain that leads to a soakaway somewhere under the garden (they don’t know where exactly).

Am I right in thinking if that’s blocked with silt then jet washing is pointless and I may be looking at having to have it dug up and relocated? Not a small job obviously

If it's outside your property then I think it may be the water company that deal with repairs
My brother's place had similar a while back and Thames Water dug up and fixed things

I want to properly insulate my Victorian terrace house. At the moment there is about 100mm of very old wool between the joists. So:

1. There isn't a gap between the old wool insulation and the first-floor ceiling. Is there supposed to be?

2. Currently all the cabling for the ceiling lights are running on top of the old insulation. I'm planning to lay Knauf Space Blanket on top of the existing insulation. Is it ok to sandwich the wires between the two?

3. Should I insulate between the joists holding the roof up or just the joists holding the first-floor ceiling up? The loft is just going to be used for light storage so I don't need it to be warm.

Electrical questions

Looking to make a few things in the house ‘smart’ either with a Shelly relay or with smart switches.

Looking at the back of both a fused spur (heated towel rail) and light switch, it looks like both have neutral returns.

For the light switch - why would there be three? Assume I should just connect all of them to the smart switch neutral?

For the relay, which of these two neutral in the fused spur does what? Any ideas?

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The loft is just going to be used for light storage so I don't need it to be warm.

And, I'm assuming, you need it dry. Insulate the lift floor - insulating the roof requires proper consideration for vapour permeability and ventilation.

1. No
   
2. It might be OK based on the specs of the wire and current draw, but why risk it?
   
3. Safer (ventilation) to just insulate above the ceiling.
   

Also, fucking downlights. I hate thee

So much.

Although now that all of the final halogen MR11 bulbs are dead, I can replace them with GU10 LEDs (and try not to ruin the holes in the ceiling while I do it)

Although now that all of the final halogen MR11 bulbs are dead, I can replace them with GU10 LEDs (and try not to ruin the holes in the ceiling while I do it)

Doing this now and I can assure you your ceiling will be fucked, you will be befuddled by the question of needing a transformer or not & your wallet will be lightened (but your room...not so much).

the back of our house has previously been rendered in sand-cement on the ground floor, and time plus putting in new openings mean it's a horrible cracked patchy mess.

don't have the money to get it re-done professionally or even patched up at the moment - but would rather hack it all off and essentially start again.
in a perfect world i'd get the whole back of the house externally insulated and k-rend'd (or similar) but again money is beyond tight now (narrator: the extra 5k loan to finish the renovation did not finish the renovation)

besides teaching myself how to render, preferably with lime, anything else that's cheap and effective? some kind of cladding that can be cut and screwed and doesn't cost the earth? cheaper/DIY version of some Russwood type stuff?

^in addition to that, leaning towards something like this, just counter batten and treated timber of sorts:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxPHTRUsKdU

Look at plug cutters to get the screws out.

Could be that the ring is wired into the switch not the rose.

Look at Silvatimber or Southgate Timber (my fave supplier) - for larch or maybe cedar. Larch is cheaper and paler in colour - think about finish too. Sioxx is the best (from russwood) to pre-weather to a silver grey, but there are plenty of options.

Id personally avoid general treated softwood cladding for a house - too much shed vibes and often shit quality but - Chesham timber do good feather edge barn cladding.

Cedral click smooth maybe worth a look (fibre cement). Which would quicker on account of no oiling / painting required.

If its just the ground floor you are cladding you'll need to think about a cladding head detail to flash into what ever is above and provide a vent to the battened cavity. Also consider insect mesh. We had wasps behind our cladding and they ate through the ceiling into my kids bedroom !

that’s brill, thank you (bar the wasps - also had a nest that ate through my bedroom ceiling as a kid too as it happens!)

suppose i should show the offending article, if not at least to make other people feel better about how their houses look..!

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tricky - I suppose cladding it might be do-able - but fiddly no?. Two things jump out - the verge on the lean-to and the window sills - not enough projection to fit battens + clad and retain a reasonable drip detail ? I'd get quotes for render repairs and infilling the bare brick sections and then paint it.

noted - appreciate the expert eye, as i'm sure i would have overlooked those kind of details.

started googling larch slats, and looks like materials would cost more* than perhaps getting someone to patch up after all, then i can just paint in my own time

*thought i would have learned by now

has anyone had a go with 'envirovent heatsava' or another similar single room heat recovery vent unit? Standard humidity of modern humans in a basement flat creating loads of condensation so thinking about how to improve ventilation/air change. Also looking at PIV for a flat if anyone's tried that too?

Late reply but yeah they're for LED lights usually fitted wall cabinets.
https://www.downlightsdirect.co.uk/cabinet-3w-cob-led-downlight.html