Home DIY

Love that pallete of white and wood with the grey green (slate?) floor. Smashing.

Exactly - frameless glass once it’s all in

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9GsQRynSzp/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

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Thanks! The floor tiles are actually a dark forest green/grey concrete tile.

Potentially daft wiring question:

Is it safe to extend or spur from a lighting circuit to run an extractor fan (or two) in the loft?

Ideally each on its own isolator switch.

If so, in very basic terms how would i do it?

I’ll have a search in here, it was to do with cupboard doors I think.

Was it around the conversation regarding Fittingly? They do make custom wardrobes according to a 3d plan.

https://www.fittingly.co.uk/?gclid=CjwKCAiAnZCdBhBmEiwA8nDQxT2Bj2SrEdkhW17uPsl5omf9jQeniFjlPeLZm7dSwsyNfVV7JXuqZhoCXjAQAvD_BwE

There was no option to upload a design (although if you had a CAD file they may help you convert it). Otherwise the Fittingly design tool is very good, at least on Chrome. Some of the tools didn't work on Firefox or mobile Chrome.

Are you thinking of a company like this?

https://www.cutwrights.com/new/home?gclid=CjwKCAiAnZCdBhBmEiwA8nDQxTnZd40Q7MC9wjfz2bDY7t3oEpZN8FP0gJoMvo-pxTV-61Y4LxBSWBoCLhMQAvD_BwE

Some of the tools didn't work on Firefox

I don't think anyone makes things to work on firefox any more.

Knipex pliers wrench is the one for the job. Maintains parallel jaws and clamps while turning.

What am I missing here? Replacing cistern fill valve and the new one is plastic, old compression fitting will just smash the plastic as it tightens and I'm not convinced it'll give me a watertight seal.
Additionally the nut to hold the valve doesn't cover the hole in the cistern, how best to seal this, some sort of rubber seal or gasket?

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I’ve used both and own the pliers wrench, but for pure grip with a small contact area I’d still prefer the alligators/Cobras.

While you can squeeze really well with the pliers wrench, the smooth jaws are still more likely to move around when you’ve only got a small area to grab onto, while the teeth on the cobras really prevent slippage.

Just my 2p tho ;)

I'm guessing the reason no one has answered is there are a lot of variables.

You are suggesting using the lighting ring to power an extractor fan via an isolator switch.

In basic terms there is no problem with that. If you can access the ceiling via the loft and take LN&E from the lighting loop to a fan isolation switch above the door of the room it's in. Then run the power back to the fan and run a switch live from the light switch line connection in the ceiling so the fan will start when the light is switched on.

The way you've asked the question makes me think you might not have done much electrical work in which case this is not really a beginners job. You could do it but it's not beginner stuff.

Make sure you work safely. If you don't know what safe working methods are for electrical work you should get a qualified electrician to do that job.

The way you've asked the question makes me think you might not have done much electrical work.

An accurate assessment :)

I’m a fairly competent DIYer but am generally wary of electrical work unless it’s fairly simple or i can find very good instructions.

I’ll mull it over for a bit. Loft access is great and one of the things I’m thinking of doing is extracting the loft space itself. (Long story).

So i don’t need the extractor on a light switch as I’ll fit a humidistat to control it, would just need the isolator alone which i would hope simplifies things.

Will think it over a bit more and see if i can find a pro.

There are quite a few things an electrician would do or know the effect of which you will have to consider.

Will you change the circuit enough for it to fail to disconnect if there was a fault. An electrician can confirm this by testing the loop after the work is done (the tools are prohibitively expensive).

They would probably know based on the type and length of cable and the power consumption of the fan what if any problems might arise. That could be based on what's normal though, which is not necessarily what your installation is like.

Normal would be a 6 amp breaker for a lighting loop in 1.5mm twin and earth. A 6 amp breaker can take 1440w load. A normal extractor could be anywhere between 20 and 200 watts consumption. Usually not a consideration on a lighting circuit.

Unless of course you have 3 rooms of 20 downlighters in 50 watt halogen on the same loop.

If you are looking for advice then this guy is a good place to start :-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnpV781c6Sw

Does it need sealing? If that hole is below your waterline you’ve got bigger problems than the pipe material.

What’s the forum’s favourite readily available paint for covering up a bumpy bathroom ceiling please? I can find anti-mould or cover up “problem” paint but not both at the same time. I’ve just put three coats of a bathroom ceiling paint up and it hasn’t made any bumps disappear :/

[ideally in light grey, but, beggars can’t be choosers]

Are you having problems because the texture stops the paint from covering properly, or because the paint doesn't stick to the surface.

The former, the paint sticks well.

The old paint started peeling. I scraped as much off as I could, then sanded it all to try to make the edges less sharp. I’ve painted it now three times with a Johnstones bathroom paint but the edges of the old paint are still visible. It’s not terrible but I’d like it to be better.

Inspired by @Familyman I'm keen to sort this out. It's due to the door opening out. The plasterer didn't really think about it when they did this under stairs area and just plasterboarded and plastered the whole thing. The carpenter who replaced the door knocked out what he needed.

What would be the best way to make good in that situation?

if you can still see the edges of the old paint then you probably haven’t feathered the edges out properly, Tourpet fine surface filler works well for this (and feather it out with fine paper on a block) but if it’s over a large area then i would sand properly first and have to fill only the odd area.

Thank you. I have used toupret, but certainly inexpertly. My dad’s view is that I am overly fussy. I’ll try to do it again, being lazy. I was just hoping a self levelling “problem wall” paint would be less labour intensive!

Snipe the corner off the door & build out the frame to fill the gap, then patch the plaster.

You can self level floors because gravity, for walls you’ll need to get busy sanding. A nice excuse to buy an orbital sander. They’re not super expensive and will change your life.

Definitely @TW 's advice I reckon - corner off the door so it opens fine, fill around it the bits which won't be swinging anywhere.