Home DIY

They are only testing in proximity. It's just not reliable enough to meet the standards for safe working. The standards are definitely a high bar but there is a difference between a careful homeowner taking on a few jobs a year and a professional electrician working in all kinds of situations every working day.

So there might not be any problem with your method but it's not complying with the standards.

There's a more detailed description here :-

https://elecsafety.co.uk/standards-for-electrical-test-instruments-and-test-leads/

I can borrow something like this. And you'd use this to cut a chunk of skirting off per my requirements? Assume I can just cut then chisel and hide the horrors with the wooden upright?

If I take your meaning this wouldn't work because the alcove itself isn't deep enough, so need to build the wardrobe out into the room to give sufficient space.

Yep, the multi tools are very neat for chopping off a bit of skirting board. I used one for exactly that when adding some kitchen cabinets.

It’s what you need for a plunge cut into the skirting, you should get a nice clean cut that a little bit of caulk will neaten when you fit the upright for the wardrobe

Cheers. I see your point about a couple of jobs at home each year and day in and day out on unfamiliar circuits.

Well, that corner would be where a set of hinges are - but cool if you're set on that

Ok, I did a drawing, it's half done and shows nothing of the work involved. green - battening, red - ply, blue - ply / hinge support, black - hinge. pencil - shelves hanging pole... honestly I'd concentrate on the inside stuff first, do it well and make it work for you (shelves maybe 22x22 batten covered top and bottom in 5.5mm ply so floating, any position length and size) hanging pole one or two etc.. Then consider the covering, ceiling battens would be best hitting joists, easy if you can see /access them from above [I'm imagining lathe and plaster ceiling]. ... so I mentioned curtain as it's the least destructive (can go round corners) and avoids most cutting also can be easily changed.. .

Oh and my shitty picture

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Struggling to find an answer on this. Or maybe the answer I want.

Can I extend the ring from the existing socket ( blue mark) to a new socket (purple mark)?

Or does the socket have to go to the left wall with the Green mark - because otherwise there needs to be some sort of visible cue on the left hand wall?

I ask because I'd like to leave the option open to put a spurred external socket on the wall behind the purple line. And it's obviously a lot easier to drill straight though.

Cheers.

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Extend the ring and put sockets on both walls? If you're running the cable anyway...

You're probably right. I've got my head round adding one socket, but I guess two is like this (hopefully the illustration makes sense)

1. One long continuous cable from back of blue plug to purple plug.
   
2. One short run (green) of cable from purple plug to green plug
   
3. One long continuous cable from back of green plug back to blue plug (dashed green)
   
   
   
   

How does it work in terms putting recessed boxes in before plasting? It's a skim coat so I assume I just recess to the current wall depth and any increase is dealt with by the screws?

IANAE but that's how I would do it. Obviously you'd have to "open up" the ring. And, you can just get longer screws if the faceplate sits too far forward after plastering. Annoyingly they are only available in boxes of a million (you might get smaller sets off ebay), but they are very easy to come by.

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Join my lower orange cable to your purple one using wagos and a box (or similar).

Jesus, these colour conventions are going to actual sparks conniptions.

Ha! I know I hesitated about using green. Then I realised that there was also blue (which was a hangover from a WiFi diagram).

Now I really regret it all.

Also how fucking good is the Google Magic Eraser!

That should work. Best practice you make any joints inside back boxes so you don't need to worry about maintenance free joints etc.

There's loads of techniques that go into a small job like this and really you could be testing the circuit afterwards to make sure everything is still good but I'm sure a lot of this kind of work gets done without any testing or paperwork.

I guess you have an RCD on the circuit already in which case you can bury the wires in the wall.

Anyone here with any experience of the Origin Shaper? Think I’ve watched too many YouTube vids and convinced myself..

I’m struggling to find the post but I think a while back was a recommended builders merchant who had a lot of advice for old/heritage buildings on their website - can anyone re-recommend?

I need to fill and tidy the gap between the bath stone and wooden door frame. And a million other jobs.

https://www.lime-mortars.co.uk/ is a good start.

Also Mike Wye.

Between wood and stone, it's burnt sand mastic, iirc.

Just get a tube of CT-1 and fill every gap and crack you can, any big gaps then a bit of rolled up newspaper stuffed behind, it's what builders do...

Fantastic, thanks!

@Mr_Smyth That’ll be plan B

any big gaps

The traditional method is stuffing with oakum. Newspaper is probably a bit more readily available though.

Finally sealed the black limestone patio (photos of it still wet/impregnating).

I'd say this is has to be up there as one of the shittest and least rewarding diy jobs I've done. Sort of like stripping the paint of a chair with spindles with grand intentions of a natural wax finnish.

Applying the sealant is fine and quite satisfying. But it's everything up to that point.

I called it a day on trying to remove any more cement marks. Frustratingly I put some blocks under a small metal bench to avoid staining the stone before I sealed. The water runoff stained it and basically couldn't be removed.

Then it's taken me basically a week of squeezing in 30m-2hr sessions to pressure wash it. Some of the surface still has pressure wash marks/unevenness, but it's acceptable. Some of the grout has been chipped by the pressurewasher - even though I was fairly careful. Then I've had to wash it a couple of times and dry it with a leaf blower. Some of the slabs have uneven spots that catch the water so these have to be hand dried with a towel.

.... and even then its not spotlessly clean because it's fucking outside!

The blog that suggested the product recommended two coats. One can at ~£50 has done one coat and I absolutely cannot be arsed to source another can. Let alone do another coat.

Anyway it's done and I'm probably not going to do it again.

Despite the blog recommending leaving it for a while before sealing imo it would have been a lot easier to clean each stone and seal before laying. Then I assume it'd be easier to clean off before doing another coat once layed.

Anyway that's a fun update. Diy seemed more appropriate than the gardening thread.

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We have a big recess between two fireplaces, like 2300mm wide, that I’d like to fill with bookshelves. Would 25mm plywood sag if I used aluminium supports on each end and a few along the back length? https://www.wickes.co.uk/Alcove-Shelf-Bracket-Black-190mm/p/249884

https://woodbin.com/calcs/sagulator/

Bookmark and use this: https://woodbin.com/calcs/sagulator/

It's invaluable.