Home DIY

Replace it - it will be quicker and easier, the circuit board has burn marks on it, the fan is v mucky and so probably the bearings are also noisy, and for ~£25-40 you can replace it, fix all of those problems, and it won’t be any harder than rewiring a plug.

Are they likely to do much damage before autumn? If you leave them alone, they'll give up the nest in winter and won't come back next year. Apparently.

Yep, seems the simplest solution

As an electrician and tinkerer, I’d replace the fan. I’ve replaced components on PCBs when the replacement is hard to find or expensive, but I just found it too much faff. Fair play to @TW keeping them going!

Yep, just ordered a replacement. Thanks

The feed to this tap goes from our kitchen, through the ground floor slab to the outside, reusing a decommissioned copper / iron gas supply pipe. My bright idea.

Sealed at both ends it goes from 2.5 bar to 2 over 48 hours then stabilises at 2 bar. Does that mean it’s leak free? Where is the 0.5 bar going?

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It's the angel's share.

Could it be the valve on the kitchen side? As you use the kitchen tap, the pressure drops on the other side of the valve and a tiny amount of water leaks back in to the open system?

Maybe… double check valve though

this thread makes it sound like some of the air in the pipe is diffusing into the water causing the pressure to lower.

https://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=376058

Ah yeah that could be it. I’m sure there’s some air (or gas) in there. Should properly flush it out then check again maybe. I’m pretty sure it’s good though, otherwise there would have been gas leaking into the foundations for the last 30 years….

Fun fact - Their goo eats through stuff like plasterboard -like alien - I know this because I walked into my kids room one day to find 10 buzzy fuckers circling the hole they had come through 😱

Shitty things. I'll leave them for now and seal up the soffits over winter.

Another coat of Osmo, this time the right one (not the white tinted one).
I’d say about 80-85% perfect which I’m ok with, a couple of gaps could be better but upstands will cover 50% of gap issues.

Then it’s on to integrated shelving at one end.

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can't believe you borrowed your neighbours weights for a photo

is that scratch on the right there very deep? it looks deep.

You’re not tricking me into that one.

I did use an incorrect screw and it came through the top.

I learnt the hard way not to use a Dyson for anything remotely connected to DIY hoovering up

Looks good btw.

If it makes you feel any better a colleague picked up the wrong bolt when connecting a 400A switch that poked through the back of the plastic moulding and shorted the live connection to the case of the distribution cabinet - it made a pretty harrowing bang when it was switched on. lol.

So 88.5% after the upstands are in place?
I’d call that a success.

It's dried a bit streaky, 85%.

Any recommendations for external varnish?

We have this seat that was raw wood (I assume pine) when we got it. So I quickly slapped the exterior varnish we had. Then I think it may or may not have had another quick layer at some point of whatever indoor varnish we had to hand.

We were never crazy on the slightly orangy colour. But ultimately its an outdoor bench so not too fussed.

Pic after a quick knock back with some sand paper.

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Sand back and oil with a neutral/natural coloured oil rated for exterior/UV. I reckon any varnish unless religiously maintained is going to flake.

Cheers. Good point.

I guess Osmo UV-Protection Oil Extra, 420 Clear then.

Gotta love that it'll cost double the price of the bench to oil it. If anyone knows a cheaper version of the Osmo that'd be useful.

I have always used ronseal deck protect on my deck. It's what I would use. Or Liberon Teak Oil.