Home DIY

At a pinch you could clamp one of the other sides in the right position to act as a guide for the curve

Not a bad idea. I think I might even have some clamps.

Any recommendations for [flat] roofers in North London? To look at some water ingress?

I’ve put a job on mybuilder. Another guy I contacted direct wants £360 before he’s got the ladders off the van.

£8 for whatever saw you can find and cut it in at right angles. Would take about 5 seconds. If chipping is a concern use a Stanley blade to score the line you want to cut to. Once it's in you will never look at it.

the low voltage ( i think ) lights in my kitchen ceiling are flickering bright one second dim the next sometimes working sometimes not, no real logic to their changes of heart ? what can be causing it ? admittedly a few bulbs are not working would their absence be causing voltage fluctuations ( possible short-circuiting ) ? I honestly don't know what type of bulbs or system they are but with the nights drawing in it's tricky making supper when your in the middle of a dimly lit disco

I've cut MDF with a jigsaw for speakers before. It scared me (not literally) but I'm trying to keep these looking neat as possible as the side of this is right in a doorway. (I could make a mess of it then just put a plant in front I suppose)

Fluoro tubes used to do that when the starter was about to die (little round thing underneath the tube usually). Could replace for peanuts. Take a pic and someone with more of a clue than me might have a different opinion.

Is that some kind of ‘central locking’ system?

these are small round spots with either led or similar, those tiny bulbs, not fluoro or standard light bulbs

I’m pretty sure some LED lights have a “driver” to regulate (convert?) the voltage coming from the mains. Could be that’s on the blink?

And that’s the limit of my knowledge.

That looks tidy, love the big window.

No need for a jigsaw. A sharp disposable saw from b&q will make the cuts you need chipboard in about 6 strokes of a saw.

Don't replicate the curve which is unlikely to match your skirting anyway. Just make a neat right angled cutout.

Edit: a steel rule taped or clamped down as a guide will help keep the cut straight if you don't care about using the saw more than a couple of times, Poundland usually have them.

Are they on a dimmer switch?

That could have given up or one of the transformers in the ceiling could have given up (if 12v rather than 230)

Ask around your neighbours / local Facebook group.

Probably old Halogen drivers dying due to be connected to low power drawing LEDs. You'll have to pull them out and replace either the driver or ditch the driver and connect to direct fit GU10s.

(had similar dilemma a few weeks ago).

If you can wait until next week I can trim them for you with my jigsaw.

If you have had a mixture of halogen and led lamps on a dimmed circuit and the halogen lamps start dying you can eventually end up in a position where the dimmer can't produce a low enough voltage for the led lamps alone. In this case you can change the dimmer module.

If you have MR16 lamps with dimmers you should change to GU10 lamps by removing the transformers and wiring GU10 connectors directly + change the dimmer module to an LED compatible one.

You may have a non dimmable LED lamp which can cause the flickering and weird dimming behaviour too.

I haven't used them personally but I've heard good things about these
https://horncastleroofing.co.uk/
And have them bookmarked for when I need a roofer.

apparently no one in the UK thinks doors are worth insulating

It's the British way!

I think rampant energy prices are converting people though. I applied to the 'Great British Insulation Scheme' (sounds like a C4 programme, actually a way to get government-funded insulation.) Was told I'd hear in 10 working days, 18 days later got an email from Octopus saying my application details are being forwarded to a partner installer and they expect to have progressed my application within the next 12 weeks, by which time it'll probably be too late...

Are those Irwin clamps any good? I need to buy some clamps and was looking at those. I'm a big fan of their chisels and wood bits.

Or be like me (an idiot ) who took a chisel and hammer to the skirtings ! 🤣

What would you do?

1. Tape with blue masking tape.

2. Put the other half on top and draw the curve and line.

3. Use a fine tooth hacksaw to cut the pink lines, then the red line, then the blue line and file to the green line.

4. Caulk.

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Thanks.

Got a couple of blokes coming to look tomorrow. I’ll see what they say.

This is actually a really good idea IMO. If you keep the piece it's not a hard repair later if it's moved.

It’s a three point lock, more commonly found on upvc or composite doors. This one is a bit trick as the deadbolts engage automatically when it closes so you don’t have to double lock.

Other trick item is weather seal / draft strip that drops down from the groove in the bottom of the doors automatically when it closes.

Are those Irwin clamps any good?

Fine for quick clamping (natch) but anything critical and I’ll use steel F clamps. There are probably much nicer quick clamps but these are cheap and do the job mostly.