Home DIY

Cheers. I've done what I can inside the house. Unfortunately my plans about doing it while my 2nd did crafts have gone south and I'm now trapped in the bathroom with painted 3yo having a tantrum about not going to a party now (the party is tomorrow). So looks like it's a night time job then!

@tw for now it's just to run the Xmas lights to our fur tree. Previously it's been an extension cable to a weatherproof box with a cable across the lawn. So I'm calm about not notifying anyone 😁

Aaaand one end of the OTT extension lead is complete.

Pretty straight forward once you find a guide to confirm how to put the funny collar bits on in the correct order. Curve ball was having different coloured wires.

(I know technically it's meant to be mounted vertically to a fixed surface)

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Lights!

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While you can sharpen it. That saw has induction hardened tips. It will be hard as fuck and likely give inconsistent results. Buy a new one

They worked really nicely, thanks.

Thanks bruh. Sound advice

Any idea why this is happening?

Cracks have appeared in the plaster of my back wall. Has happened suddenly sometime in the past few days .

1960s build, solid side walls with a wooden frame to the front and rear elevations. Tiles exterior on the wooden frames to front and rear . The cracks follow the outline of the wooden frame. The worst of them in line with the bottom of the lintel above a set of sliding doors.

House was refurbished ~2 years ago. No cracks for the past two winters and no changes to ambient indoor temperature . Currently no sign of water ingress , wall feels dry.

There is obviously movement in the wall , but I have no idea why . Plaster to the floor above looks fine however

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Yeah, head scratcher with boring simple potential answers, material with differing rigidity. If there's a skim is of different plasters it's one weakness. The sliding doors & frame appear metal this carries vibration force from opening and closing (not as harsh as plastic) but still a good slam.. as you say it follows the lintel.. why are the cracks formed as if it from plasterboard idk

I dont think the builders plaster boarded underneath, though I'm not certain. Likely a skim ot replaster.

The cracks neatly follow the outline of the lintel to the top and where the solid wall stops to the sides . So could be movement in the framing, but why would it start moving after 2 years?

Sliding door is indeed metal, but its to a first floor balcony, so hasnt been opened in months.

Original Lintel was replaced as it wasn't strong enough, you could see all the exterior titles sagging because of it. I did check outside today, and the tiles are still straight , no sag.

That crack maybe 2-4mm away from an underlying deeper crack, I really wouldn't put it in a box of worry and I've thought of clay soil subsidence

Changes in rainfall the last few years?
We live in an area with some of the most absorbent clay soil around and are subject to much heaving and ho-ing depending on the moisture content.

I'm in Manchester, so there is always rain ! There has been more in the way of heavy rains this year over the usual regular drizzle. Nothing of note in the past couple of week though .

Soil is not heavy clay round here either. Just off how suddenly it's appeared.

What would be best for a cosmetic fix that minimises the chance of a reappearance?

Find a nice picture in a frame. Hang on wall.

Would have to be a massive picture.... Full wall width

When we looked round our place, the loft area over the garage was just full of boxes. On moving in I put the stairs laying in the garage up, using the holes that were already there. And we found plug, phone, tv and internet sockets all around the room. The previous owner had obviously been using as an office. It’s insulated, boarded and has opening roof lights. The whole garage is brick and block with insulation between and has more steel in it than the titanic.
We have it as a gym at the moment ( https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/367794/#comment16238544 ) but Liz needs a home office now so it needs doing properly.
If I get building control in to change its use am I in for a world of trouble? Should I just worry about it later or is that asking for even more trouble?

Snake

Badger badger badger

Mushroom

Liz needs a home office

Isn't that already sorted by:

The previous owner had obviously been using as an office. It’s insulated, boarded and has opening roof lights

What's the problem that means

now so it needs doing properly

?

It’s the paperwork, inspection side of stuff to be honest. As it stands it’s usable, but not legal. It’s down as storage space on the garage building certificate and it needs to be down as ‘liveable’. I know I need to add a handrail to the stairs and the landing area in the room. I’m not sure what else. I don’t want to get them out to look, in case they say no and then I’d have to remove the plastered walls, ceiling and put in foldable stairs. You can also only have ‘minimal’ fixtures up there.

I guess my question is why does it matter right now?

You need an office. There's an office. What is the actual repercussion of using the space? You don't gain the uplift in property value when you sell, but right now why does it matter? Is it an insurance thing?

Insurance is the main thing, but also £$££ at sale time. For reasons there is a point that we will need to sell and I’d like to get all my ducks in a row before that happens.

Maybe a hypothetical email to building control explaining the layout of the garage and stating your "plans" plus asking what else is needed to make it ready for approval?

There will be fire regs too, stuff like a fire door before the stairs, fire boarding around the stairs and roof, fire alarms etc.

I'm currently using CT1 to stick some stuff together, outdoors. Anyone know of Sticks Like Shit is any stronger? Doesn't need to seal, just using as an adhesive.