Home DIY

Please may I have some DIY advice:

I am trying to fit some shelves into this space above the cooker but I keep coming up against problem after problem.

For starters, if you look at the second image (yes it's terrible), the wall is tiles on plasterboard with a 100mm (yes 10cm) gap to breeze block. There are battens at points behind the plasterboard.

I bought Fischer Duotec plasterboard fittings as they only require a 10mm hole and are rated to about 20kg, which I thought would be enough. Stronger fittings require bigger holes which I don't feel confident drilling through tiles, cracking the tiles right there in the kitchen is going to give me an even bigger headache than I already have.

I then stupidly bought solid oak shelves thinking they'd look nicer (they do look nicer) but these weigh about 7kg on their own and I'm planning on storing pots and pans on these shelves and I don't want to take chances on the weight limit.

I have a stud finder but I can't get it to work at all, even calibrating it against known locations of battens on another part of the same wall, it just beeps all the time on the section of the wall I need to find the battens. Google suggests this is a common issue with tiled walls.

My questions are:

Would you try and bridge the 100mm gap, or is that not feasible?

Should I buy lighter shelves and just chalk the £70 shelf cost up as a learning experience (I cut into them so they'd fit around the corner boxing so now I can't return them)?

Should I buy a fancier stud finder and hope it works, then fit the brackets into the battens and use the shelves I've got?

Should I not be scared and drill bigger holes in the tiles/plasterboard and use stronger fixings?

Just give up because I've really quite fed up of this ordeal?

Info I've got that you might ask:

The wall is tiled all the way to the floor even behind the floor standing kitchen cabinets so I can't see the batten positions where I want to fit the shelf brackets.

I have no fucking clue how the wall kitchen cabinets are fitted.

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With a similar dilemma (bathroom cabinet where there were tiles, plasterboard, big gap) I went with these (actually I think I went with the M4 ones which only required an 8mm hole).

https://www.orbitalfasteners.co.uk/products/m6x52-interset-cavity-fixing-rawl-p-no-r-sm-06052

Lots of different sizes available so you can fine tune them to the substrate thickness and gap.

I also used the setting tool as it made it a bit easier with tiles.
https://www.orbitalfasteners.co.uk/products/interset-cavity-fixing-setting-tool-rawl-pno.-41-545

what can I do about this? Water's running off the roof and down the side causing damp on the walls inside.

Is this a known issue with gable walls, or is mine particularly shit and I need to have the whole thing redone?

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Just so I'm satisfying my own anxiety here, your suggestion is that the weight is ok as long as I use a sturdier fixing, and the one you've linked uses the same size hole, but should support more weight?

Also the "prongs" not being able to grab the plasterboard due to the tiles wasn't an issue for you?

Obviously do your own research on the weight ratings but I have a 60x70 mirrored bathroom cabinet full of stuff on 4 of the M4 ones and it seems absolutely fine. The manufacturer suggests them for shelves and kitchen cabinets so obviously expected to carry a decent amount of weight.

They look like this after tightening up so quite a bit of spread contact compared to the plastic plugs

The prongs are only there to stop it rotating as you tighten it up. If you use the setting tool to start with you can tighten it right up before you start to screw it in.

@Light_EDDed that space will reduce when you secure the sides with the screws won't it?

I just assumed the gap would need to be filled so that joist is pressing against the beam it’s supporting.

Christ, there are so many mad things in the place we bought that just make no sense. I'm going around bit by bit and learning/fixing each one. It's good to learn the DIY skills, but my attempt to put a positive spin on as I uncover yet another bodge or terrible decision is becoming more difficult as time goes on...

The latest mad thing is this tap in the upstairs bathroom. It is a waterfall style tap and had 2 little holes on the waterfall part. See the attached pic.

I assume there is meant to be another part that slots in there that they have lost. Of course, this means that water dribbles out all over the side of the sink.

I can't see any markings to help me find a brand and model of the tap to see if spares are available. Google lens isn't finding anything, and looking at other similar taps this doesn't appear to be a common design with the strange holes.

I think the cheapest bodge is to sugru it. But I think that'll annoy me every day and fail at some point.

I think the better solution is to just replace the tap. As you can see it's not in great condition, and I don't love these waterfall style taps that seem to be so common now. I'll have to measure up but could probably replace with something like this https://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/p/beba_12251/cube-beba_12251-basin-tap?refsource=apadwords&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_id=17997676053&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAyeWrBhDDARIsAGP1mWRcXugdGQQHkhXCkpRkodSEOLMLk8PB_xz0sTkNOcKKoUebXLa7zQ8aAn05EALw_wcB

Anyone want to try and warn me off replacing taps who has previously done it? It's a modern integrated sink, so probably not the easiest to start with. Or other options I haven't considered?

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Was there something glued over the holes that has fallen off?

You could small test drills through the grout to find the studs - once you've found one, the rest should be easier (assuming they're off 400mm centres). Just look for wood in the spoil.

If I found them, and depending on the shelf brackets and spacing, I'd consider putting up a back board of 18mm ply, painted white.

Would you try and bridge the 100mm gap, or is that not feasible?

If I couldn't find the studs, or if they're in stupic places, I would. Although it's more involved.

My rationale being that you're not not just putting a lot of weight up, but doing so repeatedly.

That would mean using a multitool to cut out some tiles, packing the space out, and retiling the small area.

At least you won't have to worry about making good on the plastboard patch.

In all likelihood, I'd just fuck it up, them fuck it off.

I've no idea, as the house is new to us. It certainly looks that way to me from the limescale stains

Is the wall maybe built out just at the oven? Can you drag it out and make a hole to inspect what's going on?

Christ, there are so many mad things in the place we bought that just make no sense. I'm going around bit by bit and learning/fixing each one. It's good to learn the DIY skills, but my attempt to put a positive spin on as I uncover yet another bodge or terrible decision is becoming more difficult as time goes on...

This sounds exactly like the first year in our new house, even down to the annoying waterfall taps.
Ours was bunged up with lime scale and would shoot two jets of water directly at your crotch. A good clean and de scale sorted it.

But yes, definitely looks like you’re missing a bit of metal there

Did a google out of curiosity, the missing bit seems to be a very common feature of waterfall taps. I reckon it's a diffuser to smooth out the flow, needs to be either cleanable or replaceable and apparently also losable.

Do you think it's something like the metal part in this image? https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/GZMAAOSwqmxk266r/s-l1200.webp

If so, I think I'll need to figure out the model name and number to even be able to search if spare parts are available. Otherwise new tap time. TBH I'm leaning toward new tap just to save time. But perhaps I'll regret if removing and fitting a new one is a real pain!

Replacing the tap probably won't be too bad. Main pain points apart from the price will be getting it fixed in place - the nut can be hard to work with, involving awkward angles and cramped conditions - you will probably want a tap spanner which is one of those tools you hopefully only use once a decade.
Also if you get something like a Grohe tap, check the fittings because they won't be UK sized and you'll need converters. The tails are always either annoyingly short or annoyingly long.

First I'd get out there when it's raining and try to get a feel for whether this is water rolling off the roof, or the effect of driving rain, or both. It looks like a lot of damp brick for a minor roofing issue, I would want to attribute it properly before attempting a solution.

Suspect the side of the house was rendered because of driving rain wrecking the brickwork, but WTF is that white staining coming through?

Lots of potential to make a complete mess of this.

Is there a way you can give yourself an easy life? I wondered if hooks adhered to the tiles might be a way but then there's no guarantee whatever you hang from them won't just pull the tiles off.

The fixings @aggi suggests are the ones that Vitsoe use to hang 50kg cabinets from drywalls, but they use a lot of them, and they are used to fix rails that the shelves or cabs are hung from, so the load is well distributed.

The white bit is the dry bit (I think).

It's not the right side for prevailing winds so I was quietly hoping it would be runoff from the coping stones on the gable wall and around the edge of the guttering.

I think you're right though, a trip up a tall ladder in the rain is probably a good idea.

I looked up how to replace a tap on Youtube and convinced myself I could do it as an amateur. It looks easy.

Haven't done it yet because a) I've discovered our bath is leaking which I want to resolve first and b) we don't seem to have a stopcock in the flat - seems to be one on the street but I think it'll shut off our neighbour's water too.

Instead of sugru would silicone sealant do a better job as a short term fix?

Basically this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbSehcT19u0

don't seem to have a stopcock in the flat - seems to be one on the street but I think it'll shut off our neighbour's water too

Let them know, then install a stopcock in your own flat while the water is off...

Great idea. I need to actually find the pipes internally first - I think they must run under the floorboards and I haven't convinced my partner to let me pull those up yet. Will get/borrow an endoscope and have a poke around

Has anyone tried injecting PVA glue (or anything else) under loose laminate flooring to stop movement/squeaks? I'm wondering if I can do it without drilling using a very fine needle on an edge/join. Not sure how fine a needle you can still get glue to flow through though

Like this but on cheap laminate flooring not proper wood...

https://dragon-upd.com/hardwood-floor-glue-injector/