Home DIY

Thanks both

I can't see anything up in the loft particularly, though there is a small window in the roof, kind of above it (though further to the left, camera right) which I guess may contribute to the cold. There doesn't appear to be any missing insulation though the floor is boarded over so not easy to judge but nothing to indicate why that one area is suffering. When we moved in there was a free standing cupboard there from the previous owners. Was fine in the summer but when we got around to decorating after the first winter the entire wall was black (no spores around the edges so not at all visible until we moved the thing).

I don't fancy soloing a ladder up there (at the top of a flight of wonky steps, sloped surface etc) so I'll try the spray and dry approach. We've got a few months of cold and wet so hopefully time to test it.

Main concern is having to repair paintwork in 12 months time if we decorate in the summer.

HG mold spray and foam spray are very powerful at removing mildew (they're labelled as bathroom but ignore that) the foam is more powerful and less air bourne, they'll leave a fine residue to wipe off. [Mildew will happily live under poorly adhered lining paper slowly removing it]. You can get additives to add to any paint but the standard is zinsser perma-white (matt or satin) and that can be tinted.

Alright kids. I got a consumer unit installed last year, and the guy left one socket unattached - didn't realise until he'd left. The wire is still present, just not connected.

I did have a handyman come over and I asked him to connect it up, and he said he wasn't super comfortable doing it as there were a lot of wires going into the box. I don't fully understand this.

But is there any reason I can't connect up the wire to the sockets spur (may not be the right word) in the consumer unit myself, assuming I take the electricity down and take all precautions?

Thank you - appreciate the tips

It's not illegal for you to open the consumer unit and connect a cable to a breaker if that's what you are proposing but it doesn't sound from your description of the problem like you know enough about it to be guided some internet advice.

Personally I wouldn't be happy guiding you if you don't have basic equipment like a voltage tester and properly insulated tools. There are also some tests to ensure that the breaker would operate in the case of a fault which should be carried out after the installation.

Unless this is a socket 1m from the consumer unit with surface mounted cable and you are going into a spare properly rated breaker there are a few tests you should carry out. It's possible the electrician who left it disconnected had tested the cable and found some issue.

According to the letter of the law you would not be allowed to add a new breaker and cable to a socket. That would be 'adding a new circuit' and requires building control sign off which could be achieved by hiring a registered electrician.

Unless this is a socket 1m from the consumer unit with surface mounted cable and you are going into a spare properly rated breaker there are a few tests you should carry out. It's possible the electrician who left it disconnected had tested the cable and found some issue.

Thank you, super useful. I think I'm asking if this is one of those 'you can do it if you're careful' things or if it's a 'no get someone in' type situation. It is >1m from the unit, but I've no idea how the cable gets from the socket to the consumer unit - it's hidden from view - but the cable in the understairs bit definitely relates to the socket, because it used to work then didn't once it was disconnected. I'd 'just' be reconnecting it.

The electrician I hired didn't connect the socket because he said he didn't know what it was for - I didn't have anything plugged into it at the time so I didn't notice.

Do you know what the wire is for?
We had a new unit fitted some time ago and there were 'Spurs' left from the old unit. The new unit had more capacity of these 'spurs' are redundant now as they are in the new unit. Hope that makes sense.

Do you know what the wire is for?

According to the electrician who installed a consumer unit, it was a 'spare wire' which used to be wired into the sockets spur- but after he left the wire unplugged, the socket in the hallway stopped working. He didn't say explicitly that they were linked, which I guess is the risk, but I'm sure it is.

When we had our consumer unit changed we had the same thing. The lights and sockets in one of the lofts didn’t work. Thankfully I called the sparks back out as when he investigated the loft there were loads of faults with the way it was wired up. Just because it worked before doesn’t mean it wasn’t dodgy, just nothing had happened.

K. Our spare wire was for an electric hob as we moved to gas.
Seems like an odd thing for a spark to say. Personally I'd get another spark in to look at it.

There are a couple of things you can try if you have the tools. Obviously check the wires in the back of the socket and the cable at the CU are not live before you do anything. Then you can connect line and neutral together at one end and check the continuity at the other end, then repeat for line and earth. If continuity is confirmed you now know for sure they are connected but you still don't know if they are connected by a single piece of wire or in the back of another socket etc.

If you don't have a spare breaker of the correct rating inside the CU then you need to establish the type of circuit you have and what the appropriate breaker rating should be. At this point it would be illegal for you to carry on anyway. In any case you would be skirting breaking the rules if you had an appropriate breaker installed as you are still adding a circuit.

The reason for the rules is the rating of breaker and testing it's operation are fundamental to the safety of the wiring and risk of fire and safe disconnection should an earth fault happen. If the hallway is close to an external door you also have to consider RCD provision although a new CU will probably have that.

You can just add it to another circuit if you know the rating of the breaker is suitable and you can test the disconnection times and calculate the Zs.

The more I think about it, the more it seems like you need to get someone in and the last guy should probably be doing it at least at a reduced rate for having missed it the first time.

If you were connecting it as a spur from a ring of sockets it would be a lot easier. If you can find your downstairs ring and chop a 13amp fused spur into it near the CU then you could run that socket from the fused spur. You just need the power off to the ring to do that. I still wouldn't want to recommend that unless you have at least a proper voltage tester or switch off the entire system while you are working on it.

The more I think about it, the more it seems like you need to get someone in and the last guy should probably be doing it at least at a reduced rate for having missed it the first time.

Agreed. I've tried getting him back but he just ignored me. Lesson learned.

I'll see if I can get someone in. I'm a smart cookie but I've respect for electricity and the wiring here is basically a museum piece.

I don’t think there is a worse job than this

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I would like to build a free standing plywood bookcase. It'll be from 18mm wisa plywood, and I was considering routing out an 18mm channel, 4mm deep in the verticals and the back in which each shelf can slot. This would mean I don't have to use any visible fixings.

Would 4mm deep be enough to support the shelves? The span of each shelf is 437mm though I could always bring that down by adding in another vertical.

It's inspired by this Jonathan Tuckey / Malin and Goetz store in Islington - but I can't see how those shelves are held in place. Anyone have any ideas?

With the rebate across the back I’d say 4mm is fine. As for the hidden fixings in the inspiration I’m guessing they’ve just stopped the rebate 20mm from the face and cut the shelves down at the front to match.
I’m trying to convince Liz to let me rebuild our Billy’s in the same way.

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To hijack the ply shelving chat: what’s the go-to lacquer for birch ply these days? Aiming for as close to raw/natural finish as possible, ideally with some amount of UV protection.

I find Osmo clear/raw yellows birch too much…

We did the same recently. Turns out there are worse jobs.

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I quite like Osmo Polychron Oil in the White - 3040 tint. The white seems to stop the yellowing, it looks way too white at first. After awhile it just looks like light ply.

thank you.

Second question - should I rout at 19mm so the 18mm shelves fit in easily then use glue, or 18mm and risk having to knock the shelves in a bit?

Maybe make a couple of test joints and see what works best with your stock and equipment?

or just use dominos / biscuits

Definitely do a couple of test joints as mentioned, but assuming accuracy all round, 19mm rebate for an 18mm board will end up feeling sloppy/being weaker across the whole structure

^ This ^
Provided you’ve routed the rebates straight the only issue will be in the shelves thickness which could be a little bit patchy. Easier to sort that out on as you find it.

Biscuits offer no strength in a joint and only help with lining things up and keeping them in place while the glue dries.
Although dominos offer strength, they are after all just oval dowels, I’m guessing https://www.dm-tools.co.uk/Festool-576427-240V-Domino-XL-DF-700-EQ-PLUS-Jointer-and-DS-XL-D12-D14-Domino-Assortment/P12810 ££££!!!! is enough reason to just use a router.

Probably just loads of dominoes (dominos?) As dbr suggests.