Home DIY

Bravo

nice. I need to do something like this as we have an incredible amount of space up there doing nothing as it's all covered in 300mm insulation over the top of the joists.

is it rockwool or similar? the stuff is just not very nice to work with :(

When winter comes around I'm gonna hire a thermal camera and look for cold spots where the insulation needs adjusted. There's also an old lath and plaster 'box' which goes from the ceiling to a skylight on the roof which I'll need to get some thin PIR or something around it. There is really significant heatloss from there.

If it was me I would mitre an end of a piece of plain skirting 1/3 the height, place it spaced a few mm off the floor and mark along it’s length and then multi tool cut the lower piece out and then fit the new lower piece, test fit so it’s as neat as possible probably using some packers to get it flush then fill, sand and paint.
You could remove the piece first to check there’s something decent to fix to and the width of new piece to buy.
A tradesman would probably have a quicker easier way.

I'd do what you suggested but use wood filler to blend in to the upper skirting section, as its quite a big gal. Then caulk for any last bits if needed. Filler has the advantage of being able to be sanded.

You probably want a fractional space to allow for any wood expansion /contraction.

If the gap isn't just localised to this area it's new skirting time, surely? It looks like it's been filled with caulk or something on the other face, and the photo seems to show the gap being present elsewhere.

You could also tack on another moulding to cover it but that's a bit gash.

Garage Door Cables: first off - fuck them.

Secondly:

My garage door cables both snapped this week, new cable arrived today. Matched the parts, it's a Cardale Pro Safelift. Following YouTube videos on the replacement, I manage to do everything as I would have liked, other than when putting on the new cable, the given wisdom seems to be to wrap it 3 times around the drum - this leaves my cable too short to reach the hook. I did it twice instead which left what I felt was too much slack.

I added tension back into the spring, removed the locking pin on the RHS and tried to open the door - there wasn't enough tension in the cables at all - and they both came off the spindles at the bottom.

How can I best adjust this, to make sure I get sufficient cable tension so when I remove the locking pin and try to open the garage, it opens?

Blinds required for a child's bedroom now the mornings are getting brighter. South facing room though so I'm thinking ahead to another baking hot summer. Venetian could be the way forward? Not as light proof but would allow some ventilation whilst closed.

Ime Venetian blinds don't block light properly. I think the sentiment is good for the summer, but to block light you need blackout blinds. If you get those ones with silver on the outside face they do a good job of reflecting heat.

Dunlem is good if you're on a budget. Remember not to try use any of their screws though, buy proper ones.

Also remember to make sure any cables are trimmed short and made safe if in a child's room as it creates a strangulation risk.

One of the shed window panes blew out yesterday.

I repaired the other pair of windows a while back, so could do the same again. However, having done it I think it would be easier to just make new ones.

I wouldn't mind forum thoughts.

First, is this a garage doors?

Second, what budget wood do I want?

Third, I want to get the shed insulated by the end of the summer. Can I future proof any design so that I can fit double glazed panes? A quick search puts a large pane at almost £100, which probably won't get budget approval. However, looking on FBM you can pick up double glazed panes for free.

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Oh and I got that US Dewalt router :)

£135 instead of £128, but still gvfm. Works with my 18v batteries.

Any recos for starter bit sets? I'm generally in favour of budget sets for this sort of thing, then upgrade the most used bits.

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those ones with silver on the outside

Surprisingly I'm struggling to this, without a pretty hefty premium. Might just get a bog standard Dunelm roller and attach some reflective fabric, or actual foil to the back if it gets really hot.

Think you're probably right about the roller Vs Venetian thing though. Maybe I'll fit both!

If you can find some rollers to match your window, then use one of those guide kits to make it fully blacked out and fit next to the window panes you can mount the venitan blinds on the outer inside(?) of the window.

still a load of filling and painting to go, and sorting out some hooks to hold the tops up when lifted up, but making progress. No prizes for neatness, but seems to function as hoped!
@frankenbike thanks for the suggestion on non-folding legs - seems a lot sturdier this way.

Definitely should have orientated the twinwall the other direction so that any water that gets in drains out more easily when lifted up - but hopefully the natural wonkiness means it’ll find its way out somehow.

The big 3-panel section also lifts up as one, which fits the bikes in lengthways with room to spare.

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budget sets for this sort of thing, then upgrade

This.

Maybe a decent dado & flush cutter.

Maybe I'll fit both

We started out with Roman blackout blinds but they still didn't block that much light so we've added curtains as well which makes a decent difference.

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The British need to embrace shutters. Fantastic.

We have some internal and all external. Kids room is pitch black.

Cheers.

When we say decent what are we talking about? Anything from bosch or trend sort of thing?

More tiling. Just waiting for the levelling compound on the floor to fully cure before tiling over it

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Agreed, I don't understand why external shutters aren't more common

Because our windows open outwards? And historically we've wanted the solar gain.

And we had trees and tings

And you get up and start work when the sun rises unlike those slovenly euros.

Thanks, this sounds like a much more professional method than I had in mind and I have some spare plain skirting lying around.

Thanks @hugo7 and @Howard also. The floor slopes down to the right (or the gap slopes up?) so the gap gets smaller to the left. Used to be filled by carpet. Filling feels like less work for a satisfactory finish than replacing the skirting but maybe I'll learn that's not the case...

At our gaff whoever had the additional wood flooring put down over the boards (it's that engineered stuff that's now £££ and much shitter than it was pre-pandemic) just butted it up to the original skirting then tacked on another moulding to the skirting to create a lip that overlaps the new floor. It works if you don't really know the horror it conceals. In your case it might be a goer - it's dead cheap and simple (you still need to mitre corners tho) and removable.