Home DIY

It's called British Summer Time for a reason.

Sunlit uplands etc...

Power tools coming to Lidl middle aisle of dreams

https://www.lidl.co.uk/l/en/online-leaflets/11-04-17-04-lidl-weekly-leaflets/view/flyer/page/20

no idea what their stuff is like though.

I bought my second dremel rip-off from lidl last week, and sort of broke it on the first day. I've got the receipt so will return it, but the chuck-tightening system fucked up. I may have overtightened it, but if so the limit isn't v high. My first one broke that day, switch gave up, but I'd had that for 5+ years.

That kindly old cabinet maker from North London sometimes reveiws them. Generally for the price they come up as decent.

Especially if they're occasional use items.

I keep meaning to get one of the digital temp heat guns.

Edit eg the track saw
https://youtu.be/4MzrTnBTuN4?si=kkLheoy5e3xKue9K

Anyone got any ideas on how to seal tiny pin holes in a radiator? Its polished steel and the solder I have tried to use just drops off.

When I've used solder to fill things* I've found you need to get it hot and then over fill and file back. Idk if that's viable for something nice and polished.

Also just thought that I use wire with flux combined. Check if yours has flux, if not you might need to add some to the surface first.

*small things

I wouldn't imagine it'd be possible with a normal soldering iron, you'll need to get the surrounding metal up to temperature which will need a lot more power / surface area than an iron can supply.
It'll be possible to braze it with a gas torch (maybe there's a framebuilder on here that could help?)
Only other solution would be that stuff they use to seal old fuel tanks. Though would involve removing the rad, fully draining etc.

our kitchen just needs to last for another year or so, tap is dripping it’s a 10 year old mixer presumably from one of the DIY places. I don’t really have any plumbing type tools.
Will the tails that come with a cheap tap/whatever is on offer at Wikes/B&Q go straight on these fittings? sink is stainless and I don’t want to be enlarging the hole.
I’m thinking is it easier to fit a new tap than try and find out what’s wrong with the old one?
we need a tap that reaches out further too as this one was the wrong choice for the sink.

Access is tight and i’m not sure how i actually get to whatever is underneath the tap, am i going to buy a load of tools that I never use again?

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I’ve never bought a tap which came with push fit tails, usually compression but it’d probably be less hassle just to put a pair of push fit tails on a new tap than to try and fit a compression fitting in what is left above that T, and negligible cost difference.

Either a couple of these https://www.screwfix.com/p/flomasta-brass-compression-adapting-male-coupler-15mm-x-1-2-/69358 which usual tap tails will attach to with a nut,

Or

https://www.screwfix.com/p/jg-speedfit-push-fit-flexible-tap-connector-hoses-15mm-x-1-2-x-300mm-2-pack/9938g for the new tap.

But check sizing on the new tap obviously.

Those are SpeedFit tails that were probably bought separately from the tap and can be removed from the pipes without tools
. You should be able to reuse them with whatever tap you buy, since the top end where they connect to the tap is fairly standard (usually M10, occasionally M12).

You'll find either: some sort of giant nut around the base of the tap. You may be able to untwiddle it by hand; or a small nut clamping a flat plate for which you'll need a long socket.

Thanks, might even have some tails in box somewhere.
And if anyone has a deck mounted dual lever/mono lever with a decent throw they want to get rid of let me know. we have a fancy copper thing that was sent in error for our old place but I’m saving that for when the kitchen gets done properly.

@grams Ah I have an adjustable wrench but those spanners look cheap enough, think I’ll tackle this once we have a cheap tap.

As @grams says if tails are sound can just be reused.

I broke my Dad’s one too in the same way! Drilled a hole through the button that is supposed to lock the axle so you can tighten/untighten and now stick a metal rod in through the button to lock it, works fine, looks crap.

Slightly dragging the thread back to the blinds discussion, any reason why I shouldn't go for one of these no-drill blind installations? Seems like the same principle as screw-in doorframe chin-up bars, which was well able to hold 70kgs so should be just fine for blinds?

Bit late I know but I was looking at expensive kitchen carcasses, spoke to a big kitchen counter manufacturer/fitter and he advised to just buy the cheapest because they are all CNC precision cut and are all pretty much the same thing regardless of the big cost differences between brands. I went with B&Q GoodHome a few years ago and the kitchen is still as good as new. The quality of their doors (I got Caraway gloss) is great. Nothing has peeled or changed colour etc.

There can be material differences (eh, eh!)
Our carcasses are ply. Chipboard is the most common. Whether that makes an actual difference who knows.

Not late at all. We're still trying to decide what might work in layout terms, not even close to pulling the trigger on stuff yet. Thanks for the info.

How do I fix hairline cracks (thick hairs) in the ceiling on plasterboard joints in a newish house? It’s a conversion of an old building that was (and probably still is) moving. The paint is Dulux Trade matt white. Is there a smart filler I can use, or something else I can do to reduce chances of it cracking again?

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There are a few different answers and none of them is what you will want to hear!

rake it out to a v shape and fill it with filler then prime the filler with gardz and paint the whole ceiling is the basic method. You can use a very fine scrim tape over the filled joint but then you need to fill a larger area and feather the edges of the filler which is tough to hide in some cases.

For some people it's enough to use this kind of tape and paint over it.

https://www.decoratingcentreonline.co.uk/tesa-crack-cover-tape-2-5225.html?

Yes, was referring to the most common melamine faced particleboard. It gets very expensive I believe when you start looking at ply/solid wood carpentry etc!

busy couple of weeks here whilst Mrs hvsds took the kids to her mum’s for the easter hols.

just about finished framing out, hanging and painting the doors under the stairs - first time doing doors, decorators caulk doing a lot of heavy lifting as me+hand saw+not being able to recognise a 45 degree angle got a bit messy

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They look great though, nice one!

also got a old door from a friend and have stripped that, planed to size and chopped out the top panel for a window (sheetplastics’ opal-reeded-faux glass)

tried to paint the inside to match the tiles/trim/paint accordingly

would like to replace the other internal doors (6 panel repro as pictured) in due course.

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Needs to break up a concrete slab. It's 2.3x2.3m and 100mm thick. Is it going to kill me to do it with a sledge hammer?

You mean like just a sledge hammer and nothing else? Or you mean once you've stitch drilled it into manageable sections?