Home DIY

like valchromat which is one of the materials I'm currently looking at but just worry it's not super durable and I'd be rubbing off fibers with the mouse that would affect the optical sensor

My desk is valchromat, sanded and sealed with wax, very hardy and no dust. I use an optical mouse. I used 8mm to cover an old door. Plenty of heft and sturdiness..

This is completely the answer I wanted, thank you. Have already ordered a 300x450mm test so will try a couple of finishes and think that could be the winner.

Edit. 1 q - how long have you had it? Do you notice much sheen from rubbing it with your wrist etc or does the wax (what kind?) give some protection? If it works I'm not completely against replacing every now and then but would like a good year or 3 out of it.

This looks like a good option, thanks.

Would you not be coating whatever you use anyway? I don’t imagine months of accumulated wrist oils would be good for anything untreated, and would become an issue more readily than mouse wear.

E: refresh fail, ho hum.

Like these cunts stick to their mft worktops

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUvTY6bFhSE

It is very hard-wearing, beer and wine stains mop easy. The marked part is my mouse / wrist area. It's been about 2 years. As I say, 8mm around a door. Chamfer edge so it looks like a solid piece. Need a radius on the bottom, get rid of sharp edge.

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The desk doesn't look as bad irl

This is great info, really appreciated.

Oh thooooose cunts, yeah I know them. I think that'd probably be a tidier finish than what I'll end up with but really want it to be a removable lid-type affair and if I'm adding a laminate to something already hard I figure might as well just be that goldilocks material in the first place or I risk it being too thick for the wireless charging and transmission.

Looking to add a new radiator into the bay window of our living room. Does this look like a fair estimation of what needs to be done?

Ignore flexipipe note, that'll just be loads of the 3m straight JG stuff.

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I've raked out a big crack next to a window in the corner of the room. Been here for at least the past 5 years, when we moved in. Opened it up a bit to see and the brickwork is loose. Wall outside is straight and no issue. No one has lived next door since we have moved in either so no idea about wall on the other side. Not sure what to do tbh. Any advice or large concerns?

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How modern is your central heating pump?
Idealists often consider 2 x 45 angles, (where space & access allow), to reduce the friction of the system.
I'm assuming the pipe insulation has been omitted for clarity?

Are you intending to stay long term?

Lol. Initially, no. But now, yes. Which is why I'm looking at it now. Was really checking to see if I dont need to call a structural engineer.

Viessmann boiler's only a couple of years old. Under floor has quite a lot of brick supports for the joists so fairly limited on how to route it all, but will bear that in mind.

I've been putting off looking into pipe insulation as the rest of the house doesn't have it either!

Is it blown either side of the crack? Give it the tap test.

Small patches of blown plaster either side of crack at points, few mm to maybe a cm.

It is odd that the crack is in the middle of the window upright, rather than a corner.
No signs of damp either inside or out?

Does the upper picture suggest this room is 2nd storey?
Any mimicing cracks in the room below?

I would be tempted to find a Structural Engineer for a half hour visit,
just to clarify that this is not subsidence.

putting off looking into pipe insulation

Summer is the best time to start.

Happy to confirm I've never had my crack blown.

I would just slap a load of bonding in there and close up the last few mm with Easyfil.

Slightly more thorough would be to pull more plaster and any loose mortar away so that you can re-point the brick from the inside and then do the above on top of that.

Magnets

I want to stick magnets to a sheet of 8mm thick material so I can have it as a permanent but removable desk surface. I don't want to screw the magnets into the surface because I imagine, being 8mm thick, it would rip or damage when I pulled them off. I don't want to see any screws on the clean side of the surface.

I could probably keep it simple and just use some self adhesive magnetic tape but I worry it'd fail over time and getting it back in the same spot would be a pain.

So am imagining some kind of enclosure (surface is valchromat so potentially an enclosure of the same - whatever will bond to it with no chance of it falling off ever with the right glue), then screwing the magnet into the enclosure.

So the magnet is screwed in and the enclosure is bonded to the main surface. Then the main desk has matching magnets routed into it so when the surface sits on the desk it's all flush and seamless.

Anyone got any thoughts on what material of magnet/brands/what amount of pull I'd want (I'd say I'd want at least 4 magnets, possibly 6 - one on each corner and one in the middle (surface is 1000m x 2000m x 8mm).

Given the 8mm thick material, I'm not expecting great big thumb size things sticking into equivalent holes in the desk so all got to be fairly tiny.

Aliexpress neodymium magnets and filter by size

If you're routing some magnets in to the desk why don't you use a steel layer underneath the worktop?

surface is valchromat

Idk what this is like, but regular mdf always has a smoother side. If there is a smoother side imo you want that face down because it will help to create a vacuum and increase adhesion.