Home DIY

You might be right about the 90degrees. I’ll need to buy the stuff and have a dusty afternoon to try it all out. Got clips too - good shout.

Good to know I’m not a million miles off!

Or this

https://www.buildandplumb.co.uk/plumbing-heating-c36/plumbing-c740/brass-fittings-valves-taps-c322/garden-taps-fittings-c326/primaflow-15mm-outside-garden-tap-with-quarter-turn-lever-wall-plate-10025345-p8936/s16475

Agh! Where were you guys yesterday afternoon when I first had this poorly planned out procrastination thought? 😉

Now one of these "I wouldn't have started here" jobs, as annoyingly I had a nice long copper pipe and some rad draining connections that would have made quite a smart little job of it. Unfortunately I bent the pipe into a circle to unsuccessfully prevent slugs eating some plants.

That said, the first iteration was a hose zip tied to a stick, so best not to get too carried away. It's only for the kids to play with when I plug it in - no way are they having unrestricted access!

Here is what I have so far (plus a long roll of the cheap green hose). Tap arriving today hopefully.

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OH is out tonight, so I won't drink for the football and then should be able to wrap up most of it before bed.

I've a section of repointing to do to try and address some damp on an inside wall. The mortar gap is 5mm or less. Most pointing tucks seem to be 5mm or 8mm. Any ideas if I'll be fighting a losing battle to use one that's 'too big' for the gaps?

It's maybe a square metre, so not loads - yes it'll be done in lime

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can't guarantee it but a small tool or jointer may work better (having hand closer to work and less need for handle control).
Edit: 1. I'd purposely use an over sized tool to get the stuff in there, it should help with picking up the right amount
2). I'm wondering if that is bad enough to only be doing one course at a time

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You can file anything down to fit so get a bench grinder, angle grinder or hand file and make the tool fit.

There's a weird aversion to people modifying tools but that's what's been don't through history.

You could make a tool from a butter knife or a hacksaw blade. I've seen people use rubber hose to pack grout in after smooshing it in by hand

Floor sanded, walls plastered, coving up….bring on the paint and oil!

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Oil the walls!

What about rebating the magnets into the lower surface of the sheet and glueing them in place so they sit flush.
Then for the desktop, rebate some steel pieces flush with the surface.

I'm not sure you want magnets on both the table and the topper.

Or, glue some dowels into the top piece and drill some holes for them to locate into in the desk?

Or use a sheet of rubber as your desk cover?

my head said dowels or 3mm snapped drill bits (pins of sorts)
But on ease I'd consider a lipped bullnose edging 10 or 12mm for a 2-4mm 'lid lip', it would kill the flushness and I don't know of there is the spare 3mm gap all around

There's also just the things you find if you google "desk mat edge protector"

Yep, having now got a few test sheets of valchromat that's my current plan. I'd imagined 8mm would be quite flimsy but actually it's rock solid and I think what I'm going to do after recessing magnets into the surface is actually drill the matching steel in from underneath the wooden table and then hide/bury them with whatever plug I drill out. Only thing is making sure the magnets etc are absolutely centred so it fits flush rather than wonky.

Then route the Powerplay mat into the valchromat itself so I won't even need to touch the surface of the main table (apart from sand it and finish it). Then I'll just have a table surface that I could in theory cut to size and use on other tables in the future.

Just found this in the lawn. It’s not the soakaway rubble cage thing is it?

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Any paint forum recommendations to get advice on what I can get away with to cure this stuff

Dulux once gloss (oil) rollered over Dulux quick dry satin wood (water based) and no prep bar a clean with sugar soap.

The paint comes off very easily, and sanding with a b&d mouse sander with vacuum attachment makes a mess the sandpaper gets clogged and does suck the mess up.

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what do you want someone to tell you?
You hate that sander. Upgrade it - makita bo5039/2 or bo4555/2 or Bosch ssg 160,, the cheeper to run are the 1/4 paper, as the clips will except standard 115mm roll paper,,, BUT the faster way is by hand with p80 alu oxide paper - it comes off easy? take it off easy?
Key the surface and apply paint.
The notion of a one coat paint existing sounds like it's from a 1990s Dulux wall paint advert,, yes you can have the first coat looking as the top coat but that's for your skill and judgement

Could try one of the razor scraper blade things but you can gouge with those. You are having to tackle a horrible problem there though. Hand sanding as @bluehuw says would be a starting point for a lot of decorators.

I can't for the life of me remember what they're called but you can get hand sanders with a very open mesh that don't clog and have great dust extraction

Kids tap is done.

Took a bit longer than expected, largely because the old broken post in the post holder(?) was a nightmare to remove. Proper hour long job.

Once I started rummaging around and finding bits and bobs to repurpose I got a bit keen.

Like with my router - chamfering the edges of the post and making a little hat. Still a learning curve so it's nice to have something unimportant to practice on.

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They'll fukin love that get them buckets quick

My 3yo had a massive chuckle and smile on their face when we turned it on for the first time in situ.

I want to drill some holes in some concrete fence posts. Something to accept a m6 concrete fixing. I’m slightly worried they’ll just crack or chip or explode. Just I just chill out and get on with it?

I would start with a small drill bit and work your way up to minimise the chance of cracking.

New or quality drill bits.
Consider turning off the hammer function to avoid blowing out the rear surface.

I've done this quite a lot with an sds both 5.5mm holes for plugs and concrete screws. I've only had one blow out.

If you go for the center, start with the drill mode to get a neat hole, then move to hammer combi without putting too much pressure on I think you'll be OK.

Without the hammer action you'll be drilling for a good 20min.

I assume you're not drilling all the way through right? Just enough to attach something. They're reinforced concrete so I think this will be incredibly difficult to do.