Home DIY

There are a few considerations with exterior power that make it difficult to give advice online.

If you are adding a new circuit then it's a requirement to notify building control. So a registered electrician is a sensible route to take. They will check the Zs, RCD/RCBO operation to ensure the circuit is safe.

If you are extending an existing circuit you still need to check the breaker will operate in any fault condition. With the size of gardens in London that's not likely to be an issue unless the circuit you're extending is close to its maximum Zs. You should still check RCD operation and Zs though.

Armoured cable comes in different varieties. You should be connecting the earth to the exterior metal sheath of the armoured cable but you can have an earth in the cable as well. Hence the need to check the Zs to make sure that a fault to earth will operate the breaker.

You shouldn't clip the wiring to a temporary fence. Wooden fencing panels could be considered temporary compared to the lifespan of armoured cable. It is designed to be buried but it needs to be deep.

It used to be easier to do what's being suggested and no regs existed to complicate the approach. I've worked on installations that didn't even have RCD protection because they were installed by builders pre the introduction of Part P.

With the requirements for testing I'd probably ask a registered electrician to install it unless I had all the tools for installing and testing it myself.

Endoscope isnt great, but I can see water on pipes above the kitchen ceiling. Whether the leak is there, or elsewhere, then running to this point before dripping is another question. The water was dripping out of a different light fitting the other day so am guessing not.

I think I have two options - cut out a portion of the kitchen ceiling, or take up tiles, board and floorboards in the bathroom above.

Neither option is great.

Any thoughts/suggestions?

I've removed and refit sections to allow for other diy. Even doing that I struggled to get everything level and the correct drop for flow.

I would also say it's very much a middle of summer not going to rain job.

Cut a piece out of the ceiling. Try and find the joists and cut the plasterboard in the middle of the joists. Cut a square (the width of the joists) with a multitool or box cutter and keep it to put in afterwards.

It's a pain but better than taking up tiles.

I've done a fair bit of fixing and repairs, replaced one side of my parents house many years ago (didn't do a very good job tbh) but never a full replacement. It isn't difficult, the fixings can be fiddly and you need a reasonable head for heights (and comfortable up a ladder unless you hire a platform). But it's kind of obvious what needs to be done.

What product can I use to level and fill damage in a mixture of sandstone and concrete external steps? Ideally the same product for both. Either a elf levelling or trowel on is fine.

As soon as the weather clears up again i should be ready to cut my plywood sheeting for my desk. I was going to just screw it down through from the top and be done with it as i dont mind seeing the screws but i think it is probably worth using hidden fasteners as i cant really change my mind without replacing it then even if i dont need to worry about expansion with non-structural hardwood plywood as i understand it.

The supporting frame is all 38x68 cls studwork timber. Plywood is 18mm thickness

Should i just make the effort and use figure 8 fasteners and inlay then properly so i can easily replace the top when moneys less tight with something nicer or is there a better option i should consider.

This is the basic frame, i'm going to install some additional braces to support the top and give it a bit more rigidity but it feels pretty solid as is.

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The toilet waste goes down and right, to outside through a big fat pipe.

Where would you expect the waste water from the sink to flow?

Would it join into the toilet waste inside the house?

Because it doesn't on the outside

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Often doesn't go into the soil pipe but just waste water.

I'd be very surprised if it goes into the poo pipe as it would be doing within whatever wall is behind the throne.
Is there a shower or bath nearby (whether in that room or another)?

If that wall is a stud wall it may go through it and join onto the soil in that boxing, but that would seem unlikely

Started so I have to finish….

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Brick wall, internal though. There's a bath in the same room but no connection to that.

When I put my ear to the soil pipe outside, I can hear water running when the sink is on.

So I think it connects internally.

Looking up underneath I see this which is coming from the right direction but disappears through a joist.

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I also see this horror

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Nuke that shit from orbit

WTF is this?

Let it introduce itself first though. It looks sentient.

I managed to retrieve something. Not sure what. Feels gritty, like sand, cement, rather than living.

elf

elves tend not to lend themsleves to a chamfered edge.

I think I need to either take the floor up or the ceiling down.

That’s a nebulous horror/teratoma/fetid carbuncular phantasm *delete as appropriate.
It needs to be exorcised at once.

Lol!

Just building crap

Can lend you a wet or dry vacuum to vacuum that crap up.

In a enthralling turn of events, the shower is leaking. Maybe the sink was never the issue.

What thickness of ply? Can you screw from underneath the frame using screws just shorter than the combined thickness of frame and ply? Once you have stuff on the desk, plus the weight of the ply, you won't need much penetration to hold it in place.