Home DIY

That's a long way out from the Spain I know. Through no fault of my own I kinda see a possibility that I'll be there in many years time - and honestly I'm look forward to it

Ahhh i cycled through before covid, dreamy roads all over the place, very jealous

I think I mainly want to have a backed guarantee that the roof work they've done over our loft is good enough for many years.

In case anyone was worried about my neighbour and their dormer. We had a discussion with the contractor today who produced the following two pieces of information:

• The finished internal measurements were exactly as on the plan I had.
  
• He had an updated roof plan which was more accurate, and showed the dormer in it's actual position.
  So it looks like the architect might have made some improvements to the drawing after submitting them to the council.
  
  

Nonetheless, they were happy to make some minor improvements to the quality of the work they had completed on our roof and offer us the same warranty as the rest of the project independently at no extra charge. My relationship with my neighbour appears to have remained intact as well.

Fuck me! The power in the garage went out last night. I had a route around and the rcd in the mini fuse box had failed. MiL said she presses it every couple of weeks or so, because it says to test it on a sticker stick to the outside. Anyway it wouldn’t turn back on after tripping the power.
I rang a sparks this morning and hold him what had happened and sent a pic of the part. £450 to replace and fit, oh and I can come round on the 12th November to sort it.
I took it out, sprayed it with contact cleaner, put it in the warm to dry. It’s fine.
I’m not dissing trades, but fuck me if you have no idea about diy £450!

1 Attachment

Those courses on how to spray things with contact cleaner aren't cheap!

12th Nov and £450 sounds like a "don't want the job" price.

I does doesn’t it, but direct from Hager the part is £230+vat to the public. £34 from almost everywhere else though. I’ve ordered one just in case.

So it looks like the architect might have made some improvements to the drawing after submitting them to the council.

Wouldn't that invalidate their certificate?

Obviously glad that it's all amicable, but not building to authorised drawings seems odd.

It's a nice, if somewhat tough place to live.

Yeah cheers @terlg

Too bloody hilly. :)

If you've already taken it out then you may as well replace it.

The electrician will (should) test the circuit for earth continuity, resistance etc. and correctly torque the clamps on the new unit. Still not £450 hahahah

Did you consider the possibility that there was a fault in the circuit which dried out and resolved itself while you were dealing with the RCD. Only asking because problem tripping in circuits outside the house is quite common.

Thank you all for the concerns, but the wiring was only checked and certified 2 years ago. I’m 99.9% sure it’s just a dodgy RCD. When the new one turns up I’ll replace it. It’s only a 5 minute jobs after all.

Yes. I think it does. But the dormer is permitted development. so the certificate is not required, it's just a good step to take before commencing. The size it is now is still covered under permitted development, so there's no actual change in the council's response.

IME, solid core 44mm fire doors are plenty sound proof. In my previous flat I wouldn't get woken when we had people stay round and they used the toilet in the night, and back then I was fairly noise sensitive.

However, we've all got different ears. Do you know someone with this type of door fitted? If so, ask to come round and then have someone else simulate making the types of noises you're worried about with the doors closed so you can see how you feel about that? I think that's the only real way to be confident that you'll be happy before you shell out.

The waste pipe from my kitchen sink discharges into the top of a gully outside. I've noticed the sink draining slowly and backing up occasionally.

Turns out the inlet pipe to the gully clashes with the side of the cast iron grating cover, which reduces the effective pipe diameter considerably. Even a small fragment of something (unsure what, let's say potato peelings?!) can block the whole pipe.

Before I cut a notch in the plastic pipe to solve this issue, am I missing something about why this was installed in this way?

My assumption is that it was installed by someone who wasn't competent and/or wasn't paying attention. My alternative hypothesis is that it was done deliberately. Any ideas if that might be the case?

Cross-section sketches (not to scale!):

2 Attachments

Assuming you are already minimising bits going down the waste pipe with one of these strainers/baskets or similar, then if the pipe just ends in an open drain and doesn't connect to anything or lead the waste towards/away from anything specific, then have at it

1 Attachment

Carpet went down yesterday which finally completes the bedroom makeover. I took down one of the walls at the beginning of May so it’s taken a while.

Looks so much bigger and the bathroom feeling bigger massively transforms the space.

I’ll be making some new custom bedside tables this week which will be the last touch.

2 Attachments

custom bedside tables

What sort of thing are you thinking?

Fill yer boots, I would say.

Your front door will be delivered between 8 and 9am as your the 1st delivery, turns up at 10.30.

Floating (French cleat) mdf ones painted the same as the wall. Two drawers each with finger pulls.

Iroko tops to match the bathroom. Routing in a couple of bowls for things like rings and watches and hiding cables for chargers etc.

Routing in a couple of bowls for things like rings and watches and hiding cables for chargers etc.

I'm hoping you're going for embedded wireless chargers

Nah, they’re shit. I did one on the current tables.

Much prefer MagSafe stand you can turn sideways for a clock. Works great with the 1nit iPhone 15 pro screen.

No phones in bedrooms rule here. (Except when I'm on call.)

That sounds really cool. Especially the bowls.