Home DIY

That’s a neat solution, thanks.

That looks like a transformer. Sometimes the wires are caught up on insulation or something else!

I use a lot of the EVOFire large hole fittings to convert to GU10. They cover the surrounding plaster which is almost always damaged when you remove the existing ones.

https://www.downlights.co.uk/fire-rated-gu10-downlight-large-hole-integral-evofire.html

There are smaller ones available which you add a plate to. Last time I looked the large ones were harder to find as I think they are moving over to the normal + plate to cover the larger holes.

There is also a version for insulation. They're rated for fire and bathrooms.

I realised someone once shared loads of woodworking plans with me - originally re playhouses, but there's load of other stuff in there too.

I've never used them or really even read them tbh.

PM me if you'd like me to share them.

These are the sorts of things in the folders.

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Any tips for shelf boards? We're building a wall of shelves with regalraum p-slot stuff like the pic below.

Was going to use either birch ply or pine furniture boards. All seems pretty pricey, so wondered if theres any alternatives i'm not thinking of?

Cut up some old doors?

Valchromat?

With that many supports I'd think it should handle any sag.

Not cheap, cheap, but got to be less than birch ply. I'm supprised you can't get some pine/similar boards cheap though.

You could even do something fun with multiple colours.

Valchromat is £230 19mm and 18mm birch plywood is £130.
Maybe scaffold boards?

I bought a whole bunch of shelves for a fairly reasonable price from Moderix. Reclaimed wood so it has a rustic feel (some boards arrived warped etc) and if you want it completely level may not be the best, but it does the job for not too much money..

@Airhead cheers - will go monkey with the transformer and look to maybe changing out to integrated LEDs as @NotThamesWater has suggested..

Wisa Spruce isn't ridiculously expensive and aesthetic adjacent to Birch

Received with thanks. You undersold the absolutely mental hovercraft plans!

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Yeah, i had a look - you're right.

I'm being swayed by the ease of going to builder depot for birch and having it cut to size.

I have a couple of issues with integrated. Lamp quality, especially CRI values can be poor and when you need to replace one it might be years from now and the exact replacement won't be available.

If you get the holders and lamps separately you can choose to have a reasonable quality box of GU10 from Amazon for £15 or Phillips Master for £6 each.

If you have a dimmer on the circuit and you convert all the lamps to LED you will need to change the dimmer too.

Ha!

As I said I never really looked beyond the playhouses. Which didn't go anywhere.

As I was browsing though I noticed some really random project plans.

Given the moaning about leaf blowers, I'd love to see the reaction to hover-barrows 🤣

When you say holder do you mean 'the bit the bulb goes into + the transformer'? Happy to swap out to GU10 since a replacement would be far easier to buy in the supermarket than my existing GU4/MR11 ones..

There's no need for a transformer with GU10, it's built into the lamp. The holder is the bit that fits into the ceiling and holds the lamp.

Does anyone have experience and a recommendation for filling small gaps between plaster and a uPVC window frame?

Our main bathroom has 2 external solid brick walls (old house). In some places around the window small black spots have started to form. No doubt it's mould from frequent condensation when it is cold.

I'm gonna kill the mould, sand back, prime with zinnser BIN, and then zinnser permawhite.

However, I have a couple of little gaps and cracks between the frame and plaster that need filling. Is caulk best for this, or a low modulus silicone? Googling doesn't really give a consensus, and there's a lot of results about adding a plastic trim, which is not what I wanna do. Picture attached.

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I had similar. I used a Stanley blade to clean up and cut back anything. Then caulked it with something printable, using silicone tool to make neat Then re painted.

If your place is anything like mine I have cavities that are only sealed by the plasterboard and the cold/damp interface is in the wrong place, also there was no "backer" for plaster or caulk to adhere to.

Next summer I'm ripping out all the plaster and fitting cavity closers. I'm hoping that should clear 90% of my problem.

@skinny you're giving me all the great advice this week. A big thank you, much appreciated. I already have a tube of printable caulk on the go, so will do this.

@Grumpy_Git good point, I have no idea if that's the case here. I'll go some research to try and work it out.

I bought a totally legit light shade from Ali Express. It's a painted metal shade, has no earth wire nor an earth screw that I can find.

If I drill and tap a screw through the metal and attach the earth from from the ceiling will that do? Or should I a) install as is and hope or b) bin the fitting?

Is it not just double insulated? And this doesn't and shouldn't be earthed.

Is it a light fitting (i.e. something with its own wiring, bulb holder etc) or just a shade for an existing fitting?