Home DIY

This bit here.

I'd like a quick easy tarp or something to give me cover while I pedal my turbo trainer.
Or is it easier to just get a balcony umbrella from IKEA?

(Project sun sail shade didn't get finished over summer)

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Was thinking, tarp with eyelets, bungee over shed roof and fence panel.
Mad?
Scruffy though.

You could pretend you're on an Audax by riding the turbo in the rain with no cover at all, whilst slowly tearing up a single £5 note.

Hobo-tarp-shack could work though, couple of planks of wood temporarily placed between shed and fence to stop the droop. Biggest problem would be water pooling on the tarp. Maybe a big flat piece of marine ply temporarily placed between shed and fence (and stored behind the shed) in which case the tarp would be mostly redundant.

Some sort of roller awning?

Stuck on the shed, hooks onto fencepoast.

Tarps are cheap, but fugly, and are you going to dry it and fold it each time you use it?

Tearing up a cheque or po for £5, surely?

Marine ply, there's an idea.
Like a cantilevered platform?
Bag of compost on one end to balance it, ply jutting over the gap?

Alternatively, how can I put an umbrella up in there and fix to shed/fence?

Plant pot, soil, parasol?

I'm bored and missed "training" because of rain last night.

lol yes I was subsequently in correspondence with the owner of the place in the 1980s (long story) who'd done the alterations, who said "sorry about that surprise, it was just the way we did things 25 years ago".

Friend has a used boat sail, that is used as a sun and rain cover. The canvas is quite resistant to weather and UV degradation.

I got a couple of cheap shade sails from b and q over the summer and rigged them with a few hooks in fence posts and spare tent guy lines. I reckon you could do something similar there.

I’ve just checked and b and q no longer seem to have them. It was this kind of thing https://www.amazon.co.uk/LOVE-STORY-Triangle-Charcoal-Waterproof/dp/B07BHGLLYD/ref=lp_4245833031_1_5?s=outdoors&ie=UTF8&qid=1536321863&sr=1-5 but I’m sure the b and q one was under a tenner.

Yeah I have a sail shade.
Here are the bolts I drilled into the wall (thanks @stevo_com)

My sail shade didn't quite work....wasn't big enough.

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I could see a tarp or something over some more of these (maybe glued on so it rolls up)

Ideas yes. Time. No.

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Army surplus poncho / basha (sp?)

All of these are great ideas.

I've been doing a lot of anti-DIYing this summer...
2 guys turned up to patch the roughcast that had blown off the front of the house, bashed at it with mallets, made a mess, patched cement, threw aggregate at it, more mess, swept up, packed up - an hour and it's all done.
yes my finances are looking a bit skinny, but it gets things done. I am the slowest DIYer in the world.

You held that drill above your head?!?! Braver than I.

I was looking into cantilever parasols a while ago.

https://www.domu.co.uk/vonhaus-3m-grey-banana-parasol?gclsrc=aw.ds&&gclid=Cj0KCQjww8jcBRDZARIsAJGCSGu_WhOavNl0WtsequywQZLiq02mBdt-hSkTRtzRaCWY3FtyeSA2UNwaAs5KEALw_wcB

http://www.argos.co.uk/product/2952091

Good shout. Although might be tricky for Damo to put up and down by himself, for..... reasons.....

not really DIY, but the poker thread is dead. I've done some more making. Used my existing lightbox to create this display of poker hands. Saves any confusion during those late night sessions. Assuming I have all the hands correct of course....

Laser cut the ply, then scanned a pack of cards, shrank to size and printed.

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^ Ace!

Straightforward question for anyone in the know.

I want to build a simple barre bar, no great design constraints but wood and screw construction.

Literally, what wood is suitable? Budget of around £50 to suit 1-3 yr old. I was going to use a stair handrail but what am I choosing from? Looking at any timber merchant website gives about 20 options of different cuts and treatments.

So what is the splinter free, square, untreated wood called?

Thanks in advance

I've only ever seen round barres, but I'm not an expert.
Untreated - you want a hardwood (eg. oak, ash, maybe beech), give it a bit more sanding yourself.
Or softwood (eg. pine), and lacquer/varnish it.
How will you space it off the wall? Or freestanding?

I did a bad...

pictures here: https://imgur.com/a/lq0gqwF

I unscrewed this thing in my shower tray to try and clean it out but now the bit under the tray is free moving so its impossible to screw it back on.

The main issue i think is that the black seal is a really tight fit (obviously) so I cant get it past that point into the threads... the tray is tiled in so cant get access to it

Am i stuffed?

EDIT - i managed to do this: https://imgur.com/a/fjzAI97

with the seal on the outside, will this be ok for a few days while i get a plumber in?