Home DIY

Also, shoutout @Bobbo for constantly dropping knowledge in this thread!

Is the plug for the igniter, clock timer etc?

No major works......kitchen ;)

Anything less than 40k is....

Can talk you through the things I learnt, from experience especially if you are living there alone or with family.

Re: track saw. All fair points. I am just just shit at freehanding and got annoyed trying to rig a straight edge. So for what I have been doing, I love my track saw.

The oven

Think its OK TBH, means you aren't traipsing off to a hardware shop yourself.

Have a good timber yard literally 100m from me, wrong side of train tracks though so becomes a 1 mile each way journey. Ordered some fence posts and 6x2 for a project, was supposed to collect today but they've now shut, I think one of them has suspected symptoms so quite rightly have closed for 2 weeks. No epic bike shelter project can be completed though.

Ordered from Fulham Timber, they haven't cancelled yet. Their sites are closed to the public and will only do contact free delivery, which suits me fine.

Ah in that case, I'm not sure. I'm wary of running the dishwasher and washing machine at the same time as well as two fridge freezers at my flat. But then the kitchen ring isn't separate.

Attention: super boring post.

I have been sanding the stairs and it's nearly time to think about oiling them.

I'd like something that's as close a match to the banister as possible, but that's a varnish and it's really quite red.

I'd like to use a hardwax oil, preferably Osmo Polyx as I've used it a few times with consistently good results.

Has anyone used the Terra tint before? We've got the Amber in the living room and it's definitely lighter than the banister - but two coats could possibly darken up to something similar.

Wood Finishes Direct also recommended Fiddes hardwax - but again, I can't seem to see a stain that's going to be too similar.

Any suggestions from the woodworkers among you?

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It's more just the order in which to do it.

I'm thinking :

1. New consumer unit doubled up with current one. Circuits are swapped/added as work progresses.

2. New combo boiler/remove old storage cylinder/loft tank/reposition some radiators/get pipework rejigged.

3. Plan and install kitchen, new sockets and lights.

4. Plan and install bathroom.

5. Other rooms. New sockets, lights, redecorate.

6. Garden works (although I'd like to do landscaping over winter to have the soil read for spring).

It's not going to be top line bespoke stuff. I've got a £10K budget and I'd like to have change out of that.

Sounds brilliant. Out of interest, how do you see the budget being divided amongst those jobs?

That should of been step 1 really...

The biggest share will be kitchen and boiler but I have a gas engineer at work who can install and sign off. The kitchen will be IKEA carcases with upgrades to doors and worktop.

The bathroom is a bit tricky. Ideally I'd love to lose the bath entirely and getting extra space and just have a great shower but buyer's don't like not having a bath. I'm thinking about a mini-bath/shower.

Hopefully the only external trade I'll need is a plasterer.

Sounds like a challenge but you're definitely in a good place to keep costs down if the gas and electrics all come at no cost!

Yep, we used Osmo Polyx to turn our pine skirting and door frames into an oak colour to match the oak doors we had, pretty successfully. We rang Osmo and they were really helpful, asked what the base wood was and the colour we were aiming for (we ended up sending photos) and they then recommended the colour for us, then it was just a case of building it up in layers until the desired colour matched.

Made some progress with the new kids play area, next step is to make a sloping wall between the lower and higher concrete pad, which will be made of stockwall, and will have lots of different climbing methods attached to it to try and make it fun.

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Toilet seats. Why the fuck is mine always drifting off to one side?

I think it's about angle of attack - lots of toilets are almost in a bit of a corner/they get sat down on from one side as the space is not necessarily directly straight in front of it. Other than bearing that in mind, fresh washers/wing nuts etc. under the bowl at the back, and decent rubber stops under the seat (lid is less relevant as it doesn't take bodyweight) to stop it sliding around the ceramic rim?

Ah.
I only tightened it up after straightening a couple of days ago and it's already off to the side.
New stops then.
What the fuck do i look for and where?

Plastic thread and nut?

They are a pain as you can't tighten them enough by hand and using spanners/grips on them tightens them too much and strips the thread.

I bought a Doodler a while back and is tightens them perfectly.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/toilet-seat-installation-tool/62412

Might be a bit overkill for a single toilet though.

'toilet seat rubber buffers' or bumpers - loads of options. In these lockdown times, perhaps lining the base of the seat with a cut up tyre would be a fix. Actually that would probably be very functional, could stop the sliding by being super grippy...

Also metal threaded rods and nuts are better than the shite plastic ones, as mentioned above. More likely to rust/corrode over time though.

lovely. thanks for both recommendations.

I want to make some small planters out of old fence board. Well I say I want to... I actually just want to buy some terracotta pots from a boot sale.

They are currently faded / mossy red cedar

Can anyone think of DIY stains? Tea? Iron/ebony wash? Coco powder mixed into old white paint?

I have some black ronseal, but it's earmarked and running out would be a fucker!

Ideas on a postcard plz

This is amazing.

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Vinegaroon?