Home DIY

I find that when you're on a big site what happens is the brickies get pissed off with their apprentice / new labourer so decide to get them in trouble and send them off to borrow a chisel. The problem is they never come to you, they usually go to another carpentry apprentice who liberates one from your chisel roll. Next time you come to use it some cunt has cut a chase in blocks with it. Yet another reason why I stopped taking on apprentices.

Yet another reason why I don’t think I could hack site work.
Sounds like a fucking nightmare.
Working in galleries has made me soft!

My toddler got stuck in a 30cm diameter cardboard form tube buried in the ground.

I have pictures, obviously.

Also, niche sparky question.
When you’re doing diversity calculations for your consumer box ratings (I’ve probably described that wrong). In the on site guide, it says 10a + 30% i.f. + 5a if socketed for cookers.

Say your total max current is 80a, would you do:
10a + 30% of 70a +5a
Or 30% of 80a + 10a + 5a

My understanding is that it’s the former - 100% of 10a, 30% of the remainder, + 5a for the socket. But it’s not totally clear.

Thanks and @Sam_w went for the 17 piece set 👍

Not very juicy but I had some irritation on my forearm and thought it was from old paint flakes that had got stuck to it.

I had a closer look this morning and it's actually a load of small splinters which my random orbital sander must have fired into my arm.

Also yesterday while using an SDS drill a bit of pebble fired off at speed and hit me straight in the forehead. I was wearing safety glasses, but if I hadn't been, and it had been a couple of centimetres lower, this could have been a tale about how I got my eye patch.

It's here!
I'll be spending Easter stripping the stairs. Review to follow.

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I got a speedheater a few years ago and it's ace - melting lead paint isn't so ace tho....

I'm doing it the gloopy way. It is not fast.

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Oof, reminds me of a couple of interior fir doors and a massive oak dresser I stripped years ago. So many corners and profiles...

Looks effective though! What's the plan for after - paint, oil or varnish?

Nice floorboards!

Haven't thought that far ahead

In toilet seat news.
I was cleaning the bathroom properly last week. You know. Hands and knees, cleaning behind the sink. That level of cleaning.
I ended up undoing the seat. Taking it off. Spraying it with viakal to clean off the line scale. Put it all back together. So far so no slipping.
Clean your toilet seats.

in our last house (rented), the metal bolt that held the toilet seat on corroded through and snapped one day.

i blame the previous occupant. for about a year we had every company and government body chasing him for monies owed. i can only assume he had a poor aim as well.

Yeah. My house guests must piss all over the porcelain.

I've just stripped the painted rear wooden step that's under our rear sliding door.
It's looks great but has some small cracks that will need to be filled before repainting. Any recommendations for a decent outdoor wood filler?
Also, I'll probably need to run a bead of some sort of waterproof sealer between the metal door frame and the step. What ever was there seems to have perished. Any recommendations for a product for this also?

There are a number of epoxy-based things on the market that address the filler issue, I'm sure @Airhead or @Bobbo have some ideas for that as well as the caulking.

No-one has time to find the correct primers for long term adhesion,
for two such different materials, (hard?) wood and aluminium?

Therefore you need an elastic sealant, (not 'caulking', please @withered_preacher),
with good wear and tear resistance, great unprimed adhesion and UV resistance.

Good tear resistance rules out (cartridge/ single component) Silicones.
Good wear resistance rules out oil-based mastics and acrylics.
Domestic situation requiring quick skinning/cure time rules out polysulphides.

Want to support a firm that supports your hobby?
Soudal Fix All High Tack, item no. 84704 £6.38 from Toolstation
who are operating 'Click'n'Collect' from your local store.
Just note recommended joint dimensions for long term durability,
and,
leave a concave surface to your bead of sealant.

Editted to add link to Soudal website page for Tech data.

My bad, I was using the term broadly, not recommending a specific product.

Hi,
no problem,
I know from the quality and quirky humour of your postings that you are one of the good guys.
'Caulking' is like a tar-covered rope between planks in a rudimentary boat.
No elasticity, and everyone involved from manufacturing to installation gets covered in 'shit'.
[Can you tell I made a living selling 'sealants' for a few years?].

Legend! Thanks for taking the time to write that comprehensive reply. Will order some for click and collect this weekend!

hah

That looks like exactly what I need to fill the small gaps between my stair treads and wall which are subject to a little movement.

Does it dry white or clear?

Toolstation ony appear to stock the 'White',
although Soudal manufacture Black, Grey, Alu Grey, Brown & Beige,
which may be available from other suppliers.
The Tech data sheet does ask for a minimum of 2mm width 'for bonding'
and 5mm 'for joints'.
How little is your 'little movement'?
I ask as 1mm is 'little' and easily accomodated by sealant in a 5mm wide joint.
1mm movement in a 2mm wide joint is likely to result in failure,
either cohesively or more likely adhesively, whichever sealant you use.
The Toolstation adjacent item 61252, Fix All Crystal
is a 'Clear' sealant based upon the same Soudal SMX polymer, if you require clear.