Home DIY

We run a pretty tight ship in terms of cleaning. Bathroom basin was draining slowly so I unscrewed the pop-up trap to find this life form had made it’s home there.

What the fuck is it!? I’ve never seen anything like it.

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@dbr you could have prepared me bro, nearly brought my brekkie back up!

That's the kind of goo you find in bathroom traps. Could be residue from any number of products or a mixture of them. Toothpaste can get quite messy in the drain for example.

Too bad, £300 stripper is the best thing to happen to that job for a long while. I wish I had it 20 years earlier. I have used some chemical called Paint Panther which was ok but nowhere near as good as ir stripping.

What do you want to strip?

Felt pretty sick exterminating it last night.

A rope simply wrapped around the beam would probably offer enough friction so your Mrs could hold the weight of the board. (a Munter hitch around the beam would definitely hold it)

A (blue) prussic loop on the rope would allow you to pull the board up by 12-18" deadlift style.

Mrs pulls in the slack and holds the load whilst, you set the(pink) prussic loop. With the pink loop set, she could let go of the rope if needed.

Reset your blue loop and repeat 6 times...

Tie onto the board high enough that it will stay upright, but low enough that you can get a good part of it into the loft.

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@user69121

Thanks very much for taking the time here - thanks also for the earlier diagram showing load weights at angles - my dad tried to explain this to me on the phone but it wasn't sinking in so the diagram helps.

Re. this rope combo - only 'hitch' is that the beam you're showing is about 10 feet in front of the hatch so the orange line will be more of a 45 degree angle and then hard/grating against the hatch opening.

I actually dreamt about this last night and imagined something like this:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/1-5Ton-Ratchet-Lifting-Height-Orange/dp/B082PZWS7S
attached to an a-frame high up over the hatch.

https://shopmtn.eu/products/yale-recuse-tripod-with-winch

https://www.sgs-engineering.com/ec2000-2-ton-folding-engine-crane

Questioning my life choices this morning.

Matter!

If your blue loop was long enough, you could have it attached to the live rope below the hatch.
Then you'd be lifting from below and could keep the rope away from the hatch edge.

There would be a bit of rub whilst the tension is taken swapped to the topside, but a mat over the edge should sort that.

https://shopmtn.eu/products/yale-recuse-­tripod-with-winch

https://www.sgs-engineering.com/ec2000-2­-ton-folding-engine-crane

Questioning my life choices this morning

The tripod would help to begin with, but you'd get stuck once the board was in the loft.

If you can get the engine hoist up, why are you struggling with a bit of wood 😂

What do you want to strip?

Me? Absolutely nothing. My wife? Seemingly every surface in the house. I’m just trying to minimise sanding in the house by helping her strip the paint as well as possible.

Alternatively and a bit simpler but without the option for a mid way rest.

Tie a basket onto the board with a loop to thread through.

Tie one end of a rope onto the beam, thread through the loop and pull upwards. You'll have a 2:1 ratio, less the friction

Yes I did repurpose the doodle

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Needs 'everyone on two wheels is a friend'. :)

Well, I don't know what to to tell you. There's a load of ways to strip wood that are better than sanding but they take a little time to learn and there's plenty of opportunity to damage the wood. A carbide scraper is a great tool but it's really hard going on skirtings.

I'm not sure the ir stripper is even expensive compared to the time it saves, maybe you could buy one do the job and sell it.

Chemical stripping is horrible even if you know what you're doing.

Tbh man I reckon all paint stripping is grim, especially taking old furniture back to the wood and trying to get it to a state where it can be presentable with a natural finish.

Between you and me, I reckon they'll end up painted but on the off chance she wants to endure with leaving them natural I just want them to not look shit.

Also, if I had to do a load of paint stripping, I'd deffo just buy one.

Ah. Thanks for this. As I'm not set on it, I think I will just mend the existing one (sorry @chrisbmx116 - had I removed this one, you'd have been welcome).

I say I, but I meant the builders. Living through big changes right now.

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Trigger warning pls.

Fitting pigs ear handrail to a wall is one of the very few DIY jobs that I've given up on.

Did you...

(no - wait for it)

Did you make a pig's ear of it.

Aythangyou. Try the veal etc.

A glittering career in stand-up awaits!

I wish I'd got far enough into the job to properly fuck it up. I just cut a few lengths of it, offered it up to the wall, saw how awkward it would be to fit it (especially round corners), muttered "fuck this for a game of soldiers" and threw it out in the garden.

Took me so long to get that reference!

Fork it!

Look at Geoff Woade.

Curtain pole shimming mission is nearly complete (the pole is up but I need to do satinwood paint and filler.)

I think this is the best solution - it can be reasonably well disguised and hasn't made any lasting change. It's not beautiful but it works.

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Righhhhttt... looking for hive mind advice, tips, suggestions.

My back garden does not get the sun past 5pm, ever, and as a result we tend to move to the tiny front garden for sun downers which although is pleasant is also a bit of a waste of a garden IMO.

We cant change the orientation of our house, or how the sun moves around the Earth, so have to find a way to work with those factors.

Thinking trying to go cosy, with some sort of pergola at the back to hang numerous lights off while plants grow up and around (garden has only been non astro turf for about 3 months).

I'm thinking making a pergola and maybe using the back fence (which is stable and solid) rather than adding yet more posts and gubbins.

So, specific questions - making a pergola and using the fence posts, daft idea? better solutions?

Is there a smarter option that I could use to achieve the same goals (cosy night garden).

Pic of current state, plus slightly goth filthy mock or proposed. Took 5 mins and I dont care about PS anymore, please dont judge.

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