Home DIY

I have primer, which was cheaper than the varnish. As you say tho the wood looks like shit.

Maybe it's best I leave it in the alley. Less fun, but much less effort.

If you pop round to a Tile Shop at the most opportune time,
you will sometimes find an unwanted pallet that shipped in their
'budget' range of wall/floor tiles from Turkey.
Seems wasteful, but Turkey has extensive Oak forests that are
harvested for pallet production.
Even the Turkish pine pallets are worth lugging home,
much stronger smell of resin, without any resin pockets.
Both are much better grained than the timber used for UK pallets.

Not all pallets are born equal. The one I used for a table weighed a ton and was a lot of effort to get home but well worth it. The spacers were solid wood as well and painted up they make for some nice garden kid's toys

it's also worth checking the pallets for marks, some could have been treated with Methyl Bromide

Good shout on the topstiles.

It's gone into the alley.

At least it's given me the space to turn my messy outhouse into an absolute shit hole. But it's one of those 1 step fwd 2 steps back kinda jobs.

The aim is to make enough space to start work on my work bench.

Will post some photos later.

In the meantime, the damp on this wall is from the neighbours garden being higher and above the DCM. Is it worth taking the paint off to let the bricks "breathe", or will it make no difference?

(pic is halfway through bleaching - was black with mold before)

Cheers.

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If their ground level is six bricks above yours it probably won't make any difference.

A gravel soak-away on the other side will help. Are you pally with them? Explain the problem, you will may well have to pay for the drainage but it's their land you'd need the work done on.

I need to cover some ex-downlighter holes ~2.5" diameter but keep access as there are junction boxes/wagos in there. You would have thought a spring-loaded cover/blanking plate would be an obvious mass-produced item but the only ones I can find are boutique australian jobs that cost a shitload.
Even a plastic plug would do - what other options are there (all advice online seems to be aimed at permanently closing the holes).

Never seen anything like that.

I guess once you go downlights you never go back.

So. Replace with LED downlights or plaster.

Talk to @Stonehedge about getting something printed?

Besa box lids are 65mm diameter.

https://www.edwardes.co.uk/products/schneider-mita-lid1w-white-65mm-standard-pvc-besa-box-lid?gclid=CjwKCAjw5vz2BRAtEiwAbcVILzsBwnyR9Gccnui8txW7rnU7nfY97Ox-Tv7CkVTZx166OFg6ubR6cRoCKnMQAvD_BwE

Fascinating decking removal update.

Gardener available much earlier than expected, now coming tomorrow to start the complete garden makeover.

No longer DIY. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Aaaaaah

I need to properly investigate at some point it's hard to explain verbally and visually needs 3D (or at least my 2d drawing isn't good enough when I try).

The outhouse is on our side of the "fence" but the section along the back of the outhouse doesn't have a fence. - possibly because they removed it, probably because the panels rotted away and getting replacements in is a nightmare due the outhouse roof overhang.

It looks like there is concrete running along the bottom against the wall, but idk if there is also their garden soil. Annoyingly though even on our side it looks like the ground is higher in places than the DCM.

We get on well enough, but obviously now is not the time to ask to go rooting through someone's garden. I'd also like to have a clear POA before I ask as we also want to "mention" to them about putting up trellis to go >6' on our side.

Ideally I'd like some sort of paint on quazi damp proofing + drainage.

Current state of outhouse, post stage 1 tidy.

Didn't have the energy to do more this evening, but I'm aiming for ½hr a night. Then once there's room start on the bench, after which a lot of the storage (obscured on the left) will go underneath. Ultimately I want to add a rolling tool chest underneath the bench which would take all the tools.

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Does anyone have recommendations for drill bit brands? Have killed most of my wood bits, and fed up of getting cheap sets and snapping them or them going blunt.

I got some Dewalt masonry bits recently that have fluted shanks to stop them spinning and they've been great.

Bosch and Dewalt brad point bits seem to be the best rated on the Toolstation website.

If you are snapping bits below 4mm size in wood then drill slowly. I presume you are using them to make pilot holes for screws? For anything above that for wood bits then a reputable named brand will be fine.

For metal use HSS. For masonry use masonry

To be honest, bits below 4mm size don't last long and do tend to snap just because they are small.

Do you have any forstner bits? They tend to last longer and make nice clean cuts though the drilling is slower with them.

Yep, have all the right bits for the job. Just drilling into hard wood, often at angles, hence the snapping, normally after the bit has gotten hot...

I have forstner and auger that I use for larger sized holes, its mainly the smaller sizes I have run out of.

Ah yeah, I guess just accept that like bike chains and red shirts they are expendables.

Yep, I guess so! Think I need to stop buying sets and start buying 10 packs of sizes I need, just spent a happy hour going through and seeing what I have, I have over 20 of some of the less popular sizes and no wood bits below 4mm....

wondering if anyone in this thread can help. Our bed has four of these, one on each post, and they are a bastard for smashing your knee/thigh on the corner etc. now at head height of my toddler, who bashed his head against one of them yesterday, so they gotta go. Where can I get something like this ready made, or fabricated to fit? Ideally as a ball/octagon or something with no corners. The measurements of the underside that caps onto the bed frame post is a 9.5cm square although the frame posts are 9cm square.

another option would be to get the posts' corners sanded and screw in something like this

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Slam a nerf ball onto the base.
Maybe glue it on so jr doesn’t run off with it.

Anyone here got solar PV / hybrid hot water?

Considering a 4kw system on out SSW facing roof and a 300l unvented cylinder headed by an immersion heater connected to a device called a Solar I-Boost.

Would love to hear any comments.