Home DIY

The door does stick a fair bit after periods of heavy rain. When I stripped it and re-painted a couple of years ago, the bottom of that side of the frame had completely rotted. I used a wire brush to get rid of the loose material, then fixed it and built it up back to a door shape with epoxy filler. Clearly only a temporary fix. The door and fame are massively exposed to the elements, and we have a flat roof above it that drains off in that area, which is the root cause of the issue. I had to do a similar bodge on the bottom of the panels covering the frames and the sill (see before and after photos from last time) although I did let in some new pieces rather than use filler for everything. The sill has now completely rotted again. It sits directly on top of the flagstones with no membrane underneath it. It needs to be completely replaced to be honest.

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Clearly only a temporary fix.

This should have lasted longer, looks like you did a pretty decent job. This leads me to believe that the problems you are having with the frame and door are a symptom of a bigger issue.

we have a flat roof above it that drains off in that area, which is the root cause of the issue

When you say draining off; how exactly?

Is there guttering? If so can the downpipe be diverted to somewhere else (preferably another downpipe that drains into a soak away).

Without seeing the rest of the building it looks to me like the flagstones are a later addition. Given the age of the door and surrounding frame I'd expect to see some kind of quarried stone step leading up to it, slightly below the level of the threshold. By having the step below the threshold it protects the door and frame from sitting water. If you have a level put it on the flagstones, ideally it should fall away from the door with a very gentle slope, looking at the level the bubble should be "kissing" the line closest to the door, also use the edge of the level to check for hollows in the step (although if there are any you will most likely be aware of them already as puddles will form there). If the flagstones fall into the door they will need to be replaced.

No guttering, which is part of the problem I am sure. Here’s the front elevation of the house. I had the big window repainted and repaired completely when I moved in and have done my own repairs and repaints since but it deteriorates every year because of water running off the flat roof. It’s rotting, basically. We’re having some major works done this year on the whole building and I am hoping that will address some of the issues. I’ll check the flags for a slope but we don’t get any puddling as such near the door.

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I need to rebuild my side gate what’s the best size timber to use for a frame? I had a brain wave to maybe have a double gate but one side the wall only goes say half way of the current frame, will it need to be reinforced?

Not pretty but functional.
https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop/hardware/outdoor-hardware/gate-and-fence/76738-heavy-duty-gate-bracket-kit

Looking at your photos it seems that you had a problem with the paint on the new wood. It's possible that it needed sanding before priming or it was just a bit damp and you didn't use a breathable paint system. It's a common problem with new carpentry, the paintwork lets it down way too quickly. Any signs of bubbling or cracked paint you should be stripping it and repainting that summer season.

Bobbo is right about the joints. Its common to rout those freehand with a die grinder and specific bit, it's all part of the deeper expenses in the Repaircare system.

I wouldn't attempt to change the panel professionally unless it had rotted a lot more than your current one. You can rebuild that entire beading and bottom edge of the panel in repair care and it will last a long time if it's well painted.

From a best practice point of view I would agree the panel could be replaced. At that point I'd probably be thinking about making an entire new door from scratch though, maybe working out some insulation for the panels. I did that for a door in a damp corner 7 years ago and it's still looking fresh. A lot of that is due to the paintwork though.

Overall that area looks a bit damp. You might want a metal cap on your door step anyway, any kind of wood gets worn by feet on it. I used to go to a brass shop with a template of the profile and they would bend it for me. It would at least stop the paint wearing off and the wood being exposed.

When it comes to exterior paint it's worth checking out Zinsser All Coat. You can get it gloss or matt in any colour but the best for exterior is white gloss. It's so easy to use but it drys very hard and stays white and glossy. You could coat the doorstep twice a year with it and it would help. It's also moisture vapour permeable.

what plain white toilet seat that isn’t cheap and plastic-y (even if it is plastic)

I took my tap apart to find the size of the worn washer. Am I correct in assuming:

1. The top nut on the right should come off to release the valve? It's pretty seized with limescale and obviously corroded as it half fell apart during my attempts at freeing it. I guess this could just be replaced with a stainless nut in the right size if I can get it off, turns out I didn't really need it off anyway.

2. The bottom washer on the left measured up at 16.5mm, I guess this is a 5/8", just squashed out a bit?

3. Replacing that bottom washer should make the tap close easier.

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There’s a dog’s dinner of paint finishes across the windows and door frame. God knows what the guy who painted the window for me used but as you can see it’s falling off. I did the door frame with the dulux weathershield three part system and that has been a bubbling disaster. My repaint of the window sill was Little Greene exterior emulsion: that has held up relatively well, but a crack has opened up there as a result of the underlying issues. Thanks again to both you and Bobbo for the advice. I’ll order some repaircare for the door and see how I get on. I am hoping the frame issues and window will be addressed in the forthcoming works. I’ll be sure to pass on your thoughts to the contractors.

Can anyone tell me what this thing is / is for?

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cleaning the joints in paving?

For scrubbing your decking or getting weeds out from between paving slabs.

Seems kind of obvious now that you said it. Thanks both.

It's unusual for the weathershield system to fail but the formulation of the newer water based one is nowhere near as good as the old oil based one, especially the very thin initial primer that comes with the new version is not a patch on the old one. Apparently the old one is pretty deadly to fish or something like that.

The stuff I used was thin and green, not like any primer I have used before. It supposedly went with the oil-based undercoat and topcoat I used but the results were poor. The adhesion of the undercoat to the primer layer was, as I remember, very bad. I should probably have abandoned it when I got to that stage.

Got a new TV arriving on Thursday (fitting Friday) which is completely flush mount (zero gap / full panel flat).

Two things need doing:

1. removing a plug socket which is currently on the wall where the TV
   is going
   
2. feeding cables through the wall
   
   

The wall is dot and dab plasterboard to the internal outside wall (breeze block).

Job 1 seems pretty simple but wanted to check i'm not about to start a housefire:

• isolate
  
• remove faceplate and back box
  
• join the wires (blue to blue etc) using 30amp connector blocks
  
• leave in wall
  
  

I'm not going to plaster over the box hole as i may need it in future so i'm just going to cover with masking tape or something similar for now (it will be completely hidden behind the TV).

Second job, dot and dab is usually pretty uniform (ie if i find a dot then i can assume they'll be in line?). Does that mean if i cut a whole i should just be able to drop the cables vertically? They're only going about 40cm into a cabinet...

Edit: this is what i mean by zero gap btw...

The green one is the new one and most pros I know stopped using the entire system when they changed from the blue to green.

The earlier blue one was superb, it's job is to soak into the bare wood fibres and retain some flexibility but allow the undercoat to adhere to it. It probably kills dolphins too, I expect that's why the formula was changed.

dot and dab is usually pretty uniform (ie if i find a dot then i can assume they'll be in line?)

Not in my experience. It all depends on who put it up. Often it is job given to a knuckle dragging labourer because it's messy and no skilled labour wants to do it. You may be able to find where the dots are by knocking on the plasterboard - if it's hollow sounding there will be a void behind it. In reality often the only real way to find out is to cross fingers and hope for the best.

This was the plan. The worry I have is that the TV has a very specific wire channel and so I’d need to line that up with the hollows in the wall.

Hopefully it’ll line up with where the TV is going.

A lot of variables in the question you're asking. As Bobbo has mentioned you can't rely on the plaster blobs to line up. If you don't have any specialised wire fishing tools it might be easier to cut the plasterboard lay the wire in trunking (if you have room) and make good afterwards.

Otherwise I would use a fishing tool that looks like the string of metal beads you find on some roller blinds and a magnet. That way you might be able to fish a line through to then pull some cables. There is often very little room between the plasterboard and bricks.

There's an example of the flexible chain I'm describing in this kit of rods.

https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/FXCRMX.html?source=adwords&ad_position=&ad_id=315107931576&placement=&kw=&network=u&matchtype=&ad_type=&product_id=FXCRMX&product_partition_id=866510377562&campaign=shopping&version=finalurl_v3&gclid=CjwKCAjwrcH3BRApEiwAxjdPTdMCYH8NCbiRT3IzxOnd2o0QMrqhMOAF7LCkZTF4pmmwWFc8FtTc3xoCGnMQAvD_BwE

Thanks @Airhead @Bobbo

Assume my approach to removing the wall socket is okay?

I removed the roof off my old outside toilet (Victorian terrace) and found this underneath. Am I right in thinking this is one big built in cistern for the toilet?

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New floor incoming

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I didn't comment because I'm not sure if you are removing a surface mounted socket or how you're planning to connect the tv. There are some specialised tv back boxes which have a normal plug sunk into the box so it can go behind a tv. What you seem to be proposing should be ok, I'm guessing you would use Wago or similar spring connectors. If you have a photo of the current socket it might be easier to advise you.