Home DIY

The old junction was being covered by the socket and wasn't in use anymore.
As you say it will all get tidied up in new junction box.

what’s this? is it gas related? we don’t use gas, can it be got rid of/ or made less intrusive (we are planning on taking the cupboard down)

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Looks very much like the connections to a gas meter without the meter...

I'd be very careful about hacking it out

yep, definitely not going to do it myself! any recommendations SE london? and thank you!

So the place we bought has mould on the window seals (pictured). This is obviously beyond a good clean, short of changing the window, what can we do? The rubber seal feels dry to the touch if that makes any difference.

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I would assume take the glazing units out, clean them up and wipe down with mild bleach or something, same for the frames and fit new seals.
Might be a sign of poor ventilation or the room having no heating for some time?

First step might be too just scrape all the mold off and see if it comes back? I'd wear some breathing protection

Good shout on the mask. We have 14 days to declare any issues with the flat, so we can claim money back from the previous occupant (this is not in the UK obviously), so we're in a bit of a rush. All the windows are identical in the block so I'll ask first if anything similar has been reported before.
The flat has always been occupied, and there's some mould on a wall that was painted 5 years ago: it's the last occupant that did not ventilate enough.

Can't tell - are the frames metal? Could be a source of condensation if there's cold bridging but really it's more likely too much moist air indoors with nowhere to go.

Using hydrogen peroxide (5%) or pickling vinegar is better at removing mould than bleach. Or HG mould remover.

That HG stuff is magic indeed.

This stuff is scary effective.

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Thanks everyone.

If the weird cardboard like form material/insulation contained asbestos, and which I stripped off in an enclosed space without using a mask four or five years ago, would I have something nasty in my lungs to show for it?

Maybe, you won't really know until you die from it

Not really DIY but a nerve-wracking day in progress cutting, fitting and draw-boring mitres for a timber frame building. I'm terrified of cutting them too short as each sill is joinery grade larch that costs ~ £250 with a 3 week lead time. Bedding onto the stem walls (hopefully) tomorrow.

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joinery grade larch

Your poor saw blades, least it won’t burn down tho!

Good luck.

Your poor saw blades

It's not too bad if you soak them in blade cleaner overnight when you've been cutting larch. I use a couple of drops of persil in a litre or two of water.

Portaloo

I think you'll find that's just a bucket.

It’s still pretty hard on the blades tho, high silica content dulls them quickly (preaching to the converted I know).

Interestingly they often plant rows of larch in pine forests as a fire break as it has such a high burning temperature you can have pine ablaze right beside larch and it won’t catch fire!

Was it in your flat? They survey you may have done when you bought it might have highlighted locations where asbestos may be present based on the age / style / type of property.

This is remarkably fucked. Obvs. a lot of clothes were dried in this place.

As @Backstop says, it's old meter connections. We have the same in a cupboard after the meter was moved outside. They guys doing it (SGN) said we could remove it, but we'd have to take their word that it was disconnected from the main supply and not just capped. Even if it was disconnected, there would still be a gas smell if we hacked it out, so it's hard to be totally sure when you start doing it.

Just look for anyone local who is Gas Safe registered. Likey they would just cut it back to a point where it's not intrusive any more and just cap it off there. Removing everything from the point it enters the building/leaves the main supply would be a bigger job. But you could spec that if you want.

Got some intel from the caretaker this morning. The building is made of bricks and has no insulation whatsoever, so damp is a known issue and drying clothes indoor is definitely a no-no (there are 2 massive Miele dryers in the basement for a reason). The good news is someone is going to look into refurbishing the windows, and the wall is not too bad (I removed the loose wallpaper on the eastern one and the wall feels dry to the touch).
Speaking of surprises I also found a vibrator at the back of the wardrobe but that's probably for the homeowner thread.

I stopped worrying about the silica content of wood ages ago. It's the clients call what wood I use on their projects I can try and guide them to a more sensible/cost effective product but at the end of the day once they get an idea in their head..........

Besides all that the silica content of proper timber makes little difference to modern tct blades (old school hss blades are a different story) and even something like ebony or iron wood that has a massive silica content is not as damaging as MDF or particle board.

I didn't know that about larch trees being used as a firebreak that's pretty interesting and also surprising. I've used green larch for a couple of jobs recently and when it's green there is so much resin in it that it feels damp and sticky to the touch so I would have thought that it would go up pretty aggressively.

Anyways was a partial success today cut one sill about 10mm long which threw things out slightly but overall I'm pretty happy with the dry fit. Wall plate sitting on top of the sill for a length comparison.

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