Home DIY

Screwfix or Amazon or perhaps a local retailer?

Wasn't it @7ven who did some doors and there was much discussion re hinges and the like?

It was:

https://www.lfgss.com/comments/14826525/

Seems to say 'Banham' on them.

I've just had a quote from Banham, the letterbox was over £300 which is why I'm looking elsewhere.

Screwfix has a few but they're at the cheaper end.

I have pretty low expectations of online doors around the lower price point. I've fitted a few without problems and they seem to all come from one factory or at least to be manufactured in a very similar way.

Howdens is a good source if you can get a tradesman to get you in. You can look at them and reject anything damaged or out of shape. It's not like their stock is superb but at least you can see and touch it. I've just helped a neighbour fit some 4 panel fire doors over the last couple of weeks. From Howdens I think they were around £100 each.

Its worth considering the construction too. You might want proper rail and stile panel doors in a hardwood or just press moulded and veneered. Sometimes you can't tell how they've put them together until you get up close.

Banham are mental prices. I've bought letterboxes from these guys before :-

https://www.britishironmongery.co.uk/shopsc/letter-boxes/15.htm

They are a bit traditional.

Although cheap, my Screwfix chrome letterbox is just dandy, pleased with it so far in terms of quality (tho the postman complained the spring was too strong to begin with!)

I've got an ikea bekvam step that I'm turning into a toddler step stool.

The feet are a bit slidey on the kitchen floor tiles any suggestions to make the feet gripper?

They look like this

Some screw-on rubber feet will work but might look a bit cack

A piece of rubber sheeting cut into squares the right size/shape for the foot, glued on to the bottom?

Google 'nail on rubber feet'. They are generally round not square but they're quite thin and usually not visible once fitted.

Rubber sheeting is a good idea.

Totally forgot that I picked up a shit load of spare promo bar mats to line my tool shelves with.

Just need to find some adhesive as my super-duper stuff gone off.

Thanks!

Thats going to look amazing with new, proper windows.

Numpty plumbing question...

New house has awful water pressure in shower. It has a combi boiler feeding the hot water, but still a cold tank in the loft which feeds the cold tap.
I've got decent water pressure in the house otherwise so was going to cut out the loop that fills the cold tank.

At the moment I have a 15mm pipe going up the wall into the tank, then a 22mm pipe that comes out the tank, down the wall and feeds the toilet, sink and shower.

The bathroom will be replaced soon so cheap, quick, solution is what I'm thinking.

Can I get away with a 22mm-15mm reducer, and a short 22mm push fit hose...?
(and cleaning up the paint on the pipes prior to fitting either)

https://www.screwfix.com/p/tectite-sprint-copper-push-fit-fitting-reducer-f-15mm-x-m-22mm/91461

https://www.screwfix.com/p/hep2o-push-fit-connection-flexible-tap-connectors-22mm-x-22mm-x-300mm-2-pack/7924r

1 Attachment

The arseholes who did up our flat before selling it to us didn't make the wall in the shower cubicle square before tiling it, so along the back side of the shower there's a gap between the tiles and the tray that starts at ~1cm and diminishes to 0 along the width of the shower tray. Below the height of the tray the gap is filled with expanding foam so no water is getting below the tray, but the foam has been covered with blobby flexi sealant that traps moisture and gets unsightly mould.

I'd like to tidy it up a bit. Would I be better off making a kind of runoff wedge out of grout as in the diagram below, and just closing the join between the grout and the tray with flexible sealant? Or just cover the whole width of the gap more neatly with sealant?

I just need it to be neat for a year or so before we build up the will to have the whole room redone.

1 Attachment

Cheers, a bit cheaper for some of them. We're going traditional so that's fine.

@BobbyBriggs which one did you get? It's hard to judge which are good or not from online pictures.

https://www.ironmongerydirect.co.uk/browse/door-furniture/front-door-furniture/filter/ironmongery_type%3E%7Bletter20plates%7D?page=2&sort=customer_rating

Era / Fab n Fix ones are decent, as are the pricier Yale offerings.

how much should expect to pay for a new external door (plus storm doors), supplied and fitted (outside london)? in my mind I've got a figure of about £1200 but not sure if that's way off?

also does anyone have any experience of fitting hydraulic hinges to help with opening/closing a heavy hatch?

does anyone have any experience of fitting hydraulic hinges to help with opening/closing a heavy hatch?

Car manufacturers have this issue sorted

also does anyone have any experience of fitting hydraulic hinges to help with opening/closing a heavy hatch?

Will your attic be used as a living space? If not, you could do as we did and simply affix a couple of pulleys above the hatch, tie a rope or cable to it, thread through the pulleys and tie the other end to a weight that equals that of the hatch. Our reason for this is that we have to open it up regularly in the summer as we have a large fan in the roof that we use to quickly cool the attic using outside air that is pulled through the house. It's balanced nicely and to open and close it up I use a hook epoxied to an alu pole.

also does anyone have any experience of fitting hydraulic hinges to help with opening/closing a heavy hatch?

Search for gas struts. Maybe 250N ('strength rating' if you like, how many NM of force they exert) on the sides of the hatch/lid, according to the overall weight. Depending on the surround of the opening, they can push the surround away/damage it as well as opening the hatch/lid, so make sure the surround is securely fastened down. They can be used with normal hinges

i reckon "a bit slidey" is good if it's stable enough to hold them when they're on it.

when they're a bit older, they'll want to move the step around to access stuff themselves, and if it's hard to move, you'll be called in all the time to move it for them.

This one I think: https://www.screwfix.com/p/victorian-letter-plate-polished-chrome-306-x-97mm/92286

Taking this photo has helpfully reminded me that I need to touch up the shrunken paintwork and wipe off the ancient Coca Cola stain

1 Attachment

I do have a carpenter who has a Howdens account however they don't do the style I'm after. I want flat panels with moulding and they only do profiled panels. I'm after rail and stile, probably in pine, not press moulded. Basically a decent repro of an original door, without the pain of collecting a pile of old doors in shit condition and refurbing them.

Good point.

Currently weighing up whether to use the outdoor treated batons I have spare or buy some new ones.

Cba to buy things when I've already got stuff lying around, but it seems a waste of treated wood. Also although the wood will probably be painted I wonder about any chemicals from the wood when they (or their little brother/sister) inevitably biting the wood.