Home DIY

My guess is the burden of proving it's their fault (if it is) would be more onerous than the burden of buying a new dimmer. I've no idea on the technical or legal side of it. Ultimately, they're a big old company so does it really matter if it's unreasonable? Surely they will just say "no" or "prove it" and you'll think "life's too short"...

If you have the receipt and packaging they probably won't be arsed and just refund it or whatever

Also, do blown blubs short switches?

Well! https://community.screwfix.com/threads/when-a-bulb-blows-it-blows-the-dimmer-switch-dimming-function-advice-please.154552/

@Fox is the dimmer one of those programmable ones? My dimmer stopped dimming and I was advised by the manufacturer to put one one halogen light in place then setup the programming. When it was working then replace the halogen with my usual LED. My dimmer is a V-Pro.

If you have the receipts, in my experience they are very accommodating.

Bit of a frustrating day after surveying the handymen's tiling.

The tiles they relaid are noticeably higher than the others which creates sharp edges in some spots as well as making the wonky door catch. idk the different names of grouting, but they've done the one where you have a neat ~3mm recess, rather than flush(ish), which is what I did - so that exacerbates it. Also I've noticed that there are spots where they hadn't removed the old grouting - in particular two bits, one which is a bit chipped and one where the guy who did a previous repair while we were in the States used the wrong colour grey.

It's the classic case of not thoroughly inspecting the work before someone leaves. Not really sure what the solution is either.

In their defense, the high tiles may have risen due to the subfloor taking up some of the water from the pva and/or adhesive plus the ambiant humidity yesterday after such dry weather. Wondering if it will drop over the next few days. It seems odd that they'd make such a fundamental fuck up.

Overall the most frustrating thing is it makes you realise why DIY is often the best way in this country. The requisite combination of skills and experience to do these jobs really well is such that you'd be a mug not to be doing higher value work.

Was also shocked by the ballpark quote of £5k for a bathroom install - although the one I asked might have just been testing me.

5k is pretty standard for a bathroom, I think (supplied/fitted.) maybe even at the lower end - people spend packets on their bathrooms.

we got ours done for 3/4k in the end (with a lot of tiling) but the three quotes we got (before we used our usual guy) were around 5/6k.

I'd out a thin bead of glazing putty either traditional linseed oil ones or modern mastic tube stuff. Behind the bead and then fix the beads with panel pins.

Great, this is exactly what I'd planned to do. Thanks!

Has anybody got any of the 40v Makita XGT stuff?

I’ve got LXT stuff and I’m looking at a bare angle grinder but now slightly worried LXT might get phased out.

LXT is 18v and XGT is 40v so you’d hope they’ll continue to support LXT.

Screwfix have never refused to accept a return.

I’m on my fourth Titan SDS drill. It keeps leaking oil from the chuck. They’ve never even opened the box to check the condition of it.

I have LXT stuff, fairly sure I read that they are not phasing out LXT ( I really hope not!) as they are still doing plenty of development on LXT. I have a cheap bare grinder, it is a nightmare at eating batteries, goes through a 3amp in about 10 mins of usage, if buying again I would definitely spend the bit more for a brushless version.

£5/6k is baseline for any size bathroom.

The 18v range/market is far too big to be phased out any time soon. You can still easily get ni-cad batteries and that range was tiny in comparison.

You could always get one of the 36v ones that takes 2x18v batteries. Either way I'd definitely stump up for brushless as grinders will fly through batteries.

Depends what you plan to use it for.

I have alllllmost (one mirror to install, one cupboard door to paint) finished having a bathroom installed. Fittings with discount came in at ~6k; total job was golf club thread worthy. But I didn't splash out on the £400 shower shelf I was looking at, so it could have been worse.

Is the £5k for bathrooms including suite, etc or on top?

Is there a kitchen thread? If not why etc.

Our oven is doing death rattles and not much else.

New kitchen is on the list but no way are we going to fit it in before Christmas. It's currently a kind of electric smeg range thing left by previous owners - 80cm wide with built in gas hob. Plan for a new kitchen was to have a single long piece of surface with separate hob and built under oven (largely because I hate having gaps down the side of the cooker/units). What workaround can I do that involves buying an oven and being able to cook actual non-hob food now? I have some spare work surface but no router or anything to get it cut to size for a hob. I'd also rather not have to pay someone to come in and fit it until I start getting paid from the projects I've worked on this/last month.

I don't want to buy twice so I don't really want to buy a small portable oven to sit on the work top.

If you get an oven with a total rating <3000W there's a fair chance it'll come with a 13A plug and you can use it as a freestanding appliance without much fuss.

Likewise there are induction hobs that are limited to 13A simultaneous load and come with a normal plug and will work ok freestanding.

(I'm assuming you'll be careful finding something solid to stand them on, not blocking ventilation holes, etc)

Our oven is doing death rattles and not much else.

Definitely knackered? Replacement elements for ovens are a thing and not that hard to fit.

Not definitely but wouldn't know how to diagnose. I'll try and find the model number (probably written under ten years of grime inside the storage bit at the bottom) and consult google. Takes upwards of 30 minutes to turn the oven to a stage where the heating element light appears on the outside (when a month ago it was 'flick a switch = on'). Then when it does appear, it flickers on and off taking an age to get hot - sometimes just turning off and not back on as I've found to the tune of several raw meals.

This is a good thought - will see what's available if tinkering doesn't work, thanks.

Thanks. Yeah I was planning to go brushless. I’ve got a non brushless drill which eats batteries.

I’ll be using it to cut stone with a diamond disc so it’ll get a fair work out but it’s normally a case of nicking it both sides and hitting it with a hammer and chisel. I’ve been perfectly happy corded but I’m right down the far end of the garden now and it’s becoming a pain.

Plus - new toys innit.

You can just about do it with a shower over bath floors sink/cupboard above inc. labour for £5k. By all means go all out and prove you can do it for less but an reasonable trade thumb in the air ballpark price is £5-6k baseline and the smaller the room the harder it is to get things done so it doesn't really matter if it's 1.5m x 3m or 4mx5m it will cost about the same. Outliers and special cases aside. :)

Can I take a window out of its Pvc frame and make a wooden frame?

The actual equation is based on Ohms law. 3000w / 240v = 12.5 amps.