Home DIY

A bad connection has got hot. It just needs that one wire reterminating, so it should be quick and simple. Whether it's worth the call out fee depends on your oven.

And is it safe to keep using the rest of the oven?

If there's only one wire going to that burnt connection then yes. If there's a second wire daisy chaining off then less sure.

(also it looks like the blue wire below it might be charred? If that's a neutral going elsewhere than you need to check the insulation isn't burnt through)

I’m in the end stages of buying a house at the moment and it’s got this weird extra bit in the kitchen hearth. Any idea why it’s there at all?

It’d be good to have it removed to fit a nice big cooker, but interested if anyone’s ever seem anything like it?

Early 20th century

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I’ve not seen anything like it, but I’m guessing it was done to fit a full size cupboard and create some counter space.

I had a similar low chimney breast in my kitchen. I put in a higher lintel and routed the extractor ducting up the chimney with an in-line fan accessible via a panel in the bathroom.

Something like this?

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Do you mean the mysterious bricks on the right? Maybe a second chimney from below?

My guess is that it's the main fire place and the rest of the alcove of the fire is where logs and pots would have been kept back in the day. A bit like an inglenook.

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That’s the one - there’s no cellar as far as I’m aware. It’s an odd one for sure.

@absurdbird yeah, I was thinking similar, but maybe just some ducting out the back of the breast (end of terrace) with the extractor fan. There’s a good video by the restoration couple on YouTube about it. Going all the way up seems quite a bit more thorough than my diy skills 😂

Oooh thats a great explanation!

That’s the one - there’s no cellar as far as I’m aware. It’s an odd one for sure.

Oh. I was toddler wrangling and up since 5.30, I read that as just a shadow.
The dog-leg in the wall is odd, if there’s nothing below, it’s not a flue, could be a storage nook as Hugo7 says. It may be a pier in the wall, what’s the outside look like?

If it’s an exterior wall definitely take ducting out as low as practical (mine is a party wall - but fortunately only 2 stories) you’ll be able to use a conventional extractor hood/motor/fan, I had to use a 150mm in-line industrial fan.

The outsides flat so must be a nook and the projecting brick could just be nonstrucural. Tempted to drill out a brick and shine a torch in when I get in.

Perhaps it’s worth just having the cooker not pushed all the way back into the recess - solve the potential lower lintel issue, and messing with the brickwork.

Anyone used Zinsser Bullseye 123 before? Does it need the full 7 days cure time before topcoating in emulsion?

I'm trying to rectify a poor bathroom job by our decorators - we were ending up with loads of small bubbles after showering, likely because the undercoat wasn't fully dry before topcoating. I was able to scrape off most of the affected areas so plan was the use Bullseye - let it dry - then repaint.

Tempted to drill out a brick and shine a torch in when I get in.

Excellent deductive approach.
Looking again, it’s a running bond so probably only a brick thick

I'm pretty sure a while ago someone was cladding walls in birch ply and was asking about how to detail the joints. I can't find the thread. Did you sort it? Have any photos?

I’m pretty sure this is fibreglass loose fill that has spilled through the wall, but I’ve got no idea what asbestos loose fill actually looks like. Any ideas?

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Thanks for the reply.

There's only one wire for that connector which is good and the blue one below was only blackened and nothing charred.

Whilst inspecting again I've found another burnt connector for a different part of the oven.

The oven is a Samsung single fan one so not too expensive I wouldn't have thought.

Any idea roughly how much the repair would cost with call out? I'm in Brighton so prices are probably not a million miles off London.

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https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/333920/

https://www.lfgss.com/comments/15034930/

That's the one. Thanks!

I try not to look at it too much, as is sets the bar a little high...

I'm about to start on 2 walls and then the floor of my studio and I'm worried it's going to trigger my OCD into overdrive

In the 20+ years I've been using it I've rarely left it to cure for 7 days. If you are talking about walls rather than woodwork it might be worth considering a coat of Gardz from Zinsser. Your problem with bubbles could be related to filler if you've had any filler on the walls.

I have a wooden stair gate to fit. It will be "locking" to the newel post. Any suggestions on what locking mechanism to use? My first thought was a couple of bolts, top and bottom, into the newel post but not sure if that will be a bit fiddly.

I’m not sure what hardware your stair gate will need.
I’ve used 3 Cuggi steel ones from Argos around my place for toddler control. They’re good because you can cut them down to width really easily and they’re dirt cheap (also a Which? Best Buy).

I had to ‘profile’ (hack with a Stanley) the catch to fit around the turning on my newel post.

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There’s obviously something wrong that it’s done this on multiple places, I’d be tempted to just change it instead of risking potentially setting my house on fire.

Yeah, with you on that one.
A new similar product is only a couple of hundred so seems the wiser decision.
Thanks.

Thanks Airhead, good to know and makes life easier. Wasn't fun scraping off the affected area (literally hundreds of small bubbles all over the wall, real trypophobia trigger)

Interesting re Gardz - it is walls in question but filling was minimal. I thought it would be the undercoat because of the difference in how the walls reacted vs ceiling (no bubbles there). Both got a topcoat of Benjamin Moore Aura Bath and Spa but only the walls had an undercoat of Berger Matt Emulsion because the old paint was dark.