Home DIY

The Screwfix no nonsense danish oil is pretty good, and a fraction of the price of the Liberon stuff you can also get there.

This is the brand we’ve been using.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rust-Oleum-AMZ0038-colourless-Achieved-Furniture/dp/B00KHNF2JO

You rub it in, let it go dull and turn buff it.

So it was the pop up overflow plug unit. Where the cable activates a lever which turns a shaft which goes into the waste pipe for the pop up doobry, there was water coming out at the shaft when the bath drained. I was surprised how easy the unit was to replace. In the picture you can see where the water stains start near the rectangular square box which houses the cable and shaft lever thingy. Still brand new drainage in the bath so just the damp joists to dry out.

Anyone know what type of insulation this is?

or can recommend something else 40mm (ish) thick, waterproof/resistant and good insulator of heat

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What is it insulating and where? I’d ask serious questions about its ability to insulate if it gets wet.

You can get 40mm PIR boards from Celotex etc. Remember to never give money to Kingspan because of its role in Grenfell.

I thought Celotex were also involved/bastards https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/nov/26/celotex-executive-wrote-wtf-on-fire-test-report-grenfell-inquiry-hears

Jesus - I had no idea. Won’t use that again either.

It’s the underside of a deck on a boat that need the boards replacing (along with a lot of other jobs)…In theory they shouldn’t get wet but in reality the edges will occasionally as the drainage channels are sh*t

Area under the deck joins to the cabin so insulation is to stop heat escaping + try to keep engine and batts above 0 degrees

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I guess it needs to be reflective?

Ideally.

I am eyeing up something from low-e for the cabin but that will be a secondary layer of insulation and think might not provide enough insulation here.

Did you get the 2 in 1 version or the one you have to mix?

If it's on a boat, near a heat source, I'd consider looking for proper marine insulation boards. Fire risks in enclosed spaces...

trying to avoid specialised marine
products until I actually get around to doing a proper sort out of the engine bay as it tends to make the price of things triple.

Obviously the less likely it is to catch fire the better but it’s a good half metre above a well vented engine, which runs around 70-100, so quite low down the list of fire risks compared to gas, MF stove + the number of cigarettes I smoke etc.

I want for the trial pack in the end so 2 part resin you have to mix.

https://www.repair-care.co.uk/product/trial-pack-webshop/

If I can do it, anyone can :D

awesome - thanks!

Solder melts at around 180C, which is probably a lot less than a heat gun can produce, so I'd be extra careful. Or just sand and repaint, as you say.

I'm about to fit the forum approved twin track shelving (budget Vitsoe).

What is the forum-approved budget Vitsoe..?

Can these be mounted to a plasterboard wall?

They have electro Brass plated strips and solid brass - which is stronger? ( I am assuming its the plated one, but need to check)

I have been getting some quotes to extend an existing unused 40A circuit 10 metres to my shed for a few sockets and a light. If I did it myself it would cost me about £150 in parts and about half a day's work. But electricians are quoting me over 2 grand to come and do the job.

As it is a modification to an existing circuit it is non-notifiable work but I am hesitant to do the job myself from a liability perspective despite having done a lot of simpler legal electrical work (changing sockets, lights, adding outside socket etc) on my home before. What are people's thoughts on this kind of stuff?

PTFE wont do anything for that kind of joint. You will have to unscrew both of those connections and look at the rubber compression rings inside (use an old towel to catch any drips, and the bottom of the U will be full of water). If they have broken you can buy the whole trap part, which will include both of the compression rings, for a few quid from Screwfix. It doesn't need anything, just make sure the black pipe is pushed in all the way, and that rubber O rings are compressed adequately at both joints to seal the joint.

From my limited understanding sheds can require special earthing so I'd want someone qualified to do it.

Wouldn't you need a new CU in the shed and hence new circuits and the bit of paper?

I’d be heartily surprised if doing it properly was only half a days work tbh.
40amp breaker isn’t really appropriate unless it’s a supply circuit to a new board with its own lighting and socket circuits (and this notifiable work as pointed out by @jellybaby ).
You’d definitely want to test all those circuits properly as well, which you won’t be able to do unless you have a multi function tester and experience testing.

There are ways that you could maybe do it to make it not notifiable but it would be doing it in a hokey way to try and bend the rules, which wouldn’t be wise in my opinion.

Thanks. I am going by three electrician quotes I have already had. Two of the three wouldn't bother with a CU in the shed, opting for a beefy fused spur (like you get for cookers), and no one was willing to bury the cable, saying they'd pass it on the floor behind some planters. One of the three said they'd install a ground spike and a CU.

Even if it takes more than a day, 2 grand is crazy money.

Two of the three wouldn't bother with a CU in the shed, opting for a beefy fused spur (like you get for cookers),

That’s what I’d envisioned as a workaround, but it’s not ideal in my eyes. Can’t say for sure if it’d need an earth rod - that’s down to what your Zs readings are (making sure the resistance of the circuit in an earth fault condition is low enough to trip the breaker within the required time - more resistance = slower trip time).

Can these be mounted to a plasterboard wall?

Yeah.

The plasterboard taking the weight is another question.

Vitsoe can be mounted on plasterboard but the rails and shelf mounting is designed to spread load evenly the length of the rail.