Home DIY

I used to have the MacAlister (think i paid 99) and as @bq says the anti-kickback knob was very annoying. It made moving the saw along the track very stiff (so much that if you did a scribe cut and then pulled it back to the start you would end up moving the track in some cases). I took it off.

Saw was good for a while but then started to not cut straight and there is no official adjustment so returned it to Screwfix. Splurged on a Makita instead and have to admit it's a lot nicer to use (sorry!).

anyone replaced the cork expansion strip on an original parquet floor?
i will not be stripping and refinishing the floor itself as its in good condition so will probably clean it throughly and use some bona reconditioner on it, the cork has come away in places and some bits are different colours.
any tips?

its running round the perimeter about a foot in so not hidden next to skirting.

My shitty kitchen wall is drying and I think the problem was likely a cap on a neighbours gutter which has now been sorted. But it's drying slowly and I want to get on and plaster it. Humidifier?

If so, I don't really like renting things if I'll get future use. We have some damp/mould in another room in the house so I can see spending 250-350 on one is probably not the worst thing in the world if a week renting will be 100+

Looking at:

https://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/p/ecd30/electriq-ecd30-dehumidifier
https://www.screwfix.com/p/ebac-powerdri-21ltr-dehumidifier/8053r
https://www.screwfix.com/p/ebac-powerdri-18ltr-dehumidifier-unit/41553 (which is better reviewed than the 21ltr version?)

Would obvs prefer ebac for size/cost but equally is that not going to do a lot for me? Some reviews say they do really well for the money, but quite a few reviews saying they're broken on arrival/faulty/cracked etc.

Anything else out there? Can't really go to DriEaz money (1k plus) and probably not Sealey which seem to be around 500. Presuming that buying second hand is too big a risk. And realistically I want something tomorrow or Monday latest.

Meaco Zambezi is good if you want to use it in colder temperatures. Meaco is a good brand, their compressor dehumidifier is great to.

You shouldn't really rush that job if you can avoid it.

Thanks for the Meaco tip - will check 'em out.

The whole wall may well need to go back to stone. I've no idea how long the gutter was like that and presumably there could be a butt-load of water still in the wall - air drying in a cold damp house seems like it would take at least three millenia?

Mine don't run much at the moment. They work well on building sites, I used the Zambezi on a site recently where the windows were open all day.

air drying in a cold damp house seems like it would take at least three millenia?

How thick is it? A surveyor once told me to assume the wall was wet all the way through and that it dries at about an inch a month once the problem is resolved.

Meaco is the one, also super useful for drying laundry

Humidifier?

Yes, try not to use heat. A desiccant version will work well if the room is cold. Shut the doors to the room, put the DH on always-on, run a pipe from it to a drain if you can so you don't have to keep emptying the bloomin thing.

Don't count on it being done a few days though : /

Zambezi? (Dessicant - 8l)
Ultra low? (compressor - 25l)

My mafell only has 2 knobs to tighten it to the rail, and it’s the most expensive saw on the market, lol.

I have a Meaco Portable Dehumidifier DD8L Junior, which I assume to be a Dessicant. My parents have the bigger one, I was speaking to the quality of their product rather than a specifc model

@CYOA

I have the dd8l junior too and it's fantastic as far as dehumidifiers go. This article sets out the differences between the dd8l and the zambesi (which is more expensive). There wasn't anything there that I felt was worth the extra for me despite the presence of "happy and sad elephants on the display".

Anyone know what this oil is?

https://www.tikamoon.co.uk/art-syntilor-clear-furniture-oil-2682.htm

Is it a Danish oil?

Nope, no petro-chemicals so it's not Danish oil. From the description it seems to be a similar product to osmo polyx

After sanding and repainting some wooden louvred wardrobe doors, one of them seems to have warped. Is that something which happens?
I had them leaning against a wall when I painted - I wonder if maybe one of them was a bit skewed or something.
I used solvent-based primer and the solvent-based Dulux satinwood - waterbased would have dried far too fast for me to keep up with such a fiddly job.

Is that something which happens?

Any time you strip wood you allow it to absorb moisture which can potentially lead to movement.

Also if you left it leaning between the top and bottom gravity could help it decide to bow, especially if it's been like that for a while.

Finally if you sanded particularly vigorously (or applied too much pressure with a sander) and the wood had a high moisture content you could generate enough heat to soften then lignan in the timber and effectively steam bent it.

I'm guessing it's going to be difficult to persuade it to straighten out without some combination of heat and moisture? It's about 8mm out over the 2m length.

@Airhead has given you great advice - not much I can add (plus I'm late).

The advice I gave to senior bear about marking the door and frame is good for when your hanging many doors in timber frames (liners if I'm being pedantic). Because it helps you break the job down into parts and get a bit of a production line going. So: cut all doors to size, put all doors in frames and mark hinges, chop in hinges, swing doors and finally install locks and other iron mongery. I'll be doing that for weeks fairly soon as I've just taken a job installing all the fire doors for a new care home. Weeks of hanging doors with a 2mm tolerance on the gap, I can't wait #sarcasm

Yes, but that likely has better quality control out of the factory than a Titan or an "Excel" so needs less fucking around.

Also, Golf Club....

I'd start off with clamping it to a solid, flat surface for a day or two. If that doesn't work repeat with a shim in the centre of the bow so that you're bending it past the resting point. You're unlikely to get it 100% but should manage most of the way there. I can't guarantee that you won't crack the new finish.

Thanks!

Monty Don to the rescue

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