DIY Chat

Nice DIY-ing.

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that was my concern, but mr pn wanted to go even darker!!!

we’ll just see how this goes. what’s the worst that can happen, eh?

Phone up the structural engineer and ask him if he doesn’t mind double checking his figures. Say that the builder thinks it should be bigger and you’re worried about the builder taking you for a ride.

If you’re removing a supporting wall you should also be getting building regs approval. They would be able to check the figures as well.

To be honest, engineers have huge safety factors in their calculations, so it’s very unlikely that it would fall down. The more likely scenario that results from him undersizing the beam is that building regs won’t give you sign off and as a result of that your buildings insurer gets a bit twitchy.

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Garden shit today, despite the rain. Splitting slabs is a hell of a motherfucker ain’t it?

One of the best things bout DIY is dangerously improvising at every stage. So when using a chisel to split a slab I had no safety goggles so just wore my shades. Good job too, wee bits of slab flying everywhere. Also made use of the various leftovers from the last house owner to make a jolly wee border and also used his kitchen floor tiles to provide a bed for some chips to go on. Every gamble paid off although I do now have a garden waste bin, filled to the brim with muck and it weighs a tonne. Sadly there is not a before and after pic, I don’t think. Will have a hunt because I know you are all on the edge of your seats.

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keep going

No proper before picture, I’m afraid. But my garden is largely slabbed but there was over near the shed a wee bordered off bit. Sadly the bit didn’t get the sun, the tiny wooden border was rotten and the soil was very clay-ish and sticky. So it had to go. Lot of muck removal but here are some photos. Looks better than it did and cost me nothing but a tenner for a big fuck off slab splitting chisel.

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Just for you, @epimer.

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Cheers

No bother, as recompense you could, as it looks like it needs it, come round and creosote my fence (not a euphemism).

Yeah, I’d bump it back to the engineer and ask him to double check again.

Approved inspectors (the building regs consultancy that the builder has suggested) are good value on large projects, but unless you’re rebuilding half your house, you should be able to deal with it via a Building Notice to the council, rather than a full plans application, and I’d be surprised if the approved inspector worked out cheaper than that. Obviously, if programme is more important to you, or if your builder only has a small window in which he can do your work, then it might be worth considering.

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Oh, and if it’s a supporting wall on the ground floor (eg a lounge-diner or kitchen-diner knock-through, then he won’t have needed to look in the loft.

Absolute dogshit at DIY. Recently the bathroom sink was draining slowly. In the past to my credit I have taken the underneath trap thing apart and poured a load of sludge out and job done. This time I tried the same but all the bits you untwist were stuck and needed to be squeezed open with some force. Then the fuckers didn’t want to go back together, the whole pointless labyrinth of pipes and connectors didn’t line up forcing me to waggle things about swearing all morning. Got it back together, still drained slowly, now it leaked from underneath. Fucking great. Took it all apart again, back together, better but the same and it looked like a seal underneath had perished so I called it a day.

Plumber came out and replaced the dead sink underparts, turned out the slow drainage was from a plant growing in an outside drain. One I had noticed for a while but put off removing because it was in an awkward place for a ladder. He just climbed on a wall.

The moral I find with a lot of things is I try and interfere, it fucks things up then I have to call an expert. I should have just done that to start with. Or removed the tree thing.

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My DIY fail rate is slowly falling, but I’m still bad. My problem is diving into stuff without preparing properly. Classic example is wanting to redo the sealant on the bath. Simple job, right? Decided that I wanted to take the taps off so I could do it really neatly and mask everything perfectly. So peeled off the old mastic, took the side panel thing off the side of the bath, then realised that I don’t own a tap spanner.

Ring my Dad. He owns one that I can borrow. Sorted.

Four months later, the job is complete and we can use the bath again. Mastic did look very neat though.

Aye, experience has taught me that skimping on prep can lead to some disasters but sometimes going with the flow is a giggle too. Well as much of a giggle as DIY ever is.

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My name is colin and I am a DIYholic. It has been 20 years since my last mains electrocution.

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It’s far from the smooth finish it should be (I’m hoping sanding it will help) but I plastered the wall!

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:clap: :clap: :clap:

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If I even had the cajones to try plastering I’d be over the moon if that was the outcome. Seriously impressive stuff :clap::clap:

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Thank you!

Never lived in a place in which DIY was really allowed, beyond the odd bit of painting/putting up blinds, etc.

Last time I went back to my mum’s house, her partner and I built a prayer stool out of a cherry tree from their wood, though—that was extremely fun/boojie af