r/DIYUK

We recently purchased a lovely 1930’s semi-detached house which is long overdue for a modernisation. Originally in the hallway it was a thick shag carpet, which you can still see in the living room to the left of photo. There were some stains from…something…potentially oil or lubricant which has seeped through to the wood below.

We’re absolutely keeping the floors and will be taking the carpet up in the living room as well which also has the same flooring underneath.

I just thought I’d throw it out to this sub for any tips or suggestions on how to restore it and make it pop :)

Thanks all!

Hey folks!

I had a go (admittedly without a plan) at fixing a wonky windowsill in our downstairs loo a few months ago - I used polyfiller, chopsticks and credit cards to get it looking like this but as my fiancé pointed out we can and should aspire to a cleaner finish. Can you advise on which materials and equipment we should use to get a clean finish (nice straight lines, even surface) that we can then paint over?

Thanks a lot in advance from a clueless but enthusiastic DIYer

Father-in-law decided to place the hose reel probably about 2 meters high up the wall. What is everyone’s opinion on this?

I have mine on the wall at home around hip height and believe it’s perfect height.

So, I got the driveway re-surfaced. The workers lowered a gate on to the driveway before it hard hardened. I now have a gash in the tarmac that goes about an inch deep at the worst part of the damage. I have been on the phone and email to the contractor. He keeps fobbing me off, 'one of my workers was supposed to call' 'I'm on holiday' 'I'll get back to you'. It has been 3 weeks, my patience has run out. The plan is to post a review on Google Reviews with the photos to see if that motivates him to sort it out. This seems like a reasonable course of action, what do you guys think?

Can I fix this myself?

How can I fix and repair this so that the tarmac is protected from further damage and covers the unsightly gash?

Thanks.

PS worst of all, I over paid for it by a few hundred quid.

Hi, I live on the first floor of a four floor apartment block in London. Been here about a year. In the living room there is this large crack - it hasn’t really changed since I moved in but someone said it was serious so thought I would ask here. It’s plaster on a brick wall and the crack is near identical on the other side of the wall. I don’t think it is expanding however. Any thoughts ? Is the building about to cave in?

Hello there!

Last week I’ve noticed some ants going in and out of weep holes in the wall that’s next to my garden.

I had placed some bait stations in other places of the garden like 3 days ago but when I noticed the ants in the weep hole I repositioned them to be near the weep hole but I guess they are stale already…

Anyway, today I went outside and saw lots of activity on the weep holes including flying ants, so guess they’re mating…

Since I’m not originally from the UK and this is my first house, how concerned should I be with a colony in my cavity walls?

My immediate plan is to buy new bait stations and place them near the holes to try and kill the colony.

Any help is appreciated! Thanks

If I turn the tap on just a little bit, it's fine. But open it up and it makes this horrible noise. I've taken off the hose and connector and it still does it, so must be the tap itself. Help please before I drive myself and the neighbours mad

In a new build house for 3 and a bit years now. Had a number of garden problems the developer have either said isn’t an issue or isn’t their issue. This time one of the 2 man hole covers in our garden has started rocking. We have had a number of land settlement issues around this same area that keeps reoccurring and something we have “addressed” by the developer; they initially put more dirt around it filling the dip, then when we complained about the patio (nearby) sinking , which they sent someone out, dug a few holes and said there wasn’t an issue.

In all seriousness, how bad is this, and would it count as structural, so be covered by the 10 year NHBC warranty?

I’m not sure what to do if the developer fob it off again, solicitor perhaps?

On the side of my 1930s house the stone is all worn away and the hole around the toilet pipe goes all the way through. There’s a downstairs toilet the other side. What would be the simplest way to fix it? It’s down the side of the house so doesn’t need to look perfect.

Looking for budget friendly options to hire or buy breakers that would do the job.

There is a spot on the tiled walkway to my front door that has become a bit sunken, the tiles are starting to pop out of place. I had the mistaken idea that I could easily fix it by putting down some kiln-dried sand and laying the tiles back in their original spots once it was level - I can’t even bear to put up the “after” photos, it has not worked at all, they’re even more disjointed now. I should have seen that coming. It seems there is not a solid base beneath the whole path, the part that is sunken borders the edge of where a concrete base ends and the rest is clay I think.

My question is, how hard of a project is this to tackle on my own? I’ve never laid tile before. I have a good bit of time this summer and the B&Q is just down the road. I have a can-do attitude and very little practical experience that gets me in trouble with home projects at least as often as it gets a result. Am I going to wish I paid a pro to fix this, or is this a reasonable thing to try and do myself? I’d be grateful for advice and any recommendations you all have.

Just been replacing my sink taps and some of the pipework seems really odd. The flexi for the cold is coiled up incredibly tight,b possibly following installation of an outside tap, but the iso for the hot is really wobbly as shown in the video. Having said that it's not leaking...

Eveving one and all.

Bought this fireplace second hand and want to give it a little clean up before being fitted. Had a google etc but getting mixed answers on what to use to clean this up. Any help on products etc would be appreciated - oil, spirits etc.

Cheers

I bought a Victorian flat last year which hadn't been looked after very well - it had layers of wallpaper and paint on the walls which, when we took off, crumbled a lot of the plaster with it.

I had the wall and holes repaired and skimmed in limelite and have used Earthborne breathable paint but large patches of it are coming through darker. I first did a mist coat and then a solid coat, then I tried with a bonding primer underneath but no luck - the same patches come through (this one in the picture runs all the way through the bottom of the pictures on the wall - i attempted a gallery wall to hide the patch).

I had a damp survey which told me to make it breathable so I dont really want to cover it with anything not. Any ideas what I can do to stop these coming through?

The patches aren't wet to the touch, don't get any bigger and the other side of the wall is a cupboard which isn't damp and doesn't have these markings, so I really dont think it is damp.

Thanks for your help