r/DIYUK

Opened the tub today and I’m gobsmacked what had actually happened 😂

Neighbour has just informed me that they are going to remove this long hedge and replace with a long grey fence. Is there anything I can do as it’s on the boundary line? The land registry just shows a red rectangle around the house and garden. It’s a shame as we get a lot of wildlife. We are on a hill their garden is about 4ft higher than ours. Do I have a say in this or to just accept the sad fate?

*edit, thank you everyone for your help 🙏 I will offer to maintain the hedge, but i think it may have already been decided.

Still gotta fill the gap up in the ceiling and we have a new fridge freezer arriving tomorrow but overall I'm super chuffed !! We made the bench from IKEA tv units with added drawers for storage... The project began a couple months ago and I can't say I've noticed the lack of storage since.

Currently struggling through the first trimester however and doing all that painting killed me hahahah

Hi Everyone,

Had a few comments in the last thread asking for an update on the build. I’m now near lintel height at the front but a few more courses around the sides and back still to do.

A couple of points:

1. Really regretting the brick I chose. They are Hampton Rural Blend bricks. I thought they looked great but in my naivety I found out pretty quickly that they are pretty hard to lay. They are really inconsistent, every brick size is different, some are bananas, some look great, others pretty bad. If I could go back now I would have chosen something nice and standardised.
2. You will see from the bricks lower down that I changed the mortar dye after 5 or 6 courses. I wasn’t happy with how light it was. It does mean that I will have to rake it out at some point and repoint with the stuff I’ve used further up. The faces of brick could do with a bit of a clean as well which I’ll do once all brickwork is completed. The brick is obviously a lot dryer now than in the last post. There will be a shed against the right hand wall one day, so I may not bother racking that side out.

I’ve been thinking about how I’m going to do the roof. My main constraint is the 2.5m height. As of now, I’m at 2045mm height. I need a lintel across the top of the bifold capable of holding the roof and the weight of 12 solar panels. I was intending to build a “cold roof” but I’m now not so sure this is the best way. I would like to have the Bifold as tall as possible, and currently it is 1970mm tall. If I could go up one more course they’d be over 2m which is preferable. But right now I only have 455mm to play with for the roof.

I plan to bear the roof load on the outer skin, for reasons identified in the first post.

Could I switch to warm roof, but use joist hangers on the inside of the outer skin enabling me to go up further up with the brickwork? What I don’t want to end up with is a huge 300-400mm facia which often happens in warm rooves.

Failing that, If I stick with cold roof, does anyone know of a low profile (150mm) lintel suitable for the job, or perhaps an RSJ designed specifically for cold rooves with ventilation holes, so I could set the roof as low profile as possible. It might be that I just have to stick with a standard height lintel of 225mm, which would leave 230mm for wallplate, joists, osb and rubber. But In reality it wont be as close because of the birdsmounth in the wall plate. For anyone wondering the roof span is 4000mm, the bifold gap is 4400mm.

For anyone interested I have £5,633.87 in receipts so far, but some big items coming up. Hope to complete for just under 20k.

Think that’s everything for now, was really shocked by the great response on the last post, so hope you still like it.

Accidentally hit a cable when drilling for kitchen cabinet rail. What's my fix here? Is it diyable?

I’m currently renovating my bathroom due to a leak I found with the toilet flex tubing, I currently have it stripped back to what you can see with the photos we are looking to put a bath in can anyone recommend next steps I need to take I’m struggling now, future thanks !!!

BIG EDIT SORRY I SHOULD HAVE SAID THIS BEFORE: The two rooms should be able to connect when the gate is closed, as it is the kids’ room and our bedroom.

Hi all,

I previously asked about gating the landing area of these death stairs, and you gave me lots of really good ideas.

I didn’t realise the top was much, much harder than the landing.

Is there any solution without me completely building it myself?

( adding the landing photo for a reference to the previous post )

So pleased to have found this sub. I live in social housing, which I am in the process of cleaning up and redecorating. The property has these absolutely hideous light switches. Can anyone suggest a way to make them look a bit better? Obviously they need some tlc, but the bloody things are such as eyesore. I would love some recommendations on how to live with these and not be so irrationally annoyed by them. Thanks in advance.

So, I was tasked with removing a decking post. To cut a long story short, I got the drill stuck. I then decided to say the beam and try and split the remaining wood to get the drill out. Now the chisels are in too deep. Short of getting a new drill to rescue it, what can I do? Also, the original drill isn’t mine, so I’d really like to get it out and return it to the owner in one piece. Any advice much appreciated.

An Accoya chap visited and saw my old sash windows. He advised that they don't change the box in old Victorian properties if it appears to be in good condition, because there is no need. He tapped on them, tried to put a sharp item through, and said they're fine, I can just get new sashes.

He also said that because the old boxes are narrower for single pane windows, the new ones will be double but without a gap (or krypton) between them.

All the other contractors that quoted, gave me a quote about changing the box as well, as requested.

It can be a messy job changing the box as it's attached to tiles, ceiling and side architrave and changing just the sash is indeed going to be much simpler.

I was thinking of changing the whole lot when I was going to redo my kitchen, but that won't be happening for a while, so it's just the windows for now.

What do you think ? Was he just trying to sell, or is this solid advice? For me, the boxes look crap but they appear to be structurally fine.

We’re having a new flat roof installed with a skylight and have some worries about the workmanship. I’ve attached photos.

The things that are most worrying are:

-the membrane. It’s the green material and looks like it’s been cut so it doesn’t rise up alongside the upstand.
- the window upstand. They cut the hole too big so the manufacturer assembled upstand has been suspended on some screwed in timber. I have no idea how this should be plasterboarded and then insulated properly.
- the roof felt. It looks a bit crap. I appreciate it’s a glorified shed roof, but surely they should have used clear runs alongside the entirety of the roof surface.

Any suggestions are immensely appreciated. What’s weird is that they were the most expensive quote and are accepting payment after the job. So confusing.

Essentially would like to know if this is how you’d expect it to look the day before completion and if anything above is a definite problem. Also reached put to the window manufacturer for their thoughts.

Thanks for reading and appreciate any opinions

Had someone round to fix the ceiling below this that had collapsed due to mould. They also decided to rip off the felt roofing above this and leave it for weeks, it is now forecast to rain every day and they are taking literally weeks to respond to get back to the property to do the roof.

Shall I both putting those ripped pieces of felt back on the roof to cover it? And how likely is it that the standing water is going to penetrate into the room itself, undoing the work I've just spent nearly £2000 on.

Also sidenote - The quoted me £4000 to do only the roof. Given it is literally some OSB boards and a couple rolls of felt, that is ridiculous right? I'm pretty sure I know the answer just want to check I'm not going crazy (this company has very few negative reviews so not sure why I'm being taken for a ride).

Is there anyway to increase shower pressure on this?

I got this vanity from British Heart Foundation the other week and have been slowly trying to paint it! It was very farmhouse style before, greys and browns.

I'm super happy with the progress so far, I want a cutesy, retro, 70s type vibe but almost dollhouse?

Any advice on what to add, how to decorate, how to make more "vanity" esc, I.e. mirror on top, plants, I'm open to suggestion!

Also a quick one, I already have a big ol' mirror wardrobe in my room so I don't want anything too crazy mirrors wise!

Thanks!

I really want to do up my balcony which is a pretty good size. I want a greenery garden oasis in the concrete jungle kinda vibe. I also really really want to build a veranda type thing on it but have absolutely no idea how. Any help in what to think about etc to get started?? I’m happy and capable to do whatever work is possible to diy but don’t even know what I can do and what I can’t. I’ve included pictures of my balcony, a neighbours balcony which gave me the veranda idea so clearly wooden posts can be installed somehow, and then images of what I sort of want it to look like eventually. I have nothing but time so budget isn’t really a concern but I’m on a teachers income so let’s not go crazy.

Any help would be amazing!!

An extension built on the house before we got it has started having brick separation ?

What do I need to do ? What's happened here ?

I believe it has something to do with the concrete surrounding it as it's also quite cracked but I had a survey done before on the house and they said it wasn't subsidence but don't know what's happening.

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