r/diynz

Hi guys,

I’ve recently bought a new home, and ripped out the old, sorry excuse for pergola (it was made of 2x4s , half rotten and nailed to the fence).

I’m considering putting a spa underneath the left-most bay, outdoor seating and bbq closer to the right near the house. Staining as well, maybe in the summer when the wood has fully dried out.

I’m also considering putting a polycarb roof on, with guttering running down the back and side, emptying out onto the existing roof gutter. But I understand there may be consent issues if I put a roof on, is the council likely to just randomly pop by and inspect it, and ask me to take it down?

You have blocked this post incorrectly, yes a person should get a licensed trades person in to conduct plumbing works if they are altering pipe work etc.

As a home owner you can undertake small tasks which are repairing washers inside taps and valves or replacing the valve/ tap like for like.

This post is about a basic issue inside a toilet cistern. It has serviceable parts using washer kits or simple direct replacements. They are asking about what specific part they need.

Whats kinda flashing profile would you go with here? I was thinking of also using a hardies board for the bottom weatherboard, just would be cool to have a flashing to protect the framing.

I’m nervous something sinister is lying behind the weatherboards, so it’s probably a can full of worms incoming..

I’m at a loss!
We have a leak in the corner where the shower glass meets the wall.

It had been leaking slowly and was behind a rubbish bin so ended up damaging the gib.
I ripped out the wet gib and old silicone, and then left it open for a few days to check for leaks.
No leaks! (Or so I thought)
After using filler and letting that dry, and then painting a primer coat, tonight i see it is wet…
I cant for the life of me think of where this water could be coming from.

Any suggestions? There is no silicone on the glass wall or door on the inside, but the other walls have new silicone.

Im wondering if water may be leaking down behind the mixer. Hope not.
I could use some advice please

Hi everyone, planning to stain about 25m of fence and just wondering if this sprayer will do the job or if it’s more for paint only? Never done it before — do I need to back brush after spraying? Any tips appreciated. Cheers.

Painting walls low sheen warm white. Painting skirting semi-gloss white.

Will have mid-grey carpet.

I want to paint it white but my wife wants me to keep it natural so I've sanded it to buggery.

What should I do with it to finish it?

I have a relatively new plywood furniture set in my kid’s bedroom. Last night he had an accident just before bedtime, and dribbled some wee on the stairs. I sprinkled baking soda on it, but still woke up to this ugly stain this morning. Is there anything that can be done to minimize it?

You can also see he felt the need to take a pen to each of the stairs (labeled “S” for “stairs”…I guess in case he forgot what they were??). I assume those are there for good barring a total paint job, but I’d take any suggestions for that, too!

I need to change some light fittings, and i cant for the life of me find any decent ceiling light fittings that takes light bulbs. Everything is built in LED!

For many reasons, i dont want built in LED

• if anything happens, i need to buy another one - and will likely not be able to match the look
• want to be able to make it brighter, dimmer, adjust color temperature if i dont like the default (i can buy bulbs to match my taste)
• optionally smart - i can buy smart bulbs etc if i want it smart, or use dumb bulbs if i want ti dumb.

My main requirement is that its fairly flush on the ceiling (not ones that hang down), and looks decent without having to sell a kidney.

I looked everywhere i can think of, some shops have one or two at best - they either sound really shit (in terms of reviews), or looks really shit.

Any idea where one can find a decent light fitting that takes bulbs? Or is this one of those lost technologies now?

EDIT: clarifying some of the confusion. When i say Bulbs, i actually mean LED Bulbs (like E27 bulbs) - i hate that LEDS now come fixed to the fitting rather than allowing us to put our own LED bulbs. Secondly, i dont mean downlights, i mean light fittings like this where light is nicely diffused and the bulb is not directly visible (not that these are any good, but as an example): https://www.ikea.com/nz/en/p/kaerrnocka-ceiling-lamp-white-20599465/

We've got an old concrete water tank collecting rain water (it was the water supply pre there being a mains supply back in the 60s/70s), see picture.

We often use this water for watering the garden, hosing down the car etc, the only problem being it's only accessible via a heavy concrete hatch. To date we leave the hatch pried open and drop a submersible pump in as needed, but ideally we want to close it when not in use.

Looking for suggestions as to how to do this without having to move the (heavy!) concrete hatch every time, while still wanting whatever we replace it with to be strong enough to walk over.

Any ideas/advice always appreciated!