The DIY thread

[blandy]

Just now, OutByEaster? said:

I can see the old door getting patched up and given a bit of love in the immediate future!

Just over Christmas, after 3 years or so of prevaricating, I fixed the side door on the garage that way. It was rotten and getting worse at the bottom, a rat had made a walt-disney cartoon style entrance hole at the bottom and slugs and snails had been munching it. It too was an irregular sized door.

Then there was a storm late December and next doors back fence and gate got utterly trashed. When they replaced them I salvaged a load of wood from the debris, sawed the bottom of my door off, made a new lower part out of the salvaged wood and job's a good 'un (for a garage door).

[sidcow]

7 hours ago, tinker said:

You can buy doors with more material to remove , there more expensive though and check the sides, top and bottom have the same amount of material to remove, some have different amounts around the same door. 

Don't they normally tell you how much is OK to remove to fit? I'm sure I've seen that stated when I've looked at doors. 

[Lichfield Dean]

8 hours ago, OutByEaster? said:

Anyone know anything about doors?

I need an interior door, but it's not a regular size - it's 1960 x 755 and the norm appears to be 1981 x 762.

If I buy a moulded door, will I be able to take 21mm off the height without breaking the outer layer of the door?

Is getting a door down to size a painfully difficult job?

Does anyone know where I can buy doors that are outside of the usual?

 

I used a thing called a Power Plane, basically an electric wood plane that chomps quickly through the wood. Not too expensive and a lot easier than trying to use a manual plane! Probably only take a few minutes with one, but be careful, they can gouge large chunks of wood out if you get impatient!

[tinker]

11 hours ago, sidcow said:

Don't they normally tell you how much is OK to remove to fit? I'm sure I've seen that stated when I've looked at doors. 

Yep that's what i was trying to say, they give figures like 8mm to on the sides 12mm on the top and bottom.

[Mandy Lifeboats]

23 hours ago, OutByEaster? said:

Anyone know anything about doors?

I need an interior door, but it's not a regular size - it's 1960 x 755 and the norm appears to be 1981 x 762.

If I buy a moulded door, will I be able to take 21mm off the height without breaking the outer layer of the door?

Is getting a door down to size a painfully difficult job?

Does anyone know where I can buy doors that are outside of the usual?

 

Some of the larger DIY stores have a wood cutting service for a nominal price.  They will do a clean cut in seconds. Maybe cut it 1mm too big on each 3dge so that you can sand it smooth? 

My local store will make 1 cut for free. Its then £1 per cut.  Worth every penny. 

[AlwaysAVFC]

Not DIY as such as I'm going to need someone to do it.

Our bathroom is dated and since we moved in a year ago the extra people living in the house compared to the previous owner who was on her own, at least recently anyway. Has meant the tiling on the floor has got a hammering and the wall aren't great either.

We were looking to do it on a budget, largely keeping the bath, sink, toilet and trying to get some quotes but I'm starting to think that the cost might not be as low as I want it and it may be more sensible to do completely re do it.

Has anyone got any good feedback/recommendations from the DIY/bathroom stores that offer interest free credit? Have heard in passing of high costs for fitting so not sure if this outweighs any 0% credit or whether the installation is paid upfront anyway?

Otherwise I guess it's a loan/credit card and going through someone local to fit or supply and fit.

[maqroll]

Anyone ever switched out a circuit breaker?

 

[AlwaysAVFC]

Anyone able to help avoid me killing myself?

Attempting to put new light switches on, and was expecting it to not be straight forward In terms of them fitting but I've stumbled at first hurdle. My wiring is pretty old and has 3 red wires going into 1 point and 1 into another. The new fitting has 2 points for L1 and 2 L2's plus another one separate.

There are 2 lights in the room currently 1 switch operates one light x 2. Which I wasn't trying to change, just a straight swap of fitting.

 

[Davkaus]

The top 3 wires will have one going in to power that, and the other two will be running off to power some of your other switches nearby, the bottom one will be your switched live.

I'm a DIY novice with no electrical training, so don't take my word for it, but it looks to me like you've got the wrong new switch, you want a one way switch and you've bought an intermediate switch which is used to control a light from multiple locations.

Edit: Doing a bit of reading it sounds like you can use an intermediate switch as a one way, and you'd just use one of the top L1s as the normal L1, and one of the L2s as the COM, so essentially just stick the same 3 grouped together to the top, and the single one into the bottom, and it ought to work. Personally I'd probably get the standard 1 one switch so people don't wonder wtf is going on in a few years, but with the old wiring, they're probably going to be confused one way or another                                   

It's the middle scenario

Edited April 26, 2022 by Davkaus

[blandy]

1 hour ago, AlwaysAVFC said:

There are 2 lights in the room currently 1 switch operates one light x 2. Which I wasn't trying to change, just a straight swap of fitting.

This bit is not quite clear to me.

I'm wary of saying I'm correct because I don't know if there's another switch controlling the same light(s), or if there are 2 lights or just one?

I think what you're doing is just replacing the switch with a new one, so all you need to do is repeat the wiring connections that were in the old switch. The new one you have is designed to be an intermediate switch (but can be used as a 2 way or a one way switch) 

• A one way switch is for just opening or closing the contact to switch power to a light.
• A 2 way switch  is for like where you have a landing light on stairs, and a switch at the top of the stairs and another at the bottom, so either will switch the light on/off
• An intermediate switch allows a third light switch to be used (like on the stairs example, but with one at the top of the stairs, one at the bottom and another half way down).

(Your old switch looks to have been put in upside down, but that doesn't matter either. Normally the "common" terminal would be the one with the 3 wires (permanent live), and the other terminal (switched live) the one to the light, but it doesn't matter in terms of working, as it's just make or break connection). (Also there are 2 different ways of wiring lights, and old way and a new way. But you don't really need to worry about that - you just need to replicate the old connections)

I think what you're aiming to do is just replace the old switch with your newer one, and nothing else at all?

It may be as follows - The single wire on your existing switch goes to a/the light to be switched and of the 3 together, one is specifically a feed in to the switch. The second wire is the feed out of the switch to be carried on to the next socket and the third wire is also a feed out to another socket. But I have a little bit of doubt because I don't know anything other than what you've written about what else is on the same spur.

Do you have a multimeter?

Anyway: First Turn the power OFF at the mains consumer unit/fuse box/CB box.

Make sure it's definitely off (use multimeter or current detector to confirm if possible).

Make sure that the single wire is marked in some way so you can definitely tell it form the other 3 red ones - a bit of tape or pen ink

Disconnect the old switch

Connect the 3 wires to  L1 (permanent live) on your new switch and the one wire to the corresponding L2 (switched live) terminal.

Make sure the wires are all properly gripped and held in place and can't come out of the switch.

I made a picture to help, maybe

Put the power on, test the switch works.

Turn the power back off

Screw the switch to the wall box

Turn the power on

Test it's all good.

If you're in any doubt or concern about understanding what you're doing, find a real life human who can look at your wiring and who has knowledge to help you. Electricity can be fatal.

 

[blandy]

Slightly bigger context. The second bulb is 'cus you said "switch operates one light x 2"

[AlwaysAVFC]

Hadn't noticed until now but there was one Intermediate switch amongst the others we bought. I've had them a while so rather than change it I've used it as suggested. The intermediate one threw me having not noticed what it was.

Anyway 2 switches and 2 sockets done. Well I say done, some of the sockets/switch surrounds need tidying up before I decorate.

 

Thank you 

[Davkaus]

3 minutes ago, AlwaysAVFC said:

Hadn't noticed until now but there was one Intermediate switch amongst the others we bought. I've had them a while so rather than change it I've used it as suggested. The intermediate one threw me having not noticed what it was.

Anyway 2 switches and 2 sockets done. Well I say done, some of the sockets/switch surrounds need tidying up before I decorate.

 

Thank you 

Glad you're still alive  

[blandy]

12 minutes ago, Davkaus said:

Glad you're still alive  

No shock there, then.

[mjmooney]

13 minutes ago, blandy said:

No shock there, then.

Watt? Is that all you can currently come up with? 

[blandy]

1 minute ago, mjmooney said:

Watt? Is that all you can currently come up with? 

I didn't think more puns would make a potential difference.

[mjmooney]

29 minutes ago, blandy said:

I didn't think more puns would make a potential difference.

I give up. Resistance is useless. 

[blandy]

57 minutes ago, mjmooney said:

I give up. Resistance is useless. 

Yeah - Go ohm.

[Dante_Lockhart]

I hate anything to do with DIY, especially anything that involves drilling into the house (mainly because if I feck up I have to sort the hole out) - BUT, I have been getting better.

Put in a whole new fence down the one side of the garden with the chap next door (It's still up 3 years later)

helped my mate with our extension build (mainly lacky work but had a go at knocking the walls down, laying the foundations, built the kitchen and did first fix etc..)

and recently helped the brother in law with his bathroom that he gutted (only a few days - did some tile cutting/mixing/measuring)

Edited April 26, 2022 by Dante_Lockhart

[Chindie]

Here's a post I thought I'd never make...

I am useless at anything DIY. I can remember my dad seemingly doing anything like this with his eyes closed (I even helped with the menial tasks a few times). Yet I have attempted to put some shelves up using brackets and I seem to have made a complete pigs ear of it, to the extent it seems like I should reset the whole thing and let someone else do it.

My question - what would you use to fill some fairly large, deep holes in brick on an interior wall that could then be used to drill into and fix shelves to?