Basic DIY questions?

[kalmatthew]

Some interior plastics seem to be prone to collecting dust and looking grubby quite quickly - and, perhaps ironically, while ostensibly maintenance-free, are a pain if any maintenance IS needed. I'd probably choose wood, but I'm an old fuck with years of ingrained prejudice to filter everything through .

Despite my initial feeling that plastic was the right answer this and the fact that the wood option means the surround can stay in place which I guess minimises the risk to the plaster is making me think wood should win. Also I've realised that if the gloss yellows or gets mucky it can be repainted, I plastic yellows I'm fucked!

Get one that seals well and is backed with foam insulation

Thats the plan!

 

[MrCurry]

I’ve been tackling MiL’s outside pir security light, which hasn’t worked since I installed it last weekend. I found the issue, do you see it?


Look closer…

 

[existentialist]

I’ve been tackling MiL’s outside pir security light, which hasn’t worked since I installed it last weekend. I found the issue, do you see it?
View attachment 440576

Look closer…

View attachment 440577

Ooer. Looks like someone was a bit enthusiastic with the cable stripper...

 

[danski]

I’ve been tackling MiL’s outside pir security light, which hasn’t worked since I installed it last weekend. I found the issue, do you see it?
View attachment 440576

Look closer…

View attachment 440577

Well spotted. Fault finding can be so satisfying

 

[existentialist]

Well spotted. Fault finding can be so satisfying

Or not

 

[danski]

Or not

True true

 

[WouldBe]

Well spotted. Fault finding can be so satisfying

The other easier fault is the live and earth aren't connected to anything.

 

[Elpenor]

I’m planning on putting a water butt in my front garden, to benefit from the downpipe off my porch. This isn’t the question though!

Someone suggested I screen the water butt with trellis panels as can plant something up the trellis. As water butts fairly utilitarian.


I think this would mean drilling into the concrete pad so I can screw in those right angled metal clips for the trellis panels to be attached to.

Is this wise? I don’t want to split the concrete or anything like that. Can I do it with a regular corded drill (the cheapest one from Wickes, I don’t have anything fancy)

 

[StoneRoad]

I’m planning on putting a water butt in my front garden, to benefit from the downpipe off my porch. This isn’t the question though!

Someone suggested I screen the water butt with trellis panels as can plant something up the trellis. As water butts fairly utilitarian.

View attachment 441568
I think this would mean drilling into the concrete pad so I can screw in those right angled metal clips for the trellis panels to be attached to.

Is this wise? I don’t want to split the concrete or anything like that. Can I do it with a regular corded drill (the cheapest one from Wickes, I don’t have anything fancy)

Yes, you can. Will be better/easier with a masonry bit. Rawl plug the hole for a good grip, as plants can make a trellis very top heavy.

e2a - don't forget to allow for overflow to go down the drain. [speaking from experience !]

 

[teuchter]

You'll need a masonry bit and you want a drill with a hammer function really.

But if you are planning to support the trellis panels only at the bottom, this may be destined to fail.

If you arrange the panels so that they are fixed to each other at right angles then they will be much more stable and you don't have to rely on the strength of whatever is attaching them to the ground. It may not be necessary to fix them to the ground at all. Depending on the exact details of what you want to do, it might be better to fix them to the water butt itself.

 

[Saunders]

you can get some quite pretty water butts, if the trellis thing proves too much of a chore.

 

[Elpenor]

You'll need a masonry bit and you want a drill with a hammer function really.

But if you are planning to support the trellis panels only at the bottom, this may be destined to fail.

If you arrange the panels so that they are fixed to each other at right angles then they will be much more stable and you don't have to rely on the strength of whatever is attaching them to the ground. It may not be necessary to fix them to the ground at all. Depending on the exact details of what you want to do, it might be better to fix them to the water butt itself.

I must admit I hadn’t thought how they’d be attached other than the bottom. That’s a very good point. I’m not how I would attach to a bog standard cheap plastic water butt either.

Free standing panels could work in a C or U shape I suppose if attached to each other. The area the butt will be is exposed to prevailing winds coming off Dartmoor which I should consider too.

 

[Elpenor]

you can get some quite pretty water butts, if the trellis thing proves too much of a chore.

I hadn’t thought of that, expect they’re more expensive but then maybe not when I add in trellis panels etc

 

[teuchter]

I must admit I hadn’t thought how they’d be attached other than the bottom. That’s a very good point. I’m not how I would attach to a bog standard cheap plastic water butt either.

Free standing panels could work in a C or U shape I suppose if attached to each other. The area the butt will be is exposed to prevailing winds coming off Dartmoor which I should consider too.

Yes, three panels fixed together in a U shape would be fairly stable. How you could attach to the water butt would depend on its design obviously but it might be that it could be as simple as tying them back with garden twine or something. The water butt will be heavy with water in it and won't be going anywhere in the wind. The higher up you can make the attachment of the trellis panels, the better.

 

[Saunders]

I hadn’t thought of that, expect they’re more expensive but then maybe not when I add in trellis panels etc

Yeah, I bought one in my old house that was sort of verdigris effect bee hive shape. It was at the time about £60.
Similar to this

Beehive Water Butt Terraccina 300L | Gables and Gardens

 

[Leafster]

I hadn’t thought of that, expect they’re more expensive but then maybe not when I add in trellis panels etc

You can also get them with built-in planting areas. Like this 134L Rainwater Terrace Water Butt Planter - 2 Tier in Dark Green with Black Base

There's a lot to choose from but they do tend to be dearer. In some cases, quite a lot dearer!

 

[Elpenor]

Thanks all! Off to look at water butts

 

[iona]

Thanks all! Off to look at water butts

If you're looking at the standard ones and not something expensive and pretty, your council might have a deal to get you a discount. Can't remember the website most councils use but you should be able to find it on your council's website or by googling. Bear in mind you'll also want a base so it's high enough to fill watering cans from the tap at the bottom, and a diverter kit that fits your drainpipe.

If that concrete pad is sloped much for runoff you might need to make a level surface for the water butt base to sit on, assuming you're planning on standing the butt itself on the concrete.

 

[Elpenor]

If you're looking at the standard ones and not something expensive and pretty, your council might have a deal to get you a discount. Can't remember the website most councils use but you should be able to find it on your council's website or by googling. Bear in mind you'll also want a base so it's high enough to fill watering cans from the tap at the bottom, and a diverter kit that fits your drainpipe.

If that concrete pad is sloped much for runoff you might need to make a level surface for the water butt base to sit on, assuming you're planning on standing the butt itself on the concrete.

No council deals, the local water supplier also no longer has a scheme.

Will check the level of the concrete pad (which is where I was planning on siting the butt) but pretty certain it’s near enough flat, the part closest to grass is slightly lower, presumably for water runoff - a line is just about visible.

I reckon the standard 100l slim ones are best for the space I have available and I can possibly fit in a second with a connector pipe.

 

[RiderOnTheStorm]

Yeah, I bought one in my old house that was sort of verdigris effect bee hive shape. It was at the time about £60.
Similar to this

Beehive Water Butt Terraccina 300L | Gables and Gardens

that looks the bees-knees !! (soz....)

Elpenor , hate to add to your decision process, but think about raising it off the ground before you set it up. High enough to get a bucket / watering-can under the tap. A couple (4?) concrete blocks with a paving slab on top would be all that needed. Not very pretty though .....

 

[bellaozzydog]

So I’m now inhabiting a box room. It has the standard stairs box cut out.

I’ve downsized my possessions to the point where this space is workable…

I just need inspiration on how to design the room so I have a 3/4 bed and loads of storage above, below etc

All tips hints hacks and inspiration gratefully accepted



The mattress in the photo is my car camping mattress. Probably looking for a little bit more width and length.

I live in cabins on ships and in containers most my working life so used to being fairly compact

Guessing it’s going to be timber framework holding the bed up and bespoke or imea hacked units

 

[Zapp Brannigan]

So I’m now inhabiting a box room. It has the standard stairs box cut out.

I’ve downsized my possessions to the point where this space is workable…

I just need inspiration on how to design the room so I have a 3/4 bed and loads of storage above, below etc

All tips hints hacks and inspiration gratefully accepted



The mattress in the photo is my car camping mattress. Probably looking for a little bit more width and length.

I live in cabins on ships and in containers most my working life so used to being fairly compact

Guessing it’s going to be timber framework holding the bed up and bespoke or imea hacked units

The stair box looks to be a good height for a bed - little bit high maybe but loads of room underneath for storage, whether built in as drawers/cupboards or just by having plastic tubs under there.

If you get the mattress and bed slats from IKEA or similar, would be really easy to build a frame that fits that space using the stair box in lieu of 1 corner post (use 4 x 4 for the other 3).

If the length of the space from the window wall to the door wall is longer than the mattress, build out a bookshelf as kind of recessed headboard - having a shelf above for your current book, a reading light, plug socket for phone etc does away with the need for a bedside table.

 

[Boudicca]

I think there is quite a popular IKEA hack with kallax units as the bed frame.

 

[existentialist]

I think there is quite a popular IKEA hack with kallax units as the bed frame.

Yeah, it'd end up like a MALM on steroids

 

[RiderOnTheStorm]

Was thinking Kalix myself (I have a couple of units and love them). Floor to ceiling units, as long as one wall (or as close as you can). Maybe not quite up to the ceiling, leave a couple of feet of a gap for very large items (suitcase, golf clubs , swords , etc )
Maybe a bed over the stair box, but raised as high off the ground as you dare (you will have to get a frame to support it - think of bunk bed with no ground bed). The foot of the bed will overlap / cover some of the window so if you want max light, this might not be an option, but it would give you some area under the bed for desk & chair or additional storage.

 

[Mation]

Help needed to not fry myself, please!

I was feeling confident about changing a broken double light switch, having watched a YouTube vid, but now I'm in the middle of it, I'm not so sure

I isolated the downstairs lights (and checked that I had by trying a light). All good.


Then I unscrewed the old switch and took some pics of how it was wired.


There was rather more going on than the example in the video, so when I unscrewed the wires, I bent them, top and bottom, to make it more obvious where they had been.


However, the back of the old switch is configured a bit differently to the new one.

Old switch (left to right)
Top: COM, 2W, 1W
Bottom: 2W, 1W, COM


New switch (left to right)
Top: 2W, 1W; 2W, 1W
Bottom: COM; COM


Plus, the old switch (pictured on the left) had an extra wire that (I think ) was like so, from 1W to 1W:


For completeness, here's the old, broken switch, and the new, from the front:


So what should I connect to what, please?

danski?

 

[danski]

Right, you done good. It all looks clear. (they done good too, bringing the cables down in line with where they should be in the switch)

The link goes between 1way and 1 way (the new switch just has both up the same way)



Diagonal line denotes the split between the switches

On the right hand side, it's just a case of the yellow going down the the bottom and the other cables coming up to the top iyswim


I'm off out but I'll check back in a bit

 

[danski]

Mation you’re not dead are you?!

 

[Mation]

Mation you’re not dead are you?!

checks

I don't think so

Apologies! I missed your reply above.

Thank you muchly!

I've had wine now, so will wait till the morning to follow your instruction. It seems really clear, though

 

[Mation]

Right, you done good. It all looks clear. (they done good too, bringing the cables down in line with where they should be in the switch)

The link goes between 1way and 1 way (the new switch just has both up the same way)

View attachment 448510

Diagonal line denotes the split between the switches

On the right hand side, it's just a case of the yellow going down the the bottom and the other cables coming up to the top iyswim


I'm off out but I'll check back in a bit

Success!

Well... Mostly success. It works, anyway

I now have a light on the stairs again, but it turns on by putting the switch into the off position.


The left switch is for the hall light, and the right for the stairs. Both lights are on in the picture. And there's another switch for the stairs light at the top of the stairs, which also now has to be in an off position to switch the light on. I assume this is fine.

Is it fine?

And I also didn't quite manage to make it line up exactly with where the old switch was, but that's easy to sort out cosmetically. Minor stuff.

The main thing is, you made the wiring super easy, when at first it looked like a total muddle, to me. So many thank yous, a donation to the server fund on top of my regular, and a pint next time I see you! (I'll get one for you, as well! )