Show us yer house and house-related meddlings

[Shippou-Sensei]

Key got stuck in a lock upstairs.

Tried wd40 and gentle percussive maintenance to no avail. Even tried a heavy duty vibratory to see if I could loosen the mechanism. All to no avail.
Had to cut the face plate off the front with my dremmel to get better access to it to see if I could do anything else. When that didn't work I had to take the door jam off by taking out the wood plugs and unscrewing it and using a chisel to do the rest.
In the end I used a reciprocal saw to cut into the lock tounge. After a wile I had a bit of a groove cut into the tounge. As it would take forever to try to cut all the way through I used a metal pick to stick in the groove and levered it back in while turning the key. That got it open.
Some sticky gunk had got into the mechanism.
Put the door back together without the lock as a Temporary fix.

 

[Cloo]

Plastering done; tiling for next 2 days...

View attachment 425510View attachment 425511View attachment 425512View attachment 425513

(Patches on the plaster due to knackered phone camera)

We have those tiles in our kitchen, they are a lovely colour. Funnily enough our mates who've just totally rebuilt their house have the same in their new bathroom too.

 

[Dystopiary]

We have those tiles in our kitchen, they are a lovely colour. Funnily enough our mates who've just totally rebuilt their house have the same in their new bathroom too.

They're nice.

 

[Cloo]

I've got to say, I am getting tired of our kitchen. I've never liked it as much as the kitchen in our last place and it has not aged well - it's Ikea as was our last, but that still looked good after 5 years. Our current one started looking tatty around the edges early on and is only getting worse after 6 years. My new job brings the possibility of decent bonuses and I recently realised I had more in savings than I thought so if I do land a bonus next year I think I will float the idea with my other half of spending proper money on the sort of kitchen that could last us the rest of our tenure here.

I've been looking at kitchens online and note that coloured ones seem to be very much in, so clearly we should go for a wood or neutral one. One of the things I liked about our last kitchen was that it was a deeply unfashionable 'Provence' style

 

[Epona]

I've got to say, I am getting tired of our kitchen. I've never liked it as much as the kitchen in our last place and it has not aged well - it's Ikea as was our last, but that still looked good after 5 years. Our current one started looking tatty around the edges early on and is only getting worse after 6 years. My new job brings the possibility of decent bonuses and I recently realised I had more in savings than I thought so if I do land a bonus next year I think I will float the idea with my other half of spending proper money on the sort of kitchen that could last us the rest of our tenure here.

I've been looking at kitchens online and note that coloured ones seem to be very much in, so clearly we should go for a wood or neutral one. One of the things I liked about our last kitchen was that it was a deeply unfashionable 'Provence' style

I think the important thing is to get good cabinet units that aren't going to fall apart after a few years. You can always change the doors in future if something goes out of fashion or you no longer like it or just want a change of decor, and it's a lot cheaper and easier to have that done in x number of years than it is to have the whole thing ripped out and rebuilt.

So I think if you have a bit of cash to splash, go for some quality cabinets and a good build with fairly standard sized doors and drawer fronts that can be replaced down the line if need be. Structure as the priority.

 

[quimcunx]

When people change doors what about all the sides of cupboards and edges and infills?

 

[Artaxerxes]

Replaced the hall carpet and now we are greedily contemplating doing the bedroom as the hall stuff is much nicer than any other room

 

[Cloo]

Now I'm starting a job may finally think about doing son's bedroom, which is only unrecorated space in house. It needs a second light fitting and more sockets before redecorating as well.

 

[Epona]

Now I'm starting a job may finally think about doing son's bedroom, which is only unrecorated space in house. It needs a second light fitting and more sockets before redecorating as well.

Congrats on the job Cloo - I'm made up for you!

 

[equationgirl]

When people change doors what about all the sides of cupboards and edges and infills?

I've only ever had to change doors. One reason I haven't updated my current kitchen is because of all of bits you mention that are the same finish as the cupboards, so if the doors get changed then remaining bits are going to look really odd.

 

[Shippou-Sensei]

The bench in the garden had the joint of the back come loose.

With my aunts assistance we drilled out the fitting with a forster bit then glued in oak dowels and cut flush.
We got some new threaded inserts as the old ones were manky. Fitted them and put everything back together again.

 

[mx wcfc]

The bench in the garden had the joint of the back come loose.

With my aunts assistance we drilled out the fitting with a forster bit then glued in oak dowels and cut flush.
We got some new threaded inserts as the old ones were manky. Fitted them and put everything back together again.

View attachment 429660

Forstner bit googled and added to the "want" list.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

think i mentioned somewhere a month or so back that fence in the garden was leaning - it's a bit unclear whether fence is technically mine or the council's (it's leasehold flat, there's a little bit of the communal garden that's in theory mine and this fence was along the back edge of it, round what used to be an enclosed bit for washing lines.)

i took this up with council at the time, and asked was it my responsibility or theirs or what. latest was they were still thinking about it.

apparently neighbour complained about it this week, and someone from maintenance contractors was here today and took it down. unfortunately i was on a call for work, and didn't get a chance to go and ask him what was happening before he had gone, so will need to make contact again on monday and find out what happens next.

some people are too quick to take a fence...

 

[Epona]

think i mentioned somewhere a month or so back that fence in the garden was leaning - it's a bit unclear whether fence is technically mine or the council's (it's leasehold flat, there's a little bit of the communal garden that's in theory mine and this fence was along the back edge of it, round what used to be an enclosed bit for washing lines.)

i took this up with council at the time, and asked was it my responsibility or theirs or what. latest was they were still thinking about it.

apparently neighbour complained about it this week, and someone from maintenance contractors was here today and took it down. unfortunately i was on a call for work, and didn't get a chance to go and ask him what was happening before he had gone, so will need to make contact again on monday and find out what happens next.

some people are too quick to take a fence...

 

[Shippou-Sensei]

Cleaned out a drain. Started with the pressure washer but in the end it was on hands an knees with an old saucepan that got the bulk of the job done.

Put some wire up on the gardennwall to get the plants to grow along it and took dien a bit of a tree that was causing a lot of shade in the back of the garden.

 

[Callie]

Don't put up with nothing/noone throwing shade

 

[Fez909]

I have a problem. My office window won't open anymore, so I thought I'd try a new handle. I've removed the top screw, after removing the screw cover, but I can't get the bottom cover off.

Normally you just put something thin in the gap like a stanley knife or thin flat head screwdriver, but the gap is too small. I've tried hammering a screwdriver in, but I'm scared about breaking the window - and it's not helped.

What else can I do? It's absolutely boiling and I need some air

 

[teuchter]

Careful hammering using a sharp chisel rather than screwdriver?

 

[Shippou-Sensei]

I have a problem. My office window won't open anymore, so I thought I'd try a new handle. I've removed the top screw, after removing the screw cover, but I can't get the bottom cover off.

Normally you just put something thin in the gap like a stanley knife or thin flat head screwdriver, but the gap is too small. I've tried hammering a screwdriver in, but I'm scared about breaking the window - and it's not helped.

What else can I do? It's absolutely boiling and I need some air

View attachment 430443

Don't you need to take the handle off before you get the faceplate off? Or is this photo from earlier in the demonstration?

 

[Fez909]

Don't you need to take the handle off before you get the faceplate off? Or is this photo from earlier in the demonstration?

No, there are two screws and they have covers. The covers are just pushed into place, not fastened. The top one came off easily, using a stanley knife, but the bottom one is the one in the pic that's all scratched from my attempts to remove it.

Once it's off, there's just a screw to undo and the entire handle comes off in one piece.

Careful hammering using a sharp chisel rather than screwdriver?

I thought this might be working, but now I just have a damaged chisel and still can't get it off

Good idea, though, thanks.

 

[danski]

I have a problem. My office window won't open anymore, so I thought I'd try a new handle. I've removed the top screw, after removing the screw cover, but I can't get the bottom cover off.

Normally you just put something thin in the gap like a stanley knife or thin flat head screwdriver, but the gap is too small. I've tried hammering a screwdriver in, but I'm scared about breaking the window - and it's not helped.

What else can I do? It's absolutely boiling and I need some air

View attachment 430443

Dunno but have a look here to see if yours is there or something similar.
Their pics might reveal enough to help. Better still, there might ea fitting guide

Amazon.co.uk : window handle replacement

 

[danski]

Also, if the cover/blank/plug is stuck, maybe whack a thin screwdriver into it, with a view to piercing it and then levering it out

 

[Fez909]

Dunno but have a look here to see if yours is there or something similar.
Their pics might reveal enough to help. Better still, there might ea fitting guide

Amazon.co.uk : window handle replacement

I know how to fit them, and have done two already. It's just that I can't get the screw cover off. Everywhere just says use a stanley knife, but the fit is too tight to get in behind the cover, so I can't remove it. I don't have anything thin enough and strong enough to do the job, so I'm stuck.

 

[Fez909]

Also, if the cover/blank/plug is stuck, maybe whack a thin screwdriver into it, with a view to piercing it and then levering it out

This is the issue, yeah. I'll give that a go.

 

[Fez909]

Also, if the cover/blank/plug is stuck, maybe whack a thin screwdriver into it, with a view to piercing it and then levering it out

It's not even denting it, never mind going through it, and I don't feel like hitting it any harder in case I break the glass. :/

 

[Fez909]

I'm wondering if a strong needle/pin might be an option. Not ideal for levering something out, but might be thin about to get in between the join, especially at the corners.

 

[danski]

could you drill a small hole in it, then pry it out?

 

[Fez909]

could you drill a small hole in it, then pry it out?

Good idea, will try this!

 

[teuchter]

I thought this might be working, but now I just have a damaged chisel and still can't get it off

Usually once I've damaged a chisel attempting this kind of thing, I move on to ruining a kitchen knife.

 

[nottsgirl]

Locksmith?