mine looks like an aerator, thanks!
― caek, Tuesday, 30 August 2011 14:08 (twelve years ago) link
ensuite ceiling was flaked, peeling and getting mouldy due to the extractor fan packing in, so took that on yesterday. Scraped it to the plasterboard, washed with fungicide, two coats of moisture resistant paint. We await results.
― even blue cows get the girls (darraghmac), Sunday, 4 September 2011 12:00 (twelve years ago) link
i just installed a washing machine *polishes nails*
― caek, Wednesday, 14 September 2011 09:57 (twelve years ago) link
admittedly i forgot to remove the screws that hold the drum in place and connected it to the hot tap, but otherwise it went very well.
minor issues imo
Have to take on creeping damp in a downstairs toilet, but from reading up this sounds like it might be beyond diy tbh.
painting interior this week, and am getting loan of a POWER WASHER for the weekend. Replacing broken extractor fan in shower and cleaning fascia/guttering to if i get time.
Think that's it for a while, hopefully.
― talking heads, quiet smith (darraghmac), Wednesday, 14 September 2011 10:20 (twelve years ago) link
POWERWASHING
filthy job, but very satisfying
― talking heads, quiet smith (darraghmac), Saturday, 17 September 2011 14:53 (twelve years ago) link
2am. Final room in the house gets the first coat. I'm exhausted ffs.
― talking heads, quiet smith (darraghmac), Friday, 23 September 2011 01:32 (twelve years ago) link
Any ideas on a guesstimate for putting wooden flooring in a room? (UK)
And any reason not to?
― djh, Tuesday, 1 January 2013 22:03 (eleven years ago) link
I'm hoping to run some new sealant around a bath. However, the bath hasn't been fit particularly snug to the wall and there's a large gap. Last time we did this job we put some wooden beading between the bath and the wall and ran sealant over this - it didn't look particularly neat. Any ideas on how to do the job properly?
Thanks.
― djh, Sunday, 8 September 2013 15:41 (ten years ago) link
do WC press panels have a standard type of fitting?
i.e. if I bought this concealed cistern (minus panel)https://www.ergonomicdesigns.co.uk/product/TR9005~roper-rhodes-0.82m-wall-hung-concealed-toilet-cisterns-with-fixing-frame.html
could I fit this press panelhttps://www.ergonomicdesigns.co.uk/product/740-0611~vitra-loop-r-dual-flush-plate-in-matt-black.html
― ||||||||, Wednesday, 22 August 2018 07:48 (five years ago) link
i need to get a rusty screw out of a lamp to change the bulb
i) it's one of those rocksalt lamps which a friend gave to me bcz they live on a boat and the salt was dissolving lol ii) the screws firmly attach the base to the rocksalt dome iii) any DIY has to be pretty light-handed or the salt will shatter -- there's already a big crack in it iv) the head of the screw is rusted enough so that a screwdriver doesn't engage with the slots crisply and it feels like it merely damages the edge further when you turn it
i need to remove more of the rust (DW40 removed some) to deepen the slots and if possible also create a new and better medium that will hold a screwdriver in ther slot -- it don't think it's very tightly screwed in (its fellow screw was easily unscrewed but it was also much less rusted)
― mark s, Friday, 20 August 2021 13:54 (two years ago) link
Good question!
― xyzzzz__, Saturday, 21 August 2021 11:09 (two years ago) link
have you got any pliers/long nosed pliers? Sometimes if you can get a hard grip on the head of the screw, to the point it bends the edges a little, you can manage to unscrew a rusted stuck screw.
― calzino, Saturday, 21 August 2021 11:13 (two years ago) link
but I don't know the size of this screw. I've done this before but with inch + a half 8" screws and they are in walls rather than a lamp.
― calzino, Saturday, 21 August 2021 11:15 (two years ago) link
is it a posi threaded screw or a slotted one?
― calzino, Saturday, 21 August 2021 11:19 (two years ago) link
sometimes a stubborn posi screw might be difficult because you need the perfect fit driver to get it moving, or sometimes they won't budge because the thread is damaged.
― calzino, Saturday, 21 August 2021 11:26 (two years ago) link
I've got a threading tool that is a useful bit of kit for when switch screws become cross threaded or damaged to the point they won't screw back tight. Absolutely off-topic in relation to this problem. But just saying I meant the posi-thread on the head of the screw not the body of it. Having a threadmare here!
― calzino, Saturday, 21 August 2021 11:38 (two years ago) link
• nothing sticking out that pliers could grip, sadly -- it's screwed right into the wood until it's recessed • size of screw = 1.5" long, head = 1/4", phillips head, not sure i know the diff between slotted and posi-threaded (i tried googling but overwhelmed by a blizzard of info) • don't think the thread is damaged (it's fine on the sister screw which i got out and i *think* it's only going into wood) • basically the rust has got into the phillips cross and yes, i don't think i have a screwdriver with an exact enough fit and the non-exact fitting ones slip and further damage and erode and shear the crispness of the phillips cross, so there's even less to grip
however since oiling it yesterday the phillips cross actually looks a lot better defined! the main tricksiness now is that it's hard to exert pressure with a screwdriver because the top of rock salt has to take the brunt of it and it's very crumbly
(i don't have a vise and i suspect to a vise would actually damage the wooden base if i did, bcz it wd need to be so tight?)
― mark s, Saturday, 21 August 2021 11:47 (two years ago) link
also it's not that tight, since removing the sister screw i can wiggle and work the base a little -- it's just that the stubborn screw is recessed and my screwdrivers (which are probably pretty craply) refuse to grip it
― mark s, Saturday, 21 August 2021 11:51 (two years ago) link
wikihow suggests various things that aren't helpful in this context (hitting it all with a hammer lol) but one plausible-sounding step is this:
• Create a gripping paste with water and cleanser for stuck screws. The gripping paste will help you keep your screwdriver in place without damaging the screw. First, place 1 teaspoon, or .17 oz (4.8 g), of a powdered cleanser in a mixing bowl. Add about 3 drops of room temperature water, then stir the mixture into a paste. Spread the paste over the screw head with a rag.[6]• You can use a regular kitchen or bathroom cleanser. You may already have some on hand.• If you don't want to mix your own paste, you can apply automotive valve grinding compound to the screw head instead.
but what is the "cleanser" referred to here?
― mark s, Saturday, 21 August 2021 11:57 (two years ago) link
https://www.cromwell.co.uk/shop/hand-tools/screw-extractor-sets/6-piece-screw-extractor-set/p/KEN0751160K?gclid=CjwKCAjwyIKJBhBPEiwAu7zll30UiDeeZNNA6TohWWWfV0U8YydJQhrrBBH6i-D4c_v9A6IDXL_g0hoCFDsQAvD_BwE
yeah I can't remember what the slight difference is between a Philips and a Posi and I think in less stuck screws you can use either in either! I have never actually used one of what I've linked above, but maybe useful?
― calzino, Saturday, 21 August 2021 11:57 (two years ago) link
I have drilled out broken screws before, but just with a metal bit in a pistol drill, and not on anything fragile like a lamp.
― calzino, Saturday, 21 August 2021 11:59 (two years ago) link
lamp showing base and also incipient crack:https://i.imgur.com/mqdcdk9.jpg
base showing removed screw (left) and rusty screw which i can't shift (right) https://i.imgur.com/2uKvfLm.jpg
― mark s, Saturday, 21 August 2021 12:10 (two years ago) link
it looks more damaged in the photo than i think it actually is, however this may be a distinction w/o a difference
so yes, maybe some screw-extractor drilling is what's required -- will the rock salt this assault? see next exciting episode (in a week or three's time)
― mark s, Saturday, 21 August 2021 12:21 (two years ago) link
Can you take the lamp to a hardware store with various screwdrivers to test how they seat in the screw? It may be as simple as just getting a screwdriver/bit with an exact match for the depth/shape of the screw to give you the right torque.
For rusted bolts, you would usually use something like Liquid Wrench (similar to WD40 I believe) but the screw is not exposed at all and I am not sure what that would do to the salt.
If you have a good local hardware store, they may let you borrow an impact driver, but would consult with them due to the delicate nature of the lamp.
― Captain Beefart (PBKR), Saturday, 21 August 2021 13:34 (two years ago) link
i found another tray of (newer and less crappy) screwdriver bits that i forgot about and found one that's a better fit -- so now i have got it to loosen enough to stick out a little so i think it will come all the way with patience
― mark s, Saturday, 21 August 2021 14:24 (two years ago) link
introducing byron the fkn bulb:
https://i.imgur.com/zJKBqsO.jpg
― mark s, Saturday, 21 August 2021 14:47 (two years ago) link
Thomas Edison wants it back
― calzino, Saturday, 21 August 2021 14:50 (two years ago) link
the housing for the bulb is meant to be held in by sprung metal flanges -- you can see the remains of some of them belong the salt encrustation
the metal flanges are meant compress as you pull at the the central bit to extract it through the wooden ring (presumably as they did when it was first inserted)-- but they're rusted away so instead of being sprung, they're just points and the points catch on the ring and make it impossible to extract the central bit
(changed the bulb and it works! but if i'm going to resuscitate it in its full lovely-horrible form i need a new housing as well, and a new mechanism to keep it in place)
― mark s, Saturday, 21 August 2021 14:56 (two years ago) link
so far the rock-salt dome is still in one piece tho!
― mark s, Saturday, 21 August 2021 14:57 (two years ago) link
My rocksalt lamp takes a smaller pygmy lamp, which I've had to change once when the first one went and then a 2nd time as I managed to smash the new one with the sprung metal flanges somehow twanging them into it before I'd put it back together again.
― calzino, Saturday, 21 August 2021 15:00 (two years ago) link
my plan is to keep a new plastic housing in place with a couple of blobs of blu-tak (the only good tool-stroke-material)
― mark s, Saturday, 21 August 2021 15:04 (two years ago) link
gaffer tape and electrical insulation tape are also both very useful things to have in the game of short term fixes and general bodgery.
― calzino, Saturday, 21 August 2021 15:13 (two years ago) link
My boyfriend is gutting his kitchen next month and put me in charge of the design & materials choices (and then fought me all the way, which is a different story) and I have to admit I'm kinda going full instagram aesthetic. Is that horrible? Will I be really sorry in 5 years?
This vibe is basically this kind of thing:
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/7f/f5/52/7ff5521101c90696e767b8767c19dde3.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/3d/b9/f4/3db9f4a495acb394d75ccd32fe2ebf8c.jpg
― Ima Gardener (in orbit), Saturday, 21 August 2021 16:31 (two years ago) link
Nah thats nice
― fix up luke shawp (darraghmac), Saturday, 21 August 2021 18:00 (two years ago) link
yeah I can't remember what the slight difference is between a Philips and a Posi and I think in less stuck screws you can use either in either!Pretty sure I have stripped screw heads in the past by mixing them up, Philips in a pozi screw won't grip tight enough and will damage it by spinning, pozi in a Philips screw will be even worse because of the extra ribs on the driver that there is no corresponding slot for in the screw.
― Believe me, grow a lemon tree. (ledge), Saturday, 21 August 2021 18:35 (two years ago) link
yeah it is probably bad practise, but for the first month of my glittering apprentice electrician career all I had was a shitty little phillips driver and lol was using it to mount bathroom fans and outside lights, probably knackering the thread on every screw and struggling about 10 times more than I needed to!
― calzino, Saturday, 21 August 2021 20:52 (two years ago) link
they don't really have these Posi screws in the US! I was very confused! Last weekend I was trying to disassemble furniture in order to ease in disposal, and several pieces (these were homemade) were built with annoying headed screws, but they were hex-head and not what the Posi screws look like. I didn't want to hunt for a hex-bit at the place I was helping, so I just cut the stuff up with a sawzall
― sarahell, Sunday, 22 August 2021 03:46 (two years ago) link
oh, and I forgot to post that with the "funny" display name I thought up earlier, that I thought, "I should post to the DIY thread with this DN"
― Plath and Laster (sarahell), Sunday, 22 August 2021 03:48 (two years ago) link
time to make my fortune as a how-to youtuber lads
https://i.imgur.com/ZNWp1x6.jpg
― mark s, Sunday, 22 August 2021 11:37 (two years ago) link
(glittering apprentice electrician calzino plz to avert eyes from that very overloaded plugboard)
― mark s, Sunday, 22 August 2021 11:38 (two years ago) link
it'll be reet. I've had two of them overloaded plugboards connected in series before. RCBOs are the real heroes!
― calzino, Sunday, 22 August 2021 11:45 (two years ago) link
well done
― Brad C., Sunday, 22 August 2021 13:09 (two years ago) link
Top tip I discovered when putting up some shelves a few months ago: vaguely remembering some ideas on efficiency I thought it would be best to do all the repeatable steps for all the shelves at once - that is, drill all the holes, then fix all the brackets, then put up the shelves. I was wrong, that led to errors carried forward (e.g. when putting in the brackets, 'oh I should have done this when drilling the holes!') - much better to install each shelf fully one by one, figuring things out as you go that can be applied to the next one. Applicable to more than just shelves I'm sure.
― namaste darkness my old friend (ledge), Tuesday, 19 October 2021 13:08 (two years ago) link
I find *deliberately* putting my kitchen shelves and pot hanging racks all ever so slightly on the piss gives it a pleasing ship's galley effect.
― calzino, Tuesday, 19 October 2021 13:14 (two years ago) link
a laser level can be very useful if you are a bit more fussy.
― calzino, Tuesday, 19 October 2021 13:15 (two years ago) link