What "man jobs" have you done today?

pulled the old shed down, not sure what I'm going to do with all the wood but I think I'll get someone licensed to come and collect it - including some paving slabs that broke, some other rubbish out the shed etc

leveled the base
laid thick anti weed membrane
put a tone of gravel over it and leveled it out.

new 3x2m shed is coming from power sheds on the 10th so i'll get that built up the weekend after - Thanks for shed ideas but I couldn't stomach £1k+ in materials right now to build my own, maybe next time when I got more time.

started stripping stairs, removed the old carpeting and now sanding it down, what an absolute pita that is. - wife is doing the rest, she started it and wanted it done so she can crack on :D I've got other stuff to fight.

also built an internal wall in the garage to divide it and keep cats out of using my car as a ramp.

productive couple of weeks.
 
Filled two green bins for the council collection (paying for two hurt but I will get some use this year). Then proceeded to create enough cutting for four more.

Hopefully I can bag that up in the three 270l bags I got from Amazon and still lift them, then to the tip.

I also took down the old double swing my kids grew up. Not used for way too many years as my son got too big to safely transfer from his wheelchair.

That part of the garden will be the easiest to put a new accessible path in, as well as regrow the lawn. Going to clear the old shed too, hopefully salvaging enough to build a tool store for my tree lovers and other long/tall stuff.

The old dividing concrete path is crumbling, so I would ideally like to rip that out and level the two sides (or slope down gradually) but I need to check the sewage pipe doesn't run under it. We appear to be over the main connection junctions for a couple of streets.

Trying not to get overwhelmed by it all again.
 
The Angry Welshman said:
Hour or so after work and the weed barrier went down and 3/4 tonne of gravel... will wack this lot down before adding the other 1 1/4 tonne to get a real good base for the greenhouse



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Years ago someone told me that you should put two of these down, laid in opposite directions. I told a neighbour and he swore by it afterwards. The guy who did an area like this in my garden only put a single layer down and lots of weeds are coming through. I guess it doesn't help either of us now!
 
At the start of spring I took down an old greenhouse we never use and got some grass seed for the patch of bare ground where it had been. Now it looks like a bowling green in the middle of a meadow :o . I'm tempted to just get some meadow flower seeds and plant them on the new patch, so it matches lol.

Edit: New job unlocked. Had a new bathroom fitted a while back and the ceiling was covered in little mould spots. I put some steps up to wipe it away with some bleach spray and the paint came straight off. The guy was supposed to be using scrubable matt and hes just used the cheapest matt paint, straight on top of satin bathroom paint :rolleyes: . So just spent a few hours wiping it all off with a microfibre cloth and sugar soap and a non scratch scouring sponge. Its strangely satisfying, but not enough to quell my annoyance.

I'll grab a tin of Zisser perma-white at the weekend and get it done properly.
 
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dirtychinchilla said:
Years ago someone told me that you should put two of these down, laid in opposite directions. I told a neighbour and he swore by it afterwards. The guy who did an area like this in my garden only put a single layer down and lots of weeds are coming through. I guess it doesn't help either of us now!
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ive had this stuff down on the otherside of my garden for around 9yrs now and still no weeds coming through. Its pretty thick stuff.
 
Not "Today" but over the last 4 days. I am knackered :(
Done a bit of fencing :D 32 panels, 20 posts, 18 gravel boards and 40 bags of postcrete. 19 holes had either concrete or tree roots in them. 1 hole was glorious to dig lol. Also replaced 14 panels on the other side of the garden which was a lot easier as they already had concrete posts and gravel boards.

Before the Tree surgeons cut down the last bit of hedge, it was twice as tall as this.

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After the tree surgeons were done.

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They chose to leave the tree stumps and the fence in as the person the otherside refused to pay any money towards it. Bottom boundary is shared round here. So he can take the old fence down and claim the land if he wants. But also has to deal with the massive tree stumps and all the other crap behind there. We built the new fence in her garden, she lost 4.5 foot to nothing in total. You can't even tell anyway :)

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New fence in.... The Cherry tree also had to come down as it was rotten.

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This is 'Todays' job at the same property. Removing the old out-house which was rotten and home-owner built and did our best to make it good.

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There was an old washing line post used in the corner. 6 inch nails holding everything together :eek: I will be laying the bricks where the old doorway was tomorrow.

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Membrane put on ready for the battens and uPVC cladding tomorrow. Or we may do the insulation and plasterboard tomorrow as it's supposed to be raining. I need to get the water over for an outside tap too.

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We had to form a new ceiling as the old one was very bowed. A new roof had been formed above it and was sound.

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Got some more noggins to put in tomorrow and other bits and bobs. Glad to get my dad out of retirement for a bit :cry:
 
Simps said:
Here is the 8 yard log store. All the old fence panels and outhouse, doors, gates and old decking :D
Impressive skip loading from my dad and other half. Certainly got our moneys worth.


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Very impressive work, now if I could only get those 3 stainless steel posts postcreted in the two holes I dug a few weeks ago.;)
 
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Todays job was circumventing some planned obsolescence. I have had a few of these LED motion detection lights in the past and they never seal the back panel, which lets water creep in and eventually kill the battery. A quick seal around the back and where the wires come in from the solar panel helps them last a lot longer.
 
Finished setting the pipes for the radiator in the snug/family room. I'd just left the feeds long and capped them under the floor whilst waiting for the window to be fitted and reveals to be set and plastered so I could centre it.

Pulling a vacuum took forever with about 7/8 buckets worth removed from the system. I used a 22mm push-fit cap over the expansion pipe like normal which I'm sure was seated properly... in the end it eventually stopped flowing much to my relief.

Paint behind and flooring in the next fortnight then I can stop fiddling with the heating for at least a year :p

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Mark A said:
Todays job was circumventing some planned obsolescence. I have had a few of these LED motion detection lights in the past and they never seal the back panel, which lets water creep in and eventually kill the battery. A quick seal around the back and where the wires come in from the solar panel helps them last a lot longer.
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The solar part gets UV'd to death as well I find so worth putting a line of clear tape over too.
 
BennyC said:
Pulling a vacuum took forever with about 7/8 buckets worth removed from the system. I used a 22mm push-fit cap over the expansion pipe like normal which I'm sure was seated properly... in the end it eventually stopped flowing much to my relief.
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Do you mind me asking how and what you used to pull the vacuum?
 
Managed to postcrete in the stainless posts today. Now to stabilise the rust on the sheets of steel before painting (a job for another week). This afternoon me and the wife are going to see the granddaughter in a show.
 
Mysterae_ said:
Do you mind me asking how and what you used to pull the vacuum?
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Sure, though this only works on (g)ravity fed systems, you'll have two open tanks in the loft. A larger cold water one and then a much smaller the size of a small suitcase which is the F&E (fill and expansion) for central heating.

I just put a push-fit stop-end over the expansion pipe and would either then: place a bung in the bottom of the fill tank OR shut the isolation valve outside this tank if one exists. Fortunately I have one in my airing airing cupboard. I also turn off the feed to the F&E so I can tell if that level is dropping or not.

In theory doing this and then opening up your drain off-valve on the lowest point with a hose running outside is safest as you'll be able to check if a vacuum has formed with a slow/stop of water, rather than coming out the bottom of a rad/TRV etc.

Same effect as putting your finger over the end of a straw to keep the fluid in it.

This probably explains it more clearly.

 
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