What "man jobs" have you done today?

bloodiedathame · 11 Nov 2015 at 22:45

More heat gun stripping, two doorframes this time, one sanded, then life got in the way and had to spend a few hours tidying. Sigh.

Back to it I did the bottom of some door frames with the No Nonsense paint stripper as recommended. Then I did the first doorframe with a coat of Bedec Aqua Advance Satin Brilliant White... as recommended by Brewers for glosswork. Coverage on the first coat isn't great straight over primer, and it's run a bit in places. Will give it a light sand and second coat tomorrow.

I'd have a beer now I'm finished but I don't have any.

SPG · 14 Nov 2015 at 16:56

Put radiator foil on all the external wall rads (stuff from screwfix) Its actually made a difference.

Finally got around to emptying the old cardboard boxes in the loft and put the rest into plastic tubs and stuff under the bed. Still need more plastic tubs though, for the evil under the stairs

Calpol · 14 Nov 2015 at 18:00

Fixed my fridge/freezer today.
Its a Samsung American side by side thing with the ice and water dispenser. On wednesday night the water dispenser decided to dispense water of its own free will and flooded the kitchen. After I isolated the water I could still smell burning plastic so had to switch the whole thing off to investigate. Managed to prize off the trim around the ice/water dispenser and dug around in the mechanism. Found the smell - it was the microswitch that activates the water. The switch had obviously failed and just continuously drawn current.

Found a spare on the web and fitted it today. Fixed for a tenner. Saves buying a new fridge for £1000 and I have happy kids again. Apparently tap water is minging.

Werewolf · 15 Nov 2015 at 11:21

I ended up spending a few minutes yesterday checking the radiators, swapping out the head on one thermostatic valve (it had got damaged, fortunately I had spares so it was a two minute job*), and freeing up a couple of stuck valves with a pair of pliers.
A non contact thermometer proved quite handy as it let me check all the radiators were getting to within a degree or so of each other.

Hopefully my pit will feel a bit warmer now, as it was one of the rooms with a stuck valve.

*When I fitted the TRV's about 9 years ago I bought a box of 12 because it was cheaper than buying 7 individual ones (we tend to try and buy a spare for anything cheap/easy to fix that is likely to go wrong). It's proven handy as over the years I've used a couple for replacement bodies and a couple of the spare heads.

Montala · 15 Nov 2015 at 17:30

Been down to the 'dump'... sorry, 'Refuse Disposal Station' with 12 large bags full of fallen leaves... a full car load!

I think the high winds last night blew any remaining ones into next door's garden, so that is one less job for me to worry about!

pepp77 · 15 Nov 2015 at 17:50

Did a few bits and pieces today.

Swapped the coat hooks in the hallway.
Swapped a light switch from old white plastic to a brushed steel one.
Ripped up the old carpet in the hallways and stairs in preparation for the new one I ordered yesterday and so the skirtings can be painted properly.
Gave the new upstairs alvoce shelves a final coat of paint.
Fitted a handle to the understairs cupboard door.
Cut 3 new carpet thresholds to the right size also in preparation for the new carpet.

Iron-man · 15 Nov 2015 at 18:39

So I have spent my time removing 2 wardrobes and a bed and building 2 new mid sleepers for my boys

{SAS}TB · 15 Nov 2015 at 19:15

After the builder opened up the fireplace in preparation for the log burner going in Tuesday I gave the ceiling and coving two coats of pait.

Firestar_3x · 15 Nov 2015 at 20:52

Finally fitted the sink to one of our new bathrooms, drilling porcelain tiles is a pita and the mounting bolts for the sink are large enough to hold up a JCB.

Sirrel Squirrel · 15 Nov 2015 at 21:13

High winds blew open my barn doors in the night and bent the straps on the hinges. Spent quite a bit of time today taking the straps off and hammering them back into shape. No idea why the doors blew open, pretty sure one of the kids didn't bolt them.

Montala · 16 Nov 2015 at 22:23

Cut the grass for absolutely the last time, as the recent spell of relatively warm weather has encouraged it to keep on growing, and it was all starting to look a bit of a mess!

It was actually fairly dry, it was a mild afternoon, so this was probably about the last chance I will get before Winter really sets in!

jbh110tdi · 16 Nov 2015 at 23:03

Montala said:
Cut the grass for absolutely the last time, as the recent spell of relatively warm weather has encouraged it to keep on growing, and it was all starting to look a bit of a mess!

It was actually fairly dry, it was a mild afternoon, so this was probably about the last chance I will get before Winter really sets in!

with the amount of rain that's fell here my lawnmower would sink..

topgun06 · 16 Nov 2015 at 23:42

I did some plastering for the first time. I think it turned out okay...

ci_newman · 17 Nov 2015 at 11:33

Montala said:
Cut the grass for absolutely the last time, as the recent spell of relatively warm weather has encouraged it to keep on growing, and it was all starting to look a bit of a mess!

It was actually fairly dry, it was a mild afternoon, so this was probably about the last chance I will get before Winter really sets in!

I did my lawn last weekend, and already the grass has grown enough to make it look a mess - stupid weather! I'm almost out of petrol too, I don't really want to have to get another tank!

Andybtsn · 17 Nov 2015 at 11:37

jbh110tdi said:
with the amount of rain that's fell here my lawnmower would sink..

Same here, it's literally not been cut for about two months due to the weather and I only get chance to do it at the weekend.

Last green bin at the end of this month :mad:

mad_allan · 17 Nov 2015 at 16:39

Just spent the last 3 hours with the leaf blower / vac clearing the majority in the front / back gardens. Now we have strong winds and next doors 3 trees are coating my lawn again

topgun06 · 17 Nov 2015 at 17:18

Well thats what will happen for as long as there are still leaves on the trees

craig_t · 17 Nov 2015 at 17:29

jbh110tdi said:
with the amount of rain that's fell here my lawnmower would sink..

I've got this very same problem too.. But the grass REALLY needs cutting. I just wanted one nice day for it to dry up so I can get a top layer off, then maybe go back over it after it's had a chance to dry out a little so it's not too thick and clog up the mower.

jbh110tdi · 17 Nov 2015 at 17:31

mad_allan said:
Just spent the last 3 hours with the leaf blower / vac clearing the majority in the front / back gardens. Now we have strong winds and next doors 3 trees are coating my lawn again

Ive got the perfect solution to that...

jbh110tdi · 17 Nov 2015 at 17:38

craig_t said:
I've got this very same problem too.. But the grass REALLY needs cutting. I just wanted one nice day for it to dry up so I can get a top layer off, then maybe go back over it after it's had a chance to dry out a little so it's not too thick and clog up the mower.

Im the same it really needs cut..

the front Garden needs about 2 ton of top soil put in to level it off but that's next years job..

The driveway needs leveled and a hard surface put down as its just a mud pit at present and there's no on street parking so we have no choice bar use it.

I moved into this house at the wrong time of the year..

I had just leveled the garden at the old house it went up like a ski slope and I got it flat in 3 levels to make it usable. ( there was too much soil there!! )

I had also repaired the drive and put down grey chips as we had the same problem there.