What "man jobs" have you done today?

Skillmister · 8 Jun 2019 at 08:48

Power washed the back patio in the pouring rain having done the front in the baking sun a few weeks ago. Ignoring the fact that some of the slabs were laid by stevie wonder and will be relaid soon I'm wondering what to do with the awful looking retaining wall... Anyone got an idea? Was thinking of wood cladding or something but thought that be a bit "council special diy on a budget"

the mismatched concrete is a pain too but I don't plan on breaking that up and laying more slabs

Before

b0rn2sk8 · 8 Jun 2019 at 09:49

Clad it with matching slabs?

Destination · 8 Jun 2019 at 10:21

I'd hypo the whole lost, leave it a while, scrub it and consider a plain cement render, or matching cladding

clubb699 · 8 Jun 2019 at 13:47

Built a Snug area next to the pub shed

DXP55 · 8 Jun 2019 at 14:25

Been in the garage again trying to have a big clear out - It was a slow start till got the hang of throwing stuff away I have collected over the years and never had that I might need it moment.

Actually found tools I didn't think I had and found tools I have no use for - Why do we throw away an old drills but keep the chuck keys ???

Found some shiny steel bars about 6 inch long and wondered what they were - sorting another tool box out I found a load of box spanners - Got it- the bars are for the box spanners.

At the moment you can't even see what I have cleared.

Temujin · 8 Jun 2019 at 15:28

Replacing the siphon and remounting the cistern went without a hitch, however reattaching the feed pipe to the cistern has resulted in a bit of a drip leak. Culprit i think is the aged rubber washer/seal, I have jerry-rigged it by coating that washer in ptfe tape for now until i can be bothered to drive back to a supplier which will probably be tomorrow.

For now the leak appears to be almost non-existent which i'll count as a win, also we have a toilet that flushes which is always preferable!

DXP55 · 8 Jun 2019 at 15:59

get yourself a little tube of Fenox sealer - it's like silicon - just wipe it round pipe and washer then tighten.

Hedge · 8 Jun 2019 at 18:48

I cleaned wickes out of 50 grey composite decking boards. Pretty cheap at £7 each. Gonna make a nice deck when the weather clears up!.

NoobCannon · 8 Jun 2019 at 19:14

Cleaned out guttering on front of house, helped in-laws put up some blinds

And re plumbed fish tank to remove stupid red sea diaphragm valve and replace with gate valve.

Busy day today!

LuckyBenski · 8 Jun 2019 at 23:59

Stepdad turned up at 7am from Worcester to show me how to tile, and help with various plumbing niggles. I'm good with most DIY including electrical work, but always stop short of plumbing so far.

Replaced two toilet cistern inlet valves and fitted a service valve to one. Won't share pics as frankly it was disgusting and I need to deep-clean both cisterns and their surroundings :eek:

Also put a new non-leaky waste on the big iron bath so I can stop worrying about the floor caving in one day.

I did have to drill an observation hole in the boxing to check for inlet leaks. Can just see the bottom of the inlet joint is perfectly dry, so was pretty pleased with that:

Then we added proper splashback tiling to the kitchen counter - builders have just completed 13 weeks' kitchen renovation. They're chumps and I'm basically snagging/doing things to make it more useable. Their single-row splashback has been extended to 4 tiles high, which involved a fair bit of notching tiles for backboxes/panels. TBF my stepdad did most of this as a) He's proud of his tiling and b) after two screaming matches in one day I'd had enough of him and was doing other jobs. I'm glad he only visits once a year I think

Tomorrow we'll grout it and he can go home.

DXP55 · 9 Jun 2019 at 13:30

Came on the PC for a bit of a rest - been at it since 9.30 this morning.

Been nagged by wife to clean the shower - we only do it about every four or five months. - This is because after every shower we blade it down and wipe and dry it with car cleaning clothes so it doesn't look dirty but you can feel the water scale on the glass.
So sprayed all shower with RTF cleaner - got in had my shower the swilled shower down - dried myself off then got back in and sprayed with diluted Mr Muscle all purpose cleaner - Used clay mitt to go over everything - rinse and dry- then Car-lack 68 on it and glass with AG fast glass on screens.
Next job in 10 min time is to put on Collinite 915 wax and buff up and finished.- My two shower walls are shower boards - best thing since sliced bread

This is a job I really hate but its no good letting wife do it as she would miss half of it.

roccles · 9 Jun 2019 at 20:03

Built myself a BBQ grill station out of left over timber. Ran out of materials and time to fully finish it today.

DXP55 · 10 Jun 2019 at 09:29

If you hadn't told us I would have said that's a cracking Redneck toilet

roccles · 10 Jun 2019 at 10:28

DXP55 said:
If you hadn't told us I would have said that's a cracking Redneck toilet

Ha Ha its definetly rustic! Not sure the wife likes it that much but hey ho this is my man kitchen!

Mark M · 11 Jun 2019 at 06:14

clubb699 said:
Built a Snug area next to the pub shed

Looks great, what wood did you use for the horizontal slats?

IvanDobskey · 11 Jun 2019 at 06:44

Recently boxed in the pipes for my new boiler:

clubb699 · 11 Jun 2019 at 07:29

Mark M said:
Looks great, what wood did you use for the horizontal slats?

Cheers mark it takes a while to do but well worth it, this is what i used

https://www.selcobw.com/products/timber-mdf-sheet-materials/treated-timber

Have fun and watch your fingers with the hammer LOL

Mark M · 11 Jun 2019 at 11:30

clubb699 said:
Cheers mark it takes a while to do but well worth it, this is what i used

https://www.selcobw.com/products/timber-mdf-sheet-materials/treated-timber

Have fun and watch your fingers with the hammer LOL

Thanks for the link, is the 38x19mm that you used? Sadly there arent any Selco's this far North but Im sure I can find a local supplier

clubb699 · 11 Jun 2019 at 14:15

Mark M said:
Thanks for the link, is the 38x19mm that you used? Sadly there arent any Selco's this far North but Im sure I can find a local supplier

Np That's a shame , you should be able to find something at your local wood merchants , yes mine are the 38mm x 19mm

LuckyBenski · 13 Jun 2019 at 21:41

Just realised I finished tiling and didn't post back...

You can really see how far off plumb the chimney breast is now. Just need to touch up the paint and screw faceplates back on, once I've got longer screws.