What "man jobs" have you done today?

Participant · 11 Jan 2020 at 17:48

Merlin5 said:
Guys, I've put 3 coats of emulsion (sandtex) on the part of a ceiling running alongside an electrical cable conduit. There's still some darker bits showing through. I'm hoping another coat or two will get it completely white. Should I have put some undercoat on and can I still do that now before another coat of emulsion?

What are the dark bits? If they're a stain like water, you'll need to use a stain proofing undercoat like Zinsser BIN.

Steeps · 12 Jan 2020 at 19:28

Installed Hive. Existing thermostat was wired in only with Live/trigger at the other side of the house, the rest on battery. Wired up the receiver direct to the boiler following the wiring diagram... and nothing, heating would trigger but not power up the boiler. Found someone else's diagram using a loop from live-common and that did the trick.

Yadda · 12 Jan 2020 at 19:30

Ladders out, gutters cleared. All ready for Brendan.

skyripper · 12 Jan 2020 at 19:35

Participant said:
What are the dark bits? If they're a stain like water, you'll need to use a stain proofing undercoat like Zinsser BIN.

BIN is good stuff, just be careful with it, it's more like milk than emulsion when applying it - ie its drippy and splattery as anything if you try putting it on like trade white paint... I used it to cover some Valspar that went off and to cover some water staining.

alexakasloth · 17 Jan 2020 at 19:08

Been using the No nonsense paint/ varnish stripper on my fireplace surround and it's started to go through to the bare metal after a few applications.
Any recommendations on grate polish? Was looking at the stovax branded one.

Lokken86 · 18 Jan 2020 at 17:47

Repaired a solar panel. Soldering kit and hot glue called into action.

apg · 20 Jan 2020 at 16:29

Replaced and rewired a few light switches and sockets.

Funky-Melon · 23 Jan 2020 at 15:12

Designed and built wardrobe for the girlfriend
Did some wiring in one of our guest bedrooms
Started coving the master bedroom

Oh what fun

Kol · 23 Jan 2020 at 15:57

We need pics @Funky-Melon ! I'm just in the process of designing some alcove wardrobes with a view to build in the next month or so. Rather looking forward to it but then I do most jobs on the house. My latest project was a complete strip back and renovation of our hallway so now that's done I can move on.

Andrew_McP · 24 Jan 2020 at 20:23

I cured my crackling knob! Not by changing my underpants for the first time since August. Not even by going out to find some contact cleaner to ease my 25+ year old amplifier's potentiometers. But I did Google just how bad squirting WD40 into the amplifier's pots might be, stumbled into a post in 2004 saying most crackles could be cured simply by 'exercising' the knob and... voila! I can change volume without flinching now.

So fellas, don't suffer in non-silence... go exercise your knob to keep it functioning properly. What better man job could there be? Takes very little time and effort and you'll be smiling with satisfaction afterwards.

Participant · 25 Jan 2020 at 06:24

Andrew_McP said:
go exercise your knob to keep it functioning properly.

Don't need to tell me twice.

DXP55 · 25 Jan 2020 at 14:32

Kick myself up the ass job.

I have one of those propane tubular garage heaters and the other day when I came to use it the piezo didn't spark - tried and tried but no go.
Today I took it out - went online and found one for £3 from China. - Took old one over road to get mate to press it just to make sure and it worked - He did it again and again so I tried it - I didn't realise how much strength I have lost in my hands and arms - I did get it to spark but it was hard. Will put it all back tomorrow. :rolleyes:

The joys of aging quietly.

Terminal_Boy · 25 Jan 2020 at 14:48

The water supplier’s agent just confirmed what I thought : our mains water pressure regulator valve is FUBAR’d.

7 bar their side with excellent flow, 3 bar (which is correct) and rubbish flow our side. It looks ancient and probably is. Very possibly installed by the Brit that renovated the property over 30 years. Guess I’m off to the plumber’s merchant on Monday.

Participant · 26 Jan 2020 at 11:20

This afternoon I'm going to stick three of these shelving racks from Screwfix in my garage:

It's currently an absolute mess. Before and after pics to follow!

bainbridge · 26 Jan 2020 at 15:57

Hung an interior door which needed a 6mm height reduction to fit. Borrowed an electric planer to take 3mm off each end in 1mm increments (to give me a chance to get used to the tool, I'm not a carpenter) but read the wrong side of the gauge and lopped off 2.5mm in one pass! That thing is an absolute beast. All done now though.

Participant · 26 Jan 2020 at 17:01

Put up some shelves in the garage. Total of £80 from Screwfix and they're great.

Terminal_Boy · 29 Jan 2020 at 15:55

So, after two trips to my local DIY store and much swearing, I replaced the ancient mains water pressure regular and filter with shiny new ones and restored water flow to the property.

Looking at the corrosion and debris inside the old parts, I’m surprised we were getting anything out of the taps...

Mmm... Flickr isn’t playing nice today.

Pulsedriver · 30 Jan 2020 at 11:34

Did some work for my sons new room;
Replaced imperial radiator (1443mm) with new metric one (1400mm) from Toolstation - fitted new TRV & Lockshield valves.
Lifted some floorboards in same room to check underneath for pipes/cables - before screwing down floorboards with SPAX screws across the room that were creaky/squeaky.
Replaced the 9mm carpet underlay with some cloud 9 11mm underlay and re-laid carpet back again.
Painted skirting & coving, painted walls.
Replaced 2 plug sockets with new 3.1A USB versions, one of the sockets the wiring wouldn't reach so extended the wires behind the sockets with 4-Way WAGO's and replaced light switch.
Re-caulked around window sill.
Built bunk bed

the-evaluator · 30 Jan 2020 at 12:21

Terminal_Boy said:
Mmm... Flickr isn’t playing nice today.

You'd tried to embed an image into your post but the URL you used was a webpage rather than an image.

Double07 · 30 Jan 2020 at 14:03

I've taken delivery of a tv unit, coffee table and a fridge which I have unpacked and situated. I have painted over the mess I made on a recently painted bedroom wall (wiped off a tiny mark where the carpet tube nicked the wall way too vigorously). Quite frankly none of those were man jobs, the blokes who lugged in the furniture and fridge deserve much more credit than I do, and as for the paint well I was only patching over my own incompetence.

Luckily my gf is home soon from work so she can fix the flooring in the living room and lay the bedroom carpet. I'll stick to PC's I think!