What "man jobs" have you done today?

dLockers said:
Got the portable aircon out of the cupboard the other day; the ladies bedroom was 27+ so I wanted to take the edge off. Didn't really make a dent tbh and it was "hot" moments later. Hardly worth the 75p!

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It looks like it had a large impact, but what the he'll ate you doing that raises the temp by 2 degrees so quickly ( ;) :p ).
 
I need to line my garage floor (below DPC) while we store all our moving boxes in there. Currently it gets damp as moisture soaks up through the ground when it rains - hopefully a thick plastic membrane will be enough to keep my stuff from going mouldy?

Basically got a thick tarp which I'll lay down to the edges and weight down somehow. Question though - there will be some exposed ground near the door (a 1.5m by 2.5m rectangle). Will this let loads of moisture into the air?

I guess the answer is just to buy a second tarp and cut it to fit isn't it...
 
LuckyBenski said:
I need to line my garage floor (below DPC) while we store all our moving boxes in there. Currently it gets damp as moisture soaks up through the ground when it rains - hopefully a thick plastic membrane will be enough to keep my stuff from going mouldy?

Basically got a thick tarp which I'll lay down to the edges and weight down somehow. Question though - there will be some exposed ground near the door (a 1.5m by 2.5m rectangle). Will this let loads of moisture into the air?

I guess the answer is just to buy a second tarp and cut it to fit isn't it...
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Wooden Pallets?
 
JRJ said:
Wooden Pallets?
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Was going to suggest something similar

If you have some kind of rising / penetrating damp coming up through the floor, keeping airflow will help reduce mould and to dry it out

If you can help the airflow (partially opened door / window / airbrick / vent etc) will also massively help with keeping mould down
 
JRJ said:
Wooden Pallets?
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{SAS}TB said:
Was going to suggest something similar

If you have some kind of rising / penetrating damp coming up through the floor, keeping airflow will help reduce mould and to dry it out

If you can help the airflow (partially opened door / window / airbrick / vent etc) will also massively help with keeping mould down
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Cheers, hadn't considered raising stuff off the floor but it makes sense. The main plan is to seal the floor off to keep more moisture from coming in.

I can't really add air flow unfortunately as both doors lead to the street, not the house. But the ceiling is currently unboarded so that's a bit of flow through the joists!
 
LuckyBenski said:
Cheers, hadn't considered raising stuff off the floor but it makes sense. The main plan is to seal the floor off to keep more moisture from coming in.

I can't really add air flow unfortunately as both doors lead to the street, not the house. But the ceiling is currently unboarded so that's a bit of flow through the joists!
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How about some air vents in the doors ? Just a thought

What's the plan for sealing the floor - does it not have a DPM (or is it compromised) if it has water coming up through it ?
 
If water coming up though the floor is a problem, I wouldn’t be lining by it with plastic. It’s not going to solve the problem and the water will come through it eventually.

To be perfectly honest, if the garage is damp and has water ingress issues, I wouldn’t be storing anything vulnerable in it. You’ll probably get mould if it’s in there for and significant length of time.
 
Sorry I've not been very clear here! Being a garage the floor level is below house level for building regs, and as such the concrete floor is below/outside the DPC.

The long term plan is to brick over/convert the garage and raise the floor, extending a DPM across it, later in the year. But for the next few weeks/months I need to store lots of our possessions in there.

So it's not a water ingress issue so much as it's just outside ground soaking moisture up :P And it's not a long term or structural issue - just want to prevent my boxes getting soggy or mouldy over the summer.

N.B. it's an integral garage in a townhouse, so the only exterior facing structure is the metal door really.

I think it'd be prudent to not put anything too sensitive in there, clearly. Hopefully can manage to avoid any issues entirely though, I'll set up a humidity/temp sensor on Home Assistant this week.
 
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DXP55 said:
I lost imperfections when I hit 55 - I am a full blown bodge it and scarper man now.:eek:
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I know exactly what you mean, when I renewed all the front and back fence panels (boards about 8 inches deep by about 8 foot long, three between each galvanised steel and tabbed posts, bolted on with two screws and nuts at each end I was very anal. EVERY screw has its slot vertical so water runs out of the slot.


Well over a thousand of them. Took seconds per screw to align them. I look back and shake my head. :)


In the field I made a jig so every insulator is PRECISELY at the same height and spacing on every post, so the high tensile electric fence wires run straight as a die into the distance



I would probably tie wrap one on if it came loose these days, if I bothered at all, just glad to wake up on the mornings ;)
 
Tomorrow's man job is one I have put off for ages. My freshly rebuilt generator I bought dirt cheap as a none runner needs lifting out of one workshop and moving to another where it will permanently live.

Headroom getting it into the workshop it's currently in is critical as the LoadAll that I borrow from a farmer has a high jib, so the straps need to be as tight as possible to the top of the generator to get it out of the doors and not catch the top of the frame with the jib.

It was a `mare getting the thing in. Was hoping for dry weather so the ground was hard and the LoadAll didn't knacker the ground up too much. Of course it's been persisting down all day...

If I'm not too stressed I'll try and grab some photos, luckily `er indoors is at work tomorrow so if he needs to drive the LoadAll over the front lawn to get past the myriad of vehicles here at the moment, she won't see and I can roller the damage before she gets back :)
 
I remember your saga of picking that up - trying to get up a snowy slippy hill and letting your tyres down.

Does it work ok now - obviously as you are putting it in a permanant home -

Should have put some skids under it and digger could pull it out.
 
DXP55 said:
I remember your saga of picking that up - trying to get up a snowy slippy hill and letting your tyres down.

Does it work ok now - obviously as you are putting it in a permanant home -

Should have put some skids under it and digger could pull it out.
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Hopefully! I gave it a full monte engine rebuild with a rebore, new pistons, bearings, oil pump, water pump, new valve springs, exhaust valves blah blah. It makes power and doesn't make smoke nor does overheat, so fingers crossed it's good to go for another few years. Just need to run an exhaust up through the tiled roof once it's in. I put some ball bearing wheels on it so I can roll it out from the wall for servicing, but they ain't up to taking it over rough or soft ground. The only digger here is me :)
 
Buffman said:
@zuludawn why are the lights not in the ceiling rose/cornicing? Looks slightly odd to me, I'd get a new radiator too.

other than that looks good work to me
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Its a business so the lights were old tubes, not bright enough with one so a quick fix.

The radiators will have covers, replaced valves after flushing a year ago, so not worth it, look better now painted. The building is 150 years old but holds it heat very well, helped by all triple glazing.
 
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