What "man jobs" have you done today?

Lean said:
Ive noticed in this forum there is a lot of over engineering and over thinking goes into to a lot of the projects. I've put wooden decks/fences in that have lasted 20+ years and outbuildings that are 25+ years in use.

Ive been using SIP panels (Structural insulated panels) for workshops/garden rooms. Really quick construction on site. Get them precut as forming the rebates yourself gets messy with the insulation getting everywhere. Wrap it then clad it with what takes your fancy. The last one I did was clad in siberian larch which has started to silver nicely.
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I've thought about using these before. Excellent idea. I really need to rebuild the external walls and roof of my workshop. It's in a bad way due to age, weather, and the f-ing woodworm, rodents, and squirrels. Those SIP panels would be ideal
 
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Did some decking over the summer, then it rained every day since I finished it :rolleyes: At least it'll be there from the start next summer. Just managed to get some decking oil on yesterday and today. I mixed 5L of Barratine Natural oak and 5L of Amber light oak and its given a lovely warm tone. The light oak looked too orange and the natural oak was too brown, but mixed they're spot on to my eye.

Btw, would a pressure washer get rid of the lichen from the stone? I managed to remove the green algae after these pics were taken using some algae, moss and lichen killer, but it hasn't touched the lichen after several applications.
 
I dont how you have fixed the base rail/spindles and it could be a pain but for the longevity of your deck I would raise the base rail off the deck. Over time any small gap will get clogged up and water will pool. If you raise it 80-100mm sweeping the deck will be easier. As you have done oil is the best way to go. Be gentle with pressure washers if you cant regulate it pressure. Even the cheap washers have too much pressure for softwood decking. I find once slabs start to get the black lichen your on a losing wicket. It can be improved with chemicals and a pressure washer but it seems to come back quicker after each treatment.

@rangor gubbins working in an insulated workshop is a godsend through the winter.
 
Lean said:
I dont how you have fixed the base rail/spindles and it could be a pain but for the longevity of your deck I would raise the base rail off the deck. Over time any small gap will get clogged up and water will pool. If you raise it 80-100mm sweeping the deck will be easier. As you have done oil is the best way to go. Be gentle with pressure washers if you cant regulate it pressure. Even the cheap washers have too much pressure for softwood decking. I find once slabs start to get the black lichen your on a losing wicket. It can be improved with chemicals and a pressure washer but it seems to come back quicker after each treatment.

@rangor gubbins working in an insulated workshop is a godsend through the winter.
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looks like the rails are already around 20mm off the deck.....you can see blocks underneath in some areas
 
It's not enough for me. Leaves, rubbish, mud etc will fill that gap no matter how tidy you are. Water won't dry completely. Moss grows in the gap then you will get pooling of water to the fall side in my experience. The 80-100mm is for ease of brushing rubbish completely off the deck. You can get a brush under the base rail.
 
Treated my gazebo gym with weather proofer (Fabsil). Ended up being a much easier job than expected thanks to a pump sprayer. Strong stuff, but figured I’d seize the one dry day. Will hopefully extend the life of the roof, not fussed about the sides, they are easily replaced.
 
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A job I have put off since we moved in over 2 years ago but finally sanded down the kitchen worktops at the weekend and each day since I have been applying coats of Danish oil. Well worth the effort just got to keep on top of it now.
 
Helped wife take everything out of her greenhouse -8x12 so reasonable size - What I didn't know was she had enough stuff to fill a industrial greenhouse -30.000 flower pots -100 ton of compost (exagerated a bit ) All that is now spread over the garden and I swept/vaccumed it - hosed it -sprayed mr muscle on it and left it - then hosed it off later -Have you ever started a job and wished you had gone to boozer.
Waiting for it to dry then sweep up dirt then put all shelving and bench back up - Said to her do not put all that back in -sort it and bin a lot.


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vail3r said:
Added some drains to the bottom of the drive as it slopes towards the house, there was nothing there before.



Driveway could do with being redone but not got the budget for it at the minute!
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How is this installed, did you add a soakaway or similar?

Our driveway slopes towards the house and I need to add a drain when we resurface, but there's no external drain to tap into.
 
LuckyBenski said:
How is this installed, did you add a soakaway or similar?

Our driveway slopes towards the house and I need to add a drain when we resurface, but there's no external drain to tap into.
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Luckily there was a drain there. Burried and full of soil but managed to clear it all out and test that it still works.

No idea about soakaways if you’ve got no drain.

I think ours was originally done with some sort of Chanel drain at the end of the drive but somewhere along the line it just got shoved full of gravel and blocked up
 
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