What "man jobs" have you done today?

Straightened a 45 year old hardwood window board using a home made steamer box (wall paper stripper as steam supply) and clamps as part of a room renovation.

I was going to fit all new window boards but when I removed years of paint and varnish and found the existing ones are all hardwood I decided to keep them as they're better than softwood and a big cost saving on new hardwood.

Most are flat but a couple have been fitted on out of line wedges so have got some bowing after all these years forced out of shape and dry clamping didn't do the trick after several days. I could have forced them flat with fittings but an hour steaming and a couple of days clamped and they're surprisingly flat even now fully dry!
 
Simon42 said:
Straightened a 45 year old hardwood window board using a home made steamer box (wall paper stripper as steam supply) and clamps as part of a room renovation.

I was going to fit all new window boards but when I removed years of paint and varnish and found the existing ones are all hardwood I decided to keep them as they're better than softwood and a big cost saving on new hardwood.

Most are flat but a couple have been fitted on out of line wedges so have got some bowing after all these years forced out of shape and dry clamping didn't do the trick after several days. I could have forced them flat with fittings but an hour steaming and a couple of days clamped and they're surprisingly flat even now fully dry!
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That sounds very impressive. Well done!
 
After a grumpy email yesterday they are now sending out a cold cartridge free of charge, so they do still have the cartridges.

964rs said:
If the hot tap cartridge looks the same as the old cold cartridge ask them for another hot one
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Sadly the hot turns clockwise and the cold anti clockwise, same as Bug One.

Buffman said:
I would honestly never buy a cheap tap from victoria plumb/Ebay or any of that ****. Buy once cry once.

Saying that I did have to replace a franke cartridge in a tap dripping after 4years which I think was pretty poor... Easy to source main brands though.
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In hindsight yes, never buying from Victorian Plumbing again. The bath mixer/shower tap is poor as well, will be changing that in the next year or so as the shower head drips down the back of the bath when it's put back on the holder. One pallet delivery of items had literally fallen off the back of a truck on the way. A grohe basin and toilet were cracked, two in wall frames were bent and had to go back.

Participant said:
I have tried a few tap brands in my time and have never had any issues with Grohe (once you get the Euro adapters).
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I would have gone Grohe in the main bathroom but couldn't see any traditional style taps. It's hard to know which are good taps or just over priced, have since looked at Crosswater, Burlington, Hudson Reed etc to replace the bath one but not sure if they're much better. I had Leffroy Brooks toilet and sink before in another house but couldn't stretch with everything else that needed buying at the time.

dlockers said:
Buy a new tap, swap the bits over and return it. Burn the rich
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Haha. Have to admit I considered doing that with Amazon when the useless plumber tried fitting a Grohe shower smartbox. He lost two screws from the inner workings. Grohe wouldn't send any replacements so ended up having to buy another smartbox for £60 (I didn't want the plumber back by this point).
 
Removed a counter height unit with two large draws and replaced with a 2m unit with 2 draws and 1 internal draw that now holds the largest air fryer and microwave.
 
CaptainRAVE said:


Got absolutely soaked putting this lot in.
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I turned my Bay tree into a standard like that a few years ago and it now stands 2.5m high with a lovely top to it now. It is also dense enough for my silly arse cat to spend two night sleeping in it.

Am a big fan of the Red Robin, which was one of my nans favourites and is being used by my OH's sister as a stunning looking 15m long privacy screen above her fence.

If the plants lower down are Bamboo, what type are they?
 
aVdub said:
I turned my Bay tree into a standard like that a few years ago and it now stands 2.5m high with a lovely top to it now. It is also dense enough for my silly arse cat to spend two night sleeping in it.

Am a big fan of the Red Robin, which was one of my nans favourites and is being used by my OH's sister as a stunning looking 15m long privacy screen above her fence.

If the plants lower down are Bamboo, what type are they?
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Unfortunately we lost most of our bay trees to the cold last winter. The three in the front garden are regrowing, but the two out the back died. It was a big and expensive loss.

The photnia makes an excellent hedge and will hopefully extend the current hedge at the back of the garden where there is a gap.

The bamboo is Fargesia murielae, a slightly smaller variety that tends to do well in pots.

All three of these pots had various bay tree topiary’s that snuffed it too, so for now something a bit hardier:



Ended up needing 8 bags of compost in total, the pots took quite a lot to fill up.



Can’t believe how much it all ended up costing.
 
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CaptainRAVE said:
Unfortunately we lost most of our bay trees to the cold last winter. The three in the front garden are regrowing, but the two out the back died. It was a big and expensive loss.

The photnia makes an excellent hedge and will hopefully extend the current hedge at the back of the garden where there is a gap.

The bamboo is Fargesia murielae, a slightly smaller variety that tends to do well in pots.

All three of these pots had various bay tree topiary’s that snuffed it too, so for now something a bit hardier:



Ended up needing 8 bags of compost in total, the pots took quite a lot to fill up.



Can’t believe how much it all ended up costing.
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That is a shame and one I didn't know was possible as I thought they were really hardy.

Yeah exactly what the OH's Sister has done, with them being standards to the top of the fence and then allowed to grow above and create a very nice looking privacy hedge.

That bamboo would be ideal for one of the raised beds I have and would fit in with the other two (one giant that's hemmed in and one golden that's in another raised bed) and the giant African grass.

Had quite a few visits to a large garden centre last year and couldn't believe how much prices had risen.
 
Spent two days trimming a tree in the garden using tower scaffolding and climbing to some precarious places. All done but now covered in bruises from gripping on with my legs, arms etc so I had both hands free to saw/prune as required. A tree belt did help a bit but awkward shape of tree prevented it being used everywhere.

12 large bags of garden rubbish despite using heavy duty garden shredder and two trips to the dump. Given my age I am thinking I am not doing too bad but not a nice way to spend two days!
 
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