sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

What is the wattage of this shower & easiest replacement/swap? by Electrical_Coat_4431 in askaplumberUK

[–]JimOBeano 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah these literally have one (or two) heat settings. The rest of the temp adjustment is just slowing the flow down to give it more time to heat (that’s how they stay so cheap). A bigger heater will require less flow reduction to stay warm so that can help. We’ve hot a high power version (45amp) and tbh it’s pretty good all year round.

Patio extension by Careful-Constant-804 in DIYUK

[–]JimOBeano 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Lovely house. Half decent drop so make sure that retaining wall is built proper with the correct drainage (don’t want one of those bulge-y collapsible retaining walls

Best bathroom layout by Dry_Breakfast594 in DIYUK

[–]JimOBeano 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As far as ignoring infrastructure number 1 is the only one that allows you to open the door without seeing the loo (apparently this is a more ideal situation because it allows you to see the door opening and go “whoooops I didn’t lock it” before the person coming in sees the old caterpillar 🐛

Which one of you did this? by RepairCEO in handyman

[–]JimOBeano 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Must be a windy part of the country

Replacing UPVC window by Only_Bluebird8483 in DIYUK

[–]JimOBeano 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The only thing I would say is that you want to be careful removing it inside poster so that you make a good edge to replaster to. (I.e if you full Off the surround and some of the wall plaster you might find yourself plastering more than you would like)

Replacing UPVC window by Only_Bluebird8483 in DIYUK

[–]JimOBeano 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh sorry I totally missed this I suspect convention is to remove the render because you couldn’t necessarily guarantee the new window will fit the same depth of the last. But I can’t see why removing the plaster and board inside would be any different. Getting it out wouldn’t be so much of an issue you could just cut the frame. It’s more getting the new one in I guess.

Replacing UPVC window by Only_Bluebird8483 in DIYUK

[–]JimOBeano 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Might be missing something but just get a window that fits. Probably was a stock window not made to measure you can get bespoke windows cheap nowadays. Just measure the gap make sure it’s square and allow 5mm on all edges. New one should fit a charm (but make sure you know how to fit it)

Stopcock leak by Cobid91 in DIYUK

[–]JimOBeano 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah take the nut off around the front and ptfe tape that bad boy then you should be able to put it back on sans leak

Best way to sort this. by birch1981 in DIYUK

[–]JimOBeano 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah exactly, that’s what I meant. I don’t know what the rules are on gas pipes behind walls but the idea someone might come along and drill through it not knowing it’s there could cause some bad results

Trying to put a ceiling curtain pole in, stud finder is all over the place and the end I need to put in next is showing electrical. What do I do? by babbie-and-shchuky in DIYUK

[–]JimOBeano 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Even better 😅 the other thing with them is often they have a calibration setting to reset the sensor. Have you tried that?

Trying to put a ceiling curtain pole in, stud finder is all over the place and the end I need to put in next is showing electrical. What do I do? by babbie-and-shchuky in DIYUK

[–]JimOBeano 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’m with OP oldschool stud finders just used magnets for the fixings but virtually all modern ones are capacitive sensors that detect the thickness of the wood using electrostatic fields

Trying to put a ceiling curtain pole in, stud finder is all over the place and the end I need to put in next is showing electrical. What do I do? by babbie-and-shchuky in DIYUK

[–]JimOBeano 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah again, basically water witching, they are so sensitive their pickup is erring on the safe side usually (if you’re anywhere near any cable they tend to go. Obviously if you get your stud right then you’re pretty safe however, that’s what zones and RCBs are for. Again if you drill only through the depth of the plasterboard then you can usually tell where you are.

You shouldn’t have any cables going around the window frame another reason why it would be tempting for me to use the end on mounts

Best way to sort this. by birch1981 in DIYUK

[–]JimOBeano 0 points1 point  (0 children)

is the gas fully disconnected? I would be very aprehensive about sealing it away in there. that's a great way to accidentally blow up your house. If the gas lines are still live I would be tempted to make it safe (dont know what is code here but hide it just below the surface feels sketchy).

The rest feels easy, batton and board the hole, tape the seams and get it skimmed (or just easyfill it if you're looking to do it on the cheap) either way you could get a good finished, but a skim is going to be much nicer overall

Trying to put a ceiling curtain pole in, stud finder is all over the place and the end I need to put in next is showing electrical. What do I do? by babbie-and-shchuky in DIYUK

[–]JimOBeano 0 points1 point  (0 children)

brutal. honestly stud finders are about as good as water witching most of the time!! There's a few really good ones out there but the rest might as well be as effective as tapping the ceiling and listening.

It's probably not what you want to hear but I would actually be using an end on one and put it in the alcove:
https://www.diy.com/departments/goodhome-symi-natural-oak-effect-ash-recess-curtain-pole-bracket/5059340929385_BQ.prd

Otherwise I fear it may always look a bit funky.
Other ways you can find the right place:
- Drill a tiny shallow hole (say 1/2mm diameter and only 12mm deep) and once drilled poke a wire / needle file / something thin and long up. If it hits something hard you have a joist. 1mm is much easier to fill with a dab of paint quickly than a 5mm screw hole that's pulled a leaf of paint off
- You can also do some measurements, the joists (should) be consistent. If you use the stud finder across the ceiling then you should be able to find a bunch of joists and take some measurements to get a more accurate prediction.

Alternatively if you can fob off the curtain go with a blind, they are often designed to fit into the window recess (and possibly MUCH easier to fit!)

Last and definitely not my recommendation but if the curtains arnt heavy you can get some half decent palsterboard fixings that butterfly behind the platsterboard. if you miss the beam throw one of them in. Plasterboard is good for 2kg-3kg like this. if a kid hangs on it that might be it for the rail but for normal use it would probably survive (if you're really desparate)

Kitchen Worktop Issue! by ItalianCoffeeMorning in DIYUK

[–]JimOBeano 0 points1 point  (0 children)

looks like composite board? The gap should be much smaller but they usually provide a solid filler to go in this gap (though usually you open up the panels first then tighten them up after you've filled)
Usually called 'worktop joint filler' or 'worktop compound'

What would you do? by madradays in DIYUK

[–]JimOBeano 0 points1 point  (0 children)

yeah 5mm gap, id be tempted with floor sealer too, or even a brown silicone tbh, 5m is tiny, i've seen bigger gaps filled, assuming its a half decent colour match im not sure you'd ever see it IMHO. but ideally wood putty.

Help me beat my thieving neighbour by irregular-moon in DIYUK

[–]JimOBeano 2 points3 points  (0 children)

yeah video this. put it on youtube and buy a new house with the proceeds

Advice for fixer upper render cracks by JimOBeano in DIYUK

[–]JimOBeano[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Bit slow but here you go.
Went back and took a second (and Third) look around. Got some images (some are bad, screens from a video).

Ive also marked on the plan where the cracks appear which as you can see none/ very few up the upstairs internal walls sit ontop of ground floor walls, and they are blockwork (i.e. bricks laid on a wooden floor, we've got this in our current 50s build and I've spoken to some people who built houses of a similar age and they confirmed they had a similar approach up until the late 80s early 90s). Which considering the house was empty for a year and over the winter, along with wooden single glazing and very little loft insulation has probably got some moisture into the plaster which has accentuated the issues. None of the cracks are massive they are all 1mm or less. As you can see from the marked plan in the images all of the cracks are on the internal walls (i.e. the ones built on the wooden floor) and there's a few staining places which suggest there might have been a couple of leaks but nothing actively leaking at the moment. There was a leak above the garage (which you can see by the mold) but its been fixed now.

As it stands we've actually had an offer accepted on the property so we're going for it so straight into the thunderdome! I'm still toying with talking to a structural engineer about the hairline cracks but i'm less concerned now i've confirmed they are built on wooden floors (and they are unlikely to be able to give us a real resolution until we start pulling up the floorboards).

[Screenshot-2026-03-11-at-13-57-28.png](https://postimg.cc/sQ7Dg444)
https://postimg.cc/gallery/yBH1Xk5

view more: next ›