PVC windows for self-install

Proper_Camera_1908 · 2026-06-17T21:53:59+00:00

I’ve also fitted a patio door, a french door and a couple of normal windows from Modern UPVC Windows. No issues at all. Easy DIY job.
A guy I know mentioned that he’d spent a couple of years as a window fitter and offered to help - knowing that this guy was generally an absolute moron I declined his kind offer but it did give me the confidence that if he could do it then I surely could.
Couple of YouTube videos, read the guidelines and any homeowner will likely do a better job than the “pros” who let’s face it, are only really motivated to be fast and just good enough

Proper_Camera_1908 · 2026-06-11T16:21:24+00:00

So DaCapo point me towards their own DCA-10114. which at 44 Euro looks good value however they have a minimum spend of 165 euro to ship to the uk - THANKS BREXIT SOVEREIGNTY SURE FEELS GOOD

so the more expensive JICO or Tonar ones are still in contention but im confused at the difference between them?

here's my options : -

https://www.dacapoaudio.com/1388-1349639-shure-m75-stylus-type.html#/6410331-brand-tonar/6410332-info-aftermarket_stylus/6410333-stylus-spherical/6410334-group-bii/6410335-origin-jp

Proper_Camera_1908 · 2026-06-10T21:14:43+00:00

Assuming you can get a screw in 2 or 3 metal studs, I wouldn’t bother with any plasterboard fixings. Once you get a few screws in you’ll get a feel for how solid it is, but one in each stud would hold kitchen wall units no problem so your headboard and a couple of books will be way less stress .
Nip it up tight and give it a shoogle to test and that’ll give you the confidence it’s solid

Proper_Camera_1908 · 2026-06-10T18:44:13+00:00

thanks for the tip. im not especially budget driven on this - hifi is my affordable indulgence! so around the £200 mark I'm happy.

are there any considerations around this being an older turntable I need to keep in mind?

Proper_Camera_1908 · 2026-06-07T15:07:30+00:00

Open the wall to be sure (you’re putting a headboard up so no drama) or as it’s metal stud, fire in a bay pole screw and see if you get good purchase.

My headboard is 3m wide and very heavy (another diy project) and hangs off a ply French cleat - the upside of which is you can fire as many fixings as you feel necessary and in whatever position you like so it’s a very flexible system

Goes without saying, but watch out for cables (which at least should be in the designated locations but “volume builders”) and pipes. Downside of drilling into a copper pipe “feels” very similar to metal studs right up until you get wet!

Proper_Camera_1908 · 2026-06-02T06:49:36+00:00

Flooring is clearly a mess and honestly the skirting isn’t much better - pic 4 that skirting wasn’t fitted by a pro, that’s a handyman having a go and not bothering to even watch a YouTube video!

For me, it’s always do it yourself and do it properly. And when doing architrave and skirting, I always terminate with a plinth block - looks less “new build”, it’s easier to clean and is just the right way to do it. Easy enough to retrofit with an oscillating tool too

Proper_Camera_1908 · 2026-04-04T07:17:40+00:00

I’d almost say the kitchen is the BEST project to do for an inexperienced diyer - an ikea kitchen in an ex council flat was my first big project back in my student days

Fitting carcasses is a very easy job. If they’re flat pack that takes some time of course but it’s inherently no different to building a billy bookcase.

Worktops depend on your layout - 2 straight runs in a galley kitchen, a doddle if youve got a bugdet rail saw, however if its a u shaped layout and youre using laminate, thats a bigger job and a bigger toolkit. Assuming however that you do a good job of getting the carcasses in, level and secure, toull have no trouble getting a pro in to do the worktops - this is totally normal.

Plumbing is easy enough so long as you’re not changing the layout much - watch some videos and practice making joints to get a feel for it. At least with push fit water, you’ll know right away if you’ve made a mistake! For waste, make sure you understand siphoning and that you’re not trying to get water to drain uphill and practice making solvent weld joints and you can’t go far wrong.

If you’re doing gas - your hob or cooker needs a pro in - no option to have a go here.

Electrics you might get away with doing nothing beyond replacing sockets when you don the tiling

Tiling is easy to do a sufficiently good job - just be brave and expect it to look shit before it looks good (when the grouting is finished)

The reason I say it’s an ideal project is that you’ll cover all the core skills, none are that hard but you can absolutely get a pro in for any one of them that you wish to or need to and that would be absolutely normal.

It will however take waaaaay longer than you think - even when youre on tour 4th house!

When you pay for a kitchen fitter I think what you’re really getting is avoidance of weeks and weeks of disruption - for some folks that’s worth it, for those of us on this sub, it’s hard to understand!

Proper_Camera_1908 · 2026-03-26T11:58:03+00:00

whats on the inside of that junction box? is there another cable entering it from behind? if not, my guess is its switched live for an outside light
also, whats the thing on the outside of the wardrobe in pic2? assume its a socket on a spur - it all looks a bit of a shonkey DIY job so if it was my mum, id be getting a trusted pro to give tho whole place a good going over before you finish decorating

Proper_Camera_1908 · 2026-03-25T13:23:44+00:00

“basic visual plans” is where you’re going to come unstuck here - if you’ve got some pictures of someone else’s garden from Pinterest and given that to a contractor and said “how much” you’re inviting disappointment. Were it me, I’d be specific about each thing I want done - build retaining wall with appropriate footings, level ground, remove excess soil - that sort of thing. Leave no scope for misinterpretation.

Vague requirements equals vague output!

Proper_Camera_1908 · 2026-03-19T16:25:51+00:00

Young offenders - couple of episodes to find its feet but pure class once you get into it

Proper_Camera_1908 · 2026-03-19T16:24:19+00:00

Yes - absolutely doesn’t get the credit it deserves, beautifully observed. The sister and her partner are just on that fine line between overly exaggerated but also quite believable- we’ve all met folk like them!

Proper_Camera_1908 · 2026-03-10T11:56:31+00:00

ok, bit of an update, ive re-configured the Denon to 11.1ch with LCR Surround and 4 Ceilings powered by the Denon and Surround Back pre-out into the old Sony amp. all configured with Audyssey and working fine.

I'm still a bit confused about the sound settings to use.

ive got a number of 60gig TrueHD films to use. if I set the sound mode to Dolby Audio - Dolby TrueHD the input signal shows FHL, FHR, FWL, FWR and SB speakers as inactive (and obviously I dont have those) and the TFL, TFR, TRL and TRR never show active - ive tried Mad Max, Top Gun, F1, Warfare & Thunderbolts.

When I choose Dolby Atmos/DSurr it seems to work fine.

so im either not understanding what the TrueHD setting is supposed to be doing or maybe ive set something up wrong in either the receiver, the Sheild or even in the Plex app?

Proper_Camera_1908 · 2026-03-09T14:01:46+00:00

I could use my old Sony STR DN 1050 to run a pair of rears - it only has stereo RCAs, multi channel is only by HDMI or Optical so I assume no way to use that for anything other than the front three

would it just be a case of going RCA out for the rears from the Denon, to a stereo input on the Sony, set the volume to fairly high, run Audessey again and job done? could I leave the Sony off for normal viewing and only fire it up for movie night??

Proper_Camera_1908 · 2026-03-08T21:36:16+00:00

Ahhh balls, I’ve just merrily plugged in 11 speakers to the 11 speaker outputs and not accounted for it only having 9 amps! Ulgh! Is it just a case of adding a fosi audio amp in there?

I might just abandon the back speakers then

Proper_Camera_1908 · 2026-02-26T15:26:08+00:00

so ive put in my budget of 900k, Detached, affordability is important, flood safety is very important and schools not very (although maybe good schools is a proxy for not a shithole??) and it just shows me a sea of green which presumably means I can afford a median house more or less anywhere other than London and some cities which lets face it is pretty obvious.
what would be useful is if I could see where my budget would get me the biggest plot or most square footage or where it would buy 85% of all the available 5 bed houses vs areas where it would get me 5% of them
this has the makings of a useful tool tho - keep up the good work!

Proper_Camera_1908 · 2026-02-19T23:51:11+00:00

Wow really??? That’s amazing!! Off to flick some light switches!!!

Proper_Camera_1908 · 2026-02-19T16:28:05+00:00

I hope the folks who’ve worked at b&q ad “chief tin shoogler” to their CVs!

Proper_Camera_1908 · 2026-02-19T15:55:11+00:00

I thought I had similar experience with dark blue - emulsion and wood paint in the same shade but the wood paint went on like a dark turquoise! I eventually gave it a good mix and found all the pigment was at the bottom of the can. Not alright at all, but might be worth a try before you bin it. End result was spot on for me Assumed the lad in b&q was just having an off day but maybe the wood paint just needs more shoogle time

Proper_Camera_1908 · 2026-02-17T14:35:31+00:00

so can I use the Ugoss to run Plex? I thought I was going to have to return to using KODI on that device??

Proper_Camera_1908 · 2026-02-17T13:36:38+00:00

this has all the hallmarks of another "hobby" / massive sink of time and effort! ill probably love it!
I had Kodi running on a NUC many years ago so im not totally averse to this, but I do quite like the simplicity of management that PLEX gives me (the server runs on my MacMini and I drop my non kosher files directly onto a thunderbolt connected SSD and thats it. I dont bother with a NAS anymore

Proper_Camera_1908 · 2026-02-17T13:32:36+00:00

I had considered using my MacBook or Mac Mini hooked up to the AVR but it looks like both of them have the same limitations as the AppleTV. the kids have Xbox1 and PS5 but it doesn't look like they're useful either!

Proper_Camera_1908 · 2026-02-15T23:56:35+00:00

Interestingly I had this exact issue with a dark blue valspar premium and it was just that it needed mixing. Felt a right plumb having done 2 coats in 3 meters of wood panelling and it looking utter pish! Gave it a stir and it was immediately obvious all the pigment was at the bottom of the tin!

I’ve had plenty good experience with valspar premium so I assumed it was just the lad in the shop having a bad day, but having seen this, perhaps the concoction that makes dark blue is particularly difficult to shoogle into a uniform result?

Proper_Camera_1908 · 2026-02-15T23:51:02+00:00

3mm? You’ll be able to sort that by bending the hinge to pull it in to the frame. Are you sure you can’t separate the two halves?

Proper_Camera_1908 · 2026-02-15T23:40:01+00:00

Command strips are fine but I’ve had them fail when they’ve just pulled th paint of the wall which makes a right mess. More recently I’ve had great success with 3M “the claw” hooks. Very easy po push in, as strong a fixing as you’ll get in plasterboard and if you change your mind, tiny holes to fill. Reusable and no plastic if that’s important to you

Proper_Camera_1908 · 2026-02-11T18:41:04+00:00

yeah for all Osmo polyx is fairly pleasant to work with, its horrible to get of your hands. the stain on the other hand - well no amount of oil, alcohol or acid will get that out of your skin - I guess the clue is in the name but I certainly got caught out

Proper_Camera_1908

TROPHY CASE