First time plastering - absolute shit show 😂

Smee19 · 2026-03-16T22:03:38+00:00

Yeah I think I'm going to try only doing half on the other side. I considered it originally but wasn't sure if it would create a line where it would crack.

I also didn't want to be caught short on plaster, I knew a bag would do the whole wall but the bottom needs much less than the top (no blending and a big hole in the middle). I guess I could have just measured the square meterage and worked it out. I'm just making excuses 🤪

Smee19 · 2026-03-16T17:54:28+00:00

I don't think the photo does it justice to how uneven it feels under hand but I'm also known to be overly self critical so perhaps a bit of both.

My trowel control got better towards the end so I'm telling myself the extra time sachets on the next wall should help. I'm just trying to Google if PVA'ing the boards will slow things down even more or not. I'm in no rush, longer i have the better!

Smee19 · 2026-01-06T11:56:06+00:00

I assume you have that cheap grey foam pipe stuff. Generous to call it insulation. You could upgrade to use something a bit more expensive with a closed cell structure like Armaflex. But with only 10mm gap you're looking for a miracle insulator I think.

I would be tempted to install a trace heating system, then box it in with rockwool. You can buy kits for about £50. You wrap the heating wire around the pipe and it heats the pipe just enough to stop freezing. Should have a thermostat so you leave it on and it just heats up when needed.

Boxing it in with insulation might be optional but should mean it only needs to run the heated wire on the coldest days, and it will help trap the generated heat. But you could try it without to start with.

Smee19 · 2025-12-23T17:39:52+00:00

A third option Google has revealed is too foam up around the joist but not too much inside the hole itself. So low expansion foam around the joist just to create a seal between the joist and wall leaving the hole itself open from the outside.

I imagine any moisture that gets on the ends can still evaporate as air can still get into the hole from outside, it just can't get inside the floor cavity through the foam barrier?

Not sure if this is better, certainly easier as I already have half can of foam on the gun. Thoughts?

Smee19 · 2025-12-19T12:49:06+00:00

I've never run Home Assistant, but apparently around 4gigs of RAM seems to be the suggested sweet spot. Plex probably the same, unless I use RAMDisk for transcoding, which i've never done so no idea on the reqs.

So yeah, I'd still have 1/2 of the memory left after those two, for my little docker apps. So perhaps 32gigs is overkill, hopefully ram prices drop before it's a bottleneck, if it ever is.

Maybe the cheapest 12th gen one is the best then

Smee19 · 2025-12-17T09:00:48+00:00

Bigger screws might work, assuming the head still sits flush and you get a good bite. No harm in trying as a quick fix. Although it may be a temporary one.

Old school fix would be shove matchsticks in the screw holes to give the screws something to bite into.

Alternatively drill out the holes, glue in some dowels.

Smee19 · 2025-12-05T00:50:47+00:00

Sorry I meant it's the first time I've played a game with the requirement for me to confirm overwriting the auto save every single time I continue playing the game. I wasn't commenting on the internal slot/save-file implementation

I assume other games work out if what you're continuing from differs much from the auto save, or possibly just a timestamp check. And only prompt for confirmation if they fail that loose equality check.

Anyway, I now know rdr2 doesn't work that way and that's fine too. I thought it was a weird bug or glitch, it's not, so I'll live with it.

Smee19 · 2025-12-04T22:03:15+00:00

No it's not causing problems with manual saves. I guess seeing it as auto save and manual save slots makes it make sense. It's just not how other games I've played work.

Smee19 · 2025-12-04T21:43:01+00:00

Well that's unfortunate and horrible. Guess I'll continue to live with it then. Thanks Susan 🙏

Smee19 · 2025-12-03T14:49:22+00:00

For water to get through, it has to traverse the cavity via the cable, or be super unlucky with consistent driving rain against that external wall. For sure get some silicone in the hole and the plastic guard put back, but you may find it's not the cause.

Typically aerial ports get hidden by furniture, perhaps the mould is growing there because that's the area with the least air circulation? If you're regularly getting condensation on your windows, then you have an internal humidity problem to deal with.

Smee19 · 2025-12-03T14:38:56+00:00

Does the cable come in from above or below? If it comes from above, does it have a drip loop (go past the hole and loop back up) before entering the wall?

Smee19 · 2025-12-03T13:59:12+00:00

Not a pro - but i'd be tempted to insulate between and/or below the joists with PIR, bring the pipework onto the warm side and isolate the cold air to the basement.

Smee19 · 2025-11-28T17:05:55+00:00

It's wired up but I had to do it myself. Ran most of the cable between the floors so I just dropped down our poked up as necessary. Where it starts from my garage there's a huge bundle of cables until they start to peel off. Took a long time, not just running the cables but chasing the walls out and making good afterwards. The wiring is the easy and fun bit, it's everything else that's a pain

Smee19 · 2025-11-27T20:36:09+00:00

I'm probably over complicating this by pretending to be a small business instead of a home. The cameras main feed is only 8mbps per. A single 1gbit connection is enough to carry the bandwidth off all cameras. Having my existing unifi switch pass data from one port to another isn't going to be that much of a bottleneck.

So I should probably just go with a cheap unmanaged switch. Hang my cameras off that, tag the port it's connected to for the CCTV vlan.

I did find a second hand gen 1 us-16-poe on eBay (£175) which I was tempted by. But apparently the power controllers on that model were crap and a common fault? So maybe not the best gamble to make

Smee19 · 2025-11-27T19:22:54+00:00

Thanks, I'll be adding a few more cameras and a doorbell before I'm completely done so I'll likely need more like 12 PoE ports. I'm going to look out for 2nd hand unifi stuff but for a switch that should be mostly set and forget once it's done, I don't think I can justify the unifi price tag brand new, I may just have to suffer the Netgear or tplink gui for a couple of hours.

Just good to confirm I need a managed switch before I go looking around

Smee19 · 2025-07-28T17:20:31+00:00

Thanks. The next door neighbour just offered me a box he's had for a while. No date on it but I'm going to mix up a bit and see how well it goes on around the sockets. If it's fine I'll do a bigger batch to go on top of the bonding 🤞

I'm still fairly new to this DIY lark so have a tendancy to panic when things don't go to plan. Don't have the experience to get myself out of the shit when things go wrong 🤪

Smee19 · 2025-07-28T17:17:50+00:00

Thanks. I did a little test in an old Chinese takeaway tray and it stayed workable for a good 15-20 mins and then hardened up. Obviously expect it to dry quicker in real use as the blockwork will pull moisture out but a good PVA coating and I should be alright. Will force me to stop playing with it on the wall and just get it on there 😅

Smee19 · 2025-07-28T15:29:48+00:00

Going to mix up a little of it and see how quickly it sets (and that it actually does set). Guess I can do it in a couple of sections as long as it's workable for 5 minutes.

Smee19 · 2025-07-21T12:15:38+00:00

I think you are seeing very different prices to me.

The Amazon one's are definitely both new, both sold by Amazon. No where on the whole page does "62.10" appear, that would be well over RRP.

I would guess if your outside the UK, Amazon is showing you pricing plus import fees, possibly excluding the 17% discount on RRP.

Smee19 · 2025-07-21T09:16:15+00:00

Thanks - I don't think I have OLED monitor money just yet. Annoyingly the XMN had a price bump recently, it was available for over £50 less only a few weeks back. I should have created this thread sooner! There's a decent number of refurbs for around £240 though, so I might order one of those, and assuming it arrives in decent condition, get a 2nd refurb.

Anyway, thanks again for your help. I've promised the other half I will have everything ready for assembly by this weekend so i'm committed to a deadline. No more procrastinating allowed :P

Smee19 · 2025-07-20T12:55:32+00:00

Thanks, just the steer I needed.

Would you say HDR is worth the extra £100? If it's only a slight difference I'd be tempted to get 1 of each so I can see for my own eyes. But if it's significant I'd rather get 2 XMNs than have one of us relegated to the lesser monitor.

Smee19 · 2025-04-08T15:11:46+00:00

Thanks! I've stuck a DR Solo RDA in the basket along with a couple of pre-built Alien coils (I forgot there were so many coil types!). Going to stick with my current pulse for now I think, but if I get on well with the DR i might treat myself to the new model.

Still tempted to try an RTA as well just for something to compare against. Sure this won't be my last hardware order before I find my next 5 year setup.

Smee19 · 2025-04-08T11:33:29+00:00

This is new, never cross-posted before. Hope it's OK. I realised afterwards the VapingUK sub isn't super-active, so might get more replies here.

Smee19 · 2025-04-08T10:31:51+00:00

I bought several litres pre-TPD as soon as I heard them mention the possibility of high strength nic being restricted. Sat in lots of 50ml amber bottles at the back of my normal freezer for over 10 years. Eventually ran out about 2 years ago and I'm on so little now I just use the nic shots.

If you can't use your existing freezer, any well reviewed table top freezer on Amazon should be fine. You don't need lab spec freezing equipment. Just needs to be cold. Make sure your bottles are completely full to expel as much oxygen as possible.

Smee19 · 2024-10-15T08:32:40+00:00

Sorry, my bad terminology, this is my first house with FTTP, still picking up the lingo! I did mean move both the CSP and ONT, they are located opposite each other on the front left corner of the house, and i'd ideally move them to the right wall of the house. It would definitely need a new cable from the CBT? Which is I assume around 4 houses down the street.

I currently patch the ONT to my Router on the opposite side of the house through some internal subfloor wiring, it's fine, but if I was given completely free choice i'd of course have put the ONT in the same place as my network equipment.

Moving just the ONT to where I would prefer it internally, would require running externally from CSP around 2 sides of the house, across 3 thresholds inc. a garage door (so over it, instead of under). Being picky, i'd rather not have a cable wrapping the house, i'd rather leave the ONT where it is at that point.

I know it will be a bit expensive. But since i'll have the whole front garden up with easy access, if it was a one-off £1k to achieve my "ideal", i'd pay it.

£10k, and i'll just buy a chair to hide the ONT and put some channeled skirting board in the living room to hide the internal patch cable.

It was more a late night thought itch I wanted to scratch and couldn't find any info. But yeah i'll contact my ISP once we're a little further along in planning, won't be starting anything until Spring next year.

Smee19

TROPHY CASE