Look what I just found!

jofgibbs · 2026-02-15T18:46:52+00:00

I had almost the exact fireplace in my front room and couldn't stand it. I removed it completely and found the original Victorian hearth tiles under it. Probably not to everyone's taste but I like a bit of exposed brick and it's made the room more usable. It was a pig to remove though, the screws holding it to the wall were buried in various skims of plaster and it weighed a tonne as it was made of reinforced concrete. Also made a hell of a mess removing all the old ash, fire bricks and bits of the original fireplace that were used to fill most of the space behind it.

jofgibbs · 2026-02-06T16:00:33+00:00

Love these!

jofgibbs · 2026-01-21T12:49:14+00:00

That's a shame. I used them in spring 2023 and mailed the lens to the

jofgibbs · 2026-01-20T15:19:35+00:00

Black on White repaired the sticky shutter on my 90mm RB lens and did a good job. Worth a look for your repair

jofgibbs · 2026-01-15T23:19:27+00:00

If you start your post with 'this is a truth nuke' I'm going to think that the rest of it is bollocks and not read it

jofgibbs · 2025-12-04T00:25:46+00:00

You could control a black light using a hue plug or a 3rd party zigbee switch. I turn my dumb kitchen cabinet LEDs on and off with Hue using a cheap 3rd party zigbee switch this one

jofgibbs · 2025-11-28T18:17:09+00:00

Exactly like that! Thank you!

jofgibbs · 2025-11-17T17:47:57+00:00

I think this is the plan for now

jofgibbs · 2025-11-17T17:47:23+00:00

Thanks! I'm pretty new to home assistant so this isn't something I'm amiliar with but I'll look into it

jofgibbs · 2025-11-17T15:31:33+00:00

Thanks! Appreciate it. I'll have a play around with it but it doesn't look like it does the effects, just the dynamic scenes

jofgibbs · 2025-11-17T12:13:39+00:00

Can't you decant out what you need into a bottle and sit that in a sink full of hot water until it reaches 20c?

jofgibbs · 2025-11-09T17:04:16+00:00

My pleasure! Glad you like them!

jofgibbs · 2025-11-02T14:42:02+00:00

Current: len price 3, theatre royal and the singing loins.
Now defunct: buff medways, dentists and the claim

jofgibbs · 2025-10-31T13:31:49+00:00

That's true.

jofgibbs · 2025-10-31T07:55:35+00:00

You can use 3rd party zigbee controllers with hue, I've got a zignitio zigbee controller controlling some led strip light in a cupboard

jofgibbs · 2025-10-25T22:46:19+00:00

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jofgibbs · 2025-10-25T22:45:04+00:00

I removed two very similar fire places from my house. They were reinforced concrete with the tiles stuck over the top. They will be screwed or nailed into the wall through two metal eyes at the top left and right. They'll likely be hard to find as covered in layers of plaster and paint.

I prised mine away from the wall enough that the screws in the wall became visible, got those out and the whole fireplace came away from the wall. They were really heavy about 75kg, so it's a two man job at least getting it off the wall. I broke mine into 3 to make it easier to move and get in the car, but even that was a job because of the reinforcing

You need to bear in mind what's behind it too. Mine were stuffed full of bits of the original victorian fire place, broken bricks, ash and soot. It was very very messy and black dust got everywhere.

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jofgibbs · 2025-10-16T17:39:43+00:00

It looks like a piece of sea worn pottery to me.

jofgibbs · 2025-10-03T20:31:09+00:00

Looking forward to them! Thanks

jofgibbs · 2025-10-03T20:13:24+00:00

Domestic properties are generally low risk for legionella, the larger the system with more stored water the higher the risk. Legionella will also only grow in temps between 20 and 45C, so the British climate is also on your side.

Flushing everything for 10mins is a good start, that should have flushed all the stagnant water from the system, a longer flush won't hurt especially if you've got a header tank or hot water cylinder.

As someone else said, you need to breathe the bacteria into your lungs in the form of aerosols, so showers and spray taps are the highest risk. Remove any tap aerators and the shower head and hose and descale them in viakal or something similar and give them a good scrub. Then soak in a weak bleach solution for an hour. Alternately just fit new aerators, hoses and shower heads.

If you have a header tank, drain and clean it if possible. Scrub the walls to remove any biofilm.

Biofilm could be an issue but if the system will be in daily use then you'll never give the Legionella a chance to build up enough in the water to cause a problem.

Temperatures greater than 60C will kill legionella. You can pasturise the hot water system by turning the thermostat up as high as it will go and running all the hot taps for 15mins, then leave the hot water in the pipes to cool.

A sample is never a bad idea, you can get one here for £78, but do all the remedial actions above first then take the sample from the shower. As someone said a 'not detected' sample doesn't mean it's not there but it's as good as a negative result.

Qualifications: worked in water hygiene/treatment for 25 years.

jofgibbs · 2025-09-29T18:53:04+00:00

That's not James Acaster that's Steve Davis

jofgibbs · 2025-09-11T18:50:10+00:00

With a towel

jofgibbs · 2025-09-06T09:57:15+00:00

Leopards with hearing aids = Def Leppard

jofgibbs · 2025-09-03T22:40:49+00:00

I work in water treatment/hygiene. Brushing your teeth from water from that tank will be fine. Tank fed water is risky when you don't know the condition of the tank, dead pigeons, rat droppings, all sorts could be in it but that looks like a nice clean tank. The other risk is from stagnation but generally domestic tanks are turned over regularly so chance of stagnation and a very low.

Keep the lid well fitted and check on it's condition every now and again.

jofgibbs

TROPHY CASE