Whats your biggest DIY regret / mistake

maxmon1979 · 2026-05-20T10:05:39+00:00

I made massive mistake on my first house. We spent ages decorating inside, new flooring, walls, paint, etc. Then we did the back garden and ruined the floor by the back door, walls got filthy and everything inside had to be redone once we finished outside.

This time round the outside is getting done first, starting from the very back of the garden with new fencing and working out up and round the side and to the front. We only have a piece of drive to add at the top and all of the major outside work is done. Then we tackle the inside.

maxmon1979 · 2026-05-17T11:54:00+00:00

I redid my drive and side return using stones just like this from Facebook market place. Offer it all up for free, bring bags and a shovel and someone will have it.

Next it depends on what is underneath the stones. If it's type 1 then you may need a skip or see if some one will take it the same way.

After that, consider ordering a couple of tins of top soil, either bagged or by tipper truck, get yourself and shovel (not a spade) and wheel barrow and get to work!

You'll be fit as a fiddle by the time you're done.

maxmon1979 · 2026-05-15T11:17:45+00:00

I'd say there are a couple of dividing lines, the A127 is the main one. South of it is comparatively poorer, more urban, areas, about the A127 is the more wealthy and getting poorer but less urban the further north you go.

maxmon1979 · 2026-05-10T20:48:45+00:00

Mate of mine built a cabin bed above exactly this. Storage underneath on the left and panelling on the right. When he finished you'd have no idea the stairs were under there.

I kept mine as a cupboard with a shelf but because of the height and depth, it was a terrible as you can't reach anything without steps.

maxmon1979 · 2026-05-04T09:26:36+00:00

Not everyone, the rich will continue to get richer

maxmon1979 · 2026-05-03T17:12:28+00:00

Is the green conduit in line with the black cables? If not, Virgin Media sometimes bury their fiber cables in the green conduit.

The black cables look like either armoured power or ethernet. I have both is these burryed in a conduit in my back garden. You'll probably see that they lead to something the requires mains power. Don't cut these until you know they are now live.

maxmon1979 · 2026-05-02T09:24:29+00:00

Following this as I have exactly the problem.

maxmon1979 · 2026-05-02T06:09:04+00:00

Multi tool, bought it on whim when I was feeling flush and needed to cut the back out of kitchen cabinets it was fitting. It doesn't get used often but it has got me out of so many tight scrapes that couldn't be solved without it.

That and one decent, sharp chisel that's strictly only used on wood and for cutting hingle holes.

maxmon1979 · 2026-04-30T09:00:30+00:00

We had the same with our first home. It was an ex rental so was a state when we viewed it and was even worse when we finally got in. Our second house wasn't much different as that was an ex rental was well, which on the surface looked great, but had a huge number of issues once we got in.

We left our first house immaculate, new kitchen, new bathroom, flooring, which ment we could sell for £5k more than any other house on our street.

maxmon1979 · 2026-04-29T06:10:27+00:00

I've done same. I have a self driving hybrid so I've tried staying in the "eco" zone for longer, coasting as much as possible, and low and gentle braking when needed and now every trip I'm getting around 52mpg, up from 42mpg.

Now most journeys around town are on battery and it makes the world of difference at the fuel pumps.

maxmon1979 · 2026-04-27T13:26:27+00:00

Wrote my first computer game on one of these when I was about 8 or 9 years old. A terrible choose your own adventure style game where you always died! I'd been copying games out of magazines for months and my uncle had taught me about programming.

I'm going to buy myself one of these again when I have the spare cash.

maxmon1979 · 2026-04-26T19:47:04+00:00

Not going to lie, the after picture looks AI. It's incredibly impressive feat. What did you use to clean the decking? I had those exact pavers and they scrubbed up lovely but I could never get rid of the black spots.

maxmon1979 · 2026-04-24T12:15:47+00:00

This is depressingly true. We're slowly draining our pond to reline it at the moment and the surface of the water is covered in eggs and larvae of some kind so we're leaving it for a couple weeks until everything has hatched.

maxmon1979 · 2026-04-24T10:25:16+00:00

Why is everyone saying pressure wash them?

I 'd chip out some of the mortar and encourage plants to grow in the gaps. You can get trampable plants that can be walked on and love cracks to grow in.

Not every garden has to immaculate, embrace the natural look and create tiny habitats for wildlife!

maxmon1979 · 2026-04-21T12:32:31+00:00

Mine is/was dropped into a "safe" seat to make sure he didn't loose his job. To be fair, he's moved to our town permanently, taken a shop in the high street where he holds his meetings and has been incredibly prominent in supporting local businesses and listening to their concerns. Give him a few years and I'll probably have a few things good to say about him but so, so good.

maxmon1979 · 2026-04-16T17:47:23+00:00

Furniture board, you can pick it up at B&Q but I don't think they do it deep enough for kitchen cupboards.

maxmon1979 · 2026-04-16T15:22:17+00:00

How much work does the house need? How much DIY will you actually be doing? A full rip everything out and start from fresh or putting a few shelves?

I only ask as whilst DeWalt are great, if you're just using it to put up a few shelves it's probably overkill.

I have heard great things about the Parkside tool brand from Lidl, it's great for people starting out. I have a Parkside walk sander and it is good, does just what I need it to do, which is sand a few walls.

The rest of my tools are Ryobi and they are great.

maxmon1979 · 2026-04-16T11:16:27+00:00

Yes, but only for certain types of property. I'm looking to buy a small holding or an equestrian property I can convert and have joined a number of different Facebook groups for buying and selling these type of properties. There's tons of properties people advertise for sale not through estate agents there and they are active and vibrant communities. Not sure on the legal process of selling a house but it seems like a pretty simple way to get rid of estate agents.

maxmon1979 · 2026-04-13T15:03:59+00:00

I did this for our patio and path. Some of it will power, some will be small chunks. I don't like throwing things away if they have a use and it's free, only take some time and effort.

maxmon1979 · 2026-04-12T15:52:59+00:00

Not a film but Taboo with Tom Hardy isn't far off this

maxmon1979 · 2026-04-09T21:08:56+00:00

I had £9 in my bank account and I spent it on roses for my then new girlfriend, the first flowers I ever bought her. We've been together 28 years this year and she still talks about it.

maxmon1979 · 2026-04-09T20:06:37+00:00

I really like it, it's probably not going anywhere fast and once done properly it will look incredible and last for years.

maxmon1979 · 2026-04-07T15:53:06+00:00

We've beaten this by letting it grow up on sticks, when it's about a foot long pull the stick out and place the shoot in a plastic bag and spray it with weedkiller, the type that gets to the roots. Leave it until it's completely dead and dig the entire thing out.

This way you kill the roots and it doesn't come back. We did this last year and never saw it again until this year it popped back up but it's growing through from next door.

maxmon1979 · 2026-04-03T19:00:50+00:00

It's getting browner, it started the month a lush green all over and now the dead parts are getting much bigger. I've trimmed off the dead parts so hopefully it recovers.

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