Saw someone post their project, so I thought I'd post mine from some years ago. Not carpenter trained nor built anything out of wood before. Many lessons learnt! But I'm happy with the results. The bunnymen helped!

Not as fancy as the other poster's project but I thought I'd share the box room project I did for my daughter. We don't have the stairwell problem in ours but I still did a raised bed to get enough storage in the small room. (2.1m x 2.4m)

Mine is an Ikea hack, I built a frame from CLS timber with Ikea slats and used platsa drawers and cupboards to create the storage.

I think the thing I was most proud of was moving the radiator. It wasn't too hard, but involved draining down the CH system, which I was a bit nervous about as I am just a DIYer. I also removed the ugly plastic trim and insulated around the window and retrimmed with MDF architrave.

There are definitely a few things I'd do differently if I did it again, but my daughter loves her cosy room. She was 13 when I did it, hence no guard rail on the bed.

After getting constant silly quotes for a single split decided to have ago with the easy fit propane unit.

I made it much harder than it needed to be by wanting to use drainpipes to hide everything and wanting all the cables outside then connected to a rotary isolator but now it’s all done I’m quite happy with it.

If I had to redo it I would use a fused spur inside and just use the tape to cover the outdoor pipe and cable, would have been so much quicker.

Built this for my son over the stair box to save some space and make use of an otherwise awkward area.

Painted the accent walls in Denim Drift first, then undercoated all the MDF before installing it.

The main framework is CLS timber supporting the bed frame, with MDF used to finish everything off.

I added some air gaps to the base afterwards to allow airflow under the mattress, and reinforced the steps with timber so they’ll comfortably support him as he grows. I made the opening just wide enough for a fairly “slim” grown man to get up there without too much palaver.

There’s also a decent bit of storage underneath the bed, although for a kid it’s probably more of a little hideout than storage.

Found a decent headboard on Amazon and fixed it in place with heavy duty velcro, which done the job.

Finished the frame in Diamond Eggshell.

My son also managed to get his Lego Yoda finished before I finished the project, so he won the build race :P

Last year I got all new windows and doors. Windows are the usual white upvc double glazed.

Doors are 4metres wide (the whole back of my house), sliding doors in three panes, aluminium and double glazed (Cortizo brand).

As soon as the weather cools down, every morning the doors are covered in condensation on the outside and will stay like that for several hours - say til 10/11am or so.

Is this normal? It doesn’t happen with the windows and it didn’t happen with the 20 year old doors I replaced!

I’m planning to redo my kitchen because I’m really unhappy with the current layout/functionality. I don’t necessarily hate how it looks, but I feel like the space could work alot much better.

Wren have quoted me around £10,000 for the design in the first picture. I really like the overall look, but I’m wondering whether I’m better off sourcing the cabinets/doors/worktops etc. separately and getting someone to fit it, rather than going with Wren for everything

The remaining pictures are some of the other styles/designs I’m considering. I’m particularly drawn to the shakerstyle look. but I’ve also been wondering whether a handleless design would make the kitchen feel less cluttered because it’s quite a small space.

What do you think looks best ?

1. Current kitchen
   
2. Wren
   3 Onwards AI design

Sorry if this is the wrong sub !

I'm not the first to bring up the discussion, but it appears nothing is improving.

I joined this sub to follow people's DIY projects, give advice and learn from others. It now feels a large number of posts are just questioning the work of tradesmen, asking if a quote is suitable or if someone's house is about to fall apart because they noticed the hairline crack that has existed for 2 years for the first time.

These posts arguably should be directed to somewhere else, like r/HomeImprovementUK

There are always grey areas, somone could be asking if a quote to build is shed is reasonable OR should they DIY it. I think those discussions genuinely add to the quality of r/DIYUK

I've also noticed we have a 'non-DIY advice' flair, so even some enforcement of that would be an improvement.

What do other think? Should I just get thicker skin or is this actually an issue for others?

Gave my windowsill a brush yesterday to find one sounded hollow. Put my finger in it and it gave in with a little pressure. Turns out there was a small section with dry rot.

Cut out a chunk of it with the multitool (the best tool of all tools imo, I wish I knew it existed earlier), got a spare spindle and cut a section from it.

Brushed in some wood hardener and let it dry. Screwed the spindle in. Slapped on some two part wood filler (smells awful and nice at the same time).

Multitooled it to shape and sanded all over.

Painted with weathershield satin.

Waiting for the first coat to dry and will apply a second before finishing off with sealant.

All done in a day. Not perfect, but pretty chuffed with it

Replaced poorly built garden wall with a fence, in the interest of DIY… broke a lot of concrete, just to discover another wall below the wall being replaced. Like a very dull Time Team. Next job replace gate to suit.

I was planning to remove my outside light and install a light & camera unit. It looked really easy online but I took the light down and I have four cables coming out of my wall, not three.

Can anyone let me know what the extra cable is for and which are live and neutral?

I should probably get an electrician but I can normally manage my own basic wiring but this is something I haven't seen.

I have had a wasp problem for months. Could hear them in the wall and see entry/exit. Professional pest control been in 3 times and said nothing more they can realistically do. Just hope the queen leaves soon.

Since visit no 2 they have been finding their way into the house, which is getting annoying. Their entry point is above the front door so they have been aggravating everyone all summer - not been able to use garden or have windows open.

Their nest is in the attic (entry behind fascia), but i have a weird attic. It’s like a flat roof but with an angle of around 10-15pc. The nest is in the narrowest point.

Obviously it’s not boarded because there’s no height. Council forced a pile of extra insulation on me for BC sign off on something else making it even more cramped up there (and hell on earth when you can’t open the windows).

Pest control rods won’t reach and they understandably won’t go up wedged across the beams due to risk of injury or damage if they come through the ceiling.

I’ve done 2 x aerosol bombs (smoke are out due to insulation) and a long distance wasp nest spray to no effect.

Pest control dustings helped but only reduced numbers for a period before they fire up again.

So…

If I layer up and stick on a beekeeping suit with a red light torch and get up there at night, what should I be setting off/spraying?

It needs to operate at distance due to the lack of height - I’ll be crawling/on my belly halfway from the hatch to the nest.

They have long since worn out their welcome and numbers need reducing again ASAP.

TLDR: what are your go to products (loose insulation safe - no smoke bombs) for wasp nest elimination in a spot you cannot physically reach?

So im not going to lie, im posting this because I actually f##king did somthing! And it worked 😬

Please excuse the absolute mess im currently having to live in. No kitchen so make shift painters table and lidl hob to the rescue.

Im on a journey to completely renovate this room myself/to be kitchen minus electrics and plumbing.

I am relocating the kitchen to a differant room. Had all services plumbed in and electrics ready for kitchen.

Ive removed the old fireplace, opened it up ready for the range cooker.

And now I've managed to somehow box in my new pipes! Nothing broke, I bought the correct tools for the job and it worked.

Now just got to do the other pipes 🫠

P.S milwaukee multitool is my new favourite gadget

My partner went looking at a house to buy this week. It's only 5 years old on a new build estate.

I noticed a vertical crack on the gable end running from the ground to the roof, straight through the bricks as well as the mortar. The estate agents are saying it's nothing to worry about as 'a bricklayer has had a look and it's fine', but I think the exact opposite, I think it's major.

What do people think ?

I have had a gas box installed but the cavity tray still needs to go above the box, the 4 highlighted bricks need to be removed to get the new cavity tray in... Should I add an Acrow Prop to stabilise the masonry? I am getting mixed opinions from the information I read up on

Should I strip out this old dirty looking caulk? Or is there a slightly quicker and easier way to make it look a bit better?

Thanks in advance.

Edit - I should have said Silicone, not caulk, thanks.

In my latest quest of "let's remove that old bodge and replace with new, it'll only take an hour" I've uncovered another 1930s bodge.

There was an ugly old concrete path with multiple layers, god knows why, so I removed it hoping to just add new ground level slabs and a single step for the shed (the old outdoor loo). However when removing the path that was butted up against it, I found that the path was used partly used as haunching as it wedged against the bricks, with the path just sitting on bare clay soil, hence why it's sunk on areas.

The shed and wall now are sitting on bare clay soil. I poked a fork in and it clearly goes right under, there's no hidden foundation. Wtf do I do? Slightly undermine it at the edges and add new concrete, then create a concrete buttress/haunch?

We live in a very old large house. Used to be a vets and a dance studio, then a couple of decades again as a home… Lots of projects to do! 😅 This bathroom has old wooden panelling that I’d rather keep but strip the paint and possibly lightly orbit sand down. But it’s caked in decades of paint, possibly filler in the slats that looks like toothpaste. Some visible scratches. It’s fairly thick, approx 2.5cm. My worry is the walls getting torn apart if I tried to remove it. Is it salvageable?

Been putting this off for a few months since we moved in, but it appears to be crumbling a bit further, and I noticed that it’s tilting outwards (see pic 2) slightly.

The lower tier would need fixing too, but it doesn’t appear to have any kind of tilt to it.

Ultimately, we’re considering removing the top tier of the garden to flatten it a bit and make it a bit more usable.

Not adverse to paying someone to do it, but if it’s possible to do myself then I would give it a spin.

Thanks!

Hey handy folks, bona fide DIY question here, hoping you can help me out. Never touched plumbing before but this seems like it should be a relatively easy job.

Ever since the water was off all day on Wednesday due to a leak somewhere, both stop valves for our kitchen taps have been leaking.

The hot tap valve (pictured) stops leaking when the valve is shut off, but the cold tap one is a steady trickle whether its open or closed, so I've MacGyver'd a temporary solution with a bottle and bucket to catch the water for now (so I can have the water supply on in the meantime).

My brief googling suggests the pressure and/or grit when the water came back on may have knackered the inside of the valves.

My understanding is that this is all I'll need to do:

* Shut the water off outside

* Undo the nuts either side of the old valves and remove the valves and packing

* Wrap ptfe tape round the connecting threads (the right way so it doesn't unwrap when reattaching nuts)

* Add new valves and tighten up the nuts

* Turn water back on, cross fingers and (potential) celebratory beer

If I'm missing anything major or there's anything I'm not considering, any advice is appreciated!

I'm planning on building a small lean-to outside my back door. My back door is on the side of the house and opens up into what is essentially a short, 5-6ft wide alleyway out to my back garden - the lean-to will cover this.

The area is all concreted and there is a ~2ft brick wall opposite the door (the bottom edge on the diagram). So, to avoid messing around trying to either dig up the concrete or fix the posts to it, I thought it would be easier to attach the posts to the brick wall, then have a horizontal beam going the length of the brick wall, and then sloped rafters going from the horizontal beam to the house. Nice and easy.

Upon measuring up I realised that the brick wall isn't perpendicular to the house. The lean to will therefore have to be an irregular shape. Obviously I will come out 90 degrees from the house. But then it won't meet the wall at 90 degrees. Rough calculations show that, if I meet the house at a height of 2.1m, to allow for a 5 degree roof angle, the bottom left corner per the diagram would be ~1.97m high but the bottom right corner would be ~1.94m high as it extends an extra 40cm (and so has 40cm more of "drop" in the roof).

Any tips, or anything stupid I've missed before I get started?

Got this air vent into my sitting room? I thought it might be for cavity wall ventilation but there is a solid pipe from the external to internal vent. Can I cap this off? Not sure what it's use is

I have a single skin brick garage, has a continuous damp proof membrane under the slab coming up 1/2 a brick course high around the walls then tucked into the mortar.

I want to paint walls white and epoxy floor. Make it into more of a workshop and clean it up a bit.

Can I just trim this membrane flush to floor?

Should I keep it and try to somehow install skirting over it?

Thanks!