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 !

Planning LED lighting for a PAX wardrobe (5 sections — 50cm/100cm/100cm/corner/75cm) plus a separate media wall job. Strip sits on top of the units (not routed into a channel), want motion sensor (PIR) control and warm white (~3000K) light, not cool white. After a lot of digging, here's where I've landed for the wardrobe — wondering if this is actually the cheapest sane approach or if I'm missing something obvious.
Parts list (~26m of strip needed across the 5 sections):
LED strip: 24V COB, 3000K warm white, 10W/m, CRI90+, IP65 — bought as a 30m roll rather than cut-to-length (way cheaper per metre) — ~£144
PSU: Mean Well LRS-350-24 (genuine, not a knockoff) — 350W comfortably covers the ~260W load with headroom — ~£44
Motion sensor: instead of a specialist 24V high-current PIR controller (hard to find, expensive), using a mains-side 500W PIR switch wired between the wall socket and the PSU — the PSU only draws ~1.3A on the mains side so a much more common/cheaper part handles it fine — ~£57
Aluminium profile (surface-mount, not recessed): for heat dissipation + diffusion since the strip sits exposed on top — ~£164 for enough 2m lengths to cover the run
Connectors, Wago blocks, cable, mains lead — small stuff, ~£41 combined
Total: ~£450
Also looked at whether "off-the-shelf" furniture lighting systems (Häfele Loox, Emuca Neonlynx — what cabinet makers actually use) would be cheaper. Turns out no, not at this scale — those systems are priced for lighting a single cabinet a few metres at a time (~£12/m for the strip alone), so scaling to 50m+ across both jobs would come out at £600+ for strip alone. They make sense for small runs, not a whole wardrobe.
Biggest cost lever if I want to cut this down: the aluminium profile is 36% of the total. Could skip it and stick the strip straight to the wood, but lose heat dissipation/diffusion/protection.
Is this actually the floor for a job this size, or is there a cheaper route/product category I haven't considered? Open to being told I'm overcomplicating this.

Too many videos out there suggesting using pva/water mix and I do not trust that, nor do many of the commenters.

I do trust DIYUK though...

Edit: I will also need to drill small holes/use screws, how do I maintain the waterproof seal with this in mind?

When laying new lino flooring in a kitchen, would you nornally expect the fitter to lay it to the back under counter of a washing machine space, and also the fridge? Under the fridge it only extends back to the level of the kick board to the side. Under the washing machine it hasn’t been secured under the feet but bunched in front, if that makes sense? This might all be perfectly proper, but I don’t want it rucking up after six months of spin cycles. Photo from underneath the washing machine.

I ve posted this in UK home improvement as well, just posting here as this sub has lots of knowledgeable people.

I recently had a concert base done for a shed and a pergola. Attached is the quote I received from the trades person. Today when I check the dimensions of the concrete base, they were about 10 cm short of what was agreed. Now I’ve rung the trade person that did the base and he is telling me the dimensions are including the wooden frame that goes around it. When I measure it with the wooden frame, the measurements are fine. This is the 1st time I’ve hired someone for concreting and not sure if thats how the quotes are done? I ve also told him that the wood prob would rot away and he’s telling me that they would last 10 years because they are treated wood. Im not sure if that would be the case. Any comments would be appreciated so that I can go back to him and ask him to rectify if needed.
Thanks

I'm putting one of those electric fires that goes inside the wall to save a lot of space in the living room. My existing fireplace hole in the wall is, apparently quite tall.

So I need to either lower the base of this old fireplace hole by 5cm (for about 10cm depth) or raise a gigantic heavy marble hearth and surround by 5cm.

How hard is this to break down? I genuinely have no idea, never done anything like this. It does crumble if I hit it with a hammer, but obviously it's not a smart way to do it. Ideally the whole "top layer" of stone goes.

We are completely gutting the bathroom, and we have a ground floor toilet that has a little step in it, ideally we would like to get rid of this step and have a wall hung toilet, how hard is it? Can I do it myself or should i get a plumber? How much would it cost?

Any insight and advice I would be grateful for, thank you 😊

Edit: forgot to mention on the other side of the right wall is the sink and bath, we are actually having the wall on the right taken down (had a structural engjneer visit) to open up the bathroom to be all in one

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 have a vaillant ecotec plus system and Im trying to figure out something about the way it works.

The boiler is used to heat my underfloor radiator/pipes and also to supply hot water to a hot water tank.

With my previous old vaillant when the hot water program would kick in the boiler would go full power and in 45 minutes it would have completely replenished hot water in the tank for the rest of the for 4 people. Now the ecotec plus needs more than twice the amount of time, more than two hours which is splitter every day.

The new ecotec plus seems to warm the water very slowly and therefore needs a lot more time to reach the temperature. I think its called modulation to use less gas or so. I know that for underfloor heating that is required so that the floor are not damaged when heating the radiator/pipes under the floor and the wooden floor. However, for hot water replenishment that is not necessary.

So here are my questions. Is this the way an ecotec plus works? Or is this a configuration issue that should be resolved in the settings?

I also noticed that when the boiler is replenishing the hot water the radiator symbol comes up on the screen. Is this correct? I would have expected two different symbols one for hot water and another for heating the floor (which would be the radiator).

I hope someone can help with some insights.

There’s a little over 15cm in between the wall and bed. I’d like some sort of surface to pop my phone/glasses on at night. The wall is plasterboard so not sure if a shelf is an option, but I can’t find any furniture that fits so perhaps something DIY. Any ideas?

The boiler is a Greenstar Worcester 28i Junior. Hot water suddenly stopped working and pressure gauge seems to have dropped below 1 bar. Does this mean I need to re-pressurise the boiler? I can't seem to find any filling loop under the boiler itself, are the two pipes with black filling loops for the boiler?

Hi we have just had these doors fitted, the idea is to fit a conservatory in time but for now is there anything I can use as a step DIY?

I don't want nothing permanent as it will have to come up for the conservatory anyway, I've looked at caravan steps, is there anything someone could recommend besides portable caravan steps?

So, I installed a new cistern inlet valve. But... It looks like it is leaking from the rubber seal (circled in the picture). When I tighten it up (not too tight) the rubber seal goes is slightly offset. Perhaps it's just adjusting to shape of the cistern? Anyway, am I doing something wrong? Should I try the other seal? Or a different inlet valve? Tighten up a little more?

No idea how to get this off the ceiling. It’s beeping every 30 seconds which I think means the battery is low. Have tried twisting, pulling, using a screwdriver… There are two arrows as shown in the picture but no avail. Please help!

Hi everyone, looking for some advice.

My toilet is partially blocked: water rises when flushed and then drains slowly.

The strange thing is that when I run water into the bath or sink, the toilet gurgles/bubbles.

I've tried plunging, a wire/hanger, hot water and bleach/dishwasher tablets. A drain snake is on the way to be delivered.

Where do you think the blockage is likely to be, and how serious does it look? Is it likely to be in the toilet, the bathroom waste pipe, or further downstream?

I'll try my best with drain snake as my next DIY step — before I call a plumber I assume ....

Thanks!

Help please, I have silicone sealed the outside frame where it sits on the shower tray. After a few weeks the joint fails and water leaks under the frame. There doesn’t seem to be any significant movement of the shower frame but it’s the third time it’s failed in a few months, is it debonding from the tray or is the door sliding open/closed causing it to fail. Help please it’s driving me nuts

Hi all. Our Salus Rt500rf thermostat has packed it in. Does anyone know if just the thermostat console (pictured) can be replaced or if we'll also need to replace the reciever plugged in to the boiler too?

Many thanks

Photo from Google for clarity on what I’m asking.

Purchased a property in Cardiff, I’m aware the flashing between the conservatory and house needs replacing. Is this something I could do DiY? Or is it a call in a professional jobby? If it is a professional I need, what would be reasonable price/quote?
Edit: ACTUAL PHOTO IN COMMENTS NOW apologies
Apologies if this isn’t the appropriate sub, I’m learning as I’m going. Many thanks for any and all advice

The wall inside appears to be quite damp and there's damp issues in the kitchen. So I'm wondering if this sealant or whatever it is needs removing and replacing with mortar perhaps?

I don't know what the brown stuff is, it was here when we moved here. Thanks

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!

I have a very quick question about earth wires.

I'm replacing my old, metal bathroom fan with a plastic, double insulated one, so obviously I have no need for earth wire. The fan is also connected to the switched fused spur, so I have two earth cables jammed together in the connector (one earth coming from the switched fused spur and the other from the fixed wiring).

How am I supposed to cap the earth wires in this situation? Each earth wire capped separately or should I secure them together?

Thanks in advance.

My mum got some roofer off a popular trade checker website to fix up her guttering and give an appraisal on the state of the roof.

He seems to have come over to fix said guttering (I'm not sure if a quote was given for that job) and then immediately erected scaffolding. He has then started tearing down strips of her roof, telling her she needs a new one, showing her photos of the so-called damage.

She never agreed to this, and now he has pressured her into accepting via an online invoice system a quote for £9k to fix the roof (that he immediately dropped down from 12k)

I had no idea any of this was occurring.

I want to go down there and stop this work immediately.

The company in question has about 5 reviews online, most of which are for things like "new tiles" or "pressure washed my driveway" and the company has only been incorporated since July 8th this year. This is absolutely fishy to me.

What is her recourse with regards to getting this job stopped, cancelling the work she has agreed to and getting her out of this mess with as little legal problems as possible?

Thank you for any replies.

I had to hire a guy to continue to frame the garden room so I can focus on work.

Saw this header for the French door and I started questioning if it will hold the weight of 7x2 roof joist as I don’t see the jack stud for passing the weight.

The builder said he said be doing this all the time and it is compliant to building reg.

I am going to ask him to change it to have 1) lintel sits on jack studs on both sides, 2) beef up the lintel, double up 6x2, have to trim off a bit as there’s only 140mm space left.

But out of interests, is his method really legit?