Miscellaneous DIY Projects (or bits of jobs)

[Big Kev]

Note to self, to remove drawers, remove side locking plates, pull off drawer front, press plastic release catches on underside of drawer unit, lift at front and pull back to remove. Easy when you know how!

B&Q kithen units?

[Stanley]

Were they making them Child-proof?

[PanBiker]

Bang on Kev, Cook and Lewis ones. I noticed a good bit of design on the fasteners for the runners. They are multi drilled on the fastening plates. As the mechanism gets quite a bit of hammer I would assume it is so that you can refasten into new wood if the original fixing points becomes too slack.

[Big Kev]

The multiple screw holes make sense. Following the instructions, to use the correct hole in the premarked spot on the cabinet, made it a very straightforward build. I added a couple of extra screws near the front and one extra near the back, the 2 bigger drawers have pans and baking trays in so will be carrying extra weight.

[PanBiker]

I have finished the decorating and as luck would have it our plumber had a slot yesterday so came late morning to fit the new radiator. All sorted for just after lunch. WE are going round to the shop this morning to sort a new carpet and underlay. Hopefully we can get a date not too far in the future for fitting.

[Big Kev]

I have finished the decorating and as luck would have it our plumber had a slot yesterday so came late morning to fit the new radiator. All sorted for just after lunch. WE are going round to the shop this morning to sort a new carpet and underlay. Hopefully we can get a date not too far in the future for fitting.

Good stuff, it's very satisfying to complete a project. Not a lot happening here at the moment and we have visitors next weekend, looks like the dining room is on hold for a couple of weeks.

[plaques]

Back to limbo dancing under the garage door, Both the guide wires on the up and over door wore through on the pivots. Lifting the doors above 18 inch high caused them to jamb hence the limbo performance. I've made some hooks so that they can be adjusted for length. Now I have ONLY to fit them.

PS, Remember to take mobile phone in with me just in case it doesn't work to plan.

[PanBiker]

I have finished the decorating and as luck would have it our plumber had a slot yesterday so came late morning to fit the new radiator. All sorted for just after lunch. WE are going round to the shop this morning to sort a new carpet and underlay. Hopefully we can get a date not too far in the future for fitting.

Good stuff, it's very satisfying to complete a project. Not a lot happening here at the moment and we have visitors next weekend, looks like the dining room is on hold for a couple of weeks.

Best laid plans and all that, the carpet shop is shut until Tuesday. Sally is taking Ruby to Scarborough on Tuesday until the end of next week so it will be next Saturday when we can go and choose.

No more sanding, painting and decorating so I can probably go for a walk.

[Stanley]

Good stuff, it's very satisfying to complete a project."
It is but my problem is I have to start another straight away.

[Big Kev]

Stripped the odd bits of white paint and the 50 year old varnish off the cellar door this morning, it still needed a thin skim of fine surface filler though. It's not a perfect finish but it's a lot better than it was when I first took the plywood off. First coat of primer/undercoat and I can see where I need a bit more filler before the second undercoat.

[PanBiker]

I still have to finish off with a bit of sealant around the window. I have had a bit of a bi-metal effect with the different layers of wallpaper and adhesives. As they have dried fully I noticed the paper at each side of the window has lifted and curled away, three layers so not easy to glue back down. I am trying a bit of a trick and have stapled the curls down. I will put the sealant runs on and let them cure fully then remove the staples and give the emulsion another coat over the holes. It happened as soon as we had full sun on the window for a couple of days. It's just a case of keeping it stable in the right position until everything has cured properly.

Your door is looking good Kev. We have a varnished solid pine door on the bathroom. Same classic design as the older ones. I may well paint that when we rework the bathroom to be more in keeping with whatever décor we settle on.

[Big Kev]

It's a good drying day for fast drying primer/undercoat. Second coat on after 90 minutes and a coat of fast drying gloss 90 minutes after that. It'll need another coat of gloss once it's hung, the local wildlife (greenflies) have taken a fancy to it and they are stuck now

[Big Kev]

Fortunately the greenfly were easily removable, just the odd leg here and there. It'll get another coat of gloss when I do the rest of the room but it looks a lot better than it did.

[PanBiker]

Well, the stapling idea didn't work, the paper pulled them out! Finally sorted it though and I can't see why I didn't think of this before. The UPVC window frame has a couple of wood finishing strips down each side of the frame to follow the contours of the side walls. I had papered up to these in the normal manner. Final fix was a couple of lengths of 18mm x 6mm planed up timber strips. I panel pinned these on top of the existing finishing strips trapping the paper down the side. I then ran a small bead of decorators caulk down the side to finish off. I under-coated the new timber the other day and have waited for the caulk to cure then gone over the fix with white gloss. I can finally say my decorating has finished.

We went round to the carpet shop yesterday and picked up a few samples that we brought home to offer up to the décor. We both chose the same one! Will take the samples back on Monday and fix our order. It's about a 4 week lead time for the fitter. A bit of respite before we have to empty the rest of the room.Bed, two chests of drawers, side cabinet and a couple of chairs. I hope the landing is big enough, I have already had the bed out once so we could emulsion the ceiling, should be fun anyway.

Estimates and options are in from our plumber. Quite a few options on panelling colours and styles so we will give it a coat of looking at next week. No rush as the bathroom fitter estimates it will be November before we can get a slot for his services. I sounded my Son in Law Ant out yesterday about LED down lights for the project. We are looking at cladding the ceiling as well so cabling can probably go up before it is panelled out.

[Stanley]

And here's me agonising about a bit of Mongolia slapping on the walls....

[chinatyke]

I'm amazed at how long you have to wait for a tradesman: 1 month for a carpet fitter, 6 months for a bathroom fitter.

[Stanley]

One of the penalties of living in the decadent West China...

[PanBiker]

That is not the norm just the knock on effect created by the Covid pandemic. Neither trade could work as normal during lock down as there was no household mixing. John the bathroom fitter said that he had been very lucky and had only had about five or six weeks downtime as they had a lot of work in new houses and refurbished properties which kept them going. All the plans of folk which have been put on hold are now creating the backlog.

[chinatyke]

I see. I wasn't thinking. I've got so used to getting instant service! There is a great scheme here. Casual labourers, including tradesmen, wait in certain places in the city. If you want any help you just go along to their corner and tell them what you want doing and agree a price. They sort out how many and which workers are required and all the other details. I've used bricklayers, women labourers to bag up and carry sand and aggregate to our roof and remove building rubble, and cleaning ladies when we were doing alteration work on this apartment. I can't speak too highly of them, all trustworthy and no complaints from me or them. I've seen the same ladies unloading trucks.

[Stanley]

Sounds like a very practical scheme China.

[PanBiker]

We took the samples back to the carpet shop on Monday and put our order in. We got a date for fitting earlier than expected, 28th of this month.

Another small job that needed doing. I have a failed LED down light in the kitchen. One of the six that does one end of the kitchen and is lighting for the worktop. I got a replacement from Ant, my son in law And did the replacement yesterday. I have tested that it is OK before introducing it to the hole. Its only half way inserted and held by it's spring clips. I have always though that the holes that are drilled through the plasterboard are slightly undersized as there is no way that you can compress the two spring clips without doing some damage to the sides of the hole when you retract the fitting. They have a good 1/2" screw on flange trim around the actual light so I reckon the holes could stand to be a tad bigger. Same as the last one I replaced the hole edge at one side was damaged on retraction so I had to put a bit of filler in. That had hardened by today so I have sanded it back and repainted it. Just waiting for that to dry off and I will ease the fitting all the way back in.

As I see the back of those jobs I find out that Sally is getting some fence paint on her way back from Silsden today. So that is destined for a couple of coats on the gate and probably the pent shed as well. She has also mentioned that the shed could do with some new doors! No peace for the wicked. The gate needs a new sneck as well. I have had two lever through the gate latches on it in the past and both have failed so it's going to get a simple auto close latch once its painted up. I have one on my front gate and it works a treat. Kiss principle being reintroduced

[chinatyke]

...some fence paint on her way back from Silsden today. So that is destined for a couple of coats on the gate...

Brought a picture of Norman Clegg to mind, in Last of the Summer wine. He was always painting his gate!

[Stanley]

[PanBiker]

Ours hasn't been done for a couple of years. I think I will take it off to give it a good sanding. Might tighten the gate posts up too, they have a slight bit of play. You need solid posts for the auto close latches.

[Stanley]

I should get some timber and make a new gate. The present one looks OK but has rot in it.