Spinny

Fix something else in place above the doors that disguises, draws the eye away from, or covers the weep holes (heaven forbid) - a canopy or brise soleil, a light or lights, a whispy climbing plant, trellis, a hook(s) for a patio sail, a hanging basket, a rod, an ornamental bird, a plaque etc

Well I tried Geocel painters mate on a junction between plaster and rooflight frame. Didn't like it, I might have to try and pull it off again. Kind of like a bath sealant that goes off 3 times faster - might be ok for an internal corner, but bit of a nightmare to smooth out with a finger on a flat junction. As for plaster against glass on the other rooflight - think it will have to be painted as is, but not sure about my cutting in on that.

Hoping to have the flooring peeps in soon. Wondering how I should prepare the various membranes poking out at the windows and bifolds. (See pics) 1. The window people put a piece of DPM under the bifolds and floor length window. They used double sided tape to stick it upwards against the inside edge of the frame/threshold on the inside. Naturally the DPM has pulled away from the tape and the tape has become gummed up with dust and crap and is no longer sticky. Should I scrape and cut the tape off the frame/threshold, and then what should be used to restick it ? 2. The floors radon/dpm membrane is directly alongside the window DPM. Thinking of sticking this to the window DPM, and then the floor levelling compound should run up against it when they pour it. 3. The black vapour barrier is then on the inside of the 25mm PIR edge insulation. Either I cut this off at the current floor level and it gets covered along with the edge insulation by the floor leveller. Or I try and cut it down to fold over the top of the edge insulation and then get covered, possibly sticking it too to the radon/dpm. 4. The window DPM has got a short 20mm cut in it just outside the window - how do I repair this ? Many thanks.

Any ideas on how the closing recess on my Eclisse Syntesis Architrave less pocket door is supposed to be finished ? The diagram in the instructions appears to have some kind of corner buffer in it - but absolutely nothing to say what or how this is installed in my instructions. And the recess is just a textured metal finish - is the inside supposed to be plastered too ? How would it work if you wanted to install a lock in the door with one of those hooks that drop down ? See Pics.

Good point. Does anyone ever turn off the power and water when they go away these days ?

Thanks. Unfortunately my experience has made me rather paranoid. Builder's plumber left me with plumbing problems, builder's brickie built in an arc under the bifolds, builder's plasterer couldn't hardwall, builder's timbers were bent, builder's roofer couldn't roof, builder had wrong 3.6N blocks delivered, builder's groundworker dug part of the foundation in the wrong place, etc etc etc. 100% 'Trust a trader' left the room a long time ago. Fortunately I have always had my own sparky. I do appreciate there are plenty of good uns out there too, as shown by the stuff you see built. But the paranoia won't leave me. Never-the-less tea, cakes, and eternal goodwill endure.

OK, not sure what regs say about peak loads vs continuous ? Not keen for a family Christmas meal to trip out the circuit.

The main cable is 10mm. I am actually wondering whether this is sufficient - i.e. for an everything on scenario. Hob 11kw, Oven 3kw, Mic Oven 3.6kw, Warming Drawer 0.8kw - Total 18.4kw or a massive 80Amps at 230V. Now the warming Drawer and the Mic could go on the ring main I guess but still leaves 14kw peak power, albeit only with all hob boost zones on - very unlikely but would still be 61A. Fortunately I do have underfloor conduit coming up in that area. Think I am going to have to question the sparky.

Anyone recommend a good flexible decorating sealant tha takes emulsion paints e.g. to use at junctions such as plaster and rooflight, skirting/architrave and wall etc etc

Yes it is massive. The induction hob has mutiple boost zones on it = max 11 kw. Unfortunately it is looking like the cables come out of the wall at the bottom of the cupboard position, so the switches will have to be behind whatever we put in the cupboard. Don't suppose you can get smart home grid switch modules that you can turn off remotely ? Switch Bot maybe ?

I was kind of expecting that kitchen companies would have this nailed. If they are installing maybe 100 kitchens a year you would think they would have a neat, tidy, ultra aesthetic solution. I may be pedantic but I was expecting there would be some approach where we would end up with a neat labelled brushed steel grid switch flush with the back or side of the cupboard. Time to get the kitchen drawings out again. I think there is a 15mm service gap behind the cupboards. So by chiselling off some plaster I guess we might possibly get 33mm to recess most of a back box ?

As it 'threatens' the sub station, maybe with a suitable bit of blarney the electricity utility company might take them down for you ? Also check with council that you can cut and remove them - sometimes you need permission granted which avoids any friction if someone were to complain about your unapproved tree work. Some places are conservation areas where you can't just cut trees down, also there can be tree protection orders. (Warstory: We had a beautiful mature and healthy tree at the bottom of our garden on the edge of a nursing home property. Provided screening and looked fantastic. One day I came back from work to hear chain saws buzzing - thing had been chopped down. Some old bloke in the nursing home kept complaining to the warden about the tree, eventually they got a tree surgeon in that proclaimed dangerous fungus found at base and chopped it down for a large fee. After local complaints the LA have now put tree protection orders on all the nursing home trees.)

Now, had you used habito plasterboard...

Please can I get some advice on fitting grid/isolation switches into a kitchen. We did discuss this with our kitchen company and the plan is to fit the switches inside a suitable kitchen cupboard. So now I am wondering how exactly this is best done. The kitchen company have said the electrician should fit a surface box onto the backboard inside of the cupboard, which is a 3mm back board. Is this the common approach and does anyone have any photos of this achieved in practice ? Fitting an electrical box onto a 3mm board doesn't seem that robust, neither does it seem great aesthetically, a 47mm box would be 2 inches of box obstructing the back of the cupboard for example. It may be too late to do that much about it given the wires are in place. But what is normal, does anyone mount the box onto the wall behind the cabinet and then cut an opening around it ? Or reinforce the board from behind with timber ? We have one wall run of cabinets with Oven, Microwave/oven, Warming Drawer, Induction Hob, Extractor Fan, fridge freezer, and a smart switch for opening the rooflight. And a kitchen island with D/washer, wine cooler, quooker. Would be really good to see photos of what others have done. I will discuss again with the sparky, but sometimes trades have no criteria other than quickest for them, whereas we will be living with it, and looking at it for 10-15 years.

Here tis video mentioned... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Zs2DwWqH5I