Recent content by DIYC

Hi, I need to put the finishing touches to a fireplace but I could do with some advice. The linked photos should help explain the question. I have a block work flu, a plasterboard wall and a newly fitted marble fireplace. I know I disturbed some of the fire cement when...

Decorating the lounge at the moment. First time we've decorated this room since we moved in. Previous owners of the house must have had something hanging over the fireplace because they had 2 fairly heavy duty wall plugs in the middle of the wall above the (gas) fire. When we moved in we...

So surfing around the usual shops it seems like I can get a big enough DPM for the cupboard from ToolStation for a tenner. What do I do? Put the DPM on the concrete base. Make a timber frame, lay that on the DPM. Put some 25mm polystyrene insulation in the frame. Screw some plywood on...

Hi, I'm trying to make use of the space under my stairs by turning it into a cupboard. I've made a whole in the plasterboard big enough to crawl inside and now I'm in I've found a few things that raise some questions. The stairs are open on one side and join an internal wall that has...

Thanks Thermo, So it sounds like I should... Dig out the path. Put a hardcore base down and compact it. Put a damp mix along the edge and set my drain channels and first row of blocks in the damp mix. Once that's done, put my dry mix/sand down, level it and put the rest of the blocks on...

Hi, I'm planning some work in the garden and one of the improvements I'm considering is a drainage channel (like Aco Hexdrain). I want to put the channel tight to the house and then block pave up to it. I'm lucky in that the only pipes on the outside of the house are rainwater drain...

Hi all, I just wondered if the same principles apply when tiling a kitchen to tiling a bathroom? Specifically, when I tiled the bathroom... I battened the wall 1 tile height above the bath and tiled up from there. Then I fitted the bath. Then I fitted the last row of tiles - trimming...

Hi all, In the middle of a kitchen refit and have bought a HotPoint built in microwave. Much to my dismay, the only instructions about installing it talk about electricity. I have that sorted, so no worries there. My questions are about fixing it. It's going into an appliance...

Again guys, many thanks for all your advice. ColJack - that it my current way of thinking - I had just thought of Plasticote so I think that's the way forward. I did also consider fablon - but I think plasticote would be better - I'll see. Ricicle - will do - I appreciate your concern -...

Guys, thanks for the advice so far... much appreciated. Back to the original question. I've spoken to Hager and between us we've managed to work out that my enclosure is an IECOS 66-6H. They don't make them any more (they're 10+ years old) so they won't be selling me a new front cover...

When you say get the rest of the spares covered - I'm assuming you're talking about the copper contacts on that bottom rail? I've never seen inside one of these before - I only took the cover off it for the first time this morning! Can you buy the plastic caps? Are those contacts live in...

Hi, I'm refitting a kitchen at the moment and I think I've got everything organised apart from the consumer unit. The existing unit sits above a wall cupboard and to be honest it's an eyesore. I've thought about various options from covering it/boxing it in to replacing it with a shiny...

Laminate floor in a kitchen... Details: It's a complete kitchen re-fit; new cupboards, appliances and floor. All appliances are integral. The base is a concrete floor, I've bought a suitable underlay. The laminate is click/lock and is suitable for kitchens (water resistant). There's...

Hi, I recently undertook a DIY project to tidy up my sky cabling. Like every other normal install, the sky engineer simply drilled through the exterior wall of the house and poked the cables through. Aside from moving the cables a couple of feet, I also terminated them with a double F...

A big thanks to everyone for taking the time to reply. I did actually figure it out in the end, but your replies just confirm I got it right. Kinda obvious really, pins 4 and 5 as recommended before are the middle pair of an RJ45 (8 pin) plug and so it goes with out saying 3 and 4 are the...