Search results

My driveway is tar mcadam and has a bad moss problem. I treated it with a 'professional' moss and algae killer a week ago and it turned pretty brown/ sick looking. Rather than trying to use a 'stiff brush', I invested in a Stihl power brush to fit onto my Stihl combi engine. I'm surprised just...

From new, the gaskets on our hardwood windows and doors were clearly ill-fitting and 'popping out'. The manufacturer (remaining nameless) seems less than concerned and adviced that we should use sealant to fix them in place. The fact that, if necessary, this should have happened during...

I would like to run power out to a 'summer house' and greenhouse. Two separate buildings. A huge part of the expense is likely to be digging a trench from the house out to the two buildings. The furthest run is likely to be about 100m from the house (electrical source) to the greenhouse. I'd...

I put some (allegedly) pressure treated posts into postcrete about five years ago, and I'm surprised (shocked) just how decayed they have become. See picture Is there a remedy that would prevent me having to dig them all out and replace them? If I did, I think I'd flatten the surface of the...

Yup. That's right. But it might look neater if it had a face plate when open, and as I won't ever remove the lock, it will add to the longevity of the 'female' part of the system. I think I'll go with this 'camlock' solution.

Gosh. I wasn't anticipating criticism of locking the loft! As Freddie Mercury's Twin says, the agent will have a key. It would be great for any other specifically designed locks for a loft door, but the gate lock suggested above is still a bit intrusive looking. I was thinking more along...

Working overseas, we are renting our house next year and will be storing a lot of personal items in the loft. I'd like to add a lock onto the loft door without it being 'in your face' obtrusive, and slightly insulting to our (unknown) tenants. So a dangling padlock is not acceptable to me...

Thanks. That makes sense.

I have some 'Blum' type hinges into chipboard type cabinets, so the screws became unstable and have been reseated in 'bicarbonate of soda and superglue' cement (my new favourite hack!). I have repainted the doors and need to now rehang them. Can anyone direct me to a good explanation of the...

The main sewage/ waste water pipe for our village runs under/ through our garden. I do not know how deep it lies, but presume several feet. It is tempting to thing that because some waste water may be 'hot' water, the ground surrounding the pipe could be warmer than soil at the same depth...

Yes, I though of that. I think I will try to build a wooden frame to contain the concrete, with the possible inclusion of galvanised butterfly ties to allow me to then build and tie in a more attractive 'natural stone facade. It is quite a fast flowing stream, and when it rains very heavily...

Hi. What ratio of Portland Cement/ sharp sand/ aggregate would you recommend for building up existing concrete footings of a small bridge? 3m span. The river water has 'undermined' the exposed edges of the footings. Not so much 'undermined' as 'side scoured'. So some of the concrete will be...

I'll try to take pictures and post: I am usually flummoxed by this, and the size of the pictures being too big! The deck sits in top of the I-Beam, rather than being slotted into them. I have a Stihl chainsaw, but it scares me to death using it for conventional tree work: I'm not sure that I'd...

Oak sleepers would require a lot of processing to the dimensions of the current timbers. Not impossible, but something that would not be simple for me with the available tools that I have, which would not accommodate sleepers. I'd rather buy the timbers direct from a supplier preprocessed to...

As a follow-up: I've just checked whether Accoya would be an option, and although I have heard that it can be quite hard on tools it is the fact that 40 timbers of the dimension mentioned would be close to £4000 that puts me off. Whilst I mentioned that cost was not so important, I think I...

We have a 4m bridge spanning a small river in our garden: nothing fancy, just concrete 'foundations'* built into the banks supporting (small) steel I-Beams across the span of the river, and then a flat timber bed on top of the I-Beams. The timber has deteriorated now to the point that I need to...

Approaching (early?) retirement and thinking about all the things I would like to achieve, including building a time machine, back to youth.

Thanks for those suggestions. I think the plywood board might be challenging: the hedge is a pretty rubbish mix of things (including maple, I think) so it is fairly open construction, and the slope of the ground is quite challenging. The Durastilts look great, but again, I'm not sure I...

Okay, so I have a high hedge that I take my life in my hands every time I have to trim it. I use a Stihl petrol hedge trimmer, on an extension pole, but the balance is really not great given the extreme height. I prefer to use a shorter reach pole but then I have to teeter on top of a...

The cost is not really an issue, not because I've run out of places to stash the cash (far from it!), but rather I just thought it might be fun. A few lights dotted around under the trees for purely aesthetic purposes. As long as it is not silly money, I'd like to give it a go! Thanks for the...