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  1. nickjb

    Fan motor wiring

    I picked an old fan hoping to use it in the workshop. It'll run and gives decent airflow but it won't start. If I power it then it buzzes, if I give it a little nudge it spins nicely. I wondered if it needed a capacitor but I tried a couple, rather blindly, in a couple of different...
  2. nickjb

    New window into old stone wall

    I'm working on my planning application for converting an old stone building. Its Victorian, the walls are about 600mm thick. Fairly neatly laid on the outside rubble in the middle. To get a nice layout it'll be much better if I can get a window in the gable end. I'm trying to gauge how hard...
  3. nickjb

    Mortar for lime and rubble wall

    Need to do some repairs to the roof of an old building. There is a big bit of roofing missing so I need to do a bit of pointing and fit a new wall plate before I tackle the roof. Its rubble stone with lime mortar. Quite rustic. What mortar mix do I want and what lime should I buy? Any tips...
  4. nickjb

    Dealing with a flaky damp wall as best as possible

    We have an old stone building. Thick walls, no cavity. Its not been well looked after. I've fixed the worst of the leaks in the roof and windows so now its time to make the interior a little more habitable. I think the walls are lime plaster but they've been patched and skimmed with modern multi...
  5. nickjb

    Connecting an unconnected property to the grid

    We are looking at a renovation project. It has a load of issues that we are going through the pros and cons of. One them is no electricity. I'm hoping this isn't too big a deal. It once had electricity a very long time ago if that makes any difference. There is a line of poles running along the...
  6. nickjb

    Slate roof repair

    I'm looking at an old and somewhat rundown house with a slate roof. there is a pretty significant bit of damage to the gable end. I think it looks there was some tree damage that went un-checked and has allowed the timber to rot. The rest of the roof looks ok to my untrained eye, although there...
  7. nickjb

    Replacing garage roof joist

    One of the joists in my garage is getting beyond saving and starting to sag so it needs replacing. Its a pair of 3x2s on a 2.7m span so maybe a little under sized too. Ideally I'l replace it with something stiffer. The problem is the slot for the timber is only deep enough for the current sized...
  8. nickjb

    Shaver socket for toothbrushes

    I'm looking to for a shaver socket in the bathroom. It'll pretty much be exclusively for charging toothbrushes. I'm trying to get a handle on the current regs. Does it still need to be a standard transformer style shaver socket and are these OK for toothbrushes? I have read about some getting a...
  9. nickjb

    Building on land with access across it

    I own a small triangle of land behind some houses. Its garages around the edge and open space in the middle. I'm considering my options for this land. I don't think its suitable for housing, there is space for maybe 2 or 3 but the access lane isn't very good. I was wondering about a few more...
  10. nickjb

    Flicker free light bulbs

    I'm looking for some bulbs (standard bayonet fitting) for the task lighting in my workshop. I know some low energy bulbs can flicker a bit which I'd really like to avoid as I don't want any strobe effects with the machine tools. What bulb is likely to be the best short of buying up old filament...
  11. nickjb

    What is non standard construction and how to standardise it

    Just looked at a bungalow which is non standard construction (and cheap because of it, and cash only). Its basically cast concrete panels for walls. No insulation. The rest of the building is pretty standard. Below dpc is brickwork and the the roof is pitched and tiled. What would it take to...
  12. nickjb

    Fuse voltage rating

    I've bought a non working cnc machine which is missing some of the control system and I'm building it up. The motors operate from a 40v DC supply. It has automotive style blade fuses for each motor. These fuses are rated at 32v. I can find fuses rated at 58v but cannot find a supplier. So here's...
  13. nickjb

    Achieving a lightly textured concrete finish

    I'm replacing a section of garden path and the old path has a slight textured finish that I'd like to match. Its like a fine sandy surface a bit like sandstone or gritstone. How would I go about replicating this?
  14. nickjb

    Running sockets from a cooker switch.

    I'm upgrading and adding to the sockets in my workshop so there will be 8 metal clad doubles when finished. I'd like to be able to switch all the sockets off from near the light switch to stop me accidentally leaving a soldering iron plugged in or something else running as it might days or weeks...
  15. nickjb

    Workshop roof with insualtion

    I'm building a block workshop at the end of the garden. It'll be a workshop for me now but maybe longer term it'll become a home office or other use so I was thinking I might insulate the roof now for the sake of a few extra quid. Might help with condensation too as the top deck will be steel. I...
  16. nickjb

    What is a "medium" dense concrete block?

    As a DIYer plus working on less than optimal scaffolding I thought a lighter block would suit me better now I'm working a bit higher so I ordered some medium dense concrete blocks. A quick trawl around suggests to me these should be around 12-14kg per block rather than 18kg for a standard. Is...
  17. nickjb

    Building without Planning. How much hassle?

    I'm considering building a bin and bike store in the front garden. Pretty minor thing, Maybe 5'x3' and 5' high but as it is forward of the house my understanding is that it would need planning. As it's going to take a day or so and cost less £100 I wouldn't mind avoiding spending £200 and...
  18. nickjb

    Tie brickwork to blocks

    I'm building a garage in the garden and am toying with the idea of matching the house with a rendered finish and a brick surround for the door. Ideally using reclaimed imperial bricks and I'd like to bricks to be 30mm or so proud so the render is close to flush. That'll mean no bricks really...
  19. nickjb

    Glass panes, how much clearance?

    I'm going to re-glaze an internal door and side light with toughened glass so need to order it to size. How much under should I be asking for? The holes are pretty square and straight but I suppose I still want a bit of tolerance.
  20. nickjb

    Uneven floor. Possible causes.

    Looked at a house yesterday. In need of updating the estate agent would say. Fairly untouched for a few years and a deceased estate. All in though it was a fairly good buy. Biggest obvious issue was uneven floors downstairs. The front room was raised in the middle by maybe 4 inches. A near...
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