[nic mullin]

For the bath, I’d use foam rod, like this stuff: https://www.sealantsupplies.co.uk/products/foam-sealant-joint-backer-rod-2/ - expanding foam as per Paul’s post would also be fine, but I never fail to make a horrific mess with foam. If you go the exp. foam route, get a gun not an aerosol with a push button on top, it’s way easier to control. Also half fill the bath as Paul says and hope it doesn’t move as much as Chris’s! Use good quality, mould resistant sealant (Dow is good) or you’ll be re-doing it in a few months. I use masking tape, otherwise I make a mess with the silicone, lots of people do a good job without though.

For the roof, can you work out where the ingress is? It might be something simple and easier than a re-roof. I’d look at the flashings, verge, the ridge (can see some of the mortar has come out in your pic) and the gutter - it looks like the existing felt doesn’t lap over the back of the gutter in your pic, and it should, otherwise water dripping off the roof can blow behind the gutter. You can get plastic felt support trays that just slide under the existing felt to remedy this, like these: https://www.wickes.co.uk/Premium-Felt-Support-Tray-1-5m/p/169557

If you do re-roof, the doing is straightforward and very satisfying, but I’ve only ever done it when someone else had done all of the thinking. It’d be easy to screw up and only realise when it’ll be a lot of work to fix.

For the pointing, just go at it. Raking out can be a ball ache if the old mortar hasn’t all turned to weetabix. Rake out an inch deep, mix a lot dryer than for bricklaying, measure your mix amounts carefully so it’s all the same colour and start out somewhere inconspicuous, as it’ll probably be a bit messy at first.

Good luck!

[Will Hunt]

Get this or one of the cheaper versions when you do the silicone. I hadn't realised these existed till recently. It's self explanatory but there's YouTube videos to show you what to do.
https://www.screwfix.com/p/cramer-profiling-tool-kit-10-pieces/656fn

[andy_e]

of all the tools i bought/used for my kitchen rebuikd by far the most satisfying and time saving was a profiler tool like Will posted.

[mark20]

3) some of our back yard need re-pointing.
I did brick laying in school (got an A at GCSE  ) but haven’t done anything like that for 15 years or so!

Exiting stuff looks like this. Some bits are cracked - other sections are completely missing it.

Any ideas on the work involved in re-doing it? I guess removing anything which is dodgy. Clean out any mud/weeds. Wait for a dry weekend and get cracking?

Is this just a garden wall, or part of your out building? If the former I'd be tempted to leave it. It's a ball ache to grind out the old stuff without damaging the brickwork. Just patch up the worst bits where it has fallen out. Try a few different sand:cement mixes to get a similar match. Don't do it on too hot/sunny day as it may dry out too fast and crack, shouldn't be a problem this time of year though!

Congrats on the little one!

[James Malloch]

For the bath, I’d use foam rod, like this stuff: https://www.sealantsupplies.co.uk/products/foam-sealant-joint-backer-rod-2/ - expanding foam as per Paul’s post would also be fine, but I never fail to make a horrific mess with foam. If you go the exp. foam route, get a gun not an aerosol with a push button on top, it’s way easier to control. Also half fill the bath as Paul says and hope it doesn’t move as much as Chris’s! Use good quality, mould resistant sealant (Dow is good) or you’ll be re-doing it in a few months. I use masking tape, otherwise I make a mess with the silicone, lots of people do a good job without though.

For the roof, can you work out where the ingress is? It might be something simple and easier than a re-roof. I’d look at the flashings, verge, the ridge (can see some of the mortar has come out in your pic) and the gutter - it looks like the existing felt doesn’t lap over the back of the gutter in your pic, and it should, otherwise water dripping off the roof can blow behind the gutter. You can get plastic felt support trays that just slide under the existing felt to remedy this, like these: https://www.wickes.co.uk/Premium-Felt-Support-Tray-1-5m/p/169557

If you do re-roof, the doing is straightforward and very satisfying, but I’ve only ever done it when someone else had done all of the thinking. It’d be easy to screw up and only realise when it’ll be a lot of work to fix.

For the pointing, just go at it. Raking out can be a ball ache if the old mortar hasn’t all turned to weetabix. Rake out an inch deep, mix a lot dryer than for bricklaying, measure your mix amounts carefully so it’s all the same colour and start out somewhere inconspicuous, as it’ll probably be a bit messy at first.

Good luck!

I’ll see if i can get some of the foam rod locally - i would only need about 50cm of it so hopefully one of the local plumbing merchants will
Sell it in smaller quantities. If not I’ll maybe try the expanding foam route, thanks.

With the roof, there’s quite a lot of broken tiles, moss growing which is raising some tiles (and holding water in place). There’s no felting - its just exposed slates when viewed from the inside - so any ingress is going straight onto the back of the plaster board.

I think if i went for the re-roof I’d just replace like for like, other than adding felting. I wouldn’t touch the flashing at the side. To be honest it’s definitely something we could live with and sort out next summer when theres a longer dry spell because, as you say, i imagine things will go wrong and take longer than expected so trying to do it on an autumn weekend probably isn’t ideal…

[James Malloch]

3) some of our back yard need re-pointing.
I did brick laying in school (got an A at GCSE  ) but haven’t done anything like that for 15 years or so!

Exiting stuff looks like this. Some bits are cracked - other sections are completely missing it.

Any ideas on the work involved in re-doing it? I guess removing anything which is dodgy. Clean out any mud/weeds. Wait for a dry weekend and get cracking?

Is this just a garden wall, or part of your out building? If the former I'd be tempted to leave it. It's a ball ache to grind out the old stuff without damaging the brickwork. Just patch up the worst bits where it has fallen out. Try a few different sand:cement mixes to get a similar match. Don't do it on too hot/sunny day as it may dry out too fast and crack, shouldn't be a problem this time of year though!

Congrats on the little one!

Cheers! Going to be quite a chance but I can’t wait. Looking forward to lots of family Font trips 

Yeah the house is fine - just the yard walls. It will probably end up being left due to timing - but will make some plans to do some bits when there’s a free weekend or dry spell.

Good point regarding matching the colour as I’d say 50% is probably fine to stay and the rest is all
Crumbling or already fallen off.

[James Malloch]

Get this or one of the cheaper versions when you do the silicone. I hadn't realised these existed till recently. It's self explanatory but there's YouTube videos to show you what to do.
https://www.screwfix.com/p/cramer-profiling-tool-kit-10-pieces/656fn

This looks magical. Much easier than using a wet finger which was the approach we used when trying to seal our ever leaking shower on the boat!

[nic mullin]

I’ll see if i can get some of the foam rod locally - i would only need about 50cm of it so hopefully one of the local plumbing merchants will
Sell it in smaller quantities. If not I’ll maybe try the expanding foam route, thanks.

With the roof, there’s quite a lot of broken tiles, moss growing which is raising some tiles (and holding water in place). There’s no felting - its just exposed slates when viewed from the inside - so any ingress is going straight onto the back of the plaster board.

I think if i went for the re-roof I’d just replace like for like, other than adding felting. I wouldn’t touch the flashing at the side. To be honest it’s definitely something we could live with and sort out next summer when theres a longer dry spell because, as you say, i imagine things will go wrong and take longer than expected so trying to do it on an autumn weekend probably isn’t ideal…

I've got some foam rod kicking about in the garage and can drop a bit in the post if you want to give it a try, PM me you address if you want any.

No felt on the roof makes it quite a bit easier to spot where the water is getting in, which could help. If it's near the gutter line, i'd try the felt support trays - they don't actually need any felt, they just push under the bottom course of tiles from the outside so they're sandwiched between the top of the rafters and the bottom surface of the tiles and cover the gap between the end of the tiles and the gutter. Might improve things until you re-roof next summer if nothing else.   

   

[mark20]

This looks magical. Much easier than using a wet finger which was the approach we used when trying to seal our ever leaking shower on the boat!

Dipping your finger in white spirit makes it a lot easier

[Dexter]

This looks magical. Much easier than using a wet finger which was the approach we used when trying to seal our ever leaking shower on the boat!

Dipping your finger in white spirit makes it a lot easier

I've always used water with a small amount of fairy liquid in it for silicone, and just water for caulk.

[Will Hunt]

I went into the loft to get the Christmas decs down and discovered (along with loads of dead wozzas) a wasps nest the size of a beach ball. In finding it I accidently damaged it and revealed a number of sleepy wasps crawling around inside, none of which could get it together enough to fly or attack me.

My understanding is that all the wasps will die off over winter and they won't return to this nest. It isn't blocking any ventilation. Sooooooo, I should just leave it?
I've found and removed a failed golf ball-sized starter nest before in the past. So I guess I should just go up next spring and remove any new starter nests if any have appeared?

[Paul B]

Can anyone recommend a sealant to fill the annulus gap between a cable whereby power has been taken from an existing internal switch to add an external light? It's going to need to be suitable to apply wet!

I've just had a call from my MiL and she's sent photos of water running out of a light switch directly behind a light my FiL added a few years ago. My guess is that he didn't seal the gap or whatever he used has perished.

[Fultonius]

I've not tried this myslef, but I would imagine something like ti's would do the trick: https://guglue.com/product/adiseal-adhesive-sealant-ultra-clear-290ml/?gclid=CjwKCAiAp5qsBhAPEiwAP0qeJgyF1_rBeEhz3wUYr8rRZM06wWo2C-drBpEJEwoQOsbQ0QZfcnJzdBoC2fUQAvD_BwE

Standard sikaflex also does quite well in the wet.

[petejh]

CT1. Supposedly can be applied underwater…

[Paul B]

Thanks both. Another contact came back with CT1 too.

I actually remembered I had a tube of roofing sealant from when my utility room roof was letting in water on the day we moved in so I slung that in the car.

On arrival it's clear the problem isn't from the light, although it wasn't sealed and the hole doesn't appear to be angled correctly. The problem is the roof and there are stains that makes me suspect there's a problem with the flashing. The flashing on the actual roof isn't very well fitted to the tiles as it flies over the ~10mm steps. There's also a dark spot on the stone too where the gutter is offset about 25mm and the flashing is directing some of the flow past the start of the gutter. I've filled every gap I could get to with the sealant so we'll see if that does enough to carry me through to Spring when I might find a dry day (/ pay someone else).

[Probes]

Hi mate, it looks like you've got it sorted, but yep CT1 would be the way to go with sealing in wet. Geocel adhesive sealant is another goodun, probably better sticking and holding power than CT1, harder to work with though.
If you need me to cast an eye over it, give me a shout, no probs, only 10 mins down the road etc 

[Paul B]

Cheers. I'll find out if it's improved matters later today.

You're correct as well, the Geocell wasn't easy to work with and the mastic gun even pushed through the tube (my grip strength is clearly still acceptable).

[Fultonius]

Any good carpenters in the house?

We're about to fit a 3m long x 480mm wide solid wood ash shelf (3 planks edge glued) on top of a 5 unit wide, plywood construction "Base unit" that will form the bottom part of a built in shelving setup.

Do we need to consider expansion in the top? Or just fix it to the base and hope all the woods expand at the same amount...

[Moo]

Ideally you’d fix the top to the base in such a way that the front edge is held in place where you want it to stay and you leave a small expansion gap at the back for the woods to move.

Sounds complex but basically screw in at the front like normal but use small slots the screws can ride in on the back.

The plywood won’t expand and contract anywhere near as much as the top obviously.

[James Malloch]

Can anyone confirm that this is the correct wiring for a hive thermostat?

It is on the youtube of “North west gas certificates” so i assume it is legit.

We have the same wires going to our current thermostat that needs replacing.

Edit - it is for a Combi boiler

[James Malloch]

Can anyone confirm that this is the correct wiring for a hive thermostat?

It is on the youtube of “North west gas certificates” so i assume it is legit.

We have the same wires going to our current thermostat that needs replacing.

Edit - it is for a Combi boiler

I went for this after seeing the same diagram a few times and it all seems to be working fine 👍🏻

[Fultonius]

Can anyone confirm that this is the correct wiring for a hive thermostat?

It is on the youtube of “North west gas certificates” so i assume it is legit.

We have the same wires going to our current thermostat that needs replacing.

Edit - it is for a Combi boiler

I went for this after seeing the same diagram a few times and it all seems to be working fine 👍🏻

Sorry, meant to get back to you yesterday but didn't have a chance to get the overs of the boiler - glad you got it working!


Bookshelf DIY project nearing done.    (middle gap is for a bit of art and a projector screen - and yes, still a few finishing touches to do  ) 

[James Malloch]

Just went to take a gas meter reading and it’s not working.

I think it might be battery powered but I don’t think it is one I can change. It isn’t a smart meter.

Do i need to contact our supplier?

[Stabbsy]

This might be too obvious, but have you tried pressing the button below the screen? Neither of our meters show anything on the screens unless you press one of the buttons. The screens then power off after a pre-determined length of time.

[spidermonkey09]

This might be too obvious, but have you tried pressing the button below the screen? Neither of our meters show anything on the screens unless you press one of the buttons. The screens then power off after a pre-determined length of time.

This. I have to spam the buttons in various different ways to get something to show up. Try pressing two of the buttons at once as well.