DIY with function over finesse!!

[mickthemaverick]

Well I hunted high and low for the 2 x 2 But to no avail. However nestling in the corner of the loft were the disassembled parts of my old Hifi cabinet. So a little sawing, drilling and screwing and this is the result:

Strong enough to support 3 times the potential weight of a full tank!!

Another job finished!

[myglaren]

Have often considered capturing rainwater but the downcomer from my roof comes down into next door's garden. Awkward but not insurmountable but: the gutters are full of pigeon s**t, eggshells, feathers and nesting materials. The downcomer often gets clogged with it all too.

I hates pidjinns.

[Vic Evans]

Too much of a faff for me !
I like the French countryside 'bung a few barrels under the eaves & dip the water out with a bucket or watering can' method.
With 4 barrels we rarely run out of water but also have a mega powerful pump in our well with 50m of hose connected if all else fails.
Ain't life grand in the countryside where nobody cares what you do.

[mickthemaverick]

That's one hell of a bird bath on the left there Vic!

[Vic Evans]

That's one hell of a bird bath on the left there Vic!

It's an old pig boiler which was in the huge multi purpose 'kitchen' fireplace here.
I repurposed it into a planter by welding on legs & drilling drainage holes.
Lots of interesting things here when I bought the wreck as it was the local bar/shop/telephone as well as having the machines to seperate corn/ peas/beans etc which local smallholders brought here before they had their own.
The place has a great history & is well known.
I bought it for the building & land which is jointly hard to come by now when most similar properties have been broken up with land & houses sold of seperately.
The house was an empty shell by any modern standards with no bathroom & one WC & basin. I basically bought 3Ha of land with a house consisting of 4 walls & a dodgy roof.
I had to completely rebuild, replumb & rewire it to give 3 ensuite bedrooms which took a year to achieve with the help of a 'chippy' pal & advice of a few locals with the knowledge of stone built buildings.
These are after & before photos;

[mickthemaverick]

Quite a project there Vic, well done!!

[mickthemaverick]

One of my birthday presents was a 1000 piece jigsaw of a rather colourful composition. Last week I sat down and completed the puzzle, 2 and a half days of time used up, and then ordered a frame for it. I have now framed the picture and have set it as a security screen for my more expensive kit in the garage, (rapidly becoming a mancave, just need to convince SWMBO that she doesn't need a car anymore!!). I think it looks good, what say you?

My new security screen

[mickthemaverick]

Another issue came to my notice while fitting the security screen. The new racks I installed after the garage flood last year (link to that story not available but may get edited in at some point!) came with rather thin, 4mm I think, MDF shelves which I now see are not up to the job I am asking of them:

Not good!

A wobbly set

Pisa comes to mind

The basic problem is of course simple bowing of the shelves causing the topsy turvy arrangements on some of the shelves. So I have ordered a new set of 12mm hardwood ply shelves which should be here over the weekend and then I will be able to replace them one by one and probably get rid of more junk in the process. At the time of the flood rationalising wasn't on the cards as I was anxious to get the contents back into the garage as soon as possible but now, shelf by shelf, I can get rid of the various out of date tins and other accumulated rubbish along the way. Watch this space!

[mickthemaverick]

Well into the next domestic crisis last night!! SWMBO was having her bath when an alarm sounded in the bathroom. She jumped out and called me so I went to investigate knowing the only alarm we have in the bathroom is the under bath leak detector!! Sure enough it was going like a steam whistle! I pulled off the bath panel to find the detector in its tray with about 10mm of water around it. Further investigation revealed the bath, which is acrilic, had cracked from the waste surround up about 50mm.

We discussed the options and SWMBO is not happy for any sort of repair because she will never trust it not to fracture again. So once she had gone off to her volunteering today I set about finding and ordering a new bath and then removing the old one. Not too technically tricky but obviously access is always a pain, especially for the furthest tap!! Anyway after much faffing I got it disconnected and then came the task of breaking the silicon seal with the ceramic tiles. I cut through the seal to release the bath and now have to clear the remaining sealant off the tiles ready for the new bath. I suspect that will be a long job but I've had to stop for a decent rest and some sustenance.

So we have a new temporary fish pond:

Just need some Koi now!!

Every cloud:

The new bath has handles which will be very useful as time goes on and SWMBO's arthritis develops so not really a disaster at all!!

Our new bath picture in the catalogue

[PaulC5]

The bath leak detector has just paid for itself by saving the ceiling, maybe we should all have one.

Last year we had our bath taps replaced and due to the difficult access and a basin cupboard (vanity unit) in the way I paid a neighbour to do it who is a bathroom fitter. I thought he would have a special tool to reach up to the tap nuts but no, he removed the vanity unit and then just long thin arms and a spanner. He also levelled it as it was dropping a bit in one corner when filled.

[mickthemaverick]

Yes Paul it certainly has. I always keep a stock of them and put them in trays under any sink and bath plumbing throughout, so the tray collects the water and the alarm fires. Well worth it in my opinion. These are the ones I use:

One time activation leak detectors

For the curious this is what is inside as you have to dismantle it to mute it!!

The construction, encapsulated sounder and battery with two terminals connected by copper membrane when the sponge expands.

[myglaren]

WD40 will allegedly get the silicone sealer off. Sorry Malcolm

Had a similar but more disastrous one years back, youngest son 'snorkelling' in the very full bath, used his feet on the tap end of the bath to push himself up and his foot went through the bottom of it. Trigger a waterfall into the kitchen. Took a bit of clearing up!

Hadn't heard of the WD40 trick, just used a tool similar to this that used actual Stanley knife blades.

[mickthemaverick]

I have pushed the boat out on the silicone removal and ordered these to be here tomorrow:

Solvent

Weaponry

Hoping it will make the job that bit easier, I have the heat gun to hand too!!

[mickthemaverick]

This is the current day equivalent of my alarms which are a few years old but still work!!

The modern look

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/353040536004

[Rp0thejester]

I doubt you'll get many shy people in a bath tub together