DIY/Home Improvement Thread

[Raj]

24 minutes ago, FLAN said:

Not DIY as such but closest thread I could find. Just noticed the drainpipe at the front of the house has detached from the gutter on the roof. Looks like it would fit back in but I’m not keen getting up there on a 3 storey. Who would do such a job without ripping me off?  

Are you Leicester based?

 

If so try kerry at bentley roofing in glenfield. 

 

https://bentleyroofing.co.uk/

 

 

[FLAN]

On 23/04/2023 at 20:23, Raj said:

Are you Leicester based?

 

If so try kerry at bentley roofing in glenfield. 

 

https://bentleyroofing.co.uk/

 

 

Thanks again for this. Responded to email and round in 2 days. Looked at job  and did it there and then. And unbelievably reasonable price wise! 

Edited 28 April 2023 by FLAN
Typo

[Wolfox]

On 23/04/2023 at 19:58, FLAN said:

Not DIY as such but closest thread I could find. Just noticed the drainpipe at the front of the house has detached from the gutter on the roof. Looks like it would fit back in but I’m not keen getting up there on a 3 storey. Who would do such a job without ripping me off?  

Throw your window cleaner an extra tenner?

[FLAN]

Don’t think they go 3 storeys high 

[FoyleFox]

Anyone had any experience of DIY bricklaying? Is it difficult? Or expensive to get someone in to do it?

We have 2 pond walls that were red brick topped with blue brick, we've reduced the height of them and now need to relay new creasing tiles and new blue bricks. It's just 2 x 2.2m walls and 3 x 450mm square pillars.

 

Is it very difficult to do or is it best to get a professional?

[Wolfox]

19 minutes ago, FoyleFox said:

Anyone had any experience of DIY bricklaying? Is it difficult? Or expensive to get someone in to do it?

We have 2 pond walls that were red brick topped with blue brick, we've reduced the height of them and now need to relay new creasing tiles and new blue bricks. It's just 2 x 2.2m walls and 3 x 450mm square pillars.

 

Is it very difficult to do or is it best to get a professional?

Depends how confident you are…. Laying out initially is absolutely key…. But, the process of putting mortar between bricks is not that challenging….  Good brickes go at speed and have accuracy and the best can do more intricate stuff… If it’s a pond wall it doesn’t matter too much if it appears a little ‘rustic’  I’d probably give it a go…

[FoyleFox]

Moderately confident. I think the concern is continuously matching the mortar and that with the dominant position of the pond and as we've not touched other professionally done walls, rustic isn't going to be great.

[FLAN]

Went to B&Q for.a bathroom redesign quote. 7.5k for a faulty basic bathroom. Am I out of touch as that seemed high? 

[FoyleFox]

7 hours ago, FLAN said:

Went to B&Q for.a bathroom redesign quote. 7.5k for a faulty basic bathroom. Am I out of touch as that seemed high? 

Seems high. Our wasn't that much and included a freestanding bath and spa shower. And tiles for the whole room. 

[Tommy G]

On 29/04/2023 at 10:53, FoyleFox said:

Anyone had any experience of DIY bricklaying? Is it difficult? Or expensive to get someone in to do it?

We have 2 pond walls that were red brick topped with blue brick, we've reduced the height of them and now need to relay new creasing tiles and new blue bricks. It's just 2 x 2.2m walls and 3 x 450mm square pillars.

 

Is it very difficult to do or is it best to get a professional?

I wouldnt bother - badly laid bricks can look terrible even if it's just pond walls. When I did my extension in 2020 I was paying a Brick layer £170 a day, I suspect in 2023 that's well north of £200. 

[FoyleFox]

10 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

I wouldnt bother - badly laid bricks can look terrible even if it's just pond walls. When I did my extension in 2020 I was paying a Brick layer £170 a day, I suspect in 2023 that's well north of £200. 

It was a brief contemplation. Have someone coming to quote It's just less than 100 bricks so hopefully not going to cost a fortune.

[Tommy G]

7 minutes ago, FoyleFox said:

It was a brief contemplation. Have someone coming to quote It's just less than 100 bricks so hopefully not going to cost a fortune.

Day max

[Bellend Sebastian]

19 hours ago, FLAN said:

Went to B&Q for.a bathroom redesign quote. 7.5k for a faulty basic bathroom. Am I out of touch as that seemed high? 

I think you'd get much better value finding a local fitter who's got a trade account at one of the specialist bathroom places.

 

Think we spent about ten grand on ours in the end (and it was two years ago) but it's pretty fancy and that was basically the whole thing stripped back to the plaster and starting from scratch, so included bespoke built in furniture, underfloor heating, tiling, decor, a new window etc etc.

 

Our guy was very good at helping us sort out the layout, advising us on what would and wouldn't work and making sure it came in on budget. I know we ended up paying quite a lot less than the showroom price for all the actual bathroom stuff by the time he'd sorted it all

[Greg2607]

bought myself a Nail Gun this weekend...... now I feel like a real man! 

[danny.]

19 hours ago, FLAN said:

Went to B&Q for.a bathroom redesign quote. 7.5k for a faulty basic bathroom. Am I out of touch as that seemed high? 

Probably not, anything building related is bonkers these days, most things have doubled if not tripled or quadrupled. Had a few quotes recently with trades on > £800 - 1,000/day

[Tommy G]

26 minutes ago, danny. said:

Probably not, anything building related is bonkers these days, most things have doubled if not tripled or quadrupled. Had a few quotes recently with trades on > £800 - 1,000/day

What part of the UK is that? Recent plumber I used was £245 a day. 

[FoyleFox]

1 hour ago, danny. said:

Probably not, anything building related is bonkers these days, most things have doubled if not tripled or quadrupled. Had a few quotes recently with trades on > £800 - 1,000/day

A day! Blimey, our bathroom chap charged £3k last year to remove the old one, move all the pipes for the new layout, tile it all, a few other bits and install the new suite.

[Parafox]

5 hours ago, FoyleFox said:

A day! Blimey, our bathroom chap charged £3k last year to remove the old one, move all the pipes for the new layout, tile it all, a few other bits and install the new suite.

I need to know who this is.

 

Mrs P is hell bent on taking our bath out and having just a shower (we have just bought an ex-display cubicle and tray £400, bargain). One wall and the floor of the bathroom will need re-tiling, as well as blocking off/re-routing existing pipework and drainage.

 

Did your chap remove existing tiles?

[FoyleFox]

4 minutes ago, Parafox said:

I need to know who this is.

 

Mrs P is hell bent on taking our bath out and having just a shower (we have just bought an ex-display cubicle and tray £400, bargain). One wall and the floor of the bathroom will need re-tiling, as well as blocking off/re-routing existing pipework and drainage.

 

Did your chap remove existing tiles?

Sadly, he's not working at the moment due to family illness.

 

No. All our walls and the floor were tiled, so we just tiled over.

[danny.]

On 02/05/2023 at 12:42, Tommy G said:

What part of the UK is that? Recent plumber I used was £245 a day. 

Leicester!

[Tommy G]

15 minutes ago, danny. said:

Leicester!

Anyone who uses a trade who is after that much a day should be a cast member of Dumb and Dumber 

[Tommy G]

18 hours ago, Parafox said:

I need to know who this is.

 

Mrs P is hell bent on taking our bath out and having just a shower (we have just bought an ex-display cubicle and tray £400, bargain). One wall and the floor of the bathroom will need re-tiling, as well as blocking off/re-routing existing pipework and drainage.

 

Did your chap remove existing tiles?

One of my best mates is a plumber - he did all our pipework in our house and extension, boiler, bathroom upstairs and downstairs. Great guy and fair price - Hinckley based.

[danny.]

On 03/05/2023 at 13:46, Tommy G said:

Anyone who uses a trade who is after that much a day should be a cast member of Dumb and Dumber 

Problem is they are all crazy money now or you just can’t get a reply from people. I’m resigned to doing most of the rest of my house myself now. We seem to have reached a point where only the rich can afford tradespeople. 

[Greg2607]

On 05/05/2023 at 19:05, danny. said:

Problem is they are all crazy money now or you just can’t get a reply from people. I’m resigned to doing most of the rest of my house myself now. We seem to have reached a point where only the rich can afford tradespeople. 

Welcome to 13 years of Tory Britain. 

[Kinowe Soorie]

On 05/05/2023 at 19:05, danny. said:

Problem is they are all crazy money now or you just can’t get a reply from people. I’m resigned to doing most of the rest of my house myself now. We seem to have reached a point where only the rich can afford tradespeople. 

Not true.