The House Projects Thread

[mr_jon]

This is rather lower down the scale than most of the stuff on here, but thought it might be useful for someone

We have a couple of cupboards where a bit of light would be useful, but not so much that I can be arsed wiring proper lights into them.

Bought some of these. On Friday this week they’ll have been up 4months and haven’t needed to be recharged yet.

Clean your surface and affix 2 sticky-backed metal pads - lights are then held onto these by magnets. PIR senses movement and also light levels - won’t come on if there is loads of other light. They generally come in as you open the cupboard, but if not a sweep of the hand brings them on. Only downside is that they are quite easy to knock off, but some thought on the location helps that (and they are v light so a blob of blu-tack is ample to hold them in place)

We found those a few years ago, very useful indeed for the under-stair cupboard and just inside the loft hatch.

[Jimmy Choo]

The survey has come back for the new house. There's a bit of a damp problem that is going to need to be addressed. The bank also came back and have said that the house is only worth £170k and they're only prepared to lend on that. This is a touch irritating as I'm kinda maxed on what I can borrow so I need to get the sellers to reduce the price. Couple that with the damp and I should be able to get the price reduced.

[Carlos]

The survey has come back for the new house. There's a bit of a damp problem that is going to need to be addressed. The bank also came back and have said that the house is only worth £170k and they're only prepared to lend on that. This is a touch irritating as I'm kinda maxed on what I can borrow so I need to get the sellers to reduce the price. Couple that with the damp and I should be able to get the price reduced.

See it as a positive. My Solicitor mate mentioned she's seen more down valuations in the last couple of months than the last 5 years combined. The agent will have plenty of experience in keeping the sale progressing.

I think the housing market looks a bit overcooked. Houses selling quickly for silly money but lenders don't appear to want to lend.

[Jobbo]

Anyone used a special porcelain tile drill bit? There are a couple of types at Screwfix and Toolstation, one rather pricier than the other:

Under £4.00


About £14.00


£10 would look like a false economy if I mess up the existing tiles

[mr_jon]

I've always just used standard HSS bits with a bit of tape to stop it walking, so I'd say the 4 quid one would be fine based on that.

[Jobbo]

Cheers Jon - tape seemed a good idea, but I wasn't sure if an HSS drill would do the job.

[mik]

I’ve used the top type - tungsten carbide - on the advice of my plumber mate. Need to keep cooling it if drilling through thick tiles.

[Rich B]

Yeah, I've tried lots and the £4 or a normal masonry bit seem to work best For small holes.

Except on the tiles I put in my old house that were made of adamantium I presume.

[mik]

Where is [mention]jamcg[/mention] ?

[Jimmy Choo]

The survey has come back for the new house. There's a bit of a damp problem that is going to need to be addressed. The bank also came back and have said that the house is only worth £170k and they're only prepared to lend on that. This is a touch irritating as I'm kinda maxed on what I can borrow so I need to get the sellers to reduce the price. Couple that with the damp and I should be able to get the price reduced.

See it as a positive. My Solicitor mate mentioned she's seen more down valuations in the last couple of months than the last 5 years combined. The agent will have plenty of experience in keeping the sale progressing.

I think the housing market looks a bit overcooked. Houses selling quickly for silly money but lenders don't appear to want to lend.

Yeah, I'll see what I can wangle the price down to.

[Jimmy Choo]

I’ve used the top type - tungsten carbide - on the advice of my plumber mate. Need to keep cooling it if drilling through thick tiles.

This. They blunt quite easily too.

[jamcg]

Anyone used a special porcelain tile drill bit? There are a couple of types at Screwfix and Toolstation, one rather pricier than the other:

Under £4.00


About £14.00


£10 would look like a false economy if I mess up the existing tiles

Top ones fine for ceramic tiles, no good for porcelain. The second pic is like the type I use- I get these ones from screwfix

https://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-diam ... vUQAvD_BwE

They are a dry drill, so no need to keep wetting them. Usually get around 15 holes before they start to blunt, which is a good ratio of use to price on porcelain tiles, they are without doubt the hardest thing in the world to drill as you’ve got to keep it nice and neat

Trick to using them is to start the drill at an angle the wall, and gradually move the drill straight, if you try it at 90 degrees the drill will just take the bit all over the tile and absolutely ruin the tile

[Jobbo]

Anyone used a special porcelain tile drill bit? There are a couple of types at Screwfix and Toolstation, one rather pricier than the other:

Under £4.00


About £14.00


£10 would look like a false economy if I mess up the existing tiles

Top ones fine for ceramic tiles, no good for porcelain. The second pic is like the type I use- I get these ones from screwfix

https://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-diam ... vUQAvD_BwE

They are a dry drill, so no need to keep wetting them. Usually get around 15 holes before they start to blunt, which is a good ratio of use to price on porcelain tiles, they are without doubt the hardest thing in the world to drill as you’ve got to keep it nice and neat

Trick to using them is to start the drill at an angle the wall, and gradually move the drill straight, if you try it at 90 degrees the drill will just take the bit all over the tile and absolutely ruin the tile

You, sir, are a star. It is ceramic rather than porcelain, fortunately (despite me asking about porcelain bits). I think the top type with some masking tape and a wet sponge is the way to go.

Have just looked at the basin hanging kit I got from Victoria Plum as a suggestion when I bought the basin. It contains 12mm diameter wall plugs I think it's intended for wall mount basins rather than pedestals; fortunately mine has a pedestal so I'll avoid trying to drill 12+mm holes in the tiles and stick to my usual 6mm wall plugs.

[Rich B]

Video it - this sounds like it could be funny!

[Jobbo]

Video it - this sounds like it could be funny!

With water shooting out of the pipe ends, tiles cracking etc - I'm going to take care not to video it

As much for my own benefit as anyone else's, I forgot my usual rule last night when putting up two wall lights: don't use the shit screws and wall plugs which come with the item. I have a decent stock of wall plugs in a few sizes, and good screws, yet I still stupidly put in the crap wall plugs and then sheared off a supplied screw when doing it up. Do it wrong and do it twice

[dinny_g]

When my father in law had to stop working and donated all his tools to me ( ), he gave me a massive chest of screws and nails, wall plugs and fittings. It's the sort of collection that would take ages to build up or cost a fortune to buy in one hit so it was a brilliant addition to the garage.

[mik]

You, sir, are a star. It is ceramic rather than porcelain, fortunately (despite me asking about porcelain bits). I think the top type with some masking tape and a wet sponge is the way to go.

Masking tape is a good shout. I’d suggest an old mug full of water that you can keep dipping the drill bit in. I was using it on large floor tiles that had been wall-mounted though.

[Rich B]

If it's ceramic rather than porcelain you'll be through it in no time before you need to worry about wetting it.

[jamcg]

Video it - this sounds like it could be funny!

With water shooting out of the pipe ends, tiles cracking etc - I'm going to take care not to video it

As much for my own benefit as anyone else's, I forgot my usual rule last night when putting up two wall lights: don't use the shit screws and wall plugs which come with the item. I have a decent stock of wall plugs in a few sizes, and good screws, yet I still stupidly put in the crap wall plugs and then sheared off a supplied screw when doing it up. Do it wrong and do it twice

If it’s ceramic tiles you can start with the 6mm, then open the holes with progressively larger masonry bits, just don’t put hammer function on- i’d advise using the bolts it comes with, it’s loads easier to fit the basin, it guarantees that it’ll pull back flat with the wall. Also means when connecting up the waste you can slacken the nuts off and pull the pedestal forwards for easier access, then when you’ve done that just push the pedestal back and tighten the nuts, usually with a 17mm spanner

[Jobbo]

They aren’t the bolts it comes with - the basin comes with no bolts at all, but since it has a pedestal rather than being wall-hung I think the hanging kit I was suggested by Victoria Plum is OTT.