Be Excellent To Each Other

Had to do some forced DIY this evening. Noticed a wet patch on the bedroom floor and water dripping from the ceiling. Turns out that after my Facebook joking about Doris doing no damage while we were away, I'd actually lost a roof tile on the back of the house. Local roofers turned their nose up at such a small job, blaming high demand due to the recent weather.

Luckily, the design of the house allows relatively simple access to the small flat roof over the bedroom window so I figured I'd do it myself.

I had to borrow a long ladder from a mate and by the time I got it back to the house, it was dark, blowing a bit and starting to rain. So, I decided to get it done. The tile wasn't broken, it'd just slipped, I just had to slide it back in under the next row up.

Terrifying, mate. Damn near shit me pants up there. But the roof is fixed and it didn't cost me anything. Except maybe a few years off my life expectancy and some new pants

Tiles are generally nailed down so they don't do that, aren't they m

No these ones are stacked in a way that they hold each other on with weight. Unless a gale force winds lifts them up, apparently

I believe Topsy and Tims dad did something similar in a recent episode on Cbeebies...

but he didn't mention shitting his pants though.

It's in the subtext

Usually, some of them are nailed. The rest rely on the weight of the tiles to hold them in place. They can slip...

It's an easy fix, provided you're alright on high ladders...

Indeed. The higher ones slide up out of the way. I would've been much happier doing it in daylight, but things were getting wet

You did well. I dislike working on ladders for reasons that are too boring to explain other than it isn't to do with height.

It's odd because I can go up and down huge a-frame ladders or clamber across gantries all day at work when I'm helping the theatre techs rig lights, but lean a ladder against a wall and I go all rubber legged.

Do they remind you of pub staircases?

Did a ladder you once worked with steal your girlfriend?

Nope. I have disc problems in my lower back, and standing stationary on ladders really aggravates it. Going up and down them, fine, being still for more than a few minutes with my feet together on a rung and my back starts seizing up.

You're right, that is really boring.

I have a mini chainsaw which I'm using to cut down a tree but the tree is wider than the chainsaw. Does that matter? Will it still go through or is it too small?

Buy a bigger chainsaw.

They chainsaw down Giant Redwoods, and I'm pretty sure they don't use meter-wide chainsaw blades

Get a Bagger 288

Or a smaller tree.

All I know about cutting down trees is what I've seen on the internet. You have to get your wife to video it and it's supposed to land on either a porch or a pick up truck.

Start at the top and work your way down

Is the tree twice as wide as the chainsaw? If not, just cut it from both sides.


Think again.

Oh, I thought he meant width, not length

Title

...

What possible difference would the width make?!

Your mum says a lot.

Ask your mum

0/

Well none, which is why I said it didn't matter.

\o

We want a wall smashing down, 2 doors filled in, plastering, electrics, floor & redecorate 2 rooms. Quotes so far£7.5k and £15k plus kitchen costs....

That's quite a variation. Have the firms been recommended to you by other people who used them?

No, we're going to ask about a bit. Problem is, most people we know locally are NCT, and all just moved house, so no real traction there. I'm not sure, given the cost, if we'll see the benefit, as we might have to move due to schools, etc. It's a bit of a headache, to be honest.

Might be worth discussing with an estate agent how much value it might add. But it still seems like a right load of hassle if you'll be moving on in the near future.

Yeah, I think it'd net off, based on two doors down, but it's a load of hassle.

Also, it is going to be a cut into equity to fund it, so there's exposure there if we want to move in a shorter time frame. So that's a risk.

At present, i think i'd rather keep as is, and refurb dining room and living room.

We need to replace the spindles on the stairs with wooden ones, there are swirly metal things there at present that are not going to meet building regulations.

The general advice seems to be to glue and nail them in place, but to do this properly because of the angle it looks like I need anew toy nail gun.

I've seen that you can get angled ones and the nails to match, but wasn't sure if I might need an air one, these seem to be spendy and/or need a compressor.

I know we don't need it for a big job now, but if we are going to invest in one I'm wondering if it's worth investing in one that we can use to do decking etc with in the future.

Any suggestions?

Buy several nail guns.

I'd be too tempted to use them like Nerf guns at the cottage.

No jury in the world would convict.

Can you rent one?

Sense.

Probably, but I was thinking I might as well just put the money towards buying one.

You'll rent a proper tradesman's bit of kit, though, something you'd not want to buy yourself.

That said, if you can see yourself using it often in the future, then buying one makes more sense.

Does this count as DIY?

Anyway, its to protect the cot rail from toothy monsters. And to protect toothy monsters from the cot rail.

Grosgrain fabric (two layers), vilene fusible fleece (two layers), binding for ties, and some great Velcro that is self-adhesive on one side (hooks) and sewable on the opposite side (loops).

Holy crap! That's some chewing.

At least he's getting some fibre.

Yes, it appears we are raising a beaver.

That's why it wouldn't drain, then.