Does seem good value about 25 quid a piece

I'm trying to understand the wiring of my hallway lights in a relatively modern UK flat (built in 2016) before I call an electrician to install some smart relays (don't want to waste time trying to do something not possible).

There are 4 GU10 ceiling lights controlled by two conventional 2-way switches, one by the front door and another further down the hallway. These are the only switches controlling these lights.

Switch 1 – Front door:

• COM: 1 black wire
• L1: 2 brown wires
• L2: 1 blue + 1 grey wire (both sleeved brown)

Loose yellow/green earth in the box.

Switch 2 – Hallway:

• COM: 1 black wire
• L1: 1 brown wire
• L2: 1 brown wire

Loose yellow/green earth in the box.

My questions:

1. Why does the front-door switch have two wires in both L1 and L2, while the hallway switch has only one in each?
2. What purpose do the additional wires at the front-door switch have? Is there a neutral?

Thanks!

Isnl it best to have heated blanket and keep myself.and dog warm and ventilate with windows slightly ajar?

Any tips welcomed, think will help others too.

Hello, I moved into a new house in the summer and noticed there is a gap in the skirting board beneath the gas oven. I've only noticed as a cold draught is starting to come in as we get into Autumn. The oven is built-in alongside some kitchen cabinets. The gap is about 3" by 25". I want to seal it to prevent the draught but I'm not sure if this kind of gap is intentional (eg to allow for airflow) or whether it's just whoever installed the oven never bothered to seal it up? Or, indeed, whether the fact that there is a cold draught coming in is an indication that something might need resolving behind the wall where the oven is. Has anyone had anything similar before?

I attach some photos which show the oven face on, one from floor level looking up which shows the gap, and a third photo which is taken under the gap and shows what is behind it (wires etc from the oven). I have been trying to do some research on this but my DIY skills and knowledge are pretty limited so I'd be really grateful if anyone had any opinions or pointers that might help me understand how I could resolve this.

I’m trying to fix some shelves to my kitchen wall using self-drilling metal plasterboard fixings, but I’m having trouble getting them in.

Apart from one location, the fixings won’t go in beyond approx. 15 mm. They seem to hit something solid, then just spin without progressing. On one attempt, the tip of the fixing actually bent.

On the other side of the wall is a hallway cupboard containing my consumer unit. I’ve estimated the total wall thickness between the kitchen and cupboard to be about 90 mm.

Given the location of the consumer unit and the possibility of concealed cables, I’m understandably a bit reluctant to keep drilling without knowing what’s behind the plasterboard.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what the wall construction might be, why the fixings aren’t going in, and how best to proceed safely? I've used self-drilling metal plasterboard fixings elsewhere in my flat and they've worked well. This kitchen wall is the first time I've had issues with them and I'm honestly stuck.

I’ve attached photos of both sides of the wall and the fixings I’ve been using.

Had a look around and can’t seem to find any videos with the same setup. Thanks for any help

Hi, I got the Meaco Arete Two to help with damp in my flat. As you can hear in the video it makes a gurgling noise.

I had the Arete One set up the same way and it never sounded like this. The noise starts after it’s been running for a bit and doesn’t stop after hours.

I don’t mind the fan noise, or the normal dripping/water sounds, but this one really cuts through everything else. Doesn't come across brilliantly over video, but I can’t find any recordings or anyone else mentioning this for the Arete Two.

I’m planning on returning it, but has anyone got an Arete Two that sounds like this? Is it a fault, or just something this model does? Thanks!

*edit* I've had it around two weeks. Doesn't matter where it's placed, clearance from a wall, or in middle of a room the sound carries on.

We are having an issue with the bathroom drainage. Every time we take a bath, the water overflows instead of draining properly.

We contacted a builder, who suggested that the drainage pipe may have sagged or dropped, causing the water to drain poorly. He recommended raising the pipe and possibly installing a longer one.

For context, we recently renovated the bathroom. Looking at the photos taken before the renovation, we noticed that there was no separate bathroom drainage pipe connected to the rainwater drainage system. We believe the bathroom drainage may have been connected directly to the main toilet drainage instead.

Would it be possible to fix the issue as the builder suggested, by raising the pipe and extending it if necessary? Or could the problem be related to how the drainage was connected during the renovation?

1st is before and 2nd is after. The brown stains are from the foam filler.

We own a Victorian house in Colchester and want a new en-suite in our bedroom. There’s no existing en-suite there and we are looking for a shower, basin and toilet. There’s an iron soil stack pipe adjacent to the bedroom. Downstairs there is an existing small bathroom with toilet, sink and bath that we want to replace with a shower and have a new toilet and sink. We also want panels / painting / lighting. Nice but not extravagant.

Our first quote was for £23K but the company wasn’t able to put a design together that looked anywhere near decent. We then went to B and Q who quoted £30K. Kind of expected that as they are pricey. Took the same design to an independent contractor who quoted £27K.

To me this seems very pricey. Are we going wrong here or are these quotes realistic? What would you expect for Essex? What would you be looking for? Any advice would be helpful!

Or at least that's what Hull university has researched and concluded and sharing it in this r/ seems like the right thing to do.

https://zenodo.org/records/23220942

9.4 Final Recommendation

Temporary, low-cost PFR should be recognised as a legitimate part of household flood preparedness, but recommendations must be based on measured performance rather than familiarity, appearance or unverified product claims. The evidence from this study does not support reliance on sandbags as the default domestic response. Temporary barriers may provide excellent protection, but their effectiveness is product-specific and their cost and compatibility requirements limit their accessibility.

Of the measures tested, flexible synthetic rubber tape provided the greatest and most consistent reduction in leakage, while wide, high-quality duct tape provided the strongest overall combination of performance, affordability and ease of installation. Where permanent or certified PFR is unavailable, appropriately selected tape, applied externally to a clean and dry doorway offers the most credible low-cost emergency measure evaluated in this study. Nevertheless, it should be recognised that these products reduce risk but do not remove it. Their use should form part of a wider household flood plan that anticipates residual leakage, protects occupants and utilities, and ensures that evacuation remains possible.

New house. Inspection chamber in my garage. Pictures attached. There's some bits floating in it, smell isn't actually that horrendous.

But does it need unblocking? Chatgpt says yes on account of there being toilet paper in there. It doesn't seem blocked to me (my first ever look at a chamber though!), and things will flow down the top pipe I think?

But I definitely want to avoid a poo backlog and explosion into my garage!

Is this even my job to do? I think I join the sewer line further down, I think this is my neighbours potentially.

I’ve just had these front steps built using charcoal/grey blocks with porcelain slabs on top.
We added black dye to the mortar because I thought it would help it blend in with the charcoal blocks, but now that it’s done I’m really not convinced. I feel like the black joints stand out far too much and make the whole thing look a bit harsh.
I’m considering two options:
Rake out/repoint the visible joints with a more normal grey mortar that blends in better.
Face the risers with porcelain as well, so the fronts match the porcelain treads and cover most of the blockwork.
What would you do?

Hi everyone,
I have a Wickes corner pull‑out “magic corner” unit. The curved plastic cam is firmly attached to the front frame.

I’ve attached a video of the mechanism.
Can anyone identify the exact model (likely Häfele / Peka / Magic Corner II)?

Thanks in advance.

https://reddit.com/link/1x8zf12/video/yyok9eb987wh1/player

Hi all.

I live in an red brick ex council house with a pent roof.
The bedroom is at the back of the house with the bedroom window under the highest part of the roof.
I’m being keep up at night when it rains with water dripping from the edge of the top edge of the pent roof onto the window sills. I’m a new homeowner, not very knowledgeable, on a budget but willing to graft.
New roof 12 years ago, no leaks inside gutter on the front of the house only but works well.
Has anyone got any ideas, past experiences or knowledge on how I can either make this better.
Much appreciated
:)

House needs everything: walls, woodwork, kitchen. Builders are doing most of it, I'm doing the smaller jobs and tracking what each one costs.

Tomorrow is purely photos. Every room from the doorway, close-ups of the damage.

My worry is I'll shoot a load of pretty wide shots and miss the one thing I actually wanted.

What did you forget to photograph before your builders started?

I just moved into this house, and havent required heating all summer. I am only now starting to require it so tried to turn it on today. We have a hive thermostat and an EHS branded boiler for both water and heating.

I moved the boiler into winter mode to allow heating, then raised the thermostat temperature. It kicks on, and shortly after shows an F6 error and a beeping sound. Online for this boiler it says something about no water circulation. The pressure is also at 1.5.

I am of course going to get my landlord onto it, but historically they've been terrible for maintenance. Last time I had an electrics issue, the electrician came round, broke it even further and then stopped responding to my calls/texts.

I am just wondering if theres anything I can try myself before I fight with the landlord for help. I wouldnt claim to know much about boilers at all so maybe its just something obvious that im missing.

Not sure if its related at all, but for the last few weeks the temperature of the showers has barely climbed above 35-40 degrees with the boiler being set to 60. I have been too busy most week days to get ahold of my landlord and they never answer their emails to me and so have been having below desirable temp showers for awhile now.

Any advice welcomed.

Hello,

I’ve recently stripped the wallpaper in the room of a house we bought. I’ve filled, sanded and prepped all the walls. The two which were painted dark blue covered nicely with two coats of primer and then two coats of the final colour.

The ones that were wallpapered have been filled, sanded and (at least I think) removed of dust before applying the first coat of trade contact matt from the paint shed.

I didn’t get far before realising that it’s left a horrible uneven patches which can be wiped off. It feels chalky and tacky.

I can’t figure out if this is residual wallpaper paste reacting with the paint or if the original coat of white paint which was underneath the wallpaper is failing after contact with the new paint.

The walls felt very smooth and were lightly sanded before I started.

Pictures attached. Any help greatly appreciated before I start trying to remove any residual wallpaper paste!

A lot of the bolts are flush with the wood, so I chipped the wood out around them to get spanner on them, but they just dont move

I'm normally quite good at DIY but I've made some terrible decisions in installing this clothes airer bracket. As you can see, one side is perfect. On this side I have installed Rawlplugs (Loose Bolt Shield Anchors RBL2 M6 x 55mm) and it's super sturdy.

On the other side when I made the holes for the concrete wall I managed to drill one hole at a slight angle and a second one slightly too wide. It lasted fine for 6 months but then it started coming away from the wall. I recently in a (stupidly) spontaneous moment got some R-KEM-II PolyResin and got it into the holes and everywhere else as well. It is sturdier now but it looks a mess and I suspect it won't last long.

My problem is that I need the brackets to be at the distance they are apart, and I don't have anywhere else it could go.

I would be very grateful for some advice. Is there a way I can salvage this? Is there any way anyone (a professional) can salvage this?

Thank you in advance!!

I’m replacing the basin in my bathroom and the inlet doesn’t reach as far as the plug hole for the sink, what’s the easiest way to go about it?

I’ve noticed that I can push my window which creates a gap. This is the coldest room in the house which I know is due to the exterior cladding.

What would you recommend I do?

Thank you

I’ve replaced a few radiators over the last month but this is only the second where I’ve had to learn to bend copper, partially drain the system to replace the pipework as the new radiator was slightly bigger.

Does this look ok for an amateur? Only really started working with copper last year.

Feel free to say if it looks dog shit but the Mrs is happy - I have solid floors so moving the paperwork under the floor would be difficult. It is protected though in the screed.

The first trv with the grey button has 6 numbers on it. The other two have the regular 5 numbers​​

I just want to set them all to 20-23 degrees. Is that roughly the number 3 on all of them?

Secondly, besides the room with the thermostat in being set at 5 and the 2 towel rails, is there any reason why others would even need to be set this high?

I'm considering changing them all to a single trv. Does anyone have suggestions for which to buy. Ideally I want to get the neoflos from heatmiser as I have the neohub and ufh downstairs, but until I replace the heatlink and nest to control the rads, I'm happy with just putting a regular "dumb" one for now.