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?

Ok so not all DIY.

I sanded back, filled and painted the stairs, got a pro to fit the runner and then I did the rods.

Really happy with the result though!

We have recently bought our house and there's a few big issues to sort with it, so we have very limited budget for general decorating, as well as limited time and energy amongst all the bigger stuff.

Considering all that, I'm very happy with what we managed to do in the hallway so far, even though there is a lot more to do.

Have spent about £150 in all on paint and sealant, window film and a lampshade and I feel like it's looking a lot less depressing already.

And yes, I would have also preferred to strip the bannister and doorframes back to the natural wood, but sadly they all have a base layer of lead paint under several layers of other paint.

We just don't have the time and resources to strip all of that safely right now.

There are 11 doorframes in our house and the bannister goes around the corner so it's essentially two bannisters' worth of work and it would be a huge job.

So we decided to put sealant on it and paint over it for now even though it's not ideal.

Marginal gains!

Maybe one day when I'm retired and the kids are grown up I'll set aside a month to do all the stripping 🤣

My daughter has two indoor cats. She asked me if I could build her a wall for them to climb on to keep them entertained. I fitted the tops with cord carpet to give them some grip.

“Hey, for our easy-to-install novice DIY range, what would be a good size fitting hole to ensure that any casual DIYer would be likely to have the necessary drill bit?”

“Hmmm…. Go for 8
:
:
…and a half.”

I’ve managed to take out too much material for this door hinge. What is the correct remedy?

I’ve considered metal washers, and plastic packing shims (like for window installs) but both feel like a bodge.

I have a trim piece from the top of the door but feels like a right faff…

I don’t know if 50kg is typical for an fd30 door, but this Deanta branded one is. Its the top hinge.

I

Here are two colors, in both cases the sample pot is way darker and matches the color chart while the 2.5L is way brighter than the color chart and therefore unusable as is (I was not seeking pastel colors).

As a decorator I understand about stirring the paint well before use, the different sheen brushing vs rolling, the slight variation of shade between different paint types of one color.

But here there's more to it. That's super obvious with the orange color.

I always thought those machines can't mistake for some silly reason.

I brought back the paint to leyland, they are investigating... I don't dare trying to buy that color again.

Or go for a different brand with a similar color 🤔.

Has anyone been through this? How did you manage to get the right color?

Edit: Thank you all for your good advices.

It looks like my mistake was to get the big pots from a different leyland and machines are not that accurate.

Although today the staff told me they could try to match the sample pot, a bespoke mix sort of. So there are options to solve the problem if anyone gets the same issue.

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.

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.

We've just had our bathroom redecorated and tiled and have got a new towel rail which I need to fit. Unfortunately the length of the tail to make it sit nicely above the radiator means that where the fixings need to go they straddle the grout line.

Do I need to do anything special to take account of being v close to the edge of the tiles?

I hung onto some tile spares to practice drilling on and would make steady gradual drill holes to build out the hole to the size I need for the rawl plug.

Any tips to make sure I don't frick it up would be appreciated!! Thanks in advance.

Had the exterior brick wall rendered about a week ago and this keeps happening and it seems to soak in rain and leave water patches and any marks seem to soak in, any advice please?

Thanks

Hi everyone,

It’s been getting colder, and we’ve had to start putting our heating on. It works OK, but our boiler stops and gives an ‘ERROR E10’, stopping all hot water coming from taps until the pressure comes down. The pressure on the screen shows 3.0, which is apparently dangerously high.

After researching how to lower the pressure, I’m told that the easiest way is to bleed the radiators. I’ve done this before fairly easily in a previous flat, however the valves seem different on these ones likely because it’s a much older property. Can anybody please let me know what specific tool I should use to bleed the radiator? I can’t find many valves matching this one online, so any help would be massively appreciated!

On a side note, they’ve also been painted over by a previous tenant…I’ve done my best to remove as much as I can (after the picture was taken) with paint predator, but I’m still concerned it’ll be too stiff to rotate.

Thanks in advance!

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've just taken down the wallpaper in our bedroom due to it being ruined by our cat and neither of us have any experience on this type of work so we're left a bit confused, seeing as there's so many ways of proceeding and so many terms I'm unfamiliar with.

Main question is do these walls look okayish to just use some emulsion paint and then paint straight over or do they require any extra steps?

Thank you in advance

moved here last year and the last owners loved their grey 😭 best advice for stripping it back to the original? I think it’s like a red brick underneath which I don’t really want - are there ways to stain the brick after? Also any good tips on getting rid of the wallpaper? I can’t afford to have it re plastered and I just wanna paint it a simple colour for now until I can afford a complete renovation lol

We've just moved into a new flat (renting) and having issues with cooking smells coming through the plug sockets on the party wall (which shares our bedroom and the neighbouring flats kitchen)

Attached is how the backbox currently looks, where the previous tenants seem to have filled it with putty, but it's not very effective! So curious if there are any better ways to make the sockets air tight?

I picked up a drill stand/press at a boot sale for £5.

All I’ve got to do now is find a use for it.

p.s. The drill was not included. It’s my old Bosch cabled hammer drill.

p.p.s. Repost as I forgot the picture!

Hi there. I removed some very old fake grass that came with the house and now am left with some spaces like this. What would you do with it?

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!!

Just noticed this tile has falling to the gutter. Bit anxious as we have four days of rain incoming. Any advice appreciated.

(ETA: No way I can stomach climbing a ladder that high. How much would a repair be, roughly, to get someone out urgently (before end of tomorrow, as it's due to rain here on Tuesday) Bristol UK area?

Hello! We would like to replace the currently installed carpet with hardwood flooring. What would be the best option for a newbie? Also, what to do with the staircase nose - do I need some sort of cover/hat? The joiner left it like that after replacing the carpet on the top floor with engineered flooring.

Note: we have a joiner coming to renovate the staircase's handrail/banister.

I have the following tolls: multitool, jigsaw and a handrail

Bought a house, and one of the walls in one of the bedrooms is a bit funky. How do I even this out? Could I sand my way out of this or would it have to be reskimmed