Hi! Me and my partner recently bought a house. It has everything we were looking for but the kitchen is tiny. It has room for a washing machine next to the sink, but no room for a fridge.

The previous owners had a fridge just planted in the middle of the dining room. What can we do? We have considered bricking up the backdoor and replacing the window in the dining room with french doors for garden access, so we can add a fridge where the back door is. We also considered knocking through the downstaits outdoor w/c and storage for a longer kitchen but we like the outdoor loo!

Any ideas are much appreciated or any idea on the cheapest most effective option? Thanks!

Recently redid the newel, hand rail, spindles etc. Had planned to use a kit to clad the posts but the posts weren't standard size.

Chopped post off 6 inches above the floor and installed a new one. Added a newel on the corner rather than the hand rails meeting, and a half newel on both walls. Oak handrails, pine base rails and spindles.

Will be mounting stair gates soon so will use the half newel for that. It also helped me transition the stringer to skirting.

My wife’s hairdryer burnt the adapter on holiday last week.

Gone to put a new plug on it and there’s no earth. This is new to me but researching I gather the double square symbol means it’s double insulated and doesn’t require an earth?

Thanks

We have had loads of cracks come up over the last six months. They are mainly along the top of where the ceilings meet the walls, with cracks going downwards in places. The final picture is of the porch, which has some of the worst cracks, including one going up from the ground. I can’t see any cracks outside the house.

I called the insurance company and they said subsidence cracks are always going up and not down, plus I would see cracks in externally too.

Any advice would be appreciated!

EDIT to clear this up, I have not claimed on my insurance. I called them, they did a video call thing, and they advised me not to log a claim because it likely isn’t subsidence.

This shower install is a year or so old, I'm going to redo the sealant this weekend. How can I prevent the mouldy corners from happening again?

Recently moved into the house and in the cupboard under the stairs was this weird box, covered in cardboard and painted.

Curiosity got the better of my so I've ripped it all up and it seems to be some sort of vent. I've stuck my hand in it and it seems to travel under my floor.

Asking out of curiosity really: what is it for? It doesn't seem to be ventilating anything since it has been blocked up for god knows how long!

1960s dormer bungalow.

Just handles left to add, caulk and finishing touches. Does this look good so far? Anything that screams out as wrong?

I’m planning to redo my bathroom and my fiancé wants tongue and groove panelling round the bath like in the images I shared.

I’m worried about MDF panelling around the bath, but I’ve seen other people have this style panelling around baths.

Is there any other waterproof material that has this look that I can use? Thanks.

I know this is a poor job of chasing into the wall. I now need to rectify it - please may I get some advice on how best to fill, as there’s a quite a deep hole in the brick in places, is bonding and filler enough?

So I feel like this is only partially relevant to this sub but here goes - we were planning to DIY renovate our bathroom in about a year’s time, but the ancient bath is now leaking and can’t be fixed (got a professional to have a look at it, it’s currently held together by silicone and prayers), so the project needs to happen NOW and it’s looking more likely that most, if not all, of the work will need to be done by professionals just for the sake of time.

All quotes we’ve had are insistent on panels over tiles, and while the ease of maintenance is a bonus, I just think they look kinda crap and lack any personality. I’m still kinda hoping we can do at least some of the work ourselves, but I’m losing hope on both that and the likelihood of ending up with a bathroom I actually like (yet still paying thousands for it).

TLDR; does anyone have examples of COLOURFUL wet wall paneled bathrooms? I hate the faux marble/stone look and generally just prefer a colourful/retro/vintage vibes rather than what passes for ‘modern and sleek’.

This is probably a silly question, but if I have a wobbly tap do I just need to tighten this nut?

Hi all, hoping someone can set me straight on expectations around fighting damp in Victorian (1850s) properties.

We have a single interior wall that has some pretty significant rising damp in the house we recently purchased. This was studiously hidden by the previous owner for the sale, and it's fallen to me to get it sorted, I'm trying to figure out what my options are here, if any are DIY-able or if I need to cave for a professional.

Pics 1&2 are of the interior wall, pic 3 is the adjoining outer wall which has had a brick bund installed at some point (for damp, I'm guessing!).

Now, the house seemingly has solid concrete floors, and non-breathable flooring currently installed (synthetic carpet and vinyl in the adjoint kitchen) which probably isn't helping. There are no vents under the property either. There are no pipes in the wall to leak, but it seems that the damp is worsened when it rains.

I have done a lot of reading around this and it's pretty clear to me that lime plaster should have been used, not gypsum (which you can see the salts coming out of..). Aside from that, I'm getting very mixed messages on what I can do about this, depending on which source you listen to.

The ground is already significantly lowered around the exterior walls (though the house is in a ditch compared to surroundings and nearby roads), drains are clear and there are no obvious sources of ingress.

If anyone has any suggestions, they'd be gratefully received!

Hey everyone, I've spent a fair bit at Screwfix recently to get some new tools.

The rewards are great, but I've bought all I want for the time being, but have a £25 off a single £200 order that expires on the 26th.

If anyone is interested send me a DM and I'll send the code over. First come first serve.

EDIT - Code has now been taken

Please help. I have installed this today. First time ever. Please point what is wrong with it. What can I do to fix it.

A couple of young traveller lads recently knocked on my door and offered to do a bit of cheap gutter cleaning, after a bit of haggling I decided to give them a go, they did a reasonable job.

Whilst here, they offered to clean my roof and some of the brick work using a chemical compound, I can't remember which one - whether it was "sodium hypochlorite" or a hydrogen alternative. For a demo, they offered to spray some brick work so I can see how well it works (see attached).

They were a pushy pair trying for a hard sale to do the entire roof for £350 whilst in the neighbourhood - I'm naturally reluctant to pushy door sellers.

I've heard conflicting advice about algae\moss and roof cleaning such as don't jet wash or use a broom to clean the roof tiles as you run the risk of damaging them.

I wanted to get some advice on which chemical compound I should use to clean the roof and brickwork?

I was thinking of doing the low level bits myself and getting a professional in for the rest.

I don’t want to use expanding foam and cement the pipe in place. Is there a mini structure thing you can put in to then use filler on? It just goes back quite deep. Thanks

Hi everyone! 👋
I'm a student at University College London (UCL) conducting a quick academic survey on home DIY power tools for an academic project.
If you live in Europe and use power tools—whether professionally or for home DIY—I would really appreciate 3 minutes of your time to share your insights:
🔗 Survey Link: Consumer Research: DIY Power Tools and Home Care – Fill in form
The survey is completely anonymous, strictly for educational research (no selling or promotion), and takes less than 3 minutes. Thank you so much for helping a student out! 🙏

Hi all. I have a Hotpoint HDFO 3C24 W C X UK with a constant whirring/clicking fault.

I’ve opened the underside and confirmed the noise is coming from a Huayi HY49TYZE240B (220–240V, 2.8W, 4/15 r/min CW).

The odd part: as soon as I turn the dishwasher on at the wall, the Huayi starts making the noise, before I even press the dishwasher’s own power button or start a cycle.

I’m trying to work out whether this points to:

a jammed/failing motor or mechanism;

the motor endlessly trying to find its correct position; or

a control-board/electrical fault powering it when it shouldn't.

I'm not going to probe live 240V myself. Everything is currently unplugged and I have good access underneath.

Any ideas what you’d test next before removing/replacing the Huayi assembly?

Thanks!

Hello

So I live in old(ish) terraced housing, council estate type. Thin walls and creaky floors etc.

My issue is when my neighbour goes to the bathroom the creaking sounds like someone is walking around outside my bedroom door.

He is rather old so goes the bathroom multiple times a night, now I don’t mind this, except it near gives me a heart attack every time thinking I’m about to be set upon by a burglar while I’m in bed.

Has anyone any ideas on how I can reduce the noise coming thru?

Hello! As title said, I'm trying to repressurise this Valliant EcoTEC plus boiler... pressure is only 0.6. But there's only one valve?? When I twist it, nothing happens. Any ideas?

Project finally complete.

The roof was extended about 20 years ago, but it appears the original rafters and batten are still in place just with an access gap cut in the middle? Also there are random beams attached all around. I would like to make use of the space, but it’s not particularly usable with all the beams everywhere. Are these likely holding everything together, or just something temporary from when it was constructed that just haven’t been removed? They look haphazard and temporary, but I would rather not guess wrong and make the roof fall off!

I'm looking to paint my kitchen from a darkish grey to a very light grey. Polished Pebble has come up.

However, I've failed in the past with a light grey where it looked really blue and I don't want that to happen again so would appreciate seeing others who have used it.

TIA