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Post by jeepers on Feb 1, 2023 18:37:31 GMT
I think I whinged here about my old drill (a Bosch hammer action thing) and the problem it had drilling into the masonry in my house. It would drill the first 10mm or so then hit something hard, skip and waller out the hole. Every. Fucking. Time.
I bought an SDS drill (the one linked above) and it works perfectly every single time. The old one is for wood only now.
The downside is it’s heavy and large. The upside is I can hang all the pictures and shelves my wife wants without swearing and sulking after the first hole. Life changing.
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Post by freddiemercurystwin on Feb 1, 2023 21:13:11 GMT
You guys must all have houses made of straw!  |
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Post by elstoof on Feb 1, 2023 22:18:52 GMT
Use my 12v drill driver every day, get the hitachi SDS out once a year but it makes you feel like a real man. I reckon I could turn my entire house to dust with it in an afternoon
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Post by Triarii on Feb 2, 2023 14:30:47 GMT
Any recommendations for a wireless/smart thermostat that can be moved around easily?
I have 2 dial thermostats in my house, 1 in the hall for downstairs rooms and 1 on the landing for upstairs. This doesn't really make sense to me as the hall only has 1 small radiator and there are none on the landing...
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Post by elstoof on Feb 2, 2023 14:32:49 GMT
I use a Hive one, it’s been fine. You’ll need a spare Ethernet port on your router but controlling the boiler from your phone anywhere is pretty useful.
nest has loads more features though, more than I wanted / can be bothered to deal with
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Buu
New Member
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Post by Buu on Feb 2, 2023 14:43:30 GMT
I've been kicked out of the house!... Well, rather our daughter has now taken precedence over my need for a PC and turbo trainer set up in the spare room. Frankly, I'm disgusted but apparently she needs a room of her own. Whatever. So I'm in the process of having a man cave built outside. Only a small one, mind you. But it'll be my own space to retreat from responsibilities and mostly suffer alone whilst I'm training.  Had this built a week or so ago. It's only 8'x6' but big enough to fit what I aim to do. Having an electrician around on the weekend who is going to install a few sockets and a light, then the 'fun' can begin. My friend works in the building trade and kindly offered to give me lots of insulation for free, which is helpful. So will be using 30mm Celotex around the walls and roof and then covering with some thick OSB sheets. Once they're in I'll be painting those and tinting the windows (I don't want the neighbours seeing me get sweaty) before I get to buy all the fun stuff to go inside. Undecided what I'll do to the floor. Was going to use some thick underlay and cheap carpet but now I'm thinking I may just use those foamy gym tiles you can get. Will be a (very) slow work in progress and by the time I've finished I'll likely not want to cycle in there but I could at the very least use it as a safe space to play some games. |
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Post by Triarii on Feb 2, 2023 16:03:10 GMT
I use a Hive one, it’s been fine. You’ll need a spare Ethernet port on your router but controlling the boiler from your phone anywhere is pretty useful. nest has loads more features though, more than I wanted / can be bothered to deal with I was leaning towards one of the Nest thermostats but was slightly put off by their age (Thermostat 3 rel. 2015 & Thermostat E rel. 2017). Did you install the Hive yourself? |
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Post by technoish on Feb 2, 2023 16:07:04 GMT
I've been kicked out of the house!... Well, rather our daughter has now taken precedence over my need for a PC and turbo trainer set up in the spare room. Frankly, I'm disgusted but apparently she needs a room of her own. Whatever. So I'm in the process of having a man cave built outside. Only a small one, mind you. But it'll be my own space to retreat from responsibilities and mostly suffer alone whilst I'm training. Had this built a week or so ago. It's only 8'x6' but big enough to fit what I aim to do. Having an electrician around on the weekend who is going to install a few sockets and a light, then the 'fun' can begin. My friend works in the building trade and kindly offered to give me lots of insulation for free, which is helpful. So will be using 30mm Celotex around the walls and roof and then covering with some thick OSB sheets. Once they're in I'll be painting those and tinting the windows (I don't want the neighbours seeing me get sweaty) before I get to buy all the fun stuff to go inside. Undecided what I'll do to the floor. Was going to use some thick underlay and cheap carpet but now I'm thinking I may just use those foamy gym tiles you can get. Will be a (very) slow work in progress and by the time I've finished I'll likely not want to cycle in there but I could at the very least use it as a safe space to play some games. It's going to be incredibly damp in there even before you start hanging out and sweating up the place. You might need to consider some mechanical ventilation. Are you going to heat it? (That would help). |
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Post by technoish on Feb 2, 2023 16:09:46 GMT
Any recommendations for a wireless/smart thermostat that can be moved around easily? I have 2 dial thermostats in my house, 1 in the hall for downstairs rooms and 1 on the landing for upstairs. This doesn't really make sense to me as the hall only has 1 small radiator and there are none on the landing... I use the Honeywell Evohome system. Has smart TRVs on every radiator. Every room can be its own thermostat. The central hub (or app) is just set to control the timings and target temps. I do all rooms the same (21 during day, 18 at night), but the TRVs mean they are exactly those temps. |
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Post by freddiemercurystwin on Feb 2, 2023 16:26:01 GMT
It's going to be incredibly damp in there even before you start hanging out and sweating up the place. You might need to consider some mechanical ventilation. Are you going to heat it? (That would help). I expect they'll be plenty of ventilation around the door, I would add that adding insulation won't do much on it's own, 30mm is merely a token gesture, if you're not heating it then there's little point insulating it anyway, if you were to add a bit of heating (say a 1kw fan heater) then can you up the insulation to 60mm?
if you had known you were going to insulate it you ought to have fitted a breather membrane between the studs and the cladding. |
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dogbot
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Post by dogbot on Feb 2, 2023 16:27:09 GMT
We've got Hive, too.
Had it for ages, it's been pretty much faultless and their support is pretty good, too. They have individual TRVs if you want that option, as well.
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Buu
New Member
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Post by Buu on Feb 2, 2023 16:38:49 GMT
Mostly going to be using the insulation for a vapour barrier. I don't need it warm in there but I want to avoid as much condensation as possible as I'll be having electric bits in there.
Was thinking maybe a little fan heater for the coldest of days hooked up to an Alexa plug so that I can heat it up before I get in there but as long as I can reduce condensation on the tv and turbo trainer, I'll be happy
We're looking to sell and buy a bigger house in a few years so it doesn't matter if it rots and falls apart. That can be whoever buys the house problem. Basically want to do it on a budget as it's not something I'll be benefitting outside of the next 3 winters
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Post by elstoof on Feb 2, 2023 16:50:14 GMT
I use a Hive one, it’s been fine. You’ll need a spare Ethernet port on your router but controlling the boiler from your phone anywhere is pretty useful. nest has loads more features though, more than I wanted / can be bothered to deal with I was leaning towards one of the Nest thermostats but was slightly put off by their age (Thermostat 3 rel. 2015 & Thermostat E rel. 2017). Did you install the Hive yourself? Installation was included in the price when we got ours |
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dam
New Member
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Post by dam on Feb 3, 2023 9:36:14 GMT
My wife installed ours (Netatmo) so it can't be that hard. Not sure why she went for Netatmo, but I'm quite happy with their stuff. I've been adding TRVs. Also have a driveway camera/light.
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Post by Dougs on Feb 3, 2023 9:42:39 GMT
Boiler man did ours (Vaillant's own thing). It's, errm, just fine I guess. Does the job, app is a bit shonky, servers sometimes go down.
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dogbot
Full Member
Posts: 8,738
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Post by dogbot on Feb 3, 2023 12:50:55 GMT
Well, I got the bathroom window open.
I had to take the window out of the uPVC frame to do it. The gearbox on the espag locking mechanism is broken and it's a sealed unit, so no way to repair it.
Went to Screwfix and shopped around to see if I can get a replacement mechanism and the simple answer is, not easily. Now I have a huge hole in the bathroom wall. I'll put the glass back in and see if I can close it up, but I doubt I'll get a mechanism sourced before Monday now, if I can get one at all.
Might just need a new window.
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Post by Dougs on Feb 3, 2023 12:53:03 GMT
At least the bathroom is well ventilated...
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dogbot
Full Member
Posts: 8,738
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Post by dogbot on Feb 3, 2023 12:58:32 GMT
At least the bathroom is well ventilated... Yeah.  Might be interesting tonight. |
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minimatt
Junior Member
hyper mediocrity
Posts: 1,684
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Post by minimatt on Feb 3, 2023 13:04:27 GMT
oh that's annoying dogbot, and expensive for what is one tiny broken bit  incidentally, there's a bit of a second hand market for the double glazed bit, sans frame - when I was doing the shed I briefly thought of installing double glazing - it won't cover anything like the cost of your local double glazing cowboy's sharp intake of breath but might buy a bottle of gin to compensate |
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dogbot
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Post by dogbot on Feb 3, 2023 13:07:19 GMT
oh that's annoying dogbot, and expensive for what is one tiny broken bit incidentally, there's a bit of a second hand market for the double glazed bit, sans frame - when I was doing the shed I briefly thought of installing double glazing - it won't cover anything like the cost of your local double glazing cowboy's sharp intake of breath but might buy a bottle of gin to compensate Haha Well, as if by magic, I've found a "universal" one, which looks like it might fit. The measurements are all correct, anyway. £20 with express delivery. Won't get here until Monday, I expect, but still. www.double-glazing-parts-spares.co.uk/category-window-locks-and-espags/universal-window-lock-espagnoletteWish me luck! I'm off to try and refit the window |
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minimatt
Junior Member
hyper mediocrity
Posts: 1,684
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Post by minimatt on Feb 3, 2023 13:09:11 GMT
bloody hell that's a stroke of luck, worth a shot!
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dogbot
Full Member
Posts: 8,738
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Post by dogbot on Feb 3, 2023 13:13:55 GMT
Yeah, can't hurt to try, right? There's a childlock on the window anyway, because it swings all the way open onto a flat roof so hopefully, that will keep it mostly closed until I can try and fit that mechanism. Or I'll find some way to jam it in. Blu tack or something. |
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Post by Dougs on Feb 3, 2023 13:42:07 GMT
Ah, one of those. Yeah, I replaced one in my son's window (after thinking it was something else, knackering the UPVC in the process - is a bottom lock). Was easy enough as I took the whole frame off. Needed a hand to refit the window though, was bloody heavy. Me and my father in law very nearly dropped it a few times.
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dogbot
Full Member
Posts: 8,738
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Post by dogbot on Feb 3, 2023 14:19:18 GMT
Yeah, it was very heavy. It's back together and jimmied closed with a molegrip 🤣
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Tomo
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Posts: 3,502
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Post by Tomo on Feb 4, 2023 18:02:15 GMT
Odd one possibly? I've just moved into a new house. It has a satellite. I plugged the coax cable into my telly, tuned it and all was working fine until this morning. Suddenly I can't get signal whatsoever... I've tried re-tuning, taking cable out, putting back in etc. But no joy...
I think the previous guy potentially had Sky... is there any way I've been hijacking that setup somehow, and now something has expired? We don't have Sky and I thought Freesat worked with any satellite, so I'm not sure if that theory checks out or not...
I'm a bit puzzled tbh.
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Post by freddiemercurystwin on Feb 4, 2023 18:48:36 GMT
Normally (AFAIK) the cable will just run from dish to the wall socket with nothing in-between so there won't be anything that can expire, your understanding of how freesat works is correct. I suppose we ought to ask if you can try another TV or freesat box? Tried a TV update?
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Post by Blackmarsh63 on Feb 4, 2023 18:51:11 GMT
Freesat wont work with the new Q dishes but yours worked initially so very strange. It just a tv signal so nothing will have expired. You might find a signal strength amongst the tv settings to tell you if are receiving anything. check the co ax plug . Some are just screwed on rather than crimped. They can work loose. Is there only one cable. Most of the newish sky boxes had 2 connections to the dish.
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Tomo
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Posts: 3,502
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Post by Tomo on Feb 4, 2023 18:57:36 GMT
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Post by Blackmarsh63 on Feb 4, 2023 18:59:55 GMT
They are usually in pairs. So its definitely connected to the dish ?
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Post by freddiemercurystwin on Feb 4, 2023 19:17:14 GMT
Have you tried each one in the TV? Your TV has just one socket presumably? I have two cables coming out the wall here but one is faulty but you only need one unless you intend to record freesat stuff and watch another channel at the same time.
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