The DIY/Doing up house Thread (aka My house is falling down)

We got two posts fixed last year that has rotted away and they offered nothing.

Yeah same, but funnily enough my neighbour knocked yesterday with a tradesperson asking about doing something to split up our gardens at the front. I said I thought that was a good idea and I'd help with the cost, even though it's her boundary.

Kinda felt bad for her as her husband died not too long ago (must only be early 60s) and she looks totally lost.

Boiler update

Gas pipes checked and no leaks found. Internal seals checked and no leaks found. Flue checked and no obvious leaks identified but it appears the most likely culprit.

So the house probably won’t blow up but I could well have been getting fumed up while sat at my desk.

Since the immediate danger of getting exploded seems to have passed its new CO detectors all round and keeping my nose open until the big fix takes place when the new part we’ve been waiting for arrives.

Less than ideal that there’s still a chance of getting carbon monoxided but somewhat reassured that it isn’t raw natural gas pumping into the house.

Wife is a lot more “don’t worry its fine” than me. Will definitely be sleeping with the windows open.

Carbon Monoxide is very much in the conversation for things that might plausibly happen that I’m most scared of so I’m extremely paranoid with how things are going. A news story about a student dying in a flat around the corner of my secondary school from it has never really left me and one of my best friend’s dad went the car exhaust way when he chose to leave, although that was before I met her it obviously stuck too.

No gas leak is encouraging but I will be messaging my guy again tomorrow to say it is still faintly lingering.

From observing it tonight the mystery of why the smell is only present when the boiler isn’t running seems to be that when the central heating is on its generating enough of a flow to push everything out the flue. You can see the exhaust vapour venting like normal. But perhaps for the hot water preheat cycle it doesn’t appear to be visibly venting as clearly so perhaps if there’s a partial blockage it could be that these smaller, shorter firings aren’t generating enough oomph to expel everything.

But then I’m not Gas Safe engineer either. And I haven’t spent enough time looking at the vent during normal times to have any kind of control image in my head.

Fuck around, find out right there.

I am a master. I'm looking forward to opening up my daughter's CD player, which is inexplicably not turning on. Tried changing the fuse, so it's not that. I'll poke and prod it before skipping it I imagine. But at least I'll have tried and felt manly.

The smell remains but extra opinions from other boiler engineers are that it definitely indicates an issue to investigate but being intermittent, restricted to a confined area, no evidence of natural gas leak and none of the four CO alarms in the house tripping means its “safe for now” so no need for out of hours emergency callouts.

On roof we think we’ve talked the price down some but the original guy didn’t respond to any of the letters or emails we’d been advised to write as forewarning of possible small claims action. We even wrote a bad review for Checktrade detailing exactly what was done wrong and the expected cost of repair (not just a generic these are bad type one) and it went through preapproval without being challenged by the roofer. We’d figure that would get his attention even if he’d ghosted us every other way but apparently not.

Now the expensive option?

Thoughts and prayers.

Ah, heating, you wonderful thing. Feels weird not wearing 2 jumpers

How the fuck do you remember Ratners

Thought they were more strict on burning garden waste these days?

Think its fine. We do it, just usual courtesy involved. No damp wood and not in peak summer.

I have great memories of bonfires my parents would often light to get rid of garden waste when I was a kid, a bonus to throw a baked spud in there wrapped in foil. Happy times.