Vegan DIY

[Mr Flibble]

Thanks :)

I was looking at those in Heals the other day - they do indeed look very good.

The floor embeded ones I've found cost about that for 6 thou (no link, found them in b&q).

Whatever I buy lighting wise it needs really to be compatible with the existing computer controlled system that I use in the rest of the house (so either standard direct wired bulbs, or IR controllable - not RF as is the Philips thing).

I have a slight lighting fetish. I wanted to take this (http://www.unicahome.com/catalog/item.asp?id=14676&PartnerID=FR) home with me from the V&A museum, but I don't think security would have let me :(

[veganbikerboy]

thats looking really nice mr flibble.

not sure what you have planned for the flooring, but laying rubber matting directly onto the bricks may cause them to sweat. I think you can flooring that is effectively on feet (only about 10mm) but at least it would keep the airflowing. sorry if you've already thought of it:)

[Mr Flibble]

I appreciate the advice :)

I am indeed ahead. Cumin knows a company that sells stable matting who I contacted a few weeks ago. They have a new product coming in the new year that is exactly like that (2cm high, of which over 1cm is feet). It comes in interlocking tiles, is slightly textured and is designed to be warming/insulating too.

It's basically the same as this one (actually it seems to be identical, other than 40% cheaper):

http://www.sportsmatsdirect.co.uk/images/MD6081.jpg

Part of the niceness of feet is that I can cut a few of them off and run low voltage cabling (speaker etc) under the floor.

[clare155]

That cellar is beautiful Mr Flibble! You could do so much with it - a home cinema would be amazing, especially with total darkness and surround sound! :)

[snivelingchild]

I'm looking for ways to lock up my garage since my bike tires have been slashed. I made a door with lock out of plywood for the awkwardly shaped doorway, but the garage door does not lock. In fact, it barely closes. My dad suggested drilling a hole in the track and putting a bolt through to block the door opening. There are some problems with this though.

The track is very rusted and warped, and the door often falls out of the trackk when opening it. It takes two of us, one inside, one out, to open the garage door without it collapsing. Even if the wheels stay in the track, the support that attatches the door to the wheel is about 3 pieces of wood nailed together. In other words, even if I did my dad's suggestion, it wouldn't take too much pulling to bring the whole thing down, or even just open it enough to get into. (It doesn't have to be much since I strongly suspect it was a kid this time.)

Doe anyone have any suggestions that are cheap? It doesn't have to be easily reversible, but I do need to get large object in or out of the garage a couple times a year.

[Hemlock]

Your cellar rocks Mr Flibble - leave it alone, it would make a fabulous pagan temple:D

[veganbikerboy]

I'm looking for ways to lock up my garage since my bike tires have been slashed. I made a door with lock out of plywood for the awkwardly shaped doorway, but the garage door does not lock. In fact, it barely closes. My dad suggested drilling a hole in the track and putting a bolt through to block the door opening. There are some problems with this though.

The track is very rusted and warped, and the door often falls out of the trackk when opening it. It takes two of us, one inside, one out, to open the garage door without it collapsing. Even if the wheels stay in the track, the support that attatches the door to the wheel is about 3 pieces of wood nailed together. In other words, even if I did my dad's suggestion, it wouldn't take too much pulling to bring the whole thing down, or even just open it enough to get into. (It doesn't have to be much since I strongly suspect it was a kid this time.)

Doe anyone have any suggestions that are cheap? It doesn't have to be easily reversible, but I do need to get large object in or out of the garage a couple times a year.

Sniv. it would be useful to see a pic, to advise you best. I just did a bodge job for Phoenix rising, she has an old knackered garage door, but needed to be able to lock it, it cost about £5 and took about 30mins for me to put a lock on it.

[Hemlock]

Apparently our chimney stack needs rebuilding as it has partially turned to dust! Anyone have any idea what we are talking about in terms of costs! break it to me gently or I may collapse.:amazed_ani:

[Gorilla]

oh dear, sounds expensive - i hope it isn't!

[veganbikerboy]

hemlock, the most expensive bit is the scaffolding. The cost will then be dependant on how much they have to rebuild. You are probably talking 3-400 for scaffolding and a couple of days labour + materials, if you can just re-build above the roofline, if you have to go beyond that it could prove more expensive, you will need to consider things like reflashing etc..

I would get a second opinion, does it really need doing? could you just re-point or replace the damaged sectiopn? do you use the chimney or is it lined? (ie woodburner has its own flue) do you need a chimney? would it be cheaper just to get rid of it?

[bradders]

WOW I'd love that basement, reminds me of the Shunt under london bridge station, only nice

[Hemlock]

hemlock, the most expensive bit is the scaffolding. The cost will then be dependant on how much they have to rebuild. You are probably talking 3-400 for scaffolding and a couple of days labour + materials, if you can just re-build above the roofline, if you have to go beyond that it could prove more expensive, you will need to consider things like reflashing etc..

I would get a second opinion, does it really need doing? could you just re-point or replace the damaged sectiopn? do you use the chimney or is it lined? (ie woodburner has its own flue) do you need a chimney? would it be cheaper just to get rid of it?

Phew we're ok, the guys who put the scaffold up to put the woodburner flues down said we can keep it there for a few more days for no extra cost and the builder came over and said those guys were prophets of doom and it will only cost around £80 to repair. Thanks for the advise. Good thing we already had a scaffold up or it would have cost us £400 like you said.

The woodburning central heating is in and we have spent the last few days alternately freezing and boiling while we get used to it all and leaving the radiators on all night using up everything in the thermal store.

I think we're getting the hang of it now and we woke up and were able to have a big hot bath:D It's made the house so warm we will only need to use the radiators in the very coldest of weather which we don't really get down here for more than a month.

It's weird not having the ultra convenience of gas and I guess I had a bit of an insecure moment about that, it's so easy just to turn the gas on in the morning have a shower and buzz out.

Now we have to get up very early to stoke the embers, go and get logs and decide when to keep it stoked and when to let it go out to suit work but to be honest the best things in life are not necessarily the most convenient and fast - everything is so fast these days and on tap. this way we are more aware of the seasons and the need to go looking for natural resources to keep us warm. It's probably a more natural way of life.

That is unless like the other day I come home dying for a hot bath to find number one son is still asleep in bed (afternoon) and the house and the water is stone cold:mad:

[bradders]

glad to hear that that's all going well for you now

[veganbikerboy]

I'm having my rayburn refurbed and installed today, I am sooooo excited!!!:D

[Hemlock]

I'm having my rayburn refurbed and installed today, I am sooooo excited!!!:D

Excellent, you will be toastie all winter.

[veganbikerboy]

its in and looking lovely, but got to wait until tomorrow until i can light it:mad::mad::mad::mad:


:D

[bradders]

I remember ranges from being a kid. Everyone we know pretty much used to have stanley ranges. The only thing I wished about them was that they could have viewing windows for the fire compartment.

[Mr Flibble]

There are many things that my house is - toasty is not one of them. It's neither warm nor particularly warming. I think I need to get some more cushions and fabric things, there's too much bare wood and cream walls at the moment.

I have a couple of new radiators that aren't connected yet, hopefully they'll make a difference. I've had some boiler issues recently (it doesn't always like making hot water when the heating is on). I really don't want to pay £160 for it to be serviced.

[bradders]

Should really get it serviced, really really important. The problem with the boiler by the sounds of it is that perhaps a pcb is defective (pricey) that diverts the heat to a second heat exchanger for the hot water. (used to deal with this sort of thing when I worked for housing repairs for a council).

If your boiler is 'room sealed' which means that the boiler gets its air supply from outside then a service is still important but not as important at one which isn't. on an open flued appliance (older boilers, gas fires etc etc) regular checks and services are vital as a defective boiler could lead to products of combustion entering the property.
In this case the sooner you get it repaired the less damage will be done. If it is condenser combi- boiler if the diverter is stuck due to a pcb fault and it's dealt with early you only have one part to replace, if you leave it too long other parts will deteriorate.

remember:
a stitch in time saves nine

[Hemlock]

There are many things that my house is - toasty is not one of them. It's neither warm nor particularly warming. I think I need to get some more cushions and fabric things, there's too much bare wood and cream walls at the moment.

I know what you mean! We painted our kitchen bright red to avoid the cream and beige thing and it looked bloody awful - like a whorehouse:amazed_ani:
It is now Farrow and Ball off white which is a very nice warm cream/beige colour. I'm going to acessorise it with crimson and green but the crimson en masse was way over the top!
It leads into the dining room which will be the same colour but the sitting room will be Farrow and Ball arsenic (dark green-blue) with a sea theme and various classic pictures of the sea such as the John Waterhouses, "Circe Invidiosa"and mermaids. We also have a mini woodburner in that room so it's very cosy.
The woodburning central heating doesn't warm up the house as much as gas central heating does so we're having mega insulation put in everywhere, doors between every room and very thick curtains so it should be very warm indeed eventually.

[veganbikerboy]

My rayburn is in and on fire!!! YAY:D

cooking curry on it at the moment:)

[snivelingchild]

We just replaced all the locks and installed double-sided deadbolts in the doors, and the shed. I had suspected that someone tried to break into the back door. The front door had hardware that looked about 50 years old, so it was quite a task.

VBB, my camera is currently broken, but as soon as I can take a picture, I'll post it of my garage as that is now the only thing I can't lock.

While we're on the subject of security, is there any way I can keep people out of my yard without having to padlock my gates (and have 50 keys on my set) and put barbwire on the fence? The neighborhood kids are always going into my yard, which I usually didn't mind, until my vegetables were stolen and my bike tires slashed. I plan of starting and expanding my garden this spring, but I'd hate to spend all that time and effort, and get none of my vegetables again. I have this HUGE separate yard, MADE for a garden, and I'm determined to have it. (The fence is short, and can be easily jumped by even the little kids)

[Mr Flibble]

Cumin knows a company that sells stable matting who I contacted a few weeks ago. They have a new product coming in the new year that is exactly like that (2cm high, of which over 1cm is feet). It comes in interlocking tiles, is slightly textured and is designed to be warming/insulating too.

They have stock now and I have a sample on my desk :D

All I need to do now is decide whether or not I want to put £450 on my credit card.....

[BlackCats]

I know what you mean! We painted our kitchen bright red to avoid the cream and beige thing and it looked bloody awful - like a whorehouse:amazed_ani:


(We have just painted our living room red and my husband wasn't keen on it as he said it would look like a brothel.:D)

Can anyone help me please, does anyone know what you do with an old bathroom suite? Do you have to hire a skip or will the council take it or is there any eco-friendly way of disposing of it? I can't seem to find much information on the net.:confused:

[Mr Flibble]

I took mine to the tip in the back of my car.

The bathtub was steel so went in metal recycling along with the taps, the rest went in with hardcore, so I guess will be used by builders.