What DIY have you done today?

[Jimmyneutronsforehead]

A thread to share the things big and small that you've started, finished, planned or conceptualised.

Inspired by the lovely posters on the What have you done in the garden today threads.

Awkward. Best do yourself.

Any advice about blinds in windows?

the attached picture is our curtain rail which DH put up a year ago today. It’s too low in my opinion so DH is moving it up today about 15 cm and the curtain is still long enough length way so it’s fine. From the outside you can see the light when the lounge is in use and also because the curtain isn’t sitting right either it was put up with minimal curtain rings and the curtain isn’t sitting flush. This is all in hand today I hope as we are cutting the length of the pole and raising it up and then adding more curtain rings.

If we add a roller blind (not had one for 10-15 years) can you get them to sit in the window frame. Eg not have a gap round them

is it worth it? It’s a 2m wide window.

I don’t know how my neighbour has done it but when she has her curtains drawn and lights on - no light escapes the top and sides if that makes sense!

any thoughts?

This is the bedroom curtain so you can see what I mean the curtain doesn’t sit right. I think it needs to go up 10-15 cm and have many more curtain rings?

I always have curtain poles sitting higher. Much nearer yhe ceiling. I just don’t like the gaps above the curtains
So if it was me I’d have the curtain falls right under the ceiling

In terms of blinds. The only way I know to stop light showing through at the edge is to use similar details used for blackout blinds. ie fit an L shaped trim around the window reveal for the blind to run behind. Roller blinds themselves don’t touch the edges

No DIY for me today but DH has just put up some new guttering and repaired some old guttering. He is joining me in DIY enthusiasm but he likes the outside jobs best and it's finally sunny.
I need his help on some indoor stuff before I can carry on though. So hopefully he's also going to fill in scruffy bits around the stairs skirtings and attach some wood near banisters that have come off. Then when I next get a window of time I can get painting the top coats on them. Done base coats.
Or if he helps move furniture in one of the bedrooms I can start on painting skirtings.
It's hard work keeping going as basically want to repaint or restain all skirtings and door frames in house. Some is tidying up and redoing old ones and some are new ones that need doing from scratch.

Fixed a couple of things in the tool cupboard (under the stairs) that have been annoying me for years. First a drawer that kept coming off its rails/runners, had to disassemble the cabinet sides slightly to move the runners closer together. Then put up a hook (well, screw) to hang a long ruler and a spirit level. They've been awkwardly leaning against the wall and falling under for years. No more small frustrations. Perhaps this is the year of Small Improvements rather than Big New Ideas.

Also measured up the whole tool cupboard as it has an ugly moth infested carpet. I'm thinking of replacing it on the cheap and putting plastic stick on tiles in, but not sure how well they'll stick to the screed. It'll probably need to be sealed, not the quick fun job I'd like it to be (see: Big New Ideas).

Has anyone used stick down floor tiles like e.g. from Floor Pops or D-C fix tiles? How do they hold up after a year or two?

We've put some down in our living room and they were easy to put down, but on parts of the floor where it's uneven there's breakage. Everywhere that is flat though has held up really well.

Granted, they've only been down 6 months so I can't speak for their longevity yet.

I shall post a picture when we get downstairs for the day.

So I have taken 3 pictures of the good the bad and the ugly.

We placed ours on top of our old laminate because our floors are really uneven. We knew going into it that the laminate was also not very even and warped from mopping but we never saw this as a permanent solution, just something to stop the kids kicking their toenails up on the floorboards with.

It adheres well, and cures fast, but if a tile is damaged it's still easy enough to pull one up and put another down.

Where it is completely flat, it's done really well, looks as good as the day we put it down, but by the doorway where there's a small groove that was unproblematic before, it's started to rip.

We also found that some boxes of the tiles were in excellent condition and some had tiles that had chips round the edges. We still managed to use those round the edges of the room when we needed to chop odd shapes but definitely order a spare pack or two.

Lengthwise they're too long to cut on a vinyl cutter so you need a steady hand, but widthwise they fit and cut beautifully in a vinyl cutter.

I did notice when laying them that if the room got too hot too fast the glue would shrink so when placing tiles between 2 others there would be either a bigger gap or less of a gap and I had to press them down with the back of a spoon, or re-lift the tiles. It was easily done with no damage as long as it was done fast enough.

In terms of durability, DS does at least weekly rollerskating on it with no marks, however where the door catches on it, it has scratched quite easily.

Thank you, that's helpful. My floor is entirely even thankfully, so sounds like it could work well.

I forgot to mention that they cut really well with kitchen scissors as well as a stanley knife. They're the texture of a thick fridge magnet.

I’ve built an ikea kallax unit today. Is that DIY? I did do it myself. Kitten would say otherwise, but honestly, she was no help at all.

My dream job would be working at IKEA, as long as all I had to do was build Kallax units all day.

I'd even be willing to demonstrate speed and proficiency without instructions in an interview.

Today I used a dremmel tool to cut the metal spindle on a door knob shorter .
i had replaced the old door knob and rim lock but the spindle was about 3 too long, which made the door knob wobbly .

Didnt anticipate the amount of hot flying sparks from cutting such a small piece of metal !

I have to replace two door knobs and thanks for the reminder @Fidgety31

I've done a Kallax unit and loved it. @TeamToeBeans

Waiting in the wings is other IKEA units for the bathroom which I'm doing with help. Cupboards and mirrors.

Today I replaced a fence post, which was bloody hard work. Normally I'd post this in gardening but it wasn't fun and gardening should be fun! My friend helping was ready to give up after an hour but it took a few more! Concrete down to 70 cm, lying flat my fingers could just about touch the bottom.
Ended up removing about half of the concrete diagonally (if that makes sense), moved the post about an inch towards our garden so the concrete (well, postcrete) could just about flow around it. Thankfully we have very reasonable neighbours who are very happy with their extra inch of garden. It holds the fairly large cat's weight so that's good enough got me.

Part 2 tomorrow, reattaching the trellis panels.

Forgot the cat

Lovely cat and fence post job @Agapornis 😄

Today I put up a curtain pole inside the front door and hung a little Art Nouveau wall cabinet. Was hoping to attach an oak demi-lune console to the wall but it was far heavier than expected so needed DH's help with that.

I had the same with sink pop-up plugs - they were about 2 inches too long for any pipework underneath, so I also tried to dremel, which broke the attachment, so I got an angle grinder and tried and I was terrified at the sparks! I think I wanted a fireproof suit at the time and put it on hold...I haven't managed to complete that job and really should!

Fitted a brass internal letterbox flap today. It's a whopper at 400mm x 127mm as we've a huge letterbox and typically the screws provided were miniscule so not up to the job. Had to fish around in DH's stash to find proper ones 🙄

Also somehow managed to get a bulky shelving unit out of the garage into the garden ready to take to the tip. Making space for the conversion!

It's not exactly diy but I've ordered two radiators to be installed and they arrived today.

Plus twice to the recycling centre this week.

My new front door is going to be installed soon. Not by me as it's complicated. I've been asked to take before and after photos. Do I clean the old grotty front door up beforehand?

All 9 curtain rails & curtains have been repositioned 15-20 cm higher and curtains redone. They look so much better. 3 roller blinds have been added to 3 windows and we have 3 more to put up. But DH and I have a lot of family stuff going on in next couple of days so that’s on hold. I have to say having a roller blind inside the curtain is nice. Cuts down on the noise too.

Fence panels and trellis are back in place. Phew. All the cats in the street (about 10) have been checking it out and enjoying their newly improved viewpoint.

I replaced a few patches of grout in the bathroom and kitchen. Embarrassingly I bought a grout rake for this purpose about 4.5 years ago, yikes. Got round to it in the end! Found out one tile was actually loose and had lots of mould behind it, grim. I bleached and dried it and stuck it back, but it very much feels like a sticking plaster.
The grout lasted for about 6 years before it started to crack. Unfortunately the previous owners seem to have done everything in the bathroom on the cheap. The grey laminate is swollen at the edges so clearly not suitable for a bathroom, had to replace the toilet after leaks and the cistern failed - just overall urgh. One day I'll rip it all out!

@placemats Is it for the door company to use on socials etc? Then yes I would clean the old door, or casually forget to take the before photo. I would love a new (wooden, with nice glass) front door but they seem either hideously expensive at £3-4k (London), or the trades people don't even respond. Feels like a DIY too far as I think it needs a new doorframe too - lots of air gaps.

We had 17 blown glass panes changed today and I’ve been slowly making my way around each window to give them a good clean, oil the mechanisms and change the handles. I should’ve taken a before pic, what a difference

I finished the job of replacing the carpet in the cupboard under the stairs with stick down tiles. Really happy with how it looks. Thanks for the earlier tips @Jimmyneutronsforehead, thankfully it was fairly simple, just needed to seal the cement screed so it actually sticks down, which was easy enough. Could have done with fewer awkward corners. I only cut my finger with the Stanley knife once 😅

Of course I forgot to take a before picture with the ugly moth carpet.

Photo