Ta Yeah, I thought I’d checked for grub screws, but I’ll have a look again. Job for tomorrow now, can’t be ****ed any more tonight. Edit: Yep, there’s the little ****. Ta for the advice!
Finishing the floor in the loft so there is nowhere left to step through, before laying lino planks. This entire bit on the left was a big gap down to the insulation. Meaning dust and mess. And no, it's not pissed, the entire floor my cousin laid was. Hence the gaps. It's either gaps, or cut every last piece one by one pissed to match. There was a 140mm gap at the back on the wall which was also pissed. So this is it all finished. Now you may be wondering why I used that foil tape. That's because I lost two f*****g drill bits down the gaps
I like that the stark notification that your board might be arrse in the air in that last pic has just had two fingers casually thrown up to it... You are a rather productive machine, sir. Always working on something. Which does remind me, I have something to shove up later as well. However, I think I'm going to have to pull my finger out today first before the next week begins.
Yeah idle mind leads to bad thoughts. I've always got a project on, no matter how small. Thankfully the next bit is easy, just peel and stick lol. Well, after I tidy up and put everything clear of the floor that is ! I realised that I probably didn't order enough gray self adhesive planks... So I bought enough black ones.... To do the lower part of the floor on the left. IE, where the stereo etc lives. The main reinforced "upper" floor where I work will be in the gray. Then once the floor is all laid it is time to skin the walls out with these.
Taking all the wallpaper etc. out of the stairwell. This box section steel proved plenty strong for the task
Dodgy tummy today but I did manage to knock out the sub floor. Will knock out the large floor area when I don't feel like the need to crap my ass.
Supposed to be easy, wasn’t it. Take the old bits with me to B&Q, get some replacements that match up (dimensions, screw hole placement, etc), pop the new ones on the door. Nope. The well that was hollowed out for the locking mechanism is too small to fit the new one. I don’t have chisels or a router, so hand-filing it is (yes, I did try using a drill bit as a file, but this is a terrible thing to do to both drill and bit). Just about manage to shave everything down to get the lock to fit, albeit with a mild about of “percussive persuasion” (i.e. whack it in). Cool. Except it’s not quite aligned in exactly the same place the last lock was, so the handles can’t go exactly where the old ones were. Fine. Tape ‘em down, drill some new pilot holes, and screw the door handles in a slightly different position to the old ones. Except now the latch doesn’t engage when the door is shut, because the well in the frame sits too far back. I need to widen that well slightly and move the receiver plate. Fine. I need chisels then. I might be able to get away with using a dremel, but it can f’ing wait now. I feel rotten, I'm aching, and my back hurts. The door closes and stays closed, it’s just that the latch doesn’t engage. So it can wait. Also flat-head screws are dumb and shouldn’t be used to attach things to wood. Pozidrive, Philips, hex, etc… all good. But not bloody flat-head. [stomps off while grumbling incoherently]
Isn't this a rental place? So surely it's neither your obligation nor right to make structural amendments? I'd put it all back together and get the landlord on it, bud. Saves you a bill if he ever gets wind of what you're up to. Some of them can be funny.
It is indeed rented, however getting the landlord to sort it would take months for them to get someone out. Fixing it myself it has cost about £40 at B&Q, a stiff back, a very confused forum post, and a couple of expletive-laden afternoons. The old lock mechanism used to lock you in if you closed the door fully. After the other half’s recent medical issues and the long recovery she’s facing, I’m not taking any chances. I can’t have her getting locked in lé crappiér while I’m out of the house. After 9 years we’re in a pretty good relationship with our landlord. They’re happy with me doing minor stuff like this as long as I’m treating it like my own house. But landlords are facing a lot of increased costs and regulatory compliance, and a lot are deciding it simply isn’t worth it any more. It’s a really precarious position for private tenants right now.
Ah. Hmm. In that case, CYA (but I'm sure you know that or have already). The rules are sort of on the tenant's (your) side where there's ambiguity, as in they can't turf you out for fudging a door lock etc., but they can (from memory, you'd need to check) put rent up if they haven't done so in the previous x years, to keep it in line with market rate, thus forcing you to play the game if they're intent on getting out of the rental space. I would say just cover yourselves, esp with the missus not needing the drama right now. Log everything through the agent and get recorded agreement. And make sure nobody needs to get fed through a slot in the door whilst inadvertently locked up in the "small room"!
That’s part of why I packed it in today tbh - I basically was fudging it, because I was trying to get stuff done quickly instead of getting stuff done properly. Even with better self-awareness and effective medication, ADHD can still be a bitch like that sometimes. This door lock, on the other hand, is one I definitely won’t be fixing myself! I probably could do it myself, but I’m not prepared to piss around with the security of the front door! Nah, that’s a job for a professional - I need to tell the landlord about it in case it affects their insurance policies, but I’ll happy to pay out of my own pocket to get it fixed. It’s probably a quick job for someone who knows what they’re doing, and it probably won’t even need a change of keys. (No one panic, my house is still secure . Deadbolts still work, lock still works, door is as solid and secure as it’s ever been - it’s literally just the latch, and all it means is I can’t push the door closed without engaging the deadbolts. We keep external doors locked at all times anyway.)
Got the ****er. Stripped down the old lock mechanism, gave it a thorough cleaning and greasing, and put it back in the door with the new handles. Works a bloody charm. I was watching The Martian last night; I got to the point where Matt Damon is attempting to ignite hydrogen, and a thought occurred to me. The old lock mech may be fire resistant to some degree (I noticed fire resistance being mentioned as a feature when looking at internal door locks on Screwfix last week). It further occurred to me that, if this is the case, this is probably an important compliance thing for rented properties - “if an internal door is lockable then it must be fire resistant and conform to blahblahblah standard”… or something of that ilk.
FYI - It's officially 10 years yesterday since The Martian was published, so Andy Weir has written & posted a couple of "Lost Sols" to add to the story.
Even though I did a lovely job of cutting the planks where the floor drops I was worrying. Mostly because, well, this. That is where I store the bikes. Whenever I upgrade and or build one I need to lug them onto the main floor. As such I just know I will end up kicking up the edge. So I got 3m of this and will stick it down with construction adhesive. Which should make it a lot more trip proof. Unfortunately the anthracite grey skirting I ordered never materialised, and I had to get a refund through Amazon. Thus, I got this. 3 2.6m strips. From the same place I got the wall panels from. Bit of a pisser it is white, but that was all they had. I can either live with it or paint it. I do aim to paint the wooden beams with blackboard paint, so if it bothers me enough I may go over it. We'll see. Oh, and because it is a breathing loft (IE it is open at each end of the house with vents) and knowing it gets a tad warm up there in summer (would be an understatement) I got a few of these. This is all a pisser just to get nice pics of my bikes, but it will also stop the family arguments all the sodding time. IE, to get a decent set of pics to make a video with I need to bring them down into the house, and every one pisses and whines and I am just sick of it.
Bunch of annoying jobs I should have done a year ago: moved the bracket on the downspout so it's actually over the drain now, instead of throwing half of its water on the driveway; unblocked the air brick the idiot before me clogged up with what looks, I swear, like silly string and which was probably the cause of the the wall behind the radiator getting damp and the paper peeling; and painted a rectangle of said wall, 'cos the radiator's been replaced with a tall thin one so we've got room to have a Stannah fitted for the in-laws when they visit. In Brilliant White 'cos I can't be faffed trying to colour-match the grey wall, but it'll mostly be hidden behind the stairlift anyway.
Floor complete. Next up walls. What I did do in the meantime was bring my old heavy duty centre speaker stand over for the stereo. I can hear it now. And had a piddle with the shelves I got.
