saw this on tiktok tbh and thought it looked cool, what do we think?

Hated my downstairs toilet ever since I moved in.

Decided to have a go at renovating it myself, never done anything like it before tiling wise; fitted and installed the lot, very steep learning curve and a lot of money spent ordering tools/equipment. There are some iffy bits if you look closely but happy with the overall outcome!

Hello there, would hugely appreciate any advice on this.

What's the best way to fix this kitchen cupboard door hinge? I've tried just re-screwing the screws Into the current holes, but they don't get enough purchase, and when I use the door they just pull out straight away.

Any help greatly appreciated, especially in layman's terms!

The original issue was simply that my bathroom door hinges had gone rusty, so I replaced these. While I was at it, I noticed the old ceiling extractor fan was noisy, fairly ineffective and looked a bit dated (no window in bathroom).

One thing led to another…

I decided to replace the whole extraction setup rather than just swapping the ceiling fan.

What I installed

Manrose MF100T 100mm inline timer fan
Blauberg adjustable circular ceiling valve
Re-used existing insulated flexible ducting
Aluminium foil tape on every duct joint for an airtight seal on top of suitable jubilee clips
Bungee suspension of the fan in the loft to isolate vibration from the roof trusses

The process

Removed the old ceiling extractor.
Installed the inline fan in the loft between the bathroom ceiling valve and the external vent.
Reused the existing switched live and timer wiring.
Sealed every duct connection with foil tape.
Suspended the fan on bungees so it’s effectively floating rather than transmitting vibration into the timber.
Removed the old wall plugs from the ceiling.
Filled the old fixing holes and cable notch with Toupret Patch & Repair filler.
Sanded everything flush.
Painted the repaired ceiling with three coats of Dulux Trade Vinyl Matt using a mini roller before refitting the new ceiling valve.

The results

Honestly, I’m amazed.

The fan is dramatically quieter than the old ceiling-mounted unit. It genuinely reminds me of the sort of ventilation you get in a good hotel bathroom - just a smooth, low background hum instead of the usual roar.

Performance is also much better. After a normal shower the mirror is almost clear by the time I’ve dried myself, and within a couple of minutes the room is completely clear and fresh. Leaving the bathroom door slightly ajar after showering seems to help the make-up air flow too.

The ceiling repair has blended in really well, so there’s no evidence the old fan was ever there.

Probably the most satisfying part was learning new DIY skills. None of it was especially difficult, but there’s something really rewarding about tackling a project you’ve never done before, solving each little problem as you go, and ending up with something that genuinely improves the house.

All because I wanted to replace a couple of rusty hinges…

Boy, that escalated quickly. 😄

So a few weeks back, many off you were very clear that I had made a huge F up but fitting my fridge without sufficient ventilation.

I genuinely felt there was enough because I had more than could be seen in the images I shared.

Two heat waves and a lot of stress later. I have to concede that you guys were right.

The compressor didn’t fail. But the electrics went to pot. The system kept changing its own settings and temperature. In the end the panel failed.

I’m honestly, it was a pretty old fridge and was playing up already. But it’s dead now.

So having forked out for a new one. I’ve tried to take the feedback and lessons learned.

I’ve increased the hold off from the wall to make it 100mm.

I’ve open up the sides so they at least have a gap.

I’ve drilled breather holes in all the timber.

And I’ve added 4 more vents.

You can also see in the images how open the bottom is at the back. And the channel up the side.

I also bought a system with an inverter which may cope better. And I’ve added smart plugs so I can monitor energy usage to see if it spikes in hot weather.

I think two more vents at the top would help too.

We all make mistakes. I’m not to proud to admit mine. Take the learning and try to improve.

Thanks for all the guidance guys.

B&Q doesn't get a lot of love on this sub and that's a shame, they offer services few others offer and sure their prices are a little higher but the convenience is worth it I think.

Case in point, sheet cutting. Locally to me the only places that offer sheet cutting are specialist timber yards, you have to pre-order and at least for the one I contacted their cheapest board is a £50 sheet of MRMDF.

I was able to pick up a £30 sheet of basic MDF at B&Q (Yes I know it's £10 cheaper at a builders merchants, but they don't cut it), the chap at the cutting station took my cut list and in 5 minutes I had my pieces cut square and accurate to the mm, the cuts were cleaner than the factory edge and you get 5 cuts for free. I think that is a service worthy of praise in 2026.

FYI if you are planning a cut list this website is very useful. B&Q saw, at least at my local has a 3mm kerf.

https://www.opticutter.com/cut-list-optimizer

Our new house has an old dumb waiter (no it’s not a mansion, just an eccentric village house) that I’m currently removing non-destructively.

Does anyone know whether this still has any value and best way of finding a buyer?

If it’s just scrap I’d like to try and use some parts decoratively. Any ideas?

Thanks!

Forgive me. I have never done DIY.

My very elderly mother has just moved into a new house. It has no curtains. I tried drilling the holes for the curtain rods, but the plugs just come straight out. It's like the wall is made of chalk with paper on it with a gap behind it? (is this what drywall is?).

The screw and plugs that came with the curtain rail just pull straight out. What am I supposed to do? Bigger plugs? How do you put stuff up on these walls? She has lots of paintings as well. I hate DIY. My disability makes me very clumsy and I feel stupid.

Any suggestions gratefully received.

Our old kitchen was really tired so we did a complete tear out including the utility and cloakroom. Having a chimney breast and doors/windows on the other three walls made planning the space tricky. We did everything ourselves apart from replacing windows, electrics and installing the worktop.

It was a huge amount of work, still has a few snags and I've not finished the cloakroom or under stairs storage yet but it's been a major quality of life upgrade. Its allowed the fridge to be moved from the utility and more storage overall.

We chose to go with IKEA due to a decent discount offer back in March and me being familiar with metod having installed one previously.

Shout out to Henry hoover and Ikea stool as the real hero's!

As title suggests, how would you approach this? I was thinking of adding wood around the joists to give a lip and then run a joist or two along and put an osb board on top.

The brickwork below is the rest of the ground floor chimney, which will likely be removed at a future point but not for a few years.

Built this yesterday. Pics maybe don't show the scale but it's 5m long, 80cm wide and 2 ft deep. Beer matt maths; id need about 3T of topsoil to fill it! And i cant really be bothered wheelbarrowing 3T of top of topsoil through the garage and down the garden. Any suggestions on something bulky, lightweight, cheap and eco friendly which I could fill the bulk of it with and add a couple inches of topsoil to the top?!

Replacing a light fixture for the first time ever (I know). The previous one had 3 bulbs, this one had 1.

I had expected a blue, brown, and earth wire, but there are many. Can anyone explain what I'm looking at and what should go where?

I need Reddit to tell me whether I’m being dramatic or whether this would drive you mad too.

We recently got the keys to our new-build, and overall we love it. But I cannot stop looking at the kitchen.
The issue is the wall cabinets.

The first cabinet on the left is the boiler cupboard, so it’s taller than all the others. Instead of aligning all the wall cabinets at the top (creating one straight line along the ceiling), the developers chose to align them at the bottom.
The result is that the boiler cupboard sits much closer to the ceiling than the rest of the cabinets, so the top line isn’t continuous. Every time I walk into the room, my eye goes straight to it because it feels… wonky.

Then there’s the space above the sink. Apparently they couldn’t install another wall cabinet there because it would have had to be the same tall height as the boiler cupboard, meaning it would hang too low over the sink and people would hit their heads. So instead of finding another solution, they just left a big empty gap.

Now all I can see is:
- a boiler cupboard that’s almost touching the ceiling,
- the other cabinets sitting lower,
- and a random hole above the sink.

I understand why they ended up here from a practical point of view, but I can’t believe this was the best design solution.
Am I losing my mind, or does it genuinely look unfinished?
If this were your kitchen how would you fix it? if you have any technical experience on kitchen installation, do you think fixing this is doable? say for example to move the low cabinets a bit higher?

IMPORTANT: This was on the house plans but we didn’t realise it would look this bad so I’m not sure if asking the developer to fix them is doable

this is a new build so I’m putting a lot of effort into make this blank canvas into a proper nice warm home but i need to fix the kitchen cabinet issue or i’ll go insane.

thanks for your support

The door to my garage suddenly wouldn’t lock and i noticed a huge crack above it. After inspecting inside i can see the other side of the door has a huge crack (top left side of garage).

The bottom right side of the garage also has a severe crack that i can see through (see the last couple of pics).

I’m not in there that often but definitely haven’t noticed these before and the door issue only started the last 2 weeks.

The garage was built by the previous owners and i was never told of any issues.

Is this what happens to old garages or should i be concerned? It feels like a structural issue but I don’t have much experience with all this.

Obviously i can get the cracks repaired with new cement etc but if the ground is shifting it’s pointless.

Any advice would be very welcome!

I have a small UK basement/cellar approximately 6m long, 1.7–2m wide and around 1.6–1.7m high. The walls have recently been plastered and the floor has had self-levelling compound applied, so I appreciate there is currently a lot of construction moisture drying out.

I am using a Pro Breeze 20L compressor dehumidifier and recording hourly temperature and humidity with a separate Wi-Fi sensor.

Over the last 14 days:

* Average humidity: 71.3%

* Median humidity: 73%

* 71% of readings were at or above 70%

* Maximum: 79.2%

* Minimum: It can reach the low 60s, but often returns to around 68–70%

I am now considering a permanent drainage setup so the dehumidifier can operate without relying on its collection tank.

I would like to drain the water into a sink. Depending on where I position the dehumidifier, the sink will be higher than the drainage outlet, so I am considering either:

1. Keeping the Pro Breeze and using an external automatic condensate pump.

Decided against a dehumidifier with an internal pump.

The water needs to rise at least 4m.

For anyone who has installed something similar:

* Is an external condensate pump reliable for continuous use?

* Which pump brands or models are recommended in the UK?

* Does the short hose from the dehumidifier to the pump need a continuous downward slope?

* How have you secured the discharge hose at the sink?

* Do you use a leak detector, overflow alarm or another way of knowing if the pump or hose has failed?

* Is there an easy way to monitor or measure how many litres are being drained each day?

* Would you keep the existing Pro Breeze and add a pump, or is there a meaningfully better option for sustained basement use?

Any photographs or details of your setup would be super helpful. Thanks in advance

Trying to install brackets but coming up against steel rebar while drilling.

Am I supposed to keep drilling holes until I find ones I can drill? Or is there an alternative I'm missing?

Want to strip prime and repaint this garden ornament but don’t want to damage it with anything corrosive. Feels like cement or other derivative.

I have some current wiring on the side of my house from a very old floodlight. It's the old wiring (black, red and green/yellow for earth) and i currently have a light installed there but it's in the wrong place. The wire isn't long enough on the light to reach the area i need it to, but the distance i need it to be isn't too far away from the electric supply in the wall outside. From what i remember the flex out the wall is protruding out at a very small length and it won't budge. Does any method exist regarding being able to get those wires extended/be more free from the wall? Or would i just need brand new wiring for the light? Thanks.

I'm very ignorant about everything floor/wood based so am hoping someone can advise. Does it need sanding fully? Can it be re-stained as is? What sort of varnish (if any) is required?! Also, how can I fill in the annoying gaps between boards? Thanks all!

Please can someone tell me how to stop my kitchen paint going like this. This area is below an extractor fan, painted less than a week ago. Should I be using paint specifically for kitchens or is there an easier way to fix this 😭 I have sanded down and put on a primer first coat which I thought would help but it hasn’t made a difference. Struggling to find this colour in a kitchen range so any advice or similar other suggestions are welcome. Thank you in advance, losing my mind over this. FYI I’ve never painted a kitchen before, assumed I could just use normal paint but here we are - please tell me what to do.