Be Excellent To Each Other

Another year and the brushed/brushless discussion will be a thing of the past, except for the cheapest of no-name brands on Amazon - if the answer to question 1 is "yes of course I need a cordless drill!" then brush less might be the right answer to question 2.

@sir Taxalot one battery type is a consideration yes but adaptors exist, for a not insignificant power loss. I've settled on Makita Lxt as the primary tool/battery and fill in the gaps with Ryobi one+ tools using adaptors.

That will probably change over time as makita are moving away from 18V, but adaptors exist each and every way amongst the 18V brands.

I have a cordless drill and I use it so infrequently that the battery is always dead when I come to it.

I didn’t think to check mine before heading over to help @mr Russell today. Fortunately they just about lasted

Wooop! Finally getting this house warmed up AND boarded. Thanks to Dr Z (and Russell, of course) for all the excellent work today.

Ooh, where did you get your risers from? I can only find plastic ones, but they don't seem to have good reviews.

Russell passed them over and I screwed them down.

More seriously, they were decent quality and very easy to use, and they are really stable when fitted. It looks like they are sold by screwfix or wickes. There were some screw holes moulded in the base which we drilled out rather than just go through them and in to then joist in one go. The joists aren’t completely level so there’s a corresponding gap right at one end, but that’s really easy to pack with a wooden offcut rather than bend the board which we’ll do next time.


https://www.screwfix.com/p/loftleg-xl-l ... pack/907TL?

They are the right ones linked to. LoftLeg XL, but I got them from Amazon so probably paid a Bezos fee.

There is a smaller version but it would have squished the insulation so I went with the taller one.

Thank you Dr Z for coming over, it has made a massive difference already!

Would those risers work 'in reverse' as hangers? There's a lot of space under the bedrooms at our house, and I'd like to put some insulation under there, and the cover it up, as the floors do get cold in the winter.

Also the ducts for the heating / aircon are under there too, so covering them a bit would be good.

The underneath of that part of the house is not, and probably could not, be used for anything, as it's just dirt and the piers which that part of the house sits on. It can be a bit damp at times too.

Possibly, but I think for under floor insulation you’d normally use foil lined rigid boards cut to size and fitted tightly between the joists.

I reckon it'd be pretty good for an underfloor heating install too

New wood store.

That's ace!

I need to buy wood.

Saving up for the wood next.

That’s beautiful. Do you go off plans or do you ‘make it up as you go along’?

Nice. I would put my wood in there

I’d seen a few, drew a little sketch then just made it.

Zardoz has a lot of experience making ornate birdhouses, in order to appease ghosts. This is simply an extension of that.

But... it's made of wood. What happens if you accidentally unstore some of the wood that makes the wood store?

He needs a larger wood store, to store the wood wood store.

What wood


Would the wood woodstore store wood or would the wood store wood from the wood store?

Chuck a mattress on it and it'd be a good garden day bed/shelter I reckon.

With a snack shelf.

Just as well because that's where he's sleeping when he buys another synthesiser.

If he’s got to have them all in there with him he’d better add another room or two.

Al fresco techno

You're totally going to use that on one of your future productions aren't you....

(and you should, I think it's pretty rad).

We got a shed load of boards down today. Four rows compared to the two last time and it didn’t take any longer.

Russell’s box graveyard has never been so well catered for.

You guys did a super job today from everything i’ve heard. Thanks again so much for all your help, Dr Z. It will be a much warmer winter x

Boxes must be kept!!! You never know!

Oh, I love a good box, but I think some of ours have outlasted the goods that originally came in them.

Put those boxes on Russell’s head.

Tiny washing machine!

There’s a tiny oven up there, too, as well as a tiny fridge freezer full of tiny food.

Mrs. W made me clear out most of the boxes from the loft, but she's never seen what's up there. I still have all my HiFi separates boxes up there and we bought all that stuff a couple of years before we moved here in 2000. I've even got a wall mounted turntable shelf that I got free when I negotiated on the price for all my kit when I bought it for cash, all those years ago, still in it's box and never opened .

A hidy hole for the Borrowers.

I cut all these up so it’s still DIY.

Did you do it with an axe, wearing a flannel shirt, with the sleeves rolled up, all glistening with <NO CARRIER>

We have decorated the space under our stairs. It was pretty grotty in there. It had a sturdy door, original to the early 50s house, so we’ve kept that (taken it off and stored it).



There was some ugly carpet and random bits of floor, so that’s had some ply put down and a vinyl floor put in by Russell. The walls weren’t good enough to just paint, sadly (though I didn’t tell Russell this until after he had painted them), so I put some new plaster on the worst affected areas and then sealed and wallpapered some of the walls and the sloped ceiling.

We’ve added a few decorations, home comforts, light and an Alexa.

I can’t even show my favourite bit as it has our address on, but it’s got a cute road sign which I LOVE.

A few more. It’s hard to take photos of due to the size and shape of the space (and even harder to hang wallpaper in, let me assume you).

Have I missed some news that you guys have got a dog?!

No, but we are bringing one home on Monday! She’s called Super Noodle.

Russell is a very naughty boy!

I love her.

I’ll pop some photos in the pets thread once she’s settled in. She’s arriving at whilst not an awkward time (right in the middle day between my birthday and Christmas) certainly not the most ‘empty’ days of the year, so we’re having a stripped back, laid back festive period this year where we can welcome her as calmly as we can with the circumstances we have. I’m glad we’ve got a little refuge space set out for her now, and then when she’s ready it’s there if she wants it, rather than us have to do the work down the line when she’s already here.

Amazing! <3

She’s looking adorable now. I look forward to meeting her.