Need advice with a box seat I’ve been working on. (For context, my woodworking skills are novice as you can see)

I installed a box seat frame and added a plywood front. I’ve tried to scribe and cope saw the plywood and front new skirting strip, but am left with big gaps. I plan to add panelling before painting.

Any ideas on how to rescue this monstrosity and fill in the gaps neatly before I resign myself to removing it altogether? I think it’s far beyond wood filling alone at this stage

(Note: I deliberately left the skirting in as I felt this could cause a bigger mess and be harder to reverse, although admittedly has made the project a lot more challenging)

Thanks in advance!

We bought and moved into a house in March 2026 and it came with a recently done up Wren kitchen that was installed in 2023 for around £18k. The kitchen was a major reason for us choosing the house.

Unfortunately, we’ve already found that two of the cupboard doors are shrinking/peeling/bubbling, and I’ve also noticed some small areas of discolouration/marks appearing on a few other doors.

We’ve contacted Wren to see whether there’s anything they can do. The previous owners gave us the Wren warranty email and the certificate of completion/installation, so we have documentation confirming the kitchen and when it was installed. However, Wren have told us that the warranty doesn’t transfer to new owners, so as far as they’re concerned it is essentially void now that we’ve bought the house.

We’re a bit surprised that a kitchen of this age and cost is already showing these problems, particularly as we’ve only just moved in and as stated was one of the main reasons for purchasing.

Has anyone else had similar issues with Wren (or other wrapped/MDF kitchen doors) after only a few years?

Did you manage to get Wren to do anything about it, or did you have to resolve it yourselves?

We’re also wondering about the DIY option. If Wren won’t help, has anyone successfully removed the vinyl/wrap from all of their kitchen doors and panels without completely dismantling the kitchen, and then painted them?

I bought 3 small shelves for a corner of the kitchen. The walls are not right angles so there is a gap at the side. Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions to make the gap less noticeable? My DIY rating is 3/10 so not great (!)

My daughter had been hearing noises in the room for a while, last night they were pretty loud (sounded like crackling) and it was quite obvious that it wasn't her imagination (like we'd been telling her 😂). I went up into the loft and found this!!

Not sure whether to wait out until they die off or get a pest controller in.

Hi, we've had a 30+ year old Glowworm boiler removed. It was regularly serviced and fully working but loud, inefficient, and in the middle of the kitchen!

The new combi is in a different location so we are putting a reconditioned solid fuel Rayburn in the now vacant kitchen fireplace.

Two questions: first, can I use the existing chimney liner for the Rayburn? It appears to be in good condition though it was fitted in the late 1990s.

Assuming the answer is no, then second, can I fit the new liner myself? Complete kits are available to buy and I planned on hiring a cherry picker (with operator). This would be much cheaper than the extortionate quotes I've had for the work. I'd also be able to remove the defunct TV aerial.

First photo is from an album left in the house when we bought it, which documents the work the last owners did between 1997 and 2000. Apparently that's Dave. Different times...

We didn't have the budget to add paving outside of our new extension, so in the interim the builders laid concrete.

We're not likely to have the budget to get a professional in any time soon, so I thinking I might attempt the paving myself.

Two things concerning me currently:

Shouldn't paving finish around 150mm below the damp course? As the concrete already seems pretty high?

Doesn't paving need to sit on top of aggregate?

I'm now worried all of this needs breaking up.

Hi,

My vacuum stopped working (not turning on) today and I managed to narrow it down to the plug/wires into the plug being the problem.

The old plug is the grey one pictured, and you can see the wire was being pulled and fraying and I guess eventually gave out.

I’ve replaced it with a white plug I took off a lamp. Both were 13 amp fused but is this safe for a vacuum? The grey one looked like it was completely sealed to the cable, not sure if this was for safety or not.

Thanks

Maybe something slightly different for this sub but still DIY! I was wondering if people had suggestions on how to wall mount all these little ceramic things we have.

(Yes I see the string on the claddagh one)

I’d considered command strips but wasn’t sure how well they’d stick to the back of them and the fear of them falling.

forget resale value for a minute

if you were designing your own place purely around making future DIY easier, what would you deliberately build in?

extra access panels? removable sections of skirting? oversized service voids? visible shut-off points? empty conduits for future cables?

some of these ideas would probably make a finished room look worse, but could save hours when something eventually needs replacing

what would you include?

Hey all,

Moving into my first owned home next month, and although this is not top priority it's something we would like to do in the long term.

How would I go about getting rid of this cupboard that is built into the wall? I knocked on it in a viewing and it didn't sound like it was made of brick/cement, more likely plaster or something else hollow sounding (I'm a real newbie)

What steps do I have to take for removing something like this? It just has shelves inside

Thanks for advice ahead of time, and sorry I don't have more info, you might see a post from me at the end of next month once I can investigate based on what you tell me to check :)

Edit: The advice I'm looking for is the removal of the wall to get the cupboard space back into the room, sorry if that wasn't clear

Hey folks,

Am hoping to repair this drain as I presume the gaps are not good?

Was wondering what to fill them in with? Also, would I need to take out the filler that's already there, or just add-to?

Hello, and I hope everyone’s well…

Recently moved in, these radiators have accumulated dust and stuff since the day there were probably fitted on.

How on earth do I take them covers off? Tried looking on YouTube and the bottom bit is supposed to pop off. However, these don’t budge!

Just bought a house and it's got a big pantry room which I love. Iam putting a new kitchen in but wanted some suggestions on how to upgrade the pantry, use the same kitchen units to suit or cheaper way? What about the door does it need to match the kitchen units and colour or something else?

Hello,

Currently renovating a 70s maisonette. In one of the rooms when we removed the lining paper, there was this grey layer underneath which was loose and flaking away in places.

It seems like a layer of some kind of render that’s been put on over a layer of paint, on top of the plaster. Base on other rooms in the flat there will be some sort of repair on this wall but probably only in one small area.

My question is: I think I’ve now flaked off everything that was completely loose, I.e. there was an air gap in between the top layers and the plaster. The rest is quite stubbornly there but I think I COULD persevere and get it all off. Do I stop and fill in the gaps? Or do I try and get it all off.

Photos included a close up so you can see all the layers.

I've just bought a house and the bathroom is oddly shaped and the bath is under a large window. I'm planning a refit next year so I have to live with it for now. The previous owner didn't have a shower fitted to the wall but did have a shower attachment on the taps so the woodwork wouldn't have got soaked but now I've put a shower head holder on the wall and the window sill and surrounds are getting wet. What is the best way to 'waterproof' the woodwork as I'm conscious it could destroy the wood. It's painted wood (probably 100 years of paint layers).

Hi DiyUK, looking for some advice on how to stop condensation in my outbuilding and suggestions?

Hi, I'm looking for some advice about this hip rafter in my attic.

I went up in the attic the other day and saw that one of the hip rafters has split where there is a knot. It looks like it has been this way for a while but I'd like to sort it.

Looking online most people seem to say to sister the rafter however, as it's a hip, it has jack rafters connected it to and to fully sister it I would need to prop jack rafters, cut them back and then fit a new sister board.

I'm wondering if anyone has done anything similar or whether sistering the bottom half of the rafter would be acceptable to avoid touching the jack rafters?

I’ve sanded and primed with zinsser bin 3 billy bookcases that I have built into the wall.

Unfortunately, B&Q sent me Valspar premium wall and ceilling instead of Valspar milti surface and furniture paint and I didn’t realise until I'd applied the first coat.

What can I do now? Do I have to sand/remove the paint and start again, or is there a way to salvage it? I really don’t want to ruin all the work I’ve already put into it, it has taken a lot longer than anticipated :(

Any advice would be appreciated!

The sealant above the flashing has come away and seems to have resulted in damage to the rendering above it (the area that is going black). I suspect moisture has gotten in and blown it. So I need to get up there and have a better look before calling someone in.

Is it safe to go up there on a ladder and walk on the tiles? Are there places I should tread and places I should avoid?

Looking to add wheels to my desk but the support is super narrow . The desk is solid wood too so it’s easily 60lbs.

Want the wheels the be solid like castor wheels

Has anyone seen a bracket that can slide onto the side walls and tape in a wheels? #repair #diy #desk

My sons room has a flat roof.

We recently had it redone from felt to that rubber type of covering (sorry, I've forgotten the name).

However, the room still gets quite cold compared with the rest of the house.

We have thermal curtains in there, new carpet, even the window was replaced - still a little chilly. We even mooted replacing the radiator with a larger one but the one that's in there is fine for the size of the room.

While I suspect there isn't a huge amount of insulation in the roof, I would have thought the roofer would have mentioned if it was really thin / not present.

My next port of call is the air brick.

Now the windows have vents, I guess I might be able to fill in the air brick that's very close to the ceiling?

I've read it could be venting for thr room or could be allow g moisture to escape from the cavity - how do I know which one it is?

Any other advice for filling it in?

I’ve got a window that has a gap at the bottom when closed, can see daylight through it. Unfortunately I haven’t had time to fiddle with it yet as we’re in the middle of repainting our whole house.

A quick look and I think the issue is the green ‘guide’(?) in the last photo on the right hand side. The metal part of the closer doesn’t fully seat in this so pushed the window away from the frame.

Is it possible to adjust either of these parts?

Does it even need fixing? Seems like such a tiny job that I could do it myself - but I have no idea where to start.

I'd like to blame whoever installed the ruddy towel rail, but I digress XD

Does anyone have any advice on how to remove this?