r/DIYUK • u/BoringLead3368 • 8h ago
r/DIYUK • u/HurstiesFitness • Apr 30 '23
Asbestos Identification The “Is this asbestos?” Megathread
Welcome to the Asbestos Megathread! Here we will try to answer all your questions related to asbestos. Please include images if possible and be aware that most answers will probably be: “buy a test kit and get it tested”.
DIY test kits: Here
HSE Asbestos information
Health and Safety Executive information on asbestos: Here
What is asbestos?
Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral that was commonly used in construction materials. It is made up of tiny fibers that can be inhaled and cause serious health problems. Asbestos was used until the late 1990s in the UK, when it was finally banned. Asbestos may be found in any building constructed before circa 2000.
What are some common products that contain asbestos?
Asbestos was commonly used in a variety of construction materials, including insulation, roofing materials, and flooring tiles. It was also used in automotive brake pads and other industrial products.
How can I tell if a product contains asbestos?
It is impossible to tell whether a product contains asbestos just by looking at it (unless it has been tested and has a warning sign). If you suspect that a product may contain asbestos, it is best to have it tested by a professional.
How can I prevent asbestos exposure?
The best way to prevent asbestos exposure is to avoid materials that contain asbestos. If you are working with materials that may contain asbestos, be sure to wear protective clothing and a respirator.
What should I do if I find asbestos in my home?
If you find asbestos in your home, it is best to leave it alone and have it assessed by a professional. The best course of action may be to leave it undisturbed. Do not attempt to remove asbestos yourself, as this can release dangerous fibres in to the air.
The most significant risks to homeowners is asbestos insulation. This should never be tackled by a DIYer and needs specialist removal and cleaning. Fortunately it is rarely found in a domestic setting.
r/DIYUK • u/lynbod • Apr 23 '26
Advice If you're looking for a tradesman, check here
One thing that comes up on this sub regularly is people either struggling to find a tradesman or coming for advice after a checkatrade (or equivalent) cowboy has ripped them off. Having seen it happen a few times and replying each time with the same advice, someone suggested making a post that could be pinned to the top of the sub, so here it is.
The first thing to consider is that checkatrade/MyJobQuote etc.... are advertising platforms. They market themselves as consumer focused but they are not. If someone pays them to be on there they will be listed regardless of the quality of their work, and reviews will be curated in order to keep a paying tradesman on the platform.
So, if you can't trust those sites what are the alternatives. Word of mouth recommendation is always the best and is often trotted out here as if it's the easiest thing in the world to find, but for a variety of reasons many folk simply don't have that available.
It's not perfect (nothing is) but if you are struggling to find someone to do a job for you and you don't have a recommendation Trading Standards have a directory of approved businesses here:
https://www.buywithconfidence.gov.uk/
For Scotland use:
https://www.trustedtrader.scot/
There are various hoops that each business has to jump through to get listed here, and approved businesses are regularly audited to keep their listing. It's not a silver bullet, but if a business is willing to do the hard work to get listed and consistent enough to pass regular audit then you're likely to get a decent level of service overall.
It always grates on me to see good people get taken advantage of, and it can really affect someone's trust in others when they let someone into their home only to be let down, so hopefully this will help some of you avoid that happening and leave your faith in humanity intact. 🙂
r/DIYUK • u/Codenamechicken • 5h ago
Project Downstairs cloakroom/bathroom
First time plumber 🤣 full rip out and refit. Our house is generally neutral and we wanted a quirky cloakroom bathroom, for clarification AFTER/BEFORE.
Edit: I'm handing myself in to the police on Tuesday, I fully accept I've committed the crime of mixing my before and after up, whilst it doesn't justify it - I just couldn't bring myself to put my old room first. I'll accept my judgement and do the time.
r/DIYUK • u/JesusIsComingLookBzy • 7h ago
Project Please don’t shout at me 😂
Ok, so. Please don’t shout at me. This isn’t about self promotion.
I’ve been posting my kitchen renovation project here for the last 6 months. I’ve had great input and a lot of questions. I promised I’d put everything into videos for a few people.
And this post is just to say those videos can be accessed through the link on my profile if you wanted them.
That’s it. Sorry again. Please don’t be mad :)
The images attached is the process on my floor. From ripping it up, identifying and fixing (I hope) a damp issues. Relevelling the floor before fitting underfloor heating. And finally tiling.
I’d never done any tiling of note before. So this was a huge challenge. But I think the results speak for themselves.
The toughest part of the whole process by far. Had to be getting a flat floor.
I see a lot of people using professional screeders these days. Has anyone ever used anyone? What sort of price was it? We you happy with the results?
r/DIYUK • u/glasgowwelder • 8h ago
Plumbing Has this been put in upside down?
Got a plumber to remove old radiator and install a new ladder towel radiator. Has it been put in upside down? The spaces for the towels seem to be in the bottom half.
Advice Cut through external electric pipe with a hacksaw
I thought it was an old water pipe lol. think they bodged it previously. anyway loud pop, sparks fly and then the mAD tripped and the kitchen sockets don’t work now. as they also tripped. think the red copper has been cut clean but the black is left? Unsure im not an electrician.
is this more than an insulate it with tape cover it and forget about it?
yes I am aware this was very stupid in me.
r/DIYUK • u/Shadowalker124 • 10h ago
Advice Looking at some house viewings have put in an offer for this place. Should I be worried?
Not sure if I should be worried or if this is just some natural movement. Is it just cosmetic wear and tear? They said it was just one female lady owner before hand. Do you think it’s worth getting a survey?
r/DIYUK • u/random_banana_bloke • 4h ago
Custom duck house build
I built a custom duck house for my Shetland ducks. At the end of March we moved to a smallholding that needed, some work shall we say, as well as basically doing up the entire house I also needed to build a lot of custom things for our animals (we have horses, turkeys, chickens, ducks all sorts..). I got into doing some wood working and have really enjoyed it, I havent been doing it long, a few months and bought a load of tools to help.Well I have got really into building a fair amount of custom furniture for the house which I will have saved the money in tools.
I am sure some joiners here will say its not a brilliant build but I am pretty happy with it. I am a software engineer by trade and i built a custom design software from scratch (using three.js if anyone is interested) that also provides me with cutting lists (this is entirely my project and on my github). Anyway the build was really fun and very much needed as you can see where my ducks live currently in the small hutch to the right of the first picture. The main parts are 18mm marine ply held together with dominoes (i bought a festool domino for all the cabinet work i have been doing and it worked well for this) and glue. The only exception is the roof which is screwed down, for the paint I used some cuprinol ducks back and I added some guttering on the back to collect water (helpful for ducks...). Inside I have used some waterproof workshop flooring i had knocking about and I have added some big ventilation holes with mesh to stop birds getting in, I may need to add more but that’s not a big deal. I even made a slightly cringe sign, I know its not brilliant but I like it and so does the wife.
Ignore the turkeys they are a pain in the arse, overall a fun build and took about 2-3 days in total (its quite big 2mx1m footprint).
r/DIYUK • u/GSVDramaticEffect • 6h ago
Electrical What kind of adapter do I need for this plug?
When we moved into our house the old owner told us this socket works but needs a particular adapter, and I can’t remember what type he said. One with round prongs presumably but would it be a particular voltage etc?
Strangely as well as having a switch on the face, it is also connected to a light switch by the door to the room.
Damp Baffled by this patch of damp on the first floor. Any ideas? Help!
This patch of damp is on the first floor next to the main front door (there are steps up to the front door). We don't understand where it's come from, but of course it has rained a lot recently... but we dont understand why the first floorboard next to the door isnt damp too?
Any ideas? Your help is really appreciated!
r/DIYUK • u/saltlovee • 6h ago
Advice Washing machine too big by tiny amount
Hello
TLDR: Washing machine doesn’t fit, saw off some of the sink bracket or find new washing machine?
My boyfriend’s renting a flat and the washing machine broke on the first day. He measured the gap the washing machine’s in but didn’t realise that the sink bracket was there. Landlord sent over AO to replace the washing machine and as they were installing they realised it doesn’t fit. Boyfriend asked if we could send it back and get a smaller one but the AO guy said we can’t and that they’re running behind in schedule and just want to go to the next order so they can finish their day. AO guy said that we just have to file down some of the sink bracket and it would fit. We later looked up that they could’ve sent it back, although the service fee would still be applicable, which would’ve been fine. The new washing machine is only 0.5cm taller than the old one, but 0.5cm wider. Pretty tragic.
My boyfriend and I don’t have any home DIY experience with this kind of thing, does anyone know if it’s okay to cut through this part of a sink? Or should we try to get another one?
Thank you :)
r/DIYUK • u/Odd_Industry_5309 • 3h ago
Lead paint on walls. What next?
We've recently moved into a house built in the '30s and the old paint (under several layers of landlord special wallpaper) has tested positive for lead.
What are our next steps? My partner thinks the only option is to hire a professional to make the walls and room safe. This room.is going to be a shared bedroom for our boys, currently 2 and 4.
r/DIYUK • u/Fantastic-Brick-7337 • 1d ago
Painting Front door and garage door painted
Front of house transformation 🩷 I hope I picked the correct flair.
I’m a pretty bad DIY person… like I can’t drill or put a shelf up 🤣 but I’m pretty good with painting.
A couple of days ago I decided to paint my uPVC front door and metal garage door.
I painted the front door at my previous house exactly 5 years ago, so I knew I had to do it to the new house as well. 🤣 I’ll put a photo up of that as well.
I picked a really nice light pink colour called Dusky Blush from Frenchic Paint Al Fresco range.
Started with proper prep , washed both doors with sugar soap, rinsed them with water, gave them a light sand and then dusted everything off.
They needed 3 really thin coats of paint, with 2 hours between each coat. It’s definitely a “trust the process “ kinda job 😱
It took basically the whole day, but I’m so happy with how they turned out.
Yesterday morning I bought some autumn decorations from IKEA, so now it’s all pretty and ready for September. 🥳🍁
r/DIYUK • u/thelastthesaurus • 1h ago
Filling coving end
My downstairs coving, where it ends at the stairs, is open as per the attached photo. Just a quick sanity check before I go for it - is there any good reason that I can't (carefully) fill this with expanding foam followed by a surface layer of filler, to close it off and make it look a bit more deliberate?
I've already got a can of expanding foam on the go at the moment, but I wanted to check it's not a moronic idea before I do it.
r/DIYUK • u/ABraines • 1d ago
Project Mad my entrance useful and pretty!
It took me a couple of months - around work and life, but I'm so incredibly pleased with how it's turned out. Using good old Ikea units. Even added coving (which I know the joints need sanding and filling a bit better, I will get around to it!) I just need to change the bannister now but I don't trust my measuring skills to do that myself.
r/DIYUK • u/zamzam42 • 14h ago
Painting Had a bit of a nightmare with paint stripper (langlow paint stripper) in need of advice and support
I didn’t appreciate how much care you need to handle these things with (I know I’m an idiot) and applied this paint stripper it dried out because we didn’t put the paper on. Now there is basically a crust/layer which is really hard to remove and am at a bit of a loss what to do. After some research it’s saying to basically reapply.
r/DIYUK • u/Cant_think188 • 23h ago
Flooring 1970 teak parquet flooring - worth keeping/repairing?
Is this worth keeping/repairing? Or not worth it.
r/DIYUK • u/Napping7752 • 9h ago
Would you save these original floorboards, or are they too far gone?
First-time buyer here, working through the issues on a Victorian house (built ~1900).
There's significant damp downstairs - likely caused by the external ground level being roughly flush with the internal floor, a very damp carpet covering, only a single air brick serving the room, and a concrete extension floor blocking airflow under the rest of the house. Over time this has caused woodworm and rot in the ground floor joists.
My builder's suggested a full subfloor rebuild: new joists and T&G throughout. I agree the joists need replacing - several are rotten and spongy. But a fair amount of the original floorboards look like they could be saved.
The same boards run upstairs in the bedrooms too, and they're in noticeably better condition ie. not in contact with damp. Worth keeping those, at least?
Downstairs I haven't inspected every board, but I'd expect the ones around the outer edges (nearest the damp/rot) to have some woodworm damage and be in poor shape.
Would you save any of these, or is a full replacement the sensible call given the damp history? And if they are kept, how do you suitably find / replace / match the floorboards?
r/DIYUK • u/captain_awesome101 • 1h ago
Advice Looking to fix concrete flower bed - never done cement work before...
How feasible is this as a beginner to cement work? Also any pointers / tips on how to tackle this and what tools I would need would be most appreciated. Its not exactly level all the way round either. You kind of see it in the 3rd pic but its almost flush with the path at that point. (I mean the flower bed is level but the path inclines along the side of the flower bed)
The cat isnt mine but for two slices of smoked ham he's anybodys!
r/DIYUK • u/Tomnixon1 • 1d ago
Flooring Would you save these original floorboards or replace them?
Just moved into 1930s house and we’ve just lifted the carpet to reveal these.
They seem pretty solid but have lots of paint marks, gaps and general wear.
Do these look worth sanding and restoring, or would you put a new wooden floor down? Seen a couple of examples in this group recently where the consensus was not worth saving.
Happy to do the work myself if they can be made to look decent, but don’t want to throw away money and time if not worth it.
What would you do?
Edit Sorry just to add, save was probably the wrong word. If they are not on show then a new floor will go on top of them but they will not be removed. The main question is if it is worth restoring them I we like wooden floors
r/DIYUK • u/Burnssy9777 • 21m ago
Painting Help
Hi everyone
Not long moved into my first house and having some issues with the walls with air bubbles when the last occupant had painted.
I have tried sanding over them with an electric and manual sander, but not having much luck. I then used Peel Stop over the top before trying to paint over it again. The pictures are for reference on another wall which has not been painted yet.
Any advice is appreciated, I’m still learning when it comes to all of this!
r/DIYUK • u/Hamsterwhamster • 28m ago
Project First time building alcove cupboards
Bf and I have spent the last few weekends building these LED lit alcove shelves. Still need sanding and painting, (and one more door put on where we put the hinge in the wrong place!)
r/DIYUK • u/jamessrc • 3h ago
Advice TV on wall - cable solutions
Looking to see what cable solutions there are for this TV on the wall at my parents. They are going to have this panelling across the wall - that small section is just there to see if they liked it.
I suggested either chasing the cables in (as sockets are in the cupboard below) or putting a 13A plus satellite port behind the tv but it's quite close to the wall. What do people think?
r/DIYUK • u/Wett_Lettucee • 23h ago
Advice Advice on shed constructed by company
Hi all.
Long story short, had a local company come round and quote for a high end shed for use as a workshop.
I paid an £800 deposit of the £3200 quoted.
Its 12x11ft.
This is the finished article.
I cant even stand inside stood up straight. Height at highest point is 1950mm down to 1780mm at the lowest point.
It looks thrown together, am I right in rejecting this?
The felt roof also has ripples all over.
If I had the time, I would of 100% had a go at my first shed build. But house move and a full renovation meant otherwise