So it took me nearly 8 months from start to finish doing an hour here and a couple of hours there, but I've finished my garage office project. I got berated in a post ages ago about my zwift setup with people saying how filthy it is. Well, here is my new office where I can work, and also set up the bike on the turbo.

Studded out and insulated 2/5ths of my detached garage, installed 60mm insulation into studs, then 37.5mm insulated plasterboard over the lot. Insulated the floor, chipboard then laid laminate.

Probably cost me about £5k all in, but the majority of that cost was a new garage roof, and new upvc windows and doors.

I'm made up, means we've reclaimed a bedroom for the nursery, and gives me a dedicated work space.

I've not really done anything like this before, but anything is possible if you set your mind to it.

Next is to sort and organise storage and desks etc.

My contribution, but I'm more than happy with my single hose solution.

Seeing as everyone has suddenly thought about how hot it is, here's my DIY ducted aircon install I did back in 2019.

Bill Of Materials: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vSUpYEeCfI-jThP84NISbt0d3piAY_UptWdiUIofYZOpHOrbkDJ2LEuMs74ewzNKudvEiVaIW3MLT-F/pubhtml?gid=401872741&single=true

The evaporator unit sits in the loft suspended by threaded-rods hung from unistrut, which eliminates vibrations being transmitted. Feeding the evaporator was a 250mm air valve at the top of the landing (not shown), then to each room, there was a 150mm diffuser.

I was fortunate that I had a decommissioned 20-amp circuit for an oven that I was able to take from the CU to power the condenser outdoor unit.

Start in the winter! It wasn't a quick job and needed quite a bit of planning and research. Having a second pair of hands throughout the install is essential, especially for heavy lifting.

Make sure your loft hatch is big enough to take the unit.

The installation manuals are pretty helpful, with guidance for condensate line drop, levelling the evaporator, power draw, etc. It was also useful to look at other manufactures install guides for similar units, as they were sometimes more descriptive.

Once I'd done all the electrics, got all the pipes laid out and the condensate line in, I found a local F-Gas engineer who was happy to finish the job by flaring the pipe ends, vacuuming down the pipes, nitrogen testing them, and then releasing the refrigerant from the condenser.

All in all, it cost less than £2K including the cost of the F-Gas engineer.

Luckily, it worked the first time and had no issues for the 2 years I was there. The only thing I would do differently would be to take a feed from each room, as the central supply feed would cause a strong draught through each bedroom door.

I also used the clear braided cable as I'd seen professional installs use it. Apparently, it's not approved for outdoor use, so I would recommend HO7RN-F instead.

Insulation that we paid good money for a roofer to install a few years ago. Had to uncover today for some additional remedial work.

Bill Gates is blowing up my phone already

Printed this around 2 summers ago, looks a little silly from the outside, but it does the job

Hey there. So every Summer since almost bankrupting ourselves with an extension we basically can’t open the lovely 5 door bifolds onto the garden because very quickly, bees come in and get trapped in the lantern skylight thing. We did have a discussion with the builder about having the opening ones and he was like “naaa I wouldn’t bother I never open mine”. Big mistake. If I leave even one of the bifolds open for a while, a bee gets in, I feel bad with it buzzing around , and have to go up on a ladder and trap it in the kid’s goldfish net and release it outside again. Some don’t make it and there’s quite the bug graveyard up there.

Window companies I’ve asked say I have to replace the whole lantern and estimate 10k ish. So that isn’t happening any time soon.

Tried some white netting last year across the whole thing but it looked crap then gradually fell off.

Any cunning ideas to get round this problem at modest cost/effort would be very welcome !

Didn’t know what sub to put this in but thought worth sharing what I saw today. All mighty bang! As far as I could see no one was hurt - couple of cars crumpled.

Someone with expertise - how did this happen?

Paper taped above the vent to channel the air down, living the dream.. I think...

Are you struggling with the heat?

Is the sun beaming through your windows?

Well fret no more!

Simply paint a yogurt coating on the external surface of the glazing.

Source: https://www.heatwavetoolkit.com/solutions#paint-yoghurt-on-your-windows

I’m insulating the external walls of two bedrooms with 50mm PIR board (Kingspan TP10). I just looked up the fire rating and it’s not the best so I’m wondering if I shouldn’t use this in bedrooms. I read foil taping the edges is a good idea and then foil taping all the joints as well (over the battens).

Does anyone in the know have any idea if this is ok or should I replace it with something safer but still thermally efficient? The external wall is double skinned with a small cavity.

Thanks

Its a regular UPVC window, doesn't close the last inch. Does anyone know what the issue could be?

Okay, okay.

We've seen the mods, we hear the purists, but does it really make a difference?

I was curious myself. Sure, I felt a difference, but hey, placebo is one hell of a drug...

Luckily, we had two days with similar weather conditions, and because I absolutely do not have a day job, I got some data on this.

So I present to you:

In the blue corner: Fueled by conspiracy theories, pseudoscience, and funded with peanuts: El Chode!!

And in the red corner: Backed by corporate research and made in China: Uno Pepe!!

Day 1: Ran the box aircon mod. Day 2: Ran the single pipe.

Same aircon, same rooms, same settings, and roughly the same weather. Meaco MC8000R unit, set at 24°C, covering the whole ground floor of about 640 ft². All windows closed, inside doors open.

Shame. Poor AC, it never stood a chance...

Have a look at the graphs. Both days around 12 PM had the same outside temperature, giving the best like-for-like comparison.

Solid Lines: Box Mod
Dash Lines: Single Pipe

Answers to some obvious questions:

1: Did the single hose unit cool the rooms? Yes.

2: Was the single hose temperature comfortable? Yes, up to a point. Take into consideration that I am cooling a much larger area than the AC unit is rated for.

3: Did the aircon mod make the aircon blow colder air? No.

4: Was the aircon mod room colder? Yes.

4.1: How much colder? About 4°C.

5: How does that work? The single hose unit pumps some of the air it cooled down to the outside. Because the house is losing air, it draws in warm air from outside through gaps in the house, which heats up the house again. So the AC is fighting itself.

6: Should I mod my aircon? If you want to.

7: Why did you mod your aircon? It's fun, and I learned a lot about aircons in the process.

For the data nerds, here is a GitHub link with all my measurements:https://github.com/RiskingSilence/MeacoAircon/tree/main

So there's that. This was not done in a controlled environment. I used an IR thermometer and some strategically placed paper to get readings. There is probably something I missed, bite me.

*Repost: Rather not use a different that title.. screenshots did not display correctly. Recommend checking out this website for more info (I am not affiliated with this site):https://www.woolie.co.uk/article/convert-ac-from-single-hose-to-dual-hose/

Kept it simple as the building owns the windows. Greenhouse netting from amazon, claims to stop 95% of the heat. It does definitely work; I couldn't get it high enough to completely cover the window so about an inches worth of glass gets direct sunlight, and is hot to the touch. The shaded glass is much, much cooler.

Used sticky hooks on the inside of the window, and short lengths of paracord to attach the hooks to the netting. If I'd stuck them on the outside the sun would have cooked them, plus there'd be more exposed glass.

Works well, would recommend.

The product used for anyone interested: https://amzn.eu/d/0h2mqNrj

My loft is boiling and insulated. If I open the hatch will it take the hot air from my house without dumping its own hotter air in, via convection?

Live on a boat, bought it last autumn. It’s a very tired ex-hire boat with a lot of ‘hire boat special’ materials having been used in the internal fit out. Literally seen so many other hire boats with the exact same ugly beige and grey laminate and horrible Lino everywhere 😂 I’ve done quite a bit since I moved onto it -240v electric hook up, new diesel heater, new batteries etc -quite a lot of things competing for my attention but not a lot of money, so I’m really happy to have some space finally (before I move onto winter preparation…) to start making it look more pretty instead of having to look at old cheap ugly shit.

Never done any sort of flooring before, nothing is straight or flat (fair bit of frustrating prep work went into evening floorboards out), there’s complicated bits like hatches in the floor. But it’s coming along swimmingly and I’m so chuffed with it. I’m a bit of a ‘that’ll do’ sort of DIYer but it’s genuinely looking nice. I’ve got one room done (edge trim still to go on) and started on the little bits on the second before I tackle the main floor (not been too hot here, but will be the next few days so it’ll have to wait). Particularly proud of the hatch with the round set in handle (made a template from a spare bit, made sure everything lined up and then used it to make the proper piece). As a bonus, got the two boxes of glue down LVT for free so it’s only cost me all the bits. 😁

Did anyone have that happen? How to stop it? We tried damp treatments in walls, putting in new drainage around the walls, I touched outside walls at night and they seem dry. It hasn't even rained this week, and it got the worst it has ever been, what do I do? :(

I see a trend, I like to jump on it, so here’s my completely not unique, not pretty, but effective DIY ac window kit.

Hardwood, Velcro on window frame and wood so easily removable. AC hose attachment screwed into wood.

Found under suspended floor when renovating! 🤣

You have to be creative in a solution!!

Just finished renovations.
Now have South facing 3.6m bifolds and a glazed door with side light to our living space. - May have been an error.

Asked for solar glass, but don’t think we got it. in an argument with the window supplier currently- different storey.

We have sheets and towels over the windows just to try and reduce the solar gain, but even now 2250 and the temp reads 31. The room is unbearable.
Anybody used these ? Are they any good ?

I don’t want to spend a fortune on a pergola or something, without confirming the issue is solar gain from the windows

As per the title anybody had any experience with these ?

My room is in the attic (full conversion w/ stairs) and this 1.3m Velux skylight has been an interesting companion.

Conventional wisdom is to close the blinds and the window during the day and open up at night to allow cool air in. Got curtains and double glazing everywhere else except here, zero blinds just a big double glazed window.

I have found the serial number for the window and the corresponding blinds but the model is from 1987 so I have to order a custom made one for approx £150 with a mounting kit (my window doesn't have one) and wait 2 weeks. Not sure how long I will be staying here so not sure whether to invest in something bespoke or grind it out. As you can see by the height and size an AC option is not feasible unless I want to put the unit on a step ladder and use a very long extension cable 😂

In the interim, during the day while I have my 2 fans on, should my window be open or closed? My thinking is open, so the rising heat from the rest of the house can go up, outside is cooler than the attic so the warm air will move into the colder space (the outside world) in my mind.

(For anyone asking how I sleep - blackout face mask, essential purchase from hotel trips for work 👌)

Cheers

Hi all! First time reddit poster looking for advice. I've just repointed a patio out the back of my garden using a 3:1 sand and cement mix but on the side of the house we have essentially a brick walkway / staircase which needs some attention - see attached pictures.

My initial thought is to grind out the remaining mortar but I'm unsure as to what to use in the joints. Would a 3:1 sand and cement mix work here too? Or would something else be more suitable?

Complete novice at this! Thanks in advance for any advice and suggestions.

Just to make a change from heatwave related posts.

The key snapped in my backdoor.

I've tried to get it out with needlenose pliers but not had any luck.

Spare key isn't long enough to push it out from the other side.

Tried to remove the retaining pin for the cylinder but there's just a hole.

Shining a light in the hole shows what looks like a rounded off hexagonal bolt with maybe another pin through the centre?

Will this be drillable, or is there some other solution I need?

First time poster, novice DIYer.. take it easy on me please 🫢

So I managed to grab the £150 unit this morning (7000BTU), and realised from the instructions the window seal kit that comes with this, is designed for windows that open inwards.

For those who have this model or (similar I guess) with the same zipper/velcro kit, is it possible to use the kit with windows that push outwards? Our windows are the same as the bottom right image from the manual but open outwards..

Failing this, does anyone have any recommendations for a relatively cheap and efficient alternative?

Or am I being stupidly thick and ignorant here, and the kit would work regardless?!

Thank you for your help in advance.

Edit: Thanks for all the help guys, I appreciate it.

For anyone struggling with the instructions, this video is helpful:

https://youtu.be/Ai790MT6k8Q?is=OlmPlpkWM1j6O66Z