#DIYDay Finished clearing out the old conservatory, as we start demo on that tomorrow.

Just some last bits of rubbish to clear up, sweep the floor and do a run to the recycling centre once I've cleared out the last few bits in there.

Then it's just the blinds to take down and dispose of.

Moved all of the pots and plants from around the outside... just the large filled belfast sink plated with alpines to move and that requires a stronger pair of hands than my mums... So I'll ask the guy helping take down the conservatory to help move it.

Once down, the builder will comin in at the end of the month or start of April to break up the slab and do the new square, larger foundation and dwarf wall.

Then we can get the conservatory guys back to measure fully in preparation of the new one.

#DIYDay OK, so that's the shed modified and strengthened a little, Bolts fitted, hasp and staple fitted and padlock sourced.

It's by no means a 'secure' shed... it's made of wood and with a few kicks and a screw driver you could have the doors of in no time to gain access.

But it's dry inside and can store the big crates that have been stored in the unused conservatory for over 3yrs.

We spent so long trying to decide what to do about the conservatory and getting other jobs finished int he house.

At one point I was just going to tear it down, do a nice patio and a gazebo... But my mum lives with me and has always wanted a conservatory and she's 80yrs old and won't be moving again... and she's willing to pay half the cost. So I thought... fuck it, let's give her what she wants.

It means spending about £26k instead of the £10k it would cost to take it down, lay some nice paving and redo the whole garden... and it's literally using up the last of the money left over from the sale of both houses... plus some of my savings.

#DIYDay again

Fixing electrics and disconnecting others.

basically, the extractor in my new ensuite done last year wasn't turning on with the light... But could be activated by cycling the isolator switch quickly.

Figured either the controller on the inline extractor had failed, or there was a broken wire... maybe just a loose connection.

Was not expecting a faulty switch arcing to be the problem.

Whilst the switch was hanging of the wall, I noticed that if you moved the switch in certain directions whilst the power was on... the extractor came on, then off as you moved the wires about. We'd already checked the wires were secure and found no loose ones.

So after carefully pulling and moving the wires individually... we found the one that was the problem... Possibly a break inside the wire. hard to diagnose, even harder to fix as it means fishing new cable through into the loft.

So I had an idea... swap the isolator switch with one that we know works.

So we did just that... and the problem went away.

Diagnosis... the problem lay with the switch itself.

It wasn't some cheap switch either, but a British General Nexus black metal one... these are about 4x the price of your basic plain white plastic ones. Not expensive at around £15... but higher price would bring higher quality you'd think.

So I opened the switch up, know it would be destroyed in the process to see if the cause was obvious.

What I found was concerning... those scorch marks on 2 of the contacts should not be there after 8 months and the fault was intermittent for at least 3 months before getting worse.

I'm not an electrician... I don't know if this could have caused a fire.

But at least the solution is an easy fix... I've left the plain white one fitted in place and will get a new plain white one to go back on the other bathroom... For now the electrics for that switch are protected with wago connectors until I can get the new one.

As for the rest of the DIY, that was disconnecting the electrics into the conservatory... switches and sockets are now dead, some wiring removed. once the old conservatory is taken down (hopefully starting next weds or thurs), I'll cover the blanking sockets better to protect from any rain as it will be a couple of months before the new one is up.

#DIYDay The shed is basically done, a few trim pieces that need painting and fixing, the hasp and staple supplied won't work with the double doors... So I need to source a larger one.

Total cost including a load of extra materials to make it stronger is around £1000, that includes the £200 I gave a carpenter friend to do the stuff I'm not so good at.

#DIYDay comes to a halt as rain stops play.

The shed that was delivered... had a completely useless sub-frame. A few 2x1 lengths of wonky wood and a 15mm OSB floor... and they expected you to sit the frame of the shed on top of the floor and inadequate frame... without a proper drip edge.

So water running down the side of the shed will reach the bottom and be able to cross to the OSB which is not a pressure treated water resistant material.

They also expected you to put that directly on the gravel.

Nope... so I've got enough 3x2 C16 pressure treated timber to build a stronger sub-frame, the shed walls will be built on top of that and the floor fitted to the inside, not under the walls.

I'm also not happy with the quality of the roofing felt... It will do for now. But I might replace it in the summer with a rubberised one.

So sorting out all of that delayed the start today... and then it started chucking it down.

So we've stopped until the morning.

#DIYDay It's been a while since I did one of these. I was supposed to do the smallest bedroom in the new year... But I kinda went fuck it for now. I don't like trying to juggle multiple jobs... and the conservatory is the main job this spring.

But first... to clear out the conservatory... I need a medium sized shed to store everything.

So I ordered a 9ft x 5ft wooden shed.... It will likely need some reinforcing in places and I'm not a fan of using OSB in sheds (floor and roof in this one). So I think the subframe under the floor will be made from scratch using some 3x2 pressure treated timbers. It'll raise it further of the ground.

So as it was sunny today, and a friend is coming to help build it on Thurs and maybe Fri. I decided to give it a coat of green wood stain and preservative... It's already pressure treated and would be fine for a few years... But it's going in a corner and the rear and one side will be difficult to paint without lifting fence panels out and asking neighbours if they mind me popping through to reach it.

That's been drying out in the sun... I've got one of those fence sprayers, so it makes quick work of it... but you still have to go over it with a brush to even it out.

Tomorrow is supposed to be nice too, so everything will get a 2nd coat.

The horrible slabs have been well splattered with paint. But not bothered, once the conservatory is done, I was going to jet wash the paving and get some of the concrete paint to give it a fresh look... they're a mix of horrible red concrete pavers... and around the corner a few dark grey ones.

I want to get rid of them entirely and was thinking of putting a decorative concrete slab down with a winding path around some raised beds. But that's for next year... can't afford to do the garden this year... unless we get rid of the conservatory entirely rather than replace it with a larger modern one.

#DIYDay .... well... about 2hrs this afternoon.

Extended the shed base another 8 inches or so... where it's dirty.

The base I built was pretty much exactly 6ft by 9ft... which is the exact size of the shed coming in a few weeks.

But, you don't want it too close to the fence of you won't get enough airflow and that could cause issues with damp staying in the wood of both shed and fence.

So this will allow for about a 4 inch gap all around. Not enough to get back there to paint. I'll have to lift the fence panels out to do that.

Then I painted the four corner panels in the dark grey. The ones on the right in the pic are easier to paint as they were new 18 months ago, so it's staining fresh wood. The left ones though, were painted dark brown and had faded unevenly.. So even after 2 coats.. they still look uneven.

But if I redo them every year, by next year they'll look pretty even. Might even need to replace them, as they're the cheap crappy panels to begin with and probably close to 10yrs old already. The ones I replaced on the right are much better quality and I'd like to do them on the other side too match.

It's cold out there, I had joggers, a t-shirt and a thin jumper one... My back is twinging and I've probably given myself a bit of a chill... because you don't feel the cold as much whilst working... until you get to that point where you can suddenly feel it in your bones.

pain killers required, along with a very long rest.

#DIYDay In an effort to delay the exhaustion... I thought I'd shift a dozen or so buckets of gravel and finish the gravel grid base for the shed, which will be here in a few weeks.

It's almost exactly 9ft by 6ft, the same size as the shed.

I just need to paint the fence before it arrives, at least in the areas that will be covered by the shed.

I'm doing the fence in a dark grey, but the shed in a sage green, as the metal shed around the corner is that colour as is the gate. I would prefer a lighter grey but it'#s been done in that dark brown and I know how hard it is to cover that with a lighter colour.

Won't take long, I've got a paint sprayer for this kind of thing. I can do a 20m long fence twice in a couple of hours.

#DIYDay again, this time doing some prep work in the garden to build a new shed. We've needed a shed since buying the house, I've got a small 5ft by 5ft metal one around the side of the house. But I need a larger one so I can empty the conservatory, as that's getting ripped down and replaced in the spring... and for 3.5yrs, has been used as junk storage because it's dilapidated. It's an icebox in the winter and an oven from May-Sept... there's perhaps a few weeks in April and Oct where it's possible to sit out there without baking.

I lifted about 21 slabs, thankfully the hardcore base underneath was suitable for what I'm doing. So minimal ground work needed, just some raking over to make sure it's reasonably level.

Laid a weed membrane, Used a heavy duty one, and then doubled it over. This will allow water to drain whilst blocking growth.

I then bought some gravel grids. These are plastic and slot together, you then pour gravel over them and it binds everything together making a stable and durable surface. You can use them on drives for car parking too.

I had a load of white/grey/black stone chippings left over from digging out some beds... But it's only enough for about half of it. There's one more section of the edging that I can repurpose, and if that's not enough... a few bags in the back corner can be bought... pea gravel will suffice as it will be out of sight under the shed.

So, once that's done.... build a shed, custom size... because I can't get one to fit the space I've got, and I want it strong and sturdy not flimsy like you buy of the shelf.

That means using pressure treated timber and hardwood. I'll use some oak sleepers to sit between the gravel and the shed. Not full size sleepers, just 100mm thick will do, 3 of those should be enough for a good strong base, it'll take decades for them to show signs of rot... far longer than a wooden shed will last.

Then I plan on using 75x45 timber for the base and wall framing. A slightly sloping roof and either 18mm or 22mm tongue and grove cladding for the walls, floor and roof. Not bothering with windows, it's a shed. Will put a little bit of guttering on it and a water butt.

Might not build the shed for another month... it's winter. I do need it finished in time for the ground works to start in mid March... weather depending.

#DIYDay Continued to clear out the guest bedroom ready for decorating this afternoon. Got the cabinets stripped and moved... each one is 1.2m wide and 2.4m tall, and required the legs removing before I could get them through the doorway.

Tested the lights, only 2 strips working and they're half as bright as they should be. So I've ordered some new slim puck lights to go in each bay. Until they arrive, I won't be refitting all the shelves and filling them up again.

Only the printer and the cabinet it sits on to move... I think the rest of the stuff in that room is junk that can be taken to recycling.