The Home Improvements Thread (2)

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I grew up in a house built in 1899. We had ceramic fuses in the DB, mounted on the front stoep outside just by the front door. All of us as kids learnt which size fuse wire went in which fuse block, and how to unscrew and screw in a new piece of wire when it blew.
As I recall, it looked almost exactly like this:

electricity-meter-in-box-with-old-style-fuses-circa-1962-in-new-zealand-A83PKR.jpg
 
Grouter said:
I grew up in a house built in 1899. We had ceramic fuses in the DB, mounted on the front stoep outside just by the front door. All of us as kids learnt which size fuse wire went in which fuse block, and how to unscrew and screw in a new piece of wire when it blew.
As I recall, it looked almost exactly like this:

View attachment 1037832
Click to expand...
Up until maybe 5 years ago my father in law had the same - over the years though he just took random pieces of wire and wired it in - thicker wires as he made random connections and additions. Was a fire hazard waiting to happen

Then when we replaced it with modern breakers things would trip initially due to overload - he wasn't too impressed, complained about this new technology that isn't as good as the old...

lol... bless him
 
Yep. My Dad turned 90 the other day. He still fiddles about with crystal radios.
 
Jeez - this really isn't a winnable solution with the flooring.

Most quotes for conrete/screeding are well over R1000pm2. Officially calling it quits, contacted about ten companies, only three have returned a call, or sent a quote.

Back to vinyl - getting quotes for UV film for two sliding doors and one stack away door, contacted six companies, only two have sent quotes, R5000 - R6500. Almost as much as the floors.

Going to look at tiles next week, see if we can find something similiar to what we have.
 
Hopefully I’ll find the picture... but a few years ago a client called me to check out a house she was interested in purchasing. Was a fixer upper and she needed a ballpark for renovations should she purchase.
As we walked in the first thing I noticed was the board... this thing had service cards dated 1905!! Still fully operational and running the house. Everything in that house was old but very well looked after by the old lady who eventually passed. Each room only had one plug point. Very old school. I told her that the board itself should not be removed as it added character and went very well with the wooden floors and doors
 
xrapidx said:
Jeez - this really isn't a winnable solution with the flooring.

Most quotes for conrete/screeding are well over R1000pm2. Officially calling it quits, contacted about ten companies, only three have returned a call, or sent a quote.

Back to vinyl - getting quotes for UV film for two sliding doors and one stack away door, contacted six companies, only two have sent quotes, R5000 - R6500. Almost as much as the floors.

Going to look at tiles next week, see if we can find something similiar to what we have.
Click to expand...
The proper film does cost quite a bit and doors are quite big. Pricing sounds about right. There’s a company that has “Solar” in their name. Not sure about their pricing but when I saw their workmanship it was quite good.
 
xrapidx said:
Jeez - this really isn't a winnable solution with the flooring.

Most quotes for conrete/screeding are well over R1000pm2. Officially calling it quits, contacted about ten companies, only three have returned a call, or sent a quote.

Back to vinyl - getting quotes for UV film for two sliding doors and one stack away door, contacted six companies, only two have sent quotes, R5000 - R6500. Almost as much as the floors.

Going to look at tiles next week, see if we can find something similiar to what we have.
Click to expand...

Why don't you try some of the guys on Facebook, never used them but their prices is a lot lower and you can't really mess it up and the photos don't look bad.
 
Grouter said:
I grew up in a house built in 1899. We had ceramic fuses in the DB, mounted on the front stoep outside just by the front door. All of us as kids learnt which size fuse wire went in which fuse block, and how to unscrew and screw in a new piece of wire when it blew.
As I recall, it looked almost exactly like this:

View attachment 1037832
Click to expand...

I think you might have had a MEM rewireable fuse board from Britain, they look similar to the pic. One still see an alarming amount of them on the Youtube channels of electricians.
 
krieg said:
I think you might have had a MEM rewireable fuse board from Britain, they look similar to the pic. One still see an alarming amount of them on the Youtube channels of electricians.
Click to expand...
The house was retro-fitted with electricity sometime in the '60's. All the (metal) conduits were on the walls, light switches mounted on door architraves, and single plug sockets screwed to the skirting boards.
The house was piped for town gas, with a gas light on one wall in every room.
This was in Sydney, Australia BTW.

house.jpg
 
Grouter said:
The house was retro-fitted with electricity sometime in the '60's. All the (metal) conduits were on the walls, light switches mounted on door architraves, and single plug sockets screwed to the skirting boards.
The house was piped for town gas, with a gas light on one wall in every room.
This was in Sydney, Australia BTW.

View attachment 1037868
Click to expand...
This pic makes me think of a video I watched Ausie house construction from the 50's and all the houses were built from corrugated iron. Love the window.
 
xrapidx said:
Jeez - this really isn't a winnable solution with the flooring.

Most quotes for conrete/screeding are well over R1000pm2. Officially calling it quits, contacted about ten companies, only three have returned a call, or sent a quote.

Back to vinyl - getting quotes for UV film for two sliding doors and one stack away door, contacted six companies, only two have sent quotes, R5000 - R6500. Almost as much as the floors.

Going to look at tiles next week, see if we can find something similiar to what we have.
Click to expand...
There's a lot to be said for tiles - may not be super exciting but it will be very practical and cheapest of the options...
 
RandomGeek said:
There's a lot to be said for tiles - may not be super exciting but it will be very practical and cheapest of the options...
Click to expand...
Yeah, easier to fix as well if you keep a couple of boxes spare. Chopping out a single broken tile to replace is easy, not so much with laminate/vinyl planks.
 
RandomGeek said:
There's a lot to be said for tiles - may not be super exciting but it will be very practical and cheapest of the options...
Click to expand...
Yeh, I just didn't want to have to keep another box of tiles... We already have seven or so different styles.
 
xrapidx said:
Yeh, I just didn't want to have to keep another box of tiles... We already have seven or so different styles.
Click to expand...
Spare/offcuts paint, roof tiles and floor tiles... three things that take up precious garage space that you may never use but can't throw away.
 
Just got a quote for more than the vinyl for doing the windows... kinda shocking. I replaced most of the glass on the other side of the house with safety/secure glass for cheaper than this film.

SAguy said:
Spare/offcuts paint, roof tiles and floor tiles... three things that take up precious garage space that you may never use but can't throw away.
Click to expand...
Yeh, and we have some 1.2m and 800mm tiles.... so not great trying to keep. Probably all chipped by now.
 
I tiled my shower in 1997.
I kept 5 spare leftover tiles in my shed for 23 years.
I tossed them out last year in a "lockdown cleanup" of my shed thinking "Well, if I haven't used them by now..."
I had to replace the shower hot tap body last month - which necessitated breaking out the tile around it...
Swearing was heard....
 
xrapidx said:
Yeh, I just didn't want to have to keep another box of tiles... We already have seven or so different styles.
Click to expand...
You know how it works. You keep it and you never need it again. You chuck it away...and you need it again tomorrow and find out it has been discontinued. Murphy :laugh:
 
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