This website holds the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) and answers from the uk.d-i-y newsgroup
DIY questions should be posted on the uk.d-i-y newsgroup (see how). Please do not email questions to the FAQ maintainer.
This document is written with the help of, and approved by, the regular contributors to the uk.d-i-y newsgroup. Please read it before posting to the uk.d-i-y newsgroup. This document acts in lieu of a formal "charter" for the uk.d-i-y newsgroup. It explains what the group is for, gives guidelines on what is and what isn't considered acceptable practice in this newsgroup, and tells you where you can find answers to many DIY problems.
DIY stands for "Do It Yourself" - from putting up shelves to building a house - everything to do with maintaining, running, and improving your home. Doing the job yourself saves the expense of employing somebody else to do it, often gives better results (you have to live with them after all!), and can be both enjoyable to do and provide a great deal of satisfaction.
UK stands for United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), and is very relevant because so many aspects of DIY, such as practices, regulations, and where to get particular products, are country-specific. Questions are welcomed from elsewhere around the globe, of course, but the advice given may not be applicable to those areas.
Questions about motor vehicles are not in the scope of this group. You'll find appropriate forums in the uk.rec.cars.maintenance hierarchy.
The uk.telecom hierarchy is more appropriate for questions about phones.
The very popular uk.rec.gardening newsgroup discusses all matters to do with gardening in the UK. It overlaps with uk.d-i-y in matters such as hard landscaping and the construction of sheds, ponds and pools.
This newsgroup is unmoderated, and nobody "owns" it - anyone is free to post here. The FAQ maintainer has no privileges compared with anyone else. That is why it is everyone's responsibility to try to preserve order by attempting to follow basic netiquette guidelines and to adhere to the wishes expressed in this posting.
This democratic forum allows anyone who disagrees with the status quo to air their grievances, and if it seems that a majority of regulars agree, then changes can be implemented. The Google website archives all postings to many newsgroups including uk.d-i-y, unless their authors have specifically marked them otherwise. The archive can be searched by newsgroup (forum), author and/or subject and can thus reveal both the record of a contributor (i.e. whether or not they are a regular and whether or not they abide by the rules of the group), and allow previous discussions to be referenced. This gives the information in this document authority without it having to be ratified by a formal vote.
Go to the Contents Page, which is an index for articles on:
The FAQs are currently maintained by Phil Addison (editor@diyfaq.org.uk). You are strongly encouraged to send suggestions and new contributions to him by email (he might miss your words of wisdom if you just post them to the newsgroup). Note that the FAQs are not the work of just one person - your valuable contributions make it what it is!
Please do not expect the FAQ maintainer to answer to your questions!
If you have a question and can't find the answer in the FAQs (and, let's face it, if all the answers were here then there would be no need for the uk.d-i-y newsgroup!) check the Google archive by doing a "Advanced Groups Search" at the website. Fill in the boxes there, click "Google Search" and be prepared for somewhere between zero and n million articles to appear! If you want to widen your search beyond discussions on uk.d-i-y then delete uk.d-i-y from the Newsgroup box. Also, the date range searched can be narrowed by specifying dates in the "Return messages posted between" boxes.
If the answer is still eluding you then there's a good chance that someone with extensive knowledge will respond to a courteous question posted in the uk.d-i-y newsgroup. Since their reply will be made in the newsgroup their words of wisdom will be shared with a large audience and will therefore benefit more people.
There are several web-based newsgroup sites, some of which are geared towards searching the groups. Google is a popular one. To use it for posting go to /groups.google.com/groups?q=uk.d-i-y and click on "Post a new message to uk.d-i-y" .
But first...
Make sure your browser is set to send plain text, not an HTML (web-based) message. Non-text or binary images are forbidden and you will incur the wrath of the group if you post them.
Do not use any special effects; not even bold or coloured fonts. These will not come out on the posted message, and may even be illegible.
If you want to include an 'ASCII' diagram, use a fixed width font such as Courier, otherwise it will not come out right for other readers. It's a good idea to prefix such diagrams with a note to your reader to tell them to 'switch to a fixed width font', too.
You should aim to follow "netiquette" guidelines when posting to newsgroups. Some useful ones for this newsgroup can be found here. Best tip of all, lurk for a couple of weeks first, to get a feel for the culture of uk.d-i-y, the way it operates and individuals interact, and to ensure that your questions have not been asked umpteen times in the last few days before you dive in!
COMMERCIAL ADVERTISING IS FORBIDDEN ON UK.D-I-Y. This is an interactive forum, and the good "signal to noise ratio" of uk.d-i-y will be spoilt by those who selfishly exploit it. If you want to advertise, go to news:uk.adverts.. (etc) or start an appropriate newsgroup (see http://www.usenet.org.uk). If you do abuse this newsgroup with commercial adverts ("spamming"), be aware that uk.d-i-y has experts who have successfully had spammers disconnected from the net. You will also find that the response from its loyal and close-knit readership will be counterproductive: readers will actively avoid your products and no longer recommend them to others.
Company representatives (who are often valued experts) are welcome to suggest their products where a genuine question has been asked on the subject, but only if they answer the questions put, and should note that planted questions will be obvious. Company representatives may mention their products, services or websites in the signature of their replies to questions but signatures longer than four 75-character lines will be considered abuse. The Reference parts of the FAQs contain listings of companies useful to the DIYer, but these are only included on recommendations from regulars with no vested interests - you will not be listed if you spam uk.d-i-y.
Private individuals wishing to sell (or give away!) relevant items can use this group to advertise them, within reason, so long as they post a follow-up when what is for sale is no longer available.
To uk.d-i-y-ers: Please complain strongly to Internet Service Providers about advertising in this newsgroup if it transgresses the above guidelines: a small amount of effort on your part will help to keep the group usable: see the guidelines at http://digital.net/~gandalf/spamfaq.html. The more complaints ISPs receive, the more likely they are to act.
All parts of this FAQ are Copyright by the FAQ Maintainer, and are made available as a service to the Internet community. They may not be sold in any medium, including electronic, CD-ROM, or database, packaged with any commercial product, or published in print, without the explicit, written, permission of the FAQ Maintainer. The copyright of included material belongs to the original author and is reproduced here with the author's permission.
Although contributors to the uk.d-i-y newsgroup have an impressive depth of knowledge, they cannot be held liable for any consequences whatsoever of the information or advice they provide, either on the uk.d-i-y newsgroup or in the uk.d-i-y FAQs.
DIY can go wrong, with expensive or even dangerous consequences, and it therefore must be stressed that nothing should be attempted without applying common sense, and only if you are confident in your ability to carry out the job with safety (both your own and others') and successfully. You cannot expect answers to your questions to include a complete list of possible pitfalls, although people will very frequently remind you of some of them. Remember that the advice has been given to you in good faith for free, and neither its accuracy nor legality can be relied upon.
If you are unsure about anything then do please ask - it is much less embarrassing than blowing yourself up or having your house collapsing around your ears.
Finally, postings from company addresses (including this one!) are personal to the poster, and in no way represent the views of the company supplying the Internet connection.
Happy DIY-ing!
From the "regulars" of uk.d-i-y.