Home DIY

@Diablo We are just south of Guildford so not expecting full London prices. Good question re the 3d model. I will chat with the architect to see what impact that has on the price if we remove it. Ecologist survey for bats and shit

@lynx the house is split level as it is built on a slight slope so the architect is advising that a measured survey will be important - especially for the work on the ground floor.

the emergence survey will be for the bats. the ecology survey is for the bugs and plants and shit.

those prices don't look too unreasonable to me.

@golgol Good luck with it all - planning the same work on my house in about 18 months. Any commentary/pearls of wisdom/rants on what's involved as you're going through it would be handy to read...

curtain tracks within a window frame/
Obvs we're after Kvartal from Ikea.

BUT HOW CAN I AVOID THE MASSIVE suspension thing?
http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/30079365/

you can't. you can either embed it in the ceiling, or hide it with a ...... pelmet

or a cornice

#swagsntails

#middlengland

sigh.

I want this
http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/80079363/

but screwed into the ceiling rather than using the wall brackets.

sigh.

I don't want that massive suspension thing. I just want the track bolted directly to the wall.
Flush like. Not protruding.

Still not sure what you want.

Do you want to:-
a) minimise the gap between the top of the rail and the ceiling?
b) minimise the gap between the back of the rail and the wall?
c) both a and b?

For (a) you could just use the wall mountings and mount them really high up the wall so the top of the mounting sits flush with the ceiling, but there would be a ~4mm gap and the rail would sit away from the wall a bit, plus you'd be able to see the brackets.

For (b) use the ceiling mounting things, but you obviously don't like them as that leaves a big gap above the rail.

For (c), looking at the profile of the rail you could get a few countersunk holes drilled through the middle channel from below and use these to screw it directly to the ceiling, no brackets required and rail can sit wherever you want it positioned.

As designed there's nothing that can do (c) without some form of modification as the rail has to be attached from above, so you either need space above to do this, or pre-attach something above leaving a gap and ending up mounting it on the wall with a bracket.

noo, this is what he wants ...

By wall you mean ceiling, right?

But yeah that's what I'm after. So the curtains will hang inside the frame rather than around it.

recommendations for people that repair/replace wooden kitchen worktops?

What's the damage that needs repairing?

By wall you mean ceiling, right?

Well that clears things up!

does anyone have recommendations of a roofer in North London?

There is one on this thread - edmunro I think

Any plasterers in Brighton?
We moved in Friday, spent Saturday ripping up carpets and picking fleas off ourselves, Sunday tearing down these bricks, we want this room plastered (chimney breast rendered and skimmed, other 3 walls just skimmed) by Christmas. It's 4m w, 5m l, 2.2m high. 3 doors, 1 window.
Rough idea of costs?

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Plastering is one of the dark arts.

^^took me weeks to put those bricks up as well, and now they're gone.. ; (

Well we've booked one now so suck it.

What was your quote? My guess: £600?

Not bad.
280 for the main chimney breast wall.
80 per wall to skim the other 3 though there may be a mess above the front door that needs fixing as it sounds hollow to tap and looks a mouldy mess.

Sounds like a good deal to me.

He's also done an excellent job and is a really nice guy and full of good advice to boot (about what type of paint, how much to water down for first coat, how to be more efficient with polyfiller etc).

Ronnie, based in Brighton/Shoreham. If anyone needs his number send me a PM.

In other news....

Plaster, will we ever have clean floors again? Mrs CYOA and the cat (and me in fairness though I try to keep a no shoes in the bedroom policy which helps) have traipsed dust and chunks of rubble just about everywhere. We also had a session with an angle grinder digging out some brick to fit in a bit of wiring at the weekend which was astonishingly dusty (even rooms with shut doors are coated with powder).

Tips for cleaning? We're starting upstairs and finishing down. Any types of mop/brush/cloth (wood floors or tiles throughout)?

Wood floors. Rather than fork out for new boards we want to keep the original floorboards we found under the carpets. They're a bit wonky which we're OK with, however we will sand them down and treat them.

We've picked out all the tacks/staples etc but there are still some heavy duty nails with 1 or 2mm above the surface. Is this going to fuck the hired floor sander?

Am I really going to need to go inch by inch around 70 square meters of floor with a hammer and punch knocking them all in?