Home DIY

Zinser 123 is a good primer. I usually use an undercoat on top of that from the manufacturer of the paint. Zinser is very grabby which is why it's a good primer for any surface, but when you are painting on top of it it can dry the paint too quickly so when you touch over the paint to blend it the freshly applied paint becomes stringy and doesn't dry to an even eggshell. It's hard to see from your photo what's going on exactly but it could be that.

Certainly when you're painting flat surfaces you have to work very quickly and avoid going back over your work, difficult on shaker door panels like you have there.

I've seen kitchen painting projects in water based paints abandoned because of the issues. There is a great new paint base called porcelin which a Fulham decorators suppliers helped develop. It dries very slowly so that the surface can form like an oil based eggshell and it's very hard when dry so it doesn't wear like water based on shelves etc. Only downside is the re-coating time is 8-12 hours, and it costs £35 a litre or something like that.

Had another look at the photo and it looks a little overworked and overloaded with paint. It's easy to do with a dark colour. You need to get one halfway decent covering coat on there and then go for a perfect covering top coat, sometimes it takes three with a dark colour. It helps if you have the primer tinted to the top coat colour.

A pal of mine has, she bought it second hand from some house demolition, have a feeling it wasn't wildly expensive, she defo didn't fit it herself though... (i'll ask).

Any Electricians work in E3? I can't remember who does/is about atm. Need a couple of bits done (blank off double socket - may do this myself, and replace a grill element in an oven).
Cheeeeers.

I get the impression that it's probably beyond my ability level. I do remember my grandfather installing his own parquet flooring, but he was a real man, not a soft-hands graphic designer millennial like me.

a soft-hands graphic designer millennial like me.

Glad there are more like me

Time to buck the trend chaps and usher in a new era.
When civilisation collapses and the Ark is lifting anchor "we'll design the new world order a great modular identity system" isn't going to get us onboard.
I've dropped my pal a text @dan will update you...

There are none like you, you are unique ;)

Thanks so much @Airhead really appreciate you taking the time

Cheers buddy. Will look both those up. Will plaster over rather than blanking plate as the whole area is falling apart, I hear plaster = moisture = conductivity? Whats the fix?

@dan pal said she got it reclaimed from a house in Essex but it was a real pain due to having to clean the undersides and all that. She is yet to reply reg price but I think it was around the 2-4k mark. Maybe.

No we don't, we own the freehold as a group (the owners of the flats), and we then appoint a managing agent to take the piss and charge for it.

ftfy

connect the wires, place in moisture resistant 'box', then press into the back of the wall box.

cut a rectangle of ply and 'interference fit' it into the box, a few mm below wall face. skim over, sand back, skim over again, sand and feather, prime and paint.

roughening and soaking the ply helps with adhesion of plaster

AMAZING.
Thanks for that. Thats this weeks DIY project sorted.

Wago connectors are considered a good option, put them inside a Wago box. You need to have the cables secured at entry and exit of the box which the wago does.

Hope it helps, just knowing it's a harder job than it seems is enough sometimes.

thx bae

Forget my previous guess, she just text actual costs. £250 for 30 sqm and around 659 to fit by non parquet professionals which she says was a big mistake due to it already needing refilling.

I would rather do things like lay the parquet myself because of the (high) chance that if I paid someone the work would not be to the standard I expect, and that I had paid for that would annoy the fuck out of me every single day.

I can relate to this. We recently had to sack our decorators because although they did a decent job on the walls and ceilings, they were incompetent on the woodwork. Now that matters are in our hands again, we'll get the finish we want (and not have to pay through the nose). Only downside is the time it might take - but you know about that aspect. Arf.

I'm thinking of using a Belfast sink in the bathroom and have it mounted on a stand - @chrisbmx116 did you post a nice (photoshopped?) picture of something similar.

I was thinking of a welded steel frame and then some kind of wood worktop etc.

Also in the kitchen I was thinking of using the existing carcases and replacing the doors with Birch ply - How easy would these doors be to make or should I buy readymade ones.

N.B I can get wood for trade price from Lathams and have access to 50% off at TP and Wickes.

I like the sound of all these ideas.
Was thinking the same with my kitchen actually, slightly obsessed with birch ply atm.
Heres my "quick-dirty-mock.jpg" you mention.

1 Attachment

How big is that 'room' Chris?

The mock above? I'd guess 2m x 3m ish?
I think I need to get black taps.

It's nice. mrs cyoa approves too. Does this shit ever end? Am I going to be doing 'stuff' to this place and having no money for fun things for the rest of my life? @Dammit