Home DIY

Thats good to know! I am south east (of London) with no access to a car. Fuel LOGistic wise first port of call was Ocado for us.

Shit, that'll cost a fortune. My guy's a tree surgeon in Forest Hill - he bungs his felled trees to a farmer in Kent somewhere, who splits and seasons the wood. It's mostly a mix of hardwood, seasoned but not kiln dried, and costs I think 80 quid per one ton-ish bag. You'll want to build a covered log store outside....
http://www.ambertreecare.co.uk/logs-firewood-for-sale/
Oh and the guys who deliver are quite nice too, which was a contrast to the fucking utter idiotic cunts I bought logs off the first time who were basically pikey/tinker chancers.

Thats awesome! Will definitely get from them in that case. I have a mini-storage in backyard, not sure how dry they will stay there.

You clearly missed my LOG gag.

It was very good. Very good.

http://www.acornsashwindows.co.uk/

Not a recommendation, but they're a very local option if that's any use.

Thanks for this - asked them for a quote

Cheers @Timmy2wheels and @Brun

Probably too far but if downstairs come in too that will be 20 windows which could make it worth their while.

I've seen acorn windows around, will have to try and find someone who has used them.

Nicotine stained walls - sugar soap and emulsion or should I go for a shellac based primer?

I want it done right and not fuck up later but cost is a consideration and I'd prefer to work with water based paints if possible.

Edit - I think I've narrowed it down to Zinsser Cover Stain. Their website is a little confusing and suggests that Bullseye 123 and B-I-N would also do the job. Does anyone have experience with any of these paints?

Future cannabis farm?

Bit over looked no?! That's what lofts are for...

I like the idea of a bike track but I once had a speedway lesson and was absolutely rubbish. This weekend a pal is helping drill and set the 28 concrete posts and gravel boards because my shuttering is looking decidedly stressed with the weight. Then at last we can look at trees and turf.

A spade? As in, by hand?! You mad bro.

Had this problem on a job the other day. I used sugar soap and then it covered successfully with one coat of emulsion. It was only 1 years worth of smoking though. Zinsser Cover Stain is great and probably the best blocking primer but it's oil based and doesn't cover well so it would be a pain to cover entire walls. I use it to block water stains on ceilings which it does very well.

I would try sugar soap and a high solids emulsion Dulux Trade Super Matt or similar although nicotine can stain through any emulsion over time. I would probably line with a thin lining paper rather than paint the whole room with cover stain. You need to wash it with sugar soap whatever, you could wash it then sand it and wash it again.

Bullseye 123 would be the easiest to paint on, I usually use that as a primer on existing paint, it would probably block nicotine better than emulsion. You need to stir the pot the whole time as the solids fall to the bottom of the tin while you are painting.

Yeah to be fair it was about a third of the size of that, but still zero fun to do in constant freezing drizzle. Felt like I was in a gulag or something. Groundwork is not my favourite part.

I've just stripped the bannister in our flat of multiple coats of paint. The problem is there is a dark varnish underneath it all which is very dark and messy. I can sand off the flat sections using a mouse sander but the detail is pretty hard to get into.
Any ideas?

Stick several coats of paint on it.

Heat gun and a scraper?

Infrared paint stripper or chemical stripper or poultice. Infrared is my weapon of choice these days, you can get a cheapish one from eBay or a fancy one from speedheater. I wish I'd had one 20 years ago, very good tools. Use them with a contour scraping set, there's a UK version of the Hyde Contour Scraping Set available for £15.

You can get the job done with a contour scraping set on it's own. It's more time consuming obvs.

Cross post from the shed thread.
I want to scratch build a timber shed, not so big, maybe 3 x 2 metres.

Specifically I am wondering about how to complete the junction in the pic. How is the wall frame attached to the joists? Nailed through the sole plate? or does it require something more substantial?

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It's probably nailed or screwed through the sole plate normally. It would fail easily if it weren't for the other walls keeping it square. A mortice & tenon would probably be over the top! Coach bolts would be another option.

L brackets which are then plyed over, 8 x 12 would probably be sufficient, sorry 200mm x 300mm

Thanks thats great, I'll take a look.

Something like this?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/121961691544

Yes, can't vouch for the quality of those as I have the Speedheater Cobra which is considerably more money but the amount I use it it pays for itself and it covers a smaller area with a more powerful lamp which is useful to me. The paint just separates from the wood, you'll kick yourself that you didn't have it from the start of the job.

Just make sure it's varnish and not wood stain, could even be wood stain under varnish in which case you'll need to get the wood stain out somehow. There's lots of antique table top restoration videos to get tips on that from.

I'm going to repaint the balusters so as long as I can get the varnish off that'll do.

Not sure if serious or not...

Is that real? I was going to use a rope with knots in it.

FFS.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ELEPHAS-Portable-Digital-distance-Backlight/dp/B00RECP0JI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1461755391&sr=8-2&keywords=laser+distance