Home DIY

Nice job! I'll have to speak to the plasterers I have quotes from tomorrow, hopefully they can blend in old to new, it's only the rear-most windows and bell-cast that are really bad. No idea on the finish either, it's possibly tyrolean, which could prove problematic.

Shelving update. Went with battens because fuck it. Drilling holes into narrow planks of wood for floating shelf brackets seemed like asking for trouble. Going to paint them the same colour as the wall (the battens) and then either white like the rest of the woodwork in the room or stained like the floors - though we're both happy with them in their unadulterated state for now because effort.

Yes that is a cat on a lead.

Today was a kitchen day.

Completely gutted in one day which I was pretty pleased with. All the old tat was also loaded and taken to the tip which was a big win as far as I'm concerned. I was thinking it was going to take a few days hence starting today when the plumber/sparks etc aren't coming until Monday.

When they do they'll have some fun to sort out - abominably dodgy appliance wiring was hiding under the units. And some bizarre gas pipe work.

Also took some ceiling out to see what the deal was with joists and whether we needed some steel put in to support things after we knock through the pantry wall.

You have a problem that some of the house is at 90 degrees to the rest of it.

Destruction can be so satisfying. Instant gratification.

Burmese? Handsome looking beast.

We didn't realise until we'd moved in. It was a bit gutting but we figured with the market as it is we'd have to get used to lying on our side.

I got a floating shelf off freecycle. It's a few cm wider than one of our fireside niches so thinking about trimming the ends and fitting it right in. It'd be better with support at the ends, since it has one of those pronged supports at the back the obvious thing would be to slide it onto small battens at the sides, but I'm not totally convinced of my ability to cut tidy rebates in chipboard and not fuck it up. @CYOA that looks pretty good with them visible on the sides...

I'm pretty pleased with them - the battens look better painted grey (and even more so with books on).

We used spare floorboards to make the battens which are only half an inch thick. I was a bit worried they'd be too thin but the timber for the shelves is solid as a rock (some teak from my dad) and the combination of the super hard bricks they're drilled into along with these screws means it's not coming down in a hurry. They're also not too chunky looking for the size of the alcove.

The biggest problem I had was actually cutting the timber to fit the wonky walls. If you go close and look from above each shelf - there's between 1 and 4mm of gap between the wood and the wall. The walls warp in all directions all the way along so we were never going to get it slotted in perfectly.

I'm fairly tempted to put some filler in, then sand and paint over but depends how patient I'm feeling.

@hoefla chipboard will be a pain so if you can try and get hold of a pull saw like the one in the first photo - you'll get a much finer line than a normal saw if you're using hand tools. If you're using a circular saw or something then make sure it's got a very high tooth count on the blade. Ideally as sharp as possible (so a new blade really).

You could also try going a couple of mil over your target and sanding or planing down though sanding will be fiddly with chipboard if it's even remotely damp.

@Aroogah Burmese :)

That looks like the same horrible stuff my place is covered in. Where it's blown, it will come away from the brick quite easily with a thin stiff blade or screwdriver, but where it is still firmly bonded it becomes difficult without taking the surface of the brick with it. Not too much of a problem if your covering it again. It's been suggested to us that mechanically grinding or chemicals are the best options for full removal, I've tried peel-a-away which softens the paint and works quite well. An unpleasant job however it's done, whoever went round selling this product should be locked up in my opinion!

Cheers for the insight, sounds like it's definitely best left untouched where it's ok.

Sink and boiler hanging from ceiling, even odder.

I was thinking of just using a chisel... but actually the way easier thing to do would be to have the batten sit in the lower corner rather than in the middle, so then using a saw to notch the corner out might work and would leave more material above taking the load. Might try that. Are your battens hardwood then?

Also, those screws just look like regular screws... but if they work then great!

Today I built a porch over my back door (timber door was swelling with damp over the winter). Lots of carpentry, I love carpentry. Lots of slating, I hate slating.

Still, felt virtuous as fuck going to the roofing supplies company for slates and the timber yard for the iroko I ordered on the cargo bike and hauling it all home under manpower.

Porch looks great, just need some moulding to go under the tile line to hide the edge of the ply.

Chisel might do the job though it would need to be sharp and I would worry that that you might get a kind of crushed effect on the impact side and tears on the exit? Don't know tbh.

They're magic screws. Honestly, they just go through anything. And they're super long. And magic.

Actually softwood but this was on the advice of my carpenter daddyo so I'm confident it'll be fine. I've just put the second alcove up - much harder work than the first as the wall was even wonkier so lots of ad-lib sanding to and the walls need a lick of paint now to cover up all the scuffs.. I also managed to split one corner which annoyed me as it took a chunk off the front.

just

Aw, c'mon, you didn't need to photoshop yourself out of the stunt.

Get longer cranks. Then you could drop the seat post.

What are those? And how easy to install on freshly plastered walls?

pretty sure they're https://www.amazon.co.uk/13600001-Wall-Mounted-Mounting-Materials-Stainless/dp/B001IHP8OM

look nice with a support strut

Yep, we plastered over the plate that attaches to the wall

I have 240V GU10 spots and as the bulbs go I'm replacing the halogen bulbs with LEDs. The problem is to get the old halogens out I need to use one of those rubber suction gizmos , I guess as the spots are quire old and dusty?
The LEDs dont have a glass surface so are trickey to get in. Can I use something like quick drying electrical contact spray to clean or lubricate the GU10 fitting?

@diable
They're in the bathroom. Is moisture connected to the issue in some way?

I've managed to get one of them in (a few weeks ago) but the second bulb is hard and it got me thinking if this goes in the future or the LED doesn't work immediately I'll never get them out hence the is there anything I can like cleaning the fitting.

Thanks

I think you're right about needing to being sealed and I can't quite remember why they're not but they've been up since 99 and I've never had an issue.
Sorted it and cant believe it was so simple and you're correct it was knack related.
Essentially I was pushing up too hard before I twisted it the correct way for my lights is to gently insert and twist them more than pushing.

I have those LEDS and I also have some cheapo chinese ebay ones which claim to be 110 degree.

Thanks I appreciate your time.

Black taps. Monobloc. For a kitchen. Where from? @chrisbmx116

Also where's good for tiles? Have been advised to spend a bit more than bog standard budget ones as they're not consistent enough sizes. Need white brick shaped for splashback and coloured slate squares for the floor. Who does good tiles?

Won't black appear dated fairly quickly?