Home DIY

I have a Dewalt tracksaw you can borrow for a weekend, 55mm cutting depth. PM me if it would help out.

That would be really helpful.

Will drop a pm

Hey @amey, sounds good. What you using it for?

Here it is zoomed out.

Aesthetically it's not a huge problem. I'm more concerned about long term damage, especially in a room that has a layer of water over it for 10-30min a day.

1 Attachment

Photo also reminds me I need to scrub the floor grouting. Which is an arse after spending the best part of 4 evenings doing the rest of the room.

Bit of work on the house this weekend in between feeling utterly awful.

Finished the flooring around the spindles, which I did entirely by hand. And put up the shelves which don't look level but are (its the walls that aren't straight, promise)

2 Attachments

Anyone fitted coir matting before? easy or should I just get someone in to do it

Hmm sort of what I thought.

I think that the underlay boarding wasn't quite done properly.

I think there are some tiles in the shed from when we bought the place.

Any thoughts on an interim glue / bonding type solution to prevent water ingress?

The proper solution being carefuly smash out that tile, replace, scrap out the surface grouting all-over and regroute?

How many tiles are there in the bathroom? what sqm?

Yes there's a little bit of flex in the tile. Surrounding grout looks solid. Now I'm sadly wondering if having a ladder on it from when I was painting the ceiling fucked it :(

@Tenderloin - it's not massive. About 2m² I guess. Are you thinking worse case retiling? Definitely not something I want to do. We're already doing a whole load of decorating I don't really want to do (or don't think needs doing), plus the cost of new tiles when the £s should be going elsewhere.... like a new motorcycle and my road bike.

I know you say there isn't a glue, but wouldnt a careful thin line of superglue keep water out.?

Was going to say I have a roll of 5m2 matting and tiles going spare from doing our bathroom - welcome to it

Cheers that's really kind.

First I'll check the shed to see if the spare tiles are for the bathroom.

I also need to break the news to my other half. Which I know will get her worried. Especially as newish bathroom / kitchen was a big plus of this place.

The joys of home ownership.

Well worst case you can always just replace the one tile. See if you can find them online and order a sample.

But offer is there @hugo7 if you need it

Cheers.

Quick look shows x4 tiles.

Expect lots of questions about how to carefully smash tiles. My only previous experience is brutally gutting and stripping bathrooms.

If your other half is lighter than you then it's clearly because you were up the ladder and not her. Be sure to point this out at length.

Cheers.

@rhowe I'm not sure that will fly as she also did a lot of the ceiling painting... and did a better job :s

In the end I put some silicon sealant into and ontop of the crack in the end as some protection until I pick up the bits I need.

... Next question

I’m fixing a pair of Ikea Mulig clothes rails and a floating shelf into a brick wall:

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NzY4WDEwMjQ=/z/Hz0AAOSwQupXXToO/$_57.JPG

The shelf shouldn’t have too much – mainly nice shoes (so maybe 5kg), but I’m conscious that clothes on rails add up.

2 questions really:

1.       Any suggestions on what screws to use? I have a load of c.80-100mm screws – fairly thin, but obviously longish. The rails have 2x2 fixing holes and the floating shelf has 2x4

2.       The rawl plugs I have are a bit short for the 80mmish screws. Could I get away with just snipping them in half and using 1 and ½ in the hole?

Cheers.

I’ll post some pics when we’re done, but just as an FYI to outline our overall storage strategy as it was discussed a while back:

·         x1 nice wardrobe,

·         x1 small chest of draws,

·         these open rails with a shelf for shirts, dresses, etc.

·         boxes for jumpers, etc.

·         big basket for girls hair stuff,

·         and maybe an old trunk depending on space.

The other clever storages solutions just ended up being too pricey and inflexible, whereas wardrobes can be had from 2nd hand shops for +£30 (well more like +£50 once delivered).

I'd like to paint my melamine kitchen unit doors. Has anyone got some top tips for this? Research seems to suggest sanding, sugar soap and then either 1 coat of Ronseal cupboard paint or about three coats of other paint. I'd rather take the least effort route unless it's going to look shit.

1 Attachment

Sorry to ay there's a high likelihood of it looking shit. Hand painted plain panels are a bitch to get a flat finish on, otherwise your plan seems sound. If you key it with 120grit sandpaper you might get away with zinnser blue primer but any paint will scratch off fairly easily in the long run.

Doors look pretty standard, maybe just replace them with pre-sprayed mdf.

+1 to that, doors themselves aren't that expensive, and will get a far superior finish this place has loads http://www.diy-kitchens.com/kitchen-doors/ for a reasonable price

Cheers Sam and airhead. The internet sites have mixed views on painting melamine from "yeah, really easy and nice finish" to "never ever do it". I had thought about replacing the doors but a couple if then are non standard sizes so need to be custom made.

Any views on the sugar soap - ESP - painting method?

Flat is not a keeper and will be selling in a year or so, so just need it to be good enough rather than perfect.

It should work, just depends on what you're used to in terms of paint finish and how good you are with a brush. Custom size doors shouldn't cost the earth, it just a standard door with a bit cut off!