Home DIY

Danish oil.
About 1 year since applying. Oak. Thick staves. 2 inch?

Anyway. It's a piece of piss to do but I don't have the time to fine sand, clean up, put multiple coats of tung oil/Danish oil on.

That’s the beauty of our system, no sanding or prep of any kind required.

It's just wood mate. It's not a system.

Cool, I'm the one who's suggesting a simpler approach then, better?

I think that's a kind of fish?

Fine

I get it, and if it wasn't for a few little marks on my worktop, I'd just throw oil over it. However, it needs a fine sand first.
(There are a couple of ring marks from a cup)

(Also, it's not really possible for me to remove the worktop and reinstall a new one that apparently has less maintenance requirements)

Sanding is not really the answer to worktop problems. Depending on what type of sander you have available to sand it you'll get different results. Given that most people don't have 3 types of sander with 5 or 6 different grits for each type it's likely you'll end up with a 'pattern' from the sander which you can't get rid of. Chemical stripping is much more likely to get rid of problems and give you a surface you can oil or varnish successfully. Only downside is the more effective the chemical stripper the harder it is to obtain because of the chemical contents.

Just to clarify the different types of sanders are linear, orbital and rotary.

Just to clarify the different types of sanders are linear, orbital and rotary.

And hand...

Serious: what's wrong with a light sand,by hand,then oil. Then oil. Then oil. Then oil.
Then repeat every 12-18 months?

I can hear you saying "inconsistent pattern from hand sanding" in my head.

It does depend on the finish of your worktops but they are normally factory sanded smooth and oiled or varnished. Different woods have different grain patterns and some types of wood vary considerably depending on the tree they came from. The factory will probably plane the surface flat and then sand from a heavy grit through to a fine grit on large band sanders, the output is monitored to ensure an acceptably flat surface.

When you sand your worktop you are essentially scratching the surface off and the scratching pattern left on the surface is pretty obvious at 80 grit, if you then move through grits 80, 150, 280, 350, 400 you will have a surface that most people would consider smooth. However depending on the mode of operation of the sander you will have introduced some scratches that are not obliterated by the next higher grit in a pattern that is obvious to an experienced eye.

For example a random orbital sander will leave random semi circular marks from the lower grit which doesn't get erased by the higher grits. A rotary sander is a little better but it's very aggressive at lower grits, it's a decent compromise but expensive. A linear sander worked in the direction of the grain is great on a close grain wood, but on a softer more open grain will strip out the softer wood between the more sinuous grain.

If you restore furniture which requires a high gloss you have to take care of a lot of these problems and in great detail. In this case you would apply a chemical stripper and use a scraper to remove the existing oil/varnish then apply a grain filler and possibly dye to colour the wood before applying the oil/varnish. If you sand a mahogany top it's incredibly difficult to get rid of sander marks as the grain shows so clearly under the gloss.

tldr Take it from an experienced professional, chemical stripping is the premium option. It can also remove burn marks and stains without having to sand the whole surface back.

There is a difference between the finish I have to produce for customers and the results you can be happy with in your own home though. So crack on with the light sand and oil. :)

Ta. Thought that might b the case!

I wire wool our wooden worktop, then oil (or wax, if I can be arsed). I need it to be protected*, rather than be on show.

I'll have a very different approach for the woodwork that my late father-in-law made.

* until I rip the stupid thing out and burn it before installing a proper kitchen worktop.

It's just wood mate. It's not a system.

That's what they want you to think.

Plumbing! Putting a Belfast sink into a bathroom (aesthetic reasons). Belfast sink wastes all (seemingly) have a 40mm thread, all bathroom chrome/steel bottle traps have a 32mm thread.

Plastic adaptors seem to exist but given the hardware here is all going to be exposed it really needs to be something in metal but this doesn't really seem to exist.

I feel like I'm missing the obvious solution (which is entirely possible as I'm clueless about plumbing....). Any pointers?

google chrome 40 32 adaptor

Alright kiddoes.

My boiler currently has THIS sort of basic thermostat which is fine but a pain to program. I'd love to have one that talked to a mobile app or Alexa type thing. Is that something I could install myself or will I need a plumber?

Cheers but I don't really see it.....?

Does it have a receiver box which is wired into the boiler? If so, the hive system has an equivalent box which should be straightforward to swap.

I wanted to install Hive recently but from scratch with no existing connection between thermo and boiler.

After considering frying the control board for a bit I decided to get a professional to fit one for £50.

You can buy the Hive unit and have a nosey to see if things line up neatly and if they don't get a guy in to install it for you.

If there is already a connection going to the boiler you should be well set to just connect the boiler to the wireless unit with the same wired connection.

Yeah it’s not particularly difficult from scratch but best to get a pro in if you don’t know what you’re doing. Frying a boiler for the sake of £50 isn’t great economy!

How do you find the battery life of the thermostat? I’ve changed ours a couple of times in 5 months but the most recent set seem to be lasting better.
Also I’m not sure how ‘smart’ it is compared to a Nest for example - it’s easy to set a schedule and adjust with the app but there aren’t any learning or location features.
Edit: you can add location stuff with IFTTT and it ties in nicely with Alexa though.

The Centre thermostat is wired slightly differently to newer models too - its not a straight swap.

I wired a Tado receiver in easily enough - it does come with plenty or instructions through, specific to your boiler / thermostat config.

More generally, though, you can have the same thermostat wired differently to different boilers, and depending on on what else you have plumbed in.

Photos for the above

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