Home DIY

Had some fun cutting bits out of my walls to recess some plug boxes, but in the process have lost a few chunks of plaster. What product should I use to fill these in and get it ready for paint? Will a ready made wall filler suffice?

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@Hovis I'm not sure a ready made filler will cure that well on the deeper chunks. You might want to get a small sheet of plaster board and use some adhesive to stick it on (called dry wall adhesive) then get a ready made skim mix to go over the top. It'll certainly dry quicker.

You can get some deep fillers but its looks like quite a large area to fill.

The mass of the concrete will probably damage both the fnec and the sned side at their lowest edges. The concrete will shrink, leaving a path for rainwater to penetrate down the entire lengths of the timber used for the shed & fence. Even if both are 'treated' timber they will rot in an accelerated timescale, as they will never dry out.
You can discourage unwanted guests by planting a thorny blackberry bush, and training the stems along the top of the fence and shed roof.

A board seems like a good idea. Anything wrong with just screwing it in via some rawplugs? Also would mdf work?

@Hovis I would stick with plasterboard if you're plastering over. You can get small easy carry style plasterboards rather than the huge sheets. MDF may well expand when plastered due to moisture.

And yeah you can screw it with dry wall screws which are anti rust.

It's also quite easy to fix with multi bond plaster in the corner and skim both of the pieces afterwards as filler won't take well to that white porous plaster I can see on the top picture.

Top photo: just finishing plaster. Bottom photo needs either bonding plaster it it’s an internal wall or sand/cement if it’s an external wall, finished off with some finishing plaster for the top coat.

Ok then hive mind (calling @Airhead) I'll be stripping and repainting old wooden fascia boards soon and I'm torn between waterbased and oilbased gloss black paint. Is Bedec MSP magic, or is waterbased not as durable? I don't have the access for a full prime and top coat, so it will be a quick strip/sand/slap it on.

In other news I'm chuffed with the tarted up bathroom window.

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Consider a foot or so of flimsy looking trellis. A thief would be worried about it snapping and stabbing them if they tried to climb over. This also gives you something to train something thorny like blackberry along.

Razor wire and machine gun towers.

What is wrong with you people?

I would probably use Zinsser All Coat. It's supposed to be self priming but you can use Zinsser 123 to prime it as well. 2 coats would probably do it. If you're painting over oil based then you lose the moisture vapour permeable advantage of an acrylic base. It's become a bit of a go to for exterior paint, I've painted quite a bit in my neighbourhood and it's all stood up well. It is quite thin and sticks to anything it falls on, if you're painting on ladders you need some drop cloths.

Nice job on the window. I see the cobra nestling in the back of that photo :)

Cheers @Airhead - v helpful. I've got scaffolding up as we're getting the roof/loft done so I could be a bit more thorough with the stripping back, but there are a few spots at the ridge I can't reach easily. I've used the white satin Allcoat inside and been happy with it, will try to find the gloss black nearby.
The cobra is great, I'm almost looking forward to doing the front bay sashes.

I get a lot of supplies from Decorating Direct, they are very prompt with the delivery. I'm not sure how competitive their prices are these days but it saves my time going around looking for the less usual stuff. They have some nifty problem solving hand tools too.

IR stripping really sucks you in. I look at everything now and work out how long it would take to strip it! It's been great for my work, I can strip a window cill in 10-15 minutes, that could take hours with the usual tools.

Cool - I'll take a look. Think I got my Sikkens AZ from there for doing the exterior window frames.

You're right about the IR addiction, there's something very satisfying about peeling back 100+ years of paint to smooth bare wood.

So I'm stripping windows and porch. Wood seems ok generally, but these areas are a bit rotted. Seems to be dry. What should I use to treat/fill before repainting?

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Car body filler ;)

Your zinsser and toutpret recommendations are brilliant.

Thank you

Zinsser is stocked by screwfix and some of the decorator centers.

I'm a lasers and mines kinda guy

Lynx is kind of right with the car body filler tip. There's a version for decorators which has been very popular for years (Decor Fill). I've gone off it a bit as I tend to use repair care instead, only problem with repair care is the investment in the system to get started and it's quite expensive if you're not splicing repairs with it. All the same it's the best system for this kind of repair.

Toupret has an alternative that you mix with water or another one that's 2 part, I've not used either of them but their products usually work better than most.

You'll likely want to get rid of a bit more of the rotted ends and use a hardener before filling.

Thanks, I've got a 2 part filler. no hardener though. Stripping door this morning.

To prime door/frames before painting - a good scrub over with a wire brush should suffice?

Got to this a bit late! I usually only use a wire brush for exterior metalwork. Light sandpaper is a bit more effective.

No worries. I went for wire brush. Undercoat is done, looks OK.

Today I've taken down drainpipes, cleaned up and filled cracks and will now be painting the off white render white again.

Edit. After coffee and biscuit break.

Bit warm for it today, remember to drink plenty of beer.

I've been repairing fly screens today, strangely enjoyable process... Been putting it off for six months... New tool for the toolbox, a spline roller...

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Have some issues with brick salt at our place in SE London that I’m getting ready to sell.

In the past I’ve cleaned off the residue, plus and loose paint. Then painted on neutraliser, a few coats of PVA solution and decent quality emulsion.

Is there anything I’m missing? Would a waterproof emulsion be worth trying as an extra barrier to stop minerals emerging and breaking down the paint?