Home DIY

We have 50mm insulated PB (so only about 35mm of actual foam) on the three external walls of our bedroom and it’s toasty. Didn’t live in it before the insulation but anecdotally it was freezing compared to the main house.

Looking at getting (or doing) some built in shelves in an alcove... ideally "floating"... anyone have any top tips/techniques, have a few options in my head but imagine some folks here have done similar and would have advice... leaning towards building frames and then covering it with mdf.

thanks all for wall insulation info.

I'm in the middle of this at the moment - building frames and putting ply either side and then a thinner strip on the front. Kind of sceptical about what it will all look like when finished and painted and whether it'll look totally crap or not. I guess the main thing is that once it's all together i make sure I fill and sand it all nice and smooth before paint.

Cheers. Think I’ll do the same. Could be a fun weekend project.

So, one of my clothes rails ripped itself out of the wall this morning and made a right mess.
Anyone know what this type of wall is called? And how I should fix it?
Those are the plugs that came out, and that is a matching rail on an opposite wall that is holding fine.
Just larger plugs and longer screws?
The placement was just right and I would like to keep it in the same spot, how can I put it back in the same holes securly?

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Depending on how hidden it is, could you possibly put up a bit of wood up? On my version of something similar I have a bevelled bit of wood running up the wall which the rail sits in, so literally cannot slip...

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Family guy?

Brick wall. Dead flat inside.
The idea of just putting some insulating plaster board over the brick wall and then skimming it is appealing. Especially if I can "lose" about 150 mm. And then get two warm rooms for the kids.

Will think/discuss.

Obviously concerned about prospect of mould/damp between the new wall and old wall.

Oh yes.

Hanging a shelf > south hills

So I've just noticed that my felt roofed extension has a 50 50 mix of gravel and cat poo on it. Literally hundreds of cat shits of all sorts of ages nicely mixed and buried with the gravel.

OMG lol

Anyone know what this type of wall is called? And how I should fix it?

Hmmm. Looks like insulated plasterboard? Not sure I'd hang anything on that unless the fixing went back in to the solid wall behind it. To fix it I guess you'd fill the hole then plaster.

If you must put the rail back on, the idea of running a wooden support up and down to spread the load is a good one. That's assuming you can't drill all the way through to whatever is solid behind it, which would be the best way I suspect.

Looks like insulated plasterboard?

I'm seeing lightweight concrete block with plaster, maybe?

I've only found cork lambourde insulation......

Yeah I did wonder. But then I wondered how a clothes rail would rip it to bits. Screws aren’t very long I suppose.

It's definitely breeze block with plaster.

@Polka_Dot... Needs filling and sanding then some bigger fixings. I'd suggest something like this.

Do you have that sander? If yes, do you hook it up to a vacuum? I want to replace my Bosch green one with something because it vibrates like mad when used with dust collection.

I do have it but rarely hook it up to a vacuum as the collector bag is pretty great.

It is really good at damping vibrations though... spent 6 hours sanding down all our kitchen worksurfaces recently and had no issues with my nerves.

TBH that's not a great design for a hanging rail. I'd buy these and length of this and fit the rail between the end walls of the wardrobe (assuming they're sound and free of pipes etc.) That way the rail itself braces the fittings (screws, plugs, whatever) into the walls and makes it very difficult for them to pull out. Also the loading will then be pretty much perpendicular to the screws, so they won't be being pulled out anyway.

General recommendation. These auger gimlets are one of the most useful things I own. They're great for getting a pilot hole into a surface when you can't get a drill into the space. Axminster tools is pretty great in general, although more for drooling over things that I don't need and/or can't afford.

The reason for the sander vibrating is the suction is too strong, if you have adjustable suction then turn it down or add some kind of adaptor that can be opened to reduce suction at the sander plate.

Thanks for the tips guys. Definetly a few things to think about.

Rail like that is no good for my particular layout; the doors to the closet/walk-in-wardobe are where one end would be.