Home DIY

this (and other stuff on the internet) reckons it's fine too.
https://www.diydata.com/carpentry/loft_hatch/loft_hatch.php#:~:text=Cut%20two%20pieces%20of%20rough,sit%20down%20on%20the%20laths.
1930s house

Just do it. No regrets.

Yes I’ve done 2. 1 in my old flat and 1 in living room of my current house. Going to do a matching one in the dining room soon when we knock the rooms together. All 3 are all in 1 cast iron so none of the hassle of rebuilding marble surrounds etc.

The one in my flat was real easy as the existing hole was ample for the firebox. Cut back the plaster to the brick. Bolted the fireplace to the wall. Replastered.

The one in my house was slightly more involved as the hole had been bricked up. So we had to knock all that out which is dirty work but not difficult. By luck rather than judgement the fireplace I had fitted the hole perfectly so no need to mess with the lintel etc.

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Can anyone tell me if this is asbestos?

Edit: It’s from the top of an old soil pipe my neighbours have had removed.

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Yes, last year.

It had been blocked up and then had a huge MDF board over the front of it. We got a fireplace off Ebay, bashed the hole back into the wall (like @Trunkie we were lucky in that it was the same size hole as the previous) and pushed the fireplace into it, then attached a fire surround. Really easy job, the hardest part was moving the fireplace.

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I think your living room is upside down, because cats are never wrong.

You can send it away for testing, iirc

That's a tac, though.

There's writing on the poster that's the right way up though.

I don't know if Live, Love, Laugh works upside down.

Ask Joe if he can still read it?

@Tonts Without a test you can't be 100% sure. But if you can work out the age of the soil stack or building you can make a guess. The guess is that it most likely is.

But asbestos was put in everything not just the plaster and cement added to soil stacks and rain water pipes as strengthening.

Possibly, maybe.

It does look like white asbestos but without a sample test no one can say for sure.

White asbestos is still thought as safe as long as you don't 'disturb it'

Why do you have your neighbours soil pipe residue?

We got a motif of British Colonial Oppression and Shame off Ebay

Cheers and @tbc . It looks fairly doable. How far did you take the plaster off, the whole breast or just around the fireplace?

Herringbone parquet flooring In front room started.. I couldn’t have picked a hotter day to get on with this., it’s been quite an experience so far. Borders and sorting out skirting board ground depths to suit plastered walls will be fun.

What have I learnt today..

1. Adhesive everywhere, on tools, on hands, surplus beyond what has been stuck down on the plywood base.
   
2. Tools and ply sub base are wiped / scrapped clean after each session. That adhesive goes rock hard when set
   
3. Existing floor boards are never level
   
4. Following a dotted line on the floor becomes meaning less when covered in adhesive
   
5. Easier to work standing on feet, not on knees. I need core strength training
   
6. Working away from original setting out point, only apply adhesive within arms length
   
7. Working with finished solid oak parquet that is only 10mm thick with 3mm t&g sticking to 12mm ply. Fingertip agility critical to avoid adhesive top side of block
   
8. Stay hydrated and keep room well ventilated
   
9. Stay focused work til adhesive is used up to avoid waste, therefore measure out in batches.
   
10. Never under estimate amount of adhesive you need. I reckon herringbone pattern with border I’ll need both tubs to finish one room.
    

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Giant but boring and sticky jigsaw

Shoulda just chucked down some pious and not at all colonialism endorsing laminate.

Playing hunt the stopcock

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Yeah I shoulda thought this through I have 2 rooms and hall way to cover, approx 25sq m and that Wakol adhesive ain’t cheap neither, at £48 a pot.

When I’m finished I will have learnt my lesson. The parquet looks ace close up, ebay purchase from Poland.

No, no need to do the whole breast, just around the fireplace.

Kitchen requirements getting to be rlysrs now.

1.

What floor, apart from vinyl, can just get the fuck on with being put down and not need much done in the way of prep?

Need something hard wearing, fairly water resistant - not going to swell / come away etc.

Got a big hunk of wonky concrete taking up one half of the floor, with wooden boards for the other half at a lower height. Because of the slope and steps I don't believe I can easily pour something down like polished concrete/resin which was my original plan. And I'm too afraid to take a sledgehammer to it in case the whole street collapses.

Want to just stick something on top of it all and live with any ledge at the door. 5x3m with alcoves/chimney place on one edge. Door at either end (one end leading up a flight of steps into utility area, one end stepping off a single step into hallway.

Likely going to pull the plug after 2.5 years and gut the entire room in August so something easy to get hold of. Wait, it's august now. Fuck how did that happen.

2.

Can you get fridge freezers that aren't deep (i.e. front to back deep)? Kind of interested in having one built into an alcove but the alcove is 90cm wide / 40 cm deep. Shallowest I've seen is 49cm.

I guess I could build some kind of boxing around it to make it less heinous - shelving or cupboards or some such but presume that'll be spendy if I bring someone to do it.

3.

Ceilings

Ours is relatively low unfortunately at that end of the house. How much space do you need to put in LEDs? And are there any space requirements for how much air they need around them in terms of insulation? What's the minimum insulation depth do-able?

4.

What's a bomb proof work surface? We don't need much. 330cm x 65cm. Ideally single piece with space cut for sink and oven. Looking at some kind of stone after being suckered in and bent over by wood and water.

1 - tough but ripped out 2.5 years later? no idea
2 - something commercial and expensive or maybe stacked beer/wine fridge
3 - for kitchen I'd focus on task lighting around sink/stove/prep areas, use something simple and flat on ceiling
4 - get an integrated sink with drainboard on both sides, then wood can still be viable in the prep area

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1. Why not vinyl? We got this https://www.vinylflooringuk.co.uk/0564-non-slip-stone-effect-felt-back-vinyl-flooring.html in a new loft bathroom cos we wanted something neutral, cheap and seamless, and that wouldn't suffer if the floor settles a bit. Now it's down we like it so much we are going to have similar in the kitchen.
   

Anyone use multicouche tubing

https://www.castorama.fr/tube-multicouche-16-2-50-m/3342971405116_CAFR.prd

What was your experience.

@tbc you have done a great job there, well done. If my living room looks half that I’d be pleased also loving the cat. Looks like the one that hangs out in my garden, giving me evils like ‘I was here long before you arrived’, whenever I step out there.

1. sorry, not clear - as in - it's been 2.5 years, it's now time to pull the plug and gut the thing.
   
2. at this rate I'm thinking of just stacking 6 packs.
   
3. yes.
   
4. never wood. I just can't be trusted. Looking at granite/quartz/corian etc