Home DIY

What's the best filler to use before painting walls?

For cracks and dinks? Red Devil OneTime

You can't paint over domestic/prosumer bath/sanitary 'silicone' sealant.

You can easily paint over acrylic, but as it is water based, it will shrink by at least 10% as it dries/cures.

'MS' (modified silicone) sealants were developed partly to be overpaintable.
Soudal do some, but seem to have had their range at Toolstation reduced to just
item no. 84704

I would use Toupret TX 110 but it gets really easy to cover any filler if you prime it with Gardz from Zinsser.

Use an acrylic sealant or decorators mastic before you paint, then paint when it's dry.

Apparently Zinsser Cover Stain can be applied to melamine, I'd be tempted to sand it with a very fine grit around 320, try not to scratch it up too much though.

nailed it.

Are you an electrician? :)

The only reason I don't like Red Devil is the pot life is a bit short.

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Thanks all for the painting advice. Any recommendations for a paint for woodwork? The dulux satin gloss I used last time stayed tacky for ages. Or am I doing it wrong?

The Dulux paints sit around for ages. So I usually thin them out a tiny bit.

How much is a tiny bit?

would aim for maybe equal parts dulux / campari, and add a splash of fizz to top up

Personally I use oil based gloss if I can. Much easier to use/get a good finish with.

Anyone can help with electrics?

I need to remove the white base off. By doing so I'm losing the brass connectors.
How do I connect my lamp (domino connector)?

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Is that a ceiling rose or just a junction box?

You need to start by identifying all of the pairs of wires. One will be power coming in, one will go down to the switch and there might be other power wires going onwards to other lights. If the lights are fitted elsewhere there’ll also be a pair of wires going to that.

tbh I’d start again with a bigger better junction box. That’s a mess.

That’s a mess.

Yeah that's the current theme with the whole flat. You should see the plumbing... The sockets on the other ceilings are straightforward 2-way plus earth, but this is in the entrance and it had a dropped ceiling with spotlights, if that makes any difference? There was a junction box though IIRC.
Thanks for the answer.

That time for replacing the shower sealant has come around again (as the mould is getting too visible), usually I'd tack it on to some other DIY jobs and get a handyperson in but Covid and other stuff means I should really have a go myself.

Removing old stuff. Any tips or is it just a case of removing as much as possible with whatever is to hand and applying a new strip over anything that remains?

Is a Mark 1 finger (in a latex glove) good enough for smoothing it or some other magic tool/trick necessary?

Other than it could be completely solid and useless, should the part used tube that's been sat in the cupboard for 2 years since it was last done be ok?

A sharp blade should enable you to have a 'pull tab',
that reveals the adhered edge that you can loosen with the same sharp blade.
Any residue left might come away with a bit of a scrape,
or the application of a 'Silicone Remover'.
Soudal do one, Toolstation item no. 75719
that is a lot less damaging to the Environment than the previous versions.

Sealants work better in compression than tension,
so fill the bath up before you re-seal.
Best results from the bead of sealant sticking to around 6mm of bath edge and tile.
The sanitary silicones cure/harden by giving off vinegary fumes.
The first noseful will be a shock to the olfactory system and may make your eyes water.
The surface of the freshly applied sealant may well be tack-free within an hour (or two),
but the rate of cure slows down significantly as the thickness of the cured layer increases.
Best to leave it overnight if you can before allowing the water to drain away.

If the old cartridge was put away with the nozzle still in place,
you may be able to undo the nozzle,
and pull the cured sealant plug out of the cartridge
allowing easy application of any 'fresh' sealant underneath.
Without the nozzle, moisture has probably found its way in and cured all the way down the cartridge.

Screwfix seem to have stock. I bought new filters last week (JSP, but the web site suggests they have 3M as well).

Something like this should help a fair bit for making it neat, you can also tape the edges if you’re particularly worried about making a mess.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/select-products-ninja-12-in-1-sealant-smoother-3-piece-set/3952K?kpid=3952K&ds_kid=92700055262507126&ds_rl=1244066&gclid=Cj0KCQjwwuD7BRDBARIsAK_5YhXYN5wjQK7HM2TVPkgEkRFU0IfBchA6mPtb2XA70ho2eoVmCftjGxgaAidjEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

I think this
was linked before, but don't take my word for it.

Some (all?) thermostatic valves need a "decorator's cap" fitting in place of the head or they leak. I had this happen and it was bad. Woke up to warped floorboards.

It's just a plastic cap you screw down to keep the valve pin depressed.

Got the plastic floor out today. Kids helped me out which was fun, tearing the strips off was labelled 'super satisfying' by the 12yo. Next step ceiling and walls before laying down the new floor. Thinking linoleum tiles/squares, possibly chessboard as I've a few boxes of different colours already.

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We just redid ours and bought the Cramer tool.

Much better finish than when we've used fingers (thou we're not pros).

Thanks (and @rj and @nefarious ).

To be fair, the last tube of sealant I think I had bought but then handed to the handyperson in a "here, we've got this already" so I'd be surprised if it was still usable several years after first being opened.

If I'm getting a sealant smoother than I'll probably get another tube of sealant just in case (it can always stay unopened in the cupboard if the existing one is usable).

Shower and sink only so no need to worry about the bath (which is showing no signs of mould). Also no problem leaving it 24 hours or more to cure if required.

Will watch the video again when sober.

Will watch the video again when sober.

Don't tune, Lou Reed wouldn't tune.