Home DIY

Excellent. Needs more verses though. I have willow, laurel and Bay to add.

More here

I haven't used their floating shelf brackets specifically but other Hafele stuff I've used has been good so I imagine their brackets would be too.

Replaced a broken floorboard this afternoon and discovered hardboard in a pretty terrible state. Must've been like that for years because it had nails around the edges of each broken bit.

Investigating other unevenness that's been bothering me for a while, I discovered the hardboard had been cut along its length all the way down the hall. Presumably when the previous owners had the kitchen done.

I'm gonna replace the whole lot, but am wondering if there's any advantage to using ply over hardboard again? It's not terribly uneven other than the mess by the kitchen, but I can pack the worst bits of that. Am assuming that having one piece wall-to-wall should make it pretty solid again.

Was also considering screws rather than nails, for the sake of removing it easier if the need arises. However I'm wondering whether thickness (or rather thinness) would be an issue with countersinking. The current stuff is about 3mm but there's only one door opening over it, so trimming that to accommodate thicker boards wouldn't be an issue.

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Is it a fools errand to undertake decking cleaning / restoring / treating in the winter?

Subbed.

Looks like the boards have been screwed down underneath - so as long as they’re all nice and tight and not squeaking then lay whatever as the subfloor. I’d probably go for some 5mm ply screwed spanning the width of the hall

I'm afraid the only correct answer in this thread is to sand down the boards and finish them with Osmo.

Lol would rep.

Thanks. Was expecting to be told plywood was overkill and hardboard would be fine, so good to hear otherwise. The boards are only screwed down where they'd been butchered and lifted for access, there's a couple of squeaks but they'll be taken care of easily enough.

Meant to mention that the new floorboard was bog-standard planed timber from Wickes. It's a first floor flat with a noticeable draught under the floor and no signs of moisture. Is that likely ok without any treatment?

@tbc I'll put down parquet-print lino and post pics. No one will be able to tell the difference.

I think it's totally up to you, I'm sure hardboard would be fine but others would know better than me

I'll put down parquet-print vinyl

ftfy, it's a lonely struggle

Probably a world of difference between the materials in our respective countries (I'm in Canada) but flooring trades around here usually go with hardboard because it's dead flat and won't broadcast variations through the sheet flooring like plywood might.

That being said, I think it's more often closer to 5-7mm thick.

My mate put down OBC boards before gluing down 20mm T&G Birch parquet. A year on it has a spring in it when walked over, I wonder whether the density of the substrate or humity has weakened the OBC. I reckon as long as your floorboards are stable, hardboard should be okay. I put 12mm plywood down, screw fixed to the existing boards at 300mm centres, principally because it was left in that state for over six months before I could afford the oak parquet. I reckon I’ll have surplus but won’t know until dining room is done.

I’ve also decided to tile the hallway onto 12mm marine ply, once ceiling and walls are restored, creating more surplus parquet.

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Once that’s done replace glazing in my front door, not worked with stained glass for 30 years, I’ll need to create a work space outside the house.

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Ohhhh what is the process for this?

Stained Glass?

Appliqué method. Bonding stained glass to templated plain glass sheet. Black grout fill to gaps, hardwood bead fixed from inside.

I’ll be sourcing stained glass from the guys in Camden, cut every piece by hand.

I prefer your overcompensating subfloor, despite my mention of standard procedures up above. Around here on the prairies humidity isn't too much of a problem so I suppose that might be why the go to is hardboard over ply.
I really like your sketch!

Cheers @withered_preacher thirty years ago I built a 3D copy of the Chrysler Building only the top twenty odd floors using greys and bronze stained glass sheets hand cut, foil wrapped edges and soldered together, it took me 6 months. It’s in a sorry state today. Needs re building with internal lamp. It’ll sit on the top shelf next to the fireplace. Another project for next year.

Ah man, what a beautiful fireplace. I just ripped out our one and only remaining ‘period feature’, sure was glad when I saw the lintel and realised it was straight forward.

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Wood burner going in there? Or guessing by the bricks in the photo, filling it in. Do you need to keep flue ventilated?

All those bricks came out of there (!) originally a gas fire. Possibly a wood burner - we like the idea but not really needed as it’s a smallish room and I already went a bit OTT with the radiator specs. We couldn’t find any fireplaces we liked so I’ll just make it good and maybe tile the inside. Yep to a vent too.

Chimney sweep for hire.

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Where in Canada are you?

Another concept for stained glass for the front door, inspired by Canadian artist Lawren Harris.

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@inchpincher tidy work!