Home DIY

@Sharkstar

i think its plasterboard straight on the brick, unsure if theres a cavity, its ex council and its very cold and bad at retaining heat.

What does the brick work look like from the outside - solid walls (before 1920ish) are tend to be header bonded. Post 1920, they are cavity, with stretcher bonds.

The relevance of this is how water gets in.

bad photo but header or english i think..

this is what it looks like below my floor (the wall in question is this one, where you can see the render above)

1 Attachment

I went DHS680Z for the same reason. Adapter is the post and will pick up some rails locally.

Fair enough. If there is a rotten looking area than use some wood preservative/hardener first and let that dry before hacking off big pieces of wood. Than deal as I described danish oil let’s wood breathe and is water resistant too. If installing new ss sink which sits on top of wood than use silicon to seal edges so no water goes underneath it. Good luck

I asked because it’s difficult to see how deep that hole is. But you’re saying it’s not deep at all, you just touch brick if you put your finger in? You can’t put your finger up behind the plaster there?

no, its a couple of cm deep to the brick,

I defer to the experts on the diagnosis. I wondered if you might be getting condensation in there.

I've got a random orbital sander and it's done well on the stairs but I thought a sheet sander would be better for slightly big areas of floorboards so you can go with the grain and you're less likely to get the circular scratches you can get with an orbital.

less likely to get the circular scratches you can get with an orbital.

Random orbit sanders are designed to minimise the "pigtail" scratches that occur when sanders are used. If you are getting them when using a random orbit it would imply that either:

1. You are pressing too hard and the pad cannot spin (downward pressure should be little more than the actual weight of the unit).
   
2. You are using a cheap sander or an old knackered sander that is not up to the job.
   
   

Sheet sanders are good but will give you more pronounced pigtail scratches than a random orbit and will not follow the grain as the pad moves in a circular movement. The only sanding machine that will move the paper in a linear fashion is a belt sander and they are super aggressive.

The only sanding machine that will move the paper in a linear fashion is a belt sander and they are super aggressive.

Festool make a linear sander - ie a pad sander that moves back and forth, rather than in little circles. Fairly specialist, and priced accordingly.

Just seconding what airhead said about masking before doing the sealant. Once I discovered this it made a huge difference to how neat my sealant looked.

I've got one! LS130. Everyone who's tried it has ended up buying one. They are really only necessary on bare wood but they are great for sanding mouldings, window cills etc.

Their best allround sander is the RTS400 in my experience but the LS130 is great to have. I did use their delta on staircases at one point but sold it when I got the RO90 which has a delta attachment.

I think the only downside is making sure you don't get covered in sealant when you lift the tape off. Making sure you have a big rubbish bag to hand is important.

Like you, once I started masking I never went back.

Is the skirting/hole to the inside just at the bottom of the render?
Render looks in reasonable nick - any damp patches? If it's not letting rain through, condensation is a real possibility. Are you sure it's plasterboard and not solid plaster? No insulation?

The scenario I'm thinking of is - that horizontal band between ground and first floor is the edge of a solid concrete slab. Huge 'cold bridge'. Concrete conducts heat well, it'll be slightly colder than the brick+render at that point of the inside. Plasterboard is likely fixed onto the brick with 'dabs' leaving a little gap behind it. Hole in the front allows warm humid air to move behind the plasterboard, come into contact with the fairly cold brick+render wall and the colder concrete (or bottom of brick wall resting on the concrete). Condensation ensues. If you can dry it out somehow and seal up the hole and any other holes to prevent warm air getting to the cold surfaces, you solve your condensation issues.

not sure about anything tbh! but this is possible.

the opposite wall has a damp problem and there’s no skirting gaps there, but not a bad.. and had only appeared this year.. (now i’m thinking about it this might be because there’s someone in there working all day..) whereas the holey side has always been bad.

i’m sure the holes aren’t helping. i think when is cold we’d ideally have the dehumidifier on at night when the condensation is produced but so noisy.

There really is a tool for everything!

I’ve got a mirka and use it for so much, but as mentioned you seems to get issues when your too heavy. I try and let the machine do most of the work and keep the pads fresh too.

When you stick your finger in the hole (oo-er) is the wall very cold as well as wet? If you can fit a finger in there's going to be plenty of nice warm damp air getting in too.

yeah the walls are all freezing

Slowly making progress on our kitchen and the next job is to fill this vent before decorating. No cavity, looks like brick/blocks inside and bath stone on the outside. 90’s extension to a listed building. Anything wrong with this plan?...

For the inside wall... Fill the inside with a layer of cement, leave a centimetre from the wall surface. Once dry, cover with filler and sand back. Was going to leave empty space between front and back wall.
Outside... leave until spring when we might get experts in to clean the front of the house. Get them to deal with it so the colour matches the rest of the building.

2 Attachments

Expanding foam to the rescue?

Looks like there’s a dead rat in there!

It’s a dead spider the size of a rat!

The horror! I’ve no idea on the regs and safety aspect of filling the hole but I would be tempted to go for a more reversible fill. Maybe fix some wooden battens in there, screw plasterboard on top and skim it?