Home DIY

My bet is he'll recommend Toupret TX110 https://www.screwfix.com/p/toupret-toupret-tx110-expert-rapid-drying-interior-filler-2kg/19358

Sounds like a pretty big patch though ...

Hive mind request - We need 2 built-in cupboards made, maybe a chest of drawers too and wondered if there's a lufguss approved carpenter for London (SW if that matters)

We asked our builder but I suspect he's gone out to see if he can source a carpenter himself.

@dbr does some similar stuff, but dunno if that's his exact wheelhouse. Worth asking, makes nice gear.

I'm pretty sure I've got some bags of it in the basement somewhere. I've used it as a filler, but never tried to put it on with a float as a wide and thin layer.

Don't want to sand it if I can avoid it, so just wanted to bosh on a decent fill but any time I've used toupret, it handles slightly differently to plaster or easifill.

Tricky one, why has the current plaster blown?

I do use easifill to fix this kind of problem but usually its on a plasterboard patch. I've seen mixed comments about PVA from plasterers although I do use it when I'm filling deep plaster chases I don't tend to with multifinish or easifill.

TX110 is pretty good at this kind of thing, small downside is cost. You can avoid sanding by letting it dry a bit and finishing it with a sponge. Either TX110 or Easifill will allow you to feather it in and smooth it off with a sponge. TX110 works ok as a thin layer too.

I've used these https://www.lahartcarpentry.co.uk/

Did a good job

https://www.checkatrade.com/trades/DBCarpentryLondon

(Not used him myself but my daughter is at school with his daughter so I thought I'd give him a plug.)

@Airhead

why has the current plaster blown?

I suspect some level of moisture in the wall (there’s a reoccurring dark patch 2m to the left), but the skim coat is on to what appears to be a relatively smooth coating of plaster underneath so I wonder if it was just poor adhesion/bond in the first place.
I’ve kind of run out of time anyway, so gonna PVA (mainly to try and hold the skim on a bit better) and hope I still have some unopened toupret downstairs.

Need to fit some bath panels too, which will likely be a shit show.

One more thing - what’s the go to for fire sealing? Just use intumescent mastic? Made some 50mm holes to move some lights and run cables, I’ve plastered the visible ones, but there’s a couple under the smoke alarms I need to reseal.

Not sure on the fire sealing. Intumescent would be the safest bet if I had to guess.

At some point next year I’d like to redo my bathroom. I’ll get a plumber in to do anything technical but I’d like to try tiling myself. Has anyone got any recommended videos to watch? I know I’m likely to fuck it up a bit but I’d like to give it a go!

Any tips on filling old wood worm/boring bug tracks. Sanded back a few steps going down into our kitchen and they’d been filled but the filler came out.

Filler always looks too pale so wondering what else I could use. Thanks!

@andos

Without seeing a pic, possibly wax filler sticks like these:

https://www.toolstation.com/briwax-wax-repair-sticks/p62562

Nice job that!! I'm not looking forward to doing the same in the back of the house once the kitchen is complete. Although shouldn't be anywhere near as painful as the living room where stain had been on the boards since they went down I'd imagine.

Thanks. Progress has been slow since the weekend, because work. But I just got 50min in between meetings and finished the coarse grit. Just need to do a pass at 120 with both the belt and the RO. Then sand the windowsill and oil. A couple of paint touch ups then it's ready to move in. Also fitted new architrave which I'm proud of. Photos when it's done.

Just thought I'd offer a word of warning. TX110 does definitely "go off". I had some old bags that were still sealed (couple years old maybe) so I tried to use one of those to do the repair. After an hour of waiting, it hadn't started to set at all. So I tried encouraging it with a hairdryer, which just encouraged more of the damaged plaster off the wall. Note that it was about 830pm, and this was supposed to be a favour for the neighbour before they had a survey done today. So I end up scraping the wet filler out, including more of the old plaster that has gone soft with the added moisture, and I try and bodge it with this stuff that I had kicking about,
https://www.screwfix.com/p/ronseal-big-hole-ready-mixed-wall-filler-grey-1-2ltr/95289
and had previously had good results with.
It's a great filler for deep holes and sets rock hard, but was a complete nightmare to try and fill a large shallow hole with, impossible to float flat. So I made a big mess, and now have to go and sand it flat.
This was after spending a couple hours wrestling on some bath panels - the floor is completely rotten and warped, which is why the old sides had been taken off, but it meant that I had to aggressively scribe the new sides on (taking off the lip on the bottom to aid fitting). It was just a total fiasco, aggravated by the notion that it needed to just be a quick job to cover the damage beneath the bath for when they survey is done (is does look better tbf).

So the work is too shit to ask any money for (aside from covering materials), I feel guilty about the quality of workmanship, and I'll probably end up having to do it properly at some point anyway. FML.

CSB/ but I just needed that out my system!

cover the damage beneath the bath for when they survey is done

To screw someone else over or is the survey for something else?

Its a valuation survey related to their mortgage, can't quite remember the details but they're not moving - they just don't have the cash to fix the bathroom right now. There was a very worrying bounce in the tiled floor that I can't imagine will be cheap to sort (I'm suspecting a few rotten joists). They're our downstairs neighbours in the same building, and we've all just had to fork out 8k each for a new roof, which has understandably taken up a lot of their cash for home improvements.

Ah, gotcha. 👍

Trying this question again:

There is a patch at the top of the stairs up to my house, where the render has blown and cracked, and rain and weeds got in.

I've just pulled off the cement render that literally came away in my hands, and scraped away the worst of the wet loose sand underneath.

What's the best way to sort this out, can I just sand it down and apply a breathable paint? I'm worried that getting it rendered again will just mean it falling off again in a few years. Plus it's shared with my neighbour who won't want to pay for anything, I imagine.

Sorry to hear you've had one of those days. If it makes you feel any better we've all been there. It usually feels like less of a problem after a few days and you can steel yourself for making it right.

I've never had any TX110 around for long enough to find out if it stopped working. I do measure the quantities of water to filler and use warm water if I want it to dry faster as per the instructions.

It was just leftover from a random job years ago, bags and bags of it were going spare so I loaded up. I now clearly need to bin them off!

In the end the other filler sanded really well, I’ve painted it with zinsser, and walked away happy. I asked £40 and some beers, which means I’m not really out of pocket on materials, and I don’t feel I’m burdened to the quality of the work. If I charge anywhere near full whack, it needs to be completely up to standard (which it isn’t entirely).
Just another lessoned learned along the way. And you’re totally right, give it a day or two once you’re finished and it’s no longer such an insurmountable nightmare.

Sand the brickwork down? It probably needs to be stripped back and re-rendered. If you’re more worried about the neighbour not contributing than you are about fixing it, just leave it as it is.

Thanks. Well, sand or wire brush off the remaining loose render/bits of sand and cement, rather than the brickwork itself. It's very porous so I'm worried about too much moisture getting in if I just leave it.

It's not just the cost of getting it rendered, I would of course need the neighbour's permission to do her side. And I reckon she'd say no even if I offered to pay for it all, she's not the type to get anything done.

It would cost you a bag (or tub) of cement, some sand, and a few hours’ work over two days. You won’t make things any worse. It already looks terrible. If your neighbour is arsey about it just do it to the halfway point.

You are assuming I can do a half decent job rendering it which is far from certain. Sand and cement render has cracked and fallen off at least once before, only a few years after being done professionally, so I assume I would also need some sort of additive to help it stick and keep moisture out. And a mixing attachment for my drill, and a plasterers float and possibly some other tools? So it wouldn't end up being super cheap. The only thing that worked on the nearby retaining wall was a multiple coat K rend system with a mesh as well. Which is definitely beyond my abilities...

It looks terrible at the moment but that's partly because it's covered in sand and bits of broken render. Hence wondering if a bit of smoothing it out and limewash or something like that would be a viable improvement.

I would enjoy the pettiness of doing it to the halfway point but I generally get on reasonably ok with the neighbour so am hoping to meet her somewhere in the middle.