Home DIY

Cheers both. Plot twist: it's already in and I'm thinking about taking it out!

I suppose if I did turn it on, it's under the door which has an open window thing (albeit to the hallway) above. So maybe it'd create convection and keep air fresher in there.

You have a radiator under the door?

Hah, well, from the perspective of the 3.1m ceiling, yes... Give or take.

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I think the perspective I've gained (pun intended) suggests I should leave it in there

Next question (s):

I'm about to fit the forum approved twin track shelving (budget Vitsoe).

The track rails are 2 metres long and the wall is a mix of substrates; typically brick with some sort plaster over (about 25-30mm thick and not particularly hard), however one of the rails will be fixed to a plasterboard/timber stud infill (location of a previous doorway).

I'm thinking of fixing a timber batten to the wall and fixing the twin track to that, as per the attached drawing. Is this overkill? I've got better at drilling into these walls over the years I've lived here but I'm still not 100% and feel that if some of the holes go awry the batten will cover up the mess!

I'd use a plasterboard expanding anchor in the relevant locations - any recommendations?

I'm thinking of buying a laser level thing to help to get the tracks level and parallel, is this overkill too?

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Clean them with a pro degreaser/deglosser (krud kutter is one type). Roll on Zinsser 123+ maybe a couple of coats. Then roll your acrylic top coat of choice. It's easier to do if you take all the doors off and lay them out on trestle somewhere. Use a small fine textured roller for a spray like finish.

Use it as a hot room, it'll be handy for drying stuff in the winter when the weather is shit and if its too hot in summer just turn it off at the trv

Does anyone make metal hit and miss vents in white? Silver ones look shit, as does plastic.

Europlast MR4010R and MR3010R are powdercoated. Available on amazon too.
Could probably do with an additional insect mesh though as there is no grille.

Great, they look acceptable. The cat usually hoovers up any visiting spiders but I see your point.

What would you use for a front door?

I don’t see any structural benefit from fixing to timber. It will also look worse. If you’re worried about plaster breaking out with a deep drill just go easy and maybe use masking tape on the drill site. I believe Geefix is the current forum favourite plasterboard anchor.

Is the room totally internal with no external walls?

If so then personally I don't reckon it needs one but when you come to sell the default buyer preference is to want a rad in each room and better to have one you turn down and never use than wish there was one where there wasn't.

Cheers - this gives me some mild encouragement! (camera cuts to a dog & 4yr old child covered in paint, possibly trapped under a collapsed pile of cabinet doors)

To be fair, it is easier in an empty property! You can just do the outside face and visible edges much more easily than doing all sides and edges. Depends on the color change you're aiming for.

If it makes it easier then start on all the faces and visible edges, tell yourself you are going to do the insides, then move on to the next job.

I got a couple years from them before they began to chip and wear. So it would buy you time. But that was with doors off and sanding, so a reasonable job.

Normally they can be lightly sanded, zinsser 123+, under coat to match the top coat (i.e. same manufacturer, appropriate tint), 2 x top coat of choice. I usually hand brush them because they have panels so a roller is a bit less effective, you can use a mix of brush and roller if you struggling with a modern acrylic eggshell.

Lots of options in top coats though, gloss/eggshell/various sheen levels/oil based/acrylic etc..

If the the door has flaking/cracking paint or bubbling I'd probably strip it to the wood and start with Zinnser cover stain.

If the the door has flaking/cracking paint or bubbling I'd probably strip it to the wood and start with Zinnser cover stain.

That’s where I’m starting then!

Self levelling concrete - what does it need to be poured onto and is there a max height limit? I want a good 2 inches for a large area. I presume I can't just pour onto floorboards? Anything I should be aware of in terms of underfloor access for fitting a kitchen on top of it? I'll want to add electrics and extra water for a dishwasher but presume I can just extend existing pipes here, right?

Presuming: rip out units, rip off skirting, prep floorboards (with what/to what), prep existing concrete half of floor (how? clean it thoroughly and dry it but beyond that, anything? It's covered in gloss floor paint at the mo), put a batten down to stop it flowing off a step down from the room, profit?

Have a bit of a hole where gas and earth come through wall - thoughts on best way to block up? Thinking of sealant around hole, or expanding foam but conscious of the effects on pipe/slightly dodgy brickwork…

Any thoughts much appreciated!

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Infrared stripper like the speedheater cobra would be a good buy. Even if you use it to strip the door and sell it on. One big advantage of infrared on exterior woodwork like front doors is getting the sap out of knots, it just boils out and that helps avoid bubbling later on.

One downside to stripping entirely is you might get movement in the panels once they're painted, expansion or contraction. If they contract you get unsightly unpainted lines.

I've got one of the knockoff ebay ones which I successfully used for our doorstep - and like you say it boiled the sap out. Unfortunately in that case I used a paint that only lasted a year, so I need to do that again too!

Silicon or something like that. Its just a gas pipe sleeved to go through a wall.

I'm always reluctant to comment in this thread, however a lot of the heating/ gas advice given here is wrong. Sealing that gas pipe with silicone is potentially dangerous. As ever, the gas regs cover this.
@.Rodders