Home DIY

annoying - guess I better get a halogen bulb then

Finally getting round to tiling the kitchen this weekend. Is there much of a difference between types of grout and adhesive? Anything to avoid?

Any last minute opinions of grout colour for these tiles would be appreciated too - https://www.porcelainsuperstore.co.uk/products/harmony-sky?variant=39435646173374&currency=GBP&gclid=CjwKCAiAv_KMBhAzEiwAs-rX1I1ubfs29y3HdphofUYgwqvzyWtUpW7ESSDI4zsBMz2BybpCqG7kgxoCFVcQAvD_BwE as I'm suffering with grout doubt.

Adhesives have become quite specific and finding the right one makes the job much less stressful. Topps Tiles do BAL products and depending on your use case the ready mixed make things much easier if you're new to the job. Just makes one part of the movable shitfest bearable.

There are lots of well specified trowels with different size notches and information should be available to find out what best suits your application.

Those 2 things have made the biggest differences to my tiling jobs. I avoid it now because it kills my hands but I used to get a lot of different tiling jobs and planning every detail in terms of layout is highly recommended. There's almost always a compromise in terms of finish. Plan how you want the tile cuts, in the corner or at the edges. Account for plug sockets slowing things down a lot.

You will not want to have to pop out for more adhesive half-way through either.

Sorry for the late reply.

This is often used on timber frames with a rebate cut to take a seal barb.
https://www.screwfix.com/p/schlegel-aq21-window-door-seal-white-15m/2822P

The arrow headed rubber seals need to press into a C shaped slot, so the barbs can open out and hold it in

Stick on works to a degree bit it's a bit shit overall.

Ian Looking to order a tado starter kit. Which one would I need? Normal flat with vaillant boiler and wall mounted thermostat. Main use for the tado would be to keep baby’s room at a constant temperature throughout the night.
Thank You in advance!

I’ve been using one of these to make some custom door casings.

It’s absolutely spot on. As accurate as you’ll ever need and really versatile. I’ve teamed it up with a hoover for dust extraction if I’m doing more than a few cuts.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-emis305s-305mm-electric-double-bevel-sliding-mitre-saw-220-240v/736fv

Ah thank you. The sample pack of the stuff that Stevo suggested arrived today but I think I do have another trip to Screwfix in my life soon!

The Aq21 is the probable reasonable fit thats available in small quantities. There's hundreds available if you want to order a 100m reel.

I have most of a reel of Exitex 8mm joinery seal left. It has a double barb unlike the upvc seals. With the position of your rebate, I don't think it's the best choice but your welcome to some if the link above isn't working out.

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If you don't have a hot water cylinder and your existing boiler is wireless you can get the wireless thermostat. You could fudge room temperature control in the baby's room then by putting the thermostat in the baby's room at night set to the temperature you want.

This isn't really what the starter kit is for though, it's more like a Nest controller. It sounds like you may want room specific temperature control so in that case get as many of the smart radiator controllers you feel comfortable buying. This allows you to set it up so that Baby's room can be heated separately from the rest of the rooms in the house.

I guess choosing the right product is a case of understanding the size of the gap between the frame and window when closed and the size of the slot.

The closest from the samples seemed to be the B035 from this lot

Can't help but feel the push fit was too loose, the slot seems quite cavernous on our frames.

Now I've got the saw coming, does this look like a reasonable layout for my studwall? Got to noggin between the joists as one of the floor plates falls between two joists.

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You might consider double headers over the doorways.

There's a lot of wood going on at the sides - I'm not sure you need quite so much / it's not clear if you're using 2x4 everywhere, or doubling up of different thicknesses.

All 2x4. the junctions are 2 full lengths with a 2x4 spacer top, bottom and middle. Don't think there are any full lengths doubled up. *The different thickness was just the door jambs etc.
I don't think I can get away with this kind of corner because i need a stud at the red position to attach tilebacker board.

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I hate to break it to you but a circular saw and Swanson speed square would make cutting the timber for that easier and quicker.

Getting long lengths of construction timber onto a chop saw can be tricky especially as if you don't have a decent stand with long, rigid arms you'll have to spend a while setting something similar up. The other option is to hold down the timber either using a hand (hard and a bit risky) or the clamp (slow)

When I'm doing stud work I follow a process very similar to this:

https://youtu.be/a43Gd1lxP2M

The main thing I do different is to "crown" the timber (put them in the stack so that bows are all facing the same way).

Also looking at your drawing you need to ensure that there is a stud on both sides of an internal corner (it looks like this isn't the case next to the door). That way you're not going to have the plasterboard flapping around.

Thanks so much for the reply. So I can set the general house temperature on the vaillant control/thermostat that comes with the boiler, and use the tado smart radiator controller to set a different temperature in the baby room?

Luckily I've got the space for saw on a solid floor, wood supported at multiple points! Thanks for pointing out that missed bit. I had it on the other side of the door I think. *So like that?

Watched loads of Robin's videos, and Scott Brown.

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I'm pretty sure this will only work for the baby's room being colder than the rest of the house. You can't get it to selectively heat that room if the other radiators in the house don't have valves to stop them heating whilst the baby's room does.

Yes, it's a common mistake - easily made.

Thanks so much for the reply. So I can set the general house temperature on the vaillant control/thermostat that comes with the boiler, and use the tado smart radiator controller to set a different temperature in the baby room?

It might be possible to do it that way but the radiator controller will not have the ability to 'call' the boiler for heat as the home wide thermostat is controlling when the boiler fires and I'm not sure the Tado rad controller will talk to it or not. A 'dumb' TRV valve will achieve the same thing, with less spend.

If you replace your existing controller with the Tado smart thermostat, and fit a smart radiator valve in baby's room, the smart radiator valve will overrule the thermostat and make the boiler fire if baby's room gets too cold.

This will have the side effect of heating the rest of the house too, so make sure you have TRVs or smart radiator valves on other radiators too. Towl and bathroom rads get a free pass, obvs.

This stuff is weirdly complex; there's loads of ways of achieving roughly the same thing. I just gave in and put Tado valves on everything so every room has its own zone and can be controlled independently of all the rest, it's own schedule, heat level, settings etc.

I guess choosing the right product is a case of understanding the size of the gap between the frame and window when closed and the size of the slot.

Exactly this. When the window was made, they would have a seal available and cut the slot to suit the requirements. Now it's a case of finding something that's close enough and realistically available. Obviously you want some compression but not too much or you can't shut the window and that's often only noticeable once it's all fitted.

The closest from the samples seemed to be the B035 from this lot

Can't help but feel the push fit was too loose, the slot seems quite cavernous on our frames.

B035 is still a upvc seal, so the arrow needs to press into a C shape groove so the barbs open up and grip. It won't grip in a straight sided slot.

The Exitex 8mm tubex seal that I have, or the Aq21 may work if your slot is 3mm or less

If the slot is bigger than 3mm, you can have a look at these two catalogues to find a suitable one ( alternatively use the Aq21 and staple/glue it in place)

https://www.exitex.com/assets/downloads/New_High_Res_Joinery.pdf

https://www.schlegelgiesse.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/U0869001-schegel-qlon-brochure-2019-en-lr.pdf

Guess a couple of blobs of silicon could be used to persuade it to stay put in a non permanent way?

It really only needs to hold it in place while the window is open. A staple every 6 inch or so is easier to manage, than silicone which acts as a lube until it dries

If the Exitex 8mm tubex may suit, drop me a pm with your address and how many metres. I'll stick it in the post

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Didn't realise Amazon offered that. So I am now also the owner of a Bosch mitre saw I probably don't need. Really need to stop coming on here.

The heatlink on our nest thermostat is fried and doesnt send a live to the boiler, had a heating engineer diagnose it.

replacement heatlink wont arrive till later next week, and our boiler doesnt have an 'always on' override.

Can i buy a £15 thermostat from screwfix and just.. temporrily swap the heatlink for it? or is there an easier way to just have manually on/off

You might just be better off getting a small electric oil heater and running that. You'll need to leave the room stat in the baby's room in order to have that wireless/app control

Alternatively you may want to zone the house between upstairs and downstairs and get a zonal valve fitted.