Home DIY

helluva party

https://youtu.be/8g_GeQR8fJo

oh! snap!!

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At least yours goes through to brickwork. Mine appears to tunnel into Pompeii.

Is a 'hardie backer board' something that may be of use to me?

I.e. scrape as much shit out as possible, then put this backer board stuff over it? It's cement based and allegedly water /mould resistant etc.

perhaps some kind of bolting required instead.

https://www.toolstation.com/pronged-tee-nut/p44911

Something like these, in the underside of the base wood. Then suitable sized bolts.
Maybe slightly recess the head of the nut to save your flooring and/or felt pads

It's designed as a tile backer, so no, unless you're tiling onto it in which case go for it!

With regards to the wall:

1. How old is the house, can you see hairs in the plaster (serious question)?
   
2. What is on the other side of that wall?
   
3. Was there any signs of damp prior to the top of the wall falling off eg mushrooms randomly growing out if the wall, smell of damp in that room, bubbling or peeling paint?
   
4. How soon is the unit you mentioned goin in?
   
   
   
   

There's a 165mm Makita one one the Screwfix website for 80 quid. Good saw at a very reasonable price that's what I'd go for if I was after corded. If you've already invested in a battery platform then whichever one will work with the batteries you have.

Mine appears to tunnel into Pompeii.

That's much more fun!

Ok, thanks - not planning to tile it but to paint it. Though could I use that stuff as a 'damp-ish'proof protective layer, than plasterboard on top which would be protected by the backer, then paint on top?

House is around 1900. I can't see any hairs in the plaster (is that an anthrax /asbestos concern?) That section appears much more recent - (going back to my earlier posts about half the floor being concrete, half being boards). It seems that they extended the kitchen maybe in the 50s though that's a guess based on nothing in particular. Pushing it the whole surface flexed (to the extent I thought it could have been wallpaper). Most of that wall feels solid to knock but that patch that fell off feels more hollow and the bottom right section of the photo (you can see a deeper whole with grey powdery stuff - failed lime?) feels like the next surface may come off again revealing more of the powdery stuff. I'd say this is an area about the size of a small microwave. The rest to the left and right feels very solid. I've stopped excavating for now.

Re. signs of dampness. If you look at the first photo you can see marks on the wall, these appear to be puffing around old rawlplugs. Then at the bottom of the first photo is a more puffy/bubbly area(right around where the worst of the powdery crap is). There is a door to the right which leads up concrete steps into a utility room that has further damp issues (those walls are newer still - maybe 80s or 90s) and appear to be built into a hillside.

The unit in question (one on the floor, then one hung on the wall) is being delivered in 10 days but doesn't technically need to be in place until the 26th Jan when the stone guy is coming to template. I'm thinking at this stage if I can't fix the wall by then I could at least fix the ground unit in place, get it templated and then a week later get the worktop installed but ask him not to fix it to the wall (assuming that's what they even do) so that I can move that single unit away while the wall issue is resolved.

But equally, I'd be happy to quickly solve it and leave it even if it's only a fix that will last a few years rather than forever. We'll be out of here by 2025 I reckon, so as long as it's saleable etc... happy to pass it down the road to the next owners which is seemingly what people have done for decades. Why break the winning streak?

Touching it it feels kind of sandy with some gravel mixed in.

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How long to leave between plastered patches which we used bonding coat in and putting up lining paper which we will paint?

Underneath this there will be brick.

The dot and dab on a damp wall can force the damp through the dabs and you see it through the plasterboard.

If it were me I'd remove any loose plaster, try and sort out any signs of damp, then use bonding coat to fill it up to level and skim the wall.

How brutal would you be on the loose plaster front? And what about damp plaster? There's some that feels like wet clay - I wipe it with my fingers and look like I've been abusing Morph.

We had some dodgy spots and went for a start again approach. Didn't DIY though.

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What do I do?

I just continued until I had take the floor up too.

That looks like manky old lime plaster.

How old is your place? Is it an external wall?

It's around 1900 but I'm sure that section of the room was extended at a later date. Most of the house is a mix of brick and stone but the back of it appears to be cardboard. It's a wall that joins a neighbour but his house doesn't go that far back. His kitchen is about half the size of ours and it goes into his utility room (still inside though).

cheap circular saw? I’m bored of cutting by hand.

Do you want a circular saw or a mitre saw?

My drawn out research on mitre saws made me settle on the 2nd cheapest evolution one from Screwfix.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/evolution-r185sms-185mm-electric-single-bevel-sliding-multi-material-sliding-mitre-saw-220-240v/383gf

... until I spotted the dewalt one on sale.

No experience of it, but at £90 it seemed like the good budget choice.

For a circular saw I can't offer much by way of recommendations, I've got a Makita blagged from my folks. It's good. But what I would say is to get a coreless one, which basically means buy whatever brand you've got batteries for already, or pick based on what brand you're going to buy other tools from.

As a DIYer that rarely uses one I find thinking about the cord and planning out cutting flow (is that a phrase?) a faff - I'm sure it's not a thing for trades who use them a lot. Fwiw I'm someone who is fine with having corded tools if they're better value. But if I had to buy one tomorrow I'd definitely get a cordless one.

I'm sure it's not a thing for trades who use them a lot

Oh it is. When I'm cutting roofs I normally have 3 saws on the go, one at either end of the rafter so I don't get the cables tangled up or wrapped around the leg of saw horses and one that is permanently set at a 45 degree bevell for when it's needed.

Yes you need to find the source or else your putting a plaster on a wound.

How long could such a plaster on a wound last? I'm tempted if it's more than a couple of years.

Any ideas what could be a potential source? It's an internal party wall, ground floor, concrete floor.

On another note - say we got the worktop installed on the unit going in that corner - is it practical to get it fitted to the unit but not the wall? Is that something we could reasonably ask for so that we could move the unit out to repair the wall properly if it is likely to take longer than 20 days?

On a tight budget until the middle of Feb so can't just get someone round to throw money at it.

I bought a 1904 built house in August 21, it had been refurbed between October 20 and then, one wall at the back of the house had a damp problem, they re-skimmed and painted, five months after moving in the wall is fucked with damp again.

Ok I may have had a few drinks.

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