Home DIY

a lot of skill to freehand drilling a straight core

Not particularly, especially with a 150mm diameter bit as they want to stay perpendicular to the wall. The biggest issue is getting the pilot hole right as if that's wonky the core but will try to go straight and the centre spike will follow the pilot hole. I usually drill a shallow pilot hole (50mm max) and use the centre spike to get everything started, the remove it, once the cutting part of the bit is below the surface it's difficult to deviate from straight on.

I built a small storage shed using OSB on the outside. Providing the roof overhang is good, it is well treated and you don't get damp coming up from below, mine lasted 2 years with no visible signs of age/damage before I moved.

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Just make sure it’s OSB 3 and not 2 and seal the edges

Yeah this is kind of what i'm thinking - plus i kinda like the look of OSB. What did you treat it with?

Just something from Ronseal, but a few coats

Paying extra attention to cut edges

Interesting - better durability than I'd have expected. Looks like a decent shed too, nice one.

I'd still argue that for cladding of a structure, you would want the lifetime to be 5-10 years at the very least, and I don't think OSB would be capable of that.

I would have been comfortable with it lasting 5 at least. More with repeated treatment. It's still there now (we didn't move far) so that's 3. Of course, if it was out in the open or a bigger structure, that would be a different story.

repeated treatment

if it was out in the open or a bigger structure, that would be a different story

Yeah completely agree with this.

Nice to be pleasantly surprised how long stuff can last rather than bitterly disappointed that it turns into a weetabix-like mess after 3 months :)

The alternative would be wrapping it in a roofing membrane or similar and then cladding it. But i'm all for build-less if good maintenance can result in longevity.

What about thoughts on external ply vs OSB3? builder depot's external ply isn't much more than OSB right now

I've no direct experience I'm afraid, but if it's sold as external then the supplier or manufacturer might have some insight as to expected sealing /finishing, and timescale for maintenance intervals of the finishes

OSB 3 is specified for external environments and I would expect it too last at least 5 years, more important is the actual design (the base is off the ground and it doesn't suffer from rainwater being splashing up off the adjacent ground) and the edges being sealed .

I clad my workshop in felt and untreated 18mm OSB about 20 years ago. Still fine, just 50% thicker than it was.

For simple cladding I’d trust good OSB over cheap builders merchants ply any time.

I'm on my fourth weekend in a row stripping this fucking wallpaper off. Mercifully, it's started coming off in larger pieces, yet each one reveals another project the previous owners indulged in that's caused problems. Behind every blown area of plaster was a copper audio cable, badly chased and filled with rubbery Polyfilla. Obviously it was chased through the skirting too, so that's gonna need fixing as well now. There's also a perfect 10cm wide strip of patching plaster around the entire room, that infuriatingly has nothing behind it, but is barely attached to the wall

If I ever see the previous owner again, I'm going to apply a wallpaper steamer to their face

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Progress on the stairs since the last post a few weeks back

Builder starting tomorrow doing the knocky-downy steel beam stuff, which is exciting - had worried we’d have a much harder job/longer waiting time to find someone, but he comes highly recommended by the brickie who rebuilt the yard walls and repointed the back of the house - and with the bad weather this week has a natural gap in a big extension project round the corner to do some nice (mainly) internal stuff.

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Looks and sounds remarkably similar to our bedroom. We finished stripping it today, started the week before we moved in. 4.5 years ago.

So quick!

talking of stripping wallpaper, I've also been stripping wallpaper in our hallway.

The wallpaper has brought some of the gypsum plaster with it in areas revealing what looks like lime render beneath.

Whats the best way to repair/fill gaps? they are 5-10 circumference - not just cracks.

I don’t know how to spot gypsum vs lime, but I have a feeling we have the same situation (250yr old building, tonnes of shit bodge jobs). A plasterer pal is coming to take a look at sorting ours in two weeks, will try to remember to report back

Where’s the cheapest place to pick up old scaffolding boards in London?

A bit of vinegar and a bit of plaster dust. If it reacts it's lime.

Was that chased by doing a thousand drilled holes?

I could be wrong on the lime, but there is an actual stick in the wall

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Looks like fairly coarse haired lime mortar/plaster.

I have two for free, if you can pick them up.