Home DIY

Consider yourself lucky I'm in the process of getting quotes of a tin top to be put over my house while I take the roof off as part of renovations.

I can almost hear the scaffolders walking down the path whistling money money money.

I spent Saturday fitting Ikea Platsa wardrobes in our bedroom.. due to us having sloping eaves to one side we decided to buy 1200mm high bases and 600mm tops which would need cut into the slope of the roof.. Little did I know that both the ceiling and floor would be seriously off the level.. I had to pack out the floor at one end by 30mm.. also had to space the wardrobes off the wall to allow them to run into the roof.. turned out well in the end.. some pics of the process..

The base packing strips got larger at the edge of each wardrobe.. which I built up with various cuts of wood I had.. 3mm hardboard, 9mm ply, 12mm OSB, 18mm MDF, then layered it up to suit.. Made a MDF template for the sloped bit then cut them all using the table saw.. they do have unfished edges against the ceiling, but you'll never see that..

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WHY does there seem to be a small, but omnipresent disconnect between built in appliance depths and the standard depths of cupboards - or at least in that they give absolutely zero leeway for a socket or drain behind them gaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!

IKEA kitchens are notorious for this (sorry 4 offence if this is a #40kkitchen)

Ha! It was a 40k house renovation, until it wasn't anymore..!
DIYkitchens in this case, though to be fair i've got two fairly hefty fuse spur boxes on the wall behind the oven that won't fit (not actually ordered the oven yet) - but just the normal waste fittings behind the dishwasher that's about 5mm short :/

I'm hoping that my kitchen builder is taking this into account given that they asked for appliance model numbers.

I’ve taken the fuse spur boxes off the wall, and will make a little shelf on the bottom of the unit so they can rest loose on those but still be off the floor in case of spills/floods

Nice work, satisfying to customise stuff like that

IKEA kitchens don't have service voids behind them. The European way of doing kitchens is to have the back of the cupboard being the wall. The downside of this being you have to spend more time and money making the walls look halfway decent and chasing services into them. The usual way of doing it here is to hide everything behind cupboard backs in service voids so it can be as rough as fuck.

Good thing that Boris and Nigel saved us from all of that European madness (sarcasm).

Safer than most electric installations carried out by kitchen fitters. They don't give a fuck and are prone to doing things like leaving unboxed wago blocks just lying around on the floor.

Good job

Asking this in here instead of the kitchen/bathroom thread. What’s the forum approved water based interior gloss for new wood trim and covering old already painted surfaces? Off white/cream tinted.
Have used oil based Crown Full Gloss in the past, but can’t face the smell and slow drying with a rampaging toddler. Is Zinnser All Coat Exterior a bad shout?

Is Zinnser All Coat Exterior a bad shout?

I've been using this to paint exterior wood. It's really easy to work with. Doesn't seem to smell, but I'm outside. Have used their 1-2-3 primer and a knot-blocker with it, even though they suggest that you can just slap it on un-primed.

Last ime I got scaff quotes for a job it was more than the job I was quoting for. Cheapest way I found was to hire a small portable platform that when up high and build it myself.

I don't get asked to paint gloss very often but interior gloss I would probably look at dulux trade acrylic gloss or similar, maybe Leyland if budget was a concern.

Much more important that you get the prep and undercoat right especially if you're painting over gloss. If the existing paintwork is in good condition you could use a spray on deglosser and then zinsser 123+ and 2 coats of gloss. That's a pretty standard approach. Or lightly sand instead of the deglosser.

I wouldn't use Allcoat in this situation, you don't need a paint that's formulated for exterior use.

Thanks @Howard and @Airhead - good to know. I’ve used black Allcoat externally and got on with it, but I’ll look at those other options.

Best way to strip an iron gate? Poly disc on the grinder took some of the loose stuff off the flat surfaces but don't fancy trying to get the detail with it. Wire brush not doing much but guess I'm just going to have to stick with it?

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Any local shot blasting places?

Temped to get it powder coated, they will blast / clean it first...

Tempting but should have said I've got a fixed fence on the front of the house to do to. Similar style. Think I will do another pass with the grinder tomorrow then handover to my partner to tidy up the detail with a wire brush. It was their idea to repaint it all in the first place and have been looking for some bits and pieces to do while it's light in the evening...

We have a crusty gate like this and I want to hand it to someone who will dunk it in something unmentionable and then hand it back to me stripped.

Please don't make your partner do it manually!
https://www.toolstation.com/power-tool-accessories/wire-brush-for-drill/c1204

Shame the fence is fixed in place or I would also have suggested powder coating.

If you're using these, sleeves & eye protection (and gloves - but you already have padded ones because of the white-finger, right?) are a must-have.

Those little bits of wire like to fly off and embed themselves in fleshy bits.

Kids have been badgering me for a while to make them a tree house. Sadly we have no tree house-able trees in our garden. Spent this morning hacking back some bushes and this afternoon building this so that they can have the overall effect of a treehouse. Next weekends job is to build the house bit...........

EDIT my son has already decided that it would be much better employed as a launch ramp he can throw himself off on his MTB.

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Flap wheel on a die grinder to get to the inside areas. The angle grinder will only really get the faces done. I don’t envy you this job.