Home DIY

Depends on budget but the easiest way to do it is IR stripping. Cobra Speedheater is a good one, last time I looked they were around £350. Otherwise there are many methods and you usually need to use a few of them, palm sander can come in handy for small areas at the edges but any sander can bog down with paint, you need to keep them moving to avoid heat building up in the pads and that's not easy in the confined space of a stair tread. A basic carbide scraper can do a lot of work removing layers of paint, a very sharp chisel is useful too.

However you approach it it's one of the worst jobs. Slow, uncomfortable and in the way of the whole household.

Thanks for taking the time for such a full answer, much appreciated.

I think I'll look at painting the "white stripes" either sides of the stair treads a different colour and chose colour and carpet runner carefully.

I did this, and can confirm it is a complete pain and took much longer than expected. My 1905 house had a thick awful green protective paint under the several layers of white. I heat gunned it (not fancy IR gun just £20 heat gun) and scraped a lot and then sanded a lot. V messy, but looked nice afterwards.

How shall I re-seal the frame of that alu bifold door to avoid water sneaking in above the damp proof membrane? Installers just used some concrete or concrete based render but being quite rigid it cracks and falls with door use (door catches more than I would like it) Shall I just add some external sealant? Any suggestions @Airhead

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Any tips for removing several layers of paint from an external concrete step? Tried an angle grinder, a sander, covered it in paint stripper overnight etc but it’s still proving to be a bit of a mission!

Sounds like you probably tried all short of sandblasting, but a wire brush might do the trick. If it does, you could then get a wire brush attached to a drill

Thanks,at £2.66 for a set I’ve just gone straight for a 3 pack of wire brushes for a drill and will see how I get on!

pls wear eye protection also

So much this.

Wire brushes on drills / angles grinders are so good at hurling needles into flesh at great velocity.

Get the installers back to do a proper job!

Failing that, grind that out, back fill the gap (backing rod / expanding foam etc) then apply a good quality external
sealant (from soudal etc)

I've got a half inch hole in a brick wall between the garage and the downstairs loo where some cables used to run. What should I fill the hole with before decorating? Expanding foam or something else?

That might be tricky but I will try. If not I will follow plan B

@Howard for this particular case would you recommend a silicone like:

https://www.toolstation.com/evo-stik-weatherlock-frame-silicone/p84765

https://www.toolstation.com/bostik-s41-window-door-frame-silicone/p90711

Or an adhesive & sealant (polyurethane based) like:

https://www.diy.com/departments/sika-sikaflex-ebt-white-general-purpose-adhesive-sealant-filler-310ml/54203_BQ.prd

Also if they have backing rod on tools station or screw fix? Any in particular you would recommend? Keen to get all in one trip as time is limited atm with a 5 month old 🫠

Twisted wire cup.

With what you've said in the first post the priority would be to get the closures of the doors working as smooth as possible, estimating what'll fix this is a bit of a nightmare from a poorly fitted seal to complete frame misalignment, without that sorted the possible 3-5mm movement I'm operating the doors will never be sealed from the frame... But with it sorted the falling out may stop. A helpful judgement is how are the 'gaps'/cracking on the internal?

In the paradox a smoothly operating very heavy door will do the same damage

Well the posts are in, I've arranged some muscle for next weekend to fit the gravel boards and the tip has had another satisfied customer. All in time for the F1 highlights.

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Second comment just killed me !!!🫥 the left hand side door (looking from the inside) can be regulated after loosening two grub screws but it keep slipping down and messing the alignment every two or three weeks. I will try to get the installer but I am afraid that going through the developer could prove inauspiciously complicated 😓so I was hoping to fix the gap and keep realigning as needed eternally like Sisyphus 😵‍💫

Now I feel bad, thats the extreme end, I'm sure it can just be improved ..

Riddle me this, our shower has both a ceiling rose and a wave-it-around head on a hose, you select which of the two you wish water to emerge from using the dial on the wall.

When it is turned to "neither" no water comes out - none at all.

Until, that is, four O fucking Clock in the fucking morning, when it suddenly drops enough water out of the rainfall head to wake me up, and then drips itself empty for what feels like three million hours.

Once it's done, zero drips.

Air getting in and releasing a column of water? Something else? How do I stop the fucking thing from doing this?

I have done several concrete post fences over the years and we always set the post distance using the gravel boards and panels as we went. Made the alignment and lifting much easier.

Very wise, dodging a bullet.

Sadly as others have already said, you probably need to take the cement out and seal it with an appropriate frame sealant.

Anyone come across a way of securing a cable to concrete tiles?

My neighbor's tv aerial cable flaps about on my roof as a few of the wall cable clips have pulled out.

As I need to send someone up there to fit some cowells to my chimney anyway it seems like a good chance to sort it out (because he never will) but the only clips I'm seeing look suitable for thinner slates or shingles.