Home DIY

If centres of pipes are 150 just get another bar shower its straight swap

Thanks

Anyone recommend some high end light switches? Not necessarily after fancy looking, after a very good mechanical feel.
Currently have mix of regular mk and maybe crabtree, some are cracked some are just worn.
Remember someone reccomended Wandsworth maybe?

Gira are good quality, maybe too modernist?

Only just seen this, it was cutwrights mentioned before thanks!

We have Gira sockets and switches throughout the house and they're great. More difficult to get hold of now because of brexit and I think there's on 2 or 3 UK stockists but they're lovely.
You do need flat back boxes and relatively straight walls :)

I went with Knightsbridge screwless on a recommendation here and they're great so far.

If you haven’t already try shutting the bottom drawer and lying on the floor looking at the underside of the top drawer it might have little buttons / catches?

Had a cupboard built from MDF. The carpenter left a few edges like this. I guess they need sanding back a little before painting, or do I use edging tape?

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I’ve just finished some MDF shelves that I wanted the edge facing out to look as smooth as possible and used wood filler. I watered it down slightly and applied a really thin layer with a putty knife, let it dry and then sanded back before applying primer and paint. I was happy with the finish

Thank you for this. I went for a Tajima Convoy Super 12 via Amazon and it arrived today. Lovely looking bit of kit that oozes quality, and hopefully caulk!

The professional answer that you don't want to hear is sanding with a rotary (not random orbital sander) through grits 80 to at least 400 in four stages (i.e. 80, 150, 250, 400).

Then you have a surface very similar to the face of the board.

In fairness you can use thicker primers, filler etc if you have time and not the equipment to sand it effectively. If you are going in that direction I would use an MDF primer like Johnstones one which has a lot of solids in it and then fill with something like Toupret Wood Filler. It's not the best way time wise but you can get there with patience.

Good, glad to have helped.

I had a play with the Tajimas at the DM Toolshow back in November at Kempton Park. The pro-Cox guns are much better than the cheap skeletal sealant guns at DIY emporia, but the Tajimas seemed better again.

I have a little Makita palm sander which might be adequate? Having said that I think I'll try with some filler first, just in an attempt to avoid dust

Cheers all for switch rec's.

Coming back to plaster removal. I've got most of the blown stuff off but there's a section that's solid. Without an SDS and chisel attachment is it really just hammering with a cold chisel? I've got a decent multi tool. The plasterer wants it back to stone to fit some waterproof boards against it (so the unit measured doesn't extend beyond the chimney brest.

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hammering with a cold chisel

That's what worked for me

Do yourself a favour and borrow an SDS. Will be done in a fraction of the time and physical effort.

SDS with spade bit or scutch set.

How was your body afterwards? And how flaky was the plaster to start with? The stuff that's come off already was fairly loose but I've already hammered my hand twice on the other stuff. How large a space did you clear by hand and how long did it take?

Probably 5 square meters over various years. It's not much fun and it takes a long time. Some was pretty tough - when I did the bathroom tiles they seemed to be concreted to the wall but it came off with a bit of a fight.
A power tool will probably make light work of it.

https://uk-heritage.co.uk/shop/antique-canopy-bath-and-shower/

....only £23k

Ok, thanks all. Fairly convinced to go hunting for a same day SDS hire tomorrow.

scutch

All the way.

Any lime will likely come off quite happily with a spade bit, but gypsum or cement is a bugger, and a scutch make it so much easier.

Get a decent mask respirator. Don't have at it without.

Do this. I’m time rich and tight as arseholes and even I wouldn’t do that by hand.