Home DIY

The latter being a tenner for a small bottle from B&Q

How well do you reckon it prevents water ingress into splits?

I think that's why I went varnish first time round as it's pine.

It helps but won't prevent it. Getting wet isn't the problem, staying wet is. Varnish when split will trap moisture underneath.

Sand, fill splits/cracks, sand, oil.

While rest of the family is away I 'started' painting (for the first time ever). Started with the fireplace surround (fireplace is inactive so just sand + 2 coats of primer + single coat of dulux white... Took longer than expected at two days, due to trying to get the paint into the crevices. Photo before the final coat. (might do another coat later depending on feedback from missus)

Then moved on to the large wall (where the painted fireplace is). A week spent in mudding and sanding I think it's finally ready for the primer, after I fix up two small bumps (and seal a plug hole) I missed the first few (three or so) times. Lots of youtube watched, still it takes arms use a 13" trowel properly. But it 'skims' so good compared to the bendy scrapers. I don't want to get into it again (all of the wall sanded and touch-checked) I'll just use a small scraper and very little mud for the missed parts. Still couldn't decide on the colour, I'll just prime it (maybe couple coats) with sanding in between and then leave it for September.

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Rooms overboarded: 1

Rooms still to do: 5

current emotional status knowing how many rooms are left : crying.

amount I'm glad I got some help to do it: 100%

See it as a journey not a race.

Spent a couple of days properly painting kiddos room a week ago. Just went in to find he's drawn all over the walls in the style of the Yiga clan from Zelda. He's also made a massive pile of bananas out of card and put it on the floor covered with a net.

"video games encourage gun crime" they said.

Big fan over here - but deck oil may be a good cheaper option.

If you fuse a halberd to a halberd, you can get him before he runs away.

I'm re-finishing this pine dresser currently. Is there any clever way of sanding these mouldings beyond a dowel and sandpaper?

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Flexible sanding pads

Cheers, for the sake of not going to toolstation on a shitty day I've improvised. Seems to be working pretty well for interior radius and not too hard on the fingers.

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Nice improvisation 👍

Well that was long, still not sure how to get the last bits of paint residue out of the corners. Probably just a podcast or two and loads more tiny bits of sandpaper. Will get a 80mm multitool sanding head for the panel corners as my 93mm doesn't quite fit.

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For corners it's carbide scrapers or Stanley blades for the win.

Yep, carbide scraper worked best for me too

Don't know why I didn't think of that before. I used scrapers to get the top coats off, just requires a softer touch for the final bit.

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Drill people. There has been SDS chat but I don’t remember SDS recommendations, just drill recos. Apologies if my searching has failed me. I just killed an ancient 850w cabled SDS drill. Is 2200w ~3x as powerful? What brands? Is there a particularly good cheap and cheerful one? Grazie x

I bought this one a few months ago. Absolutely fine and capable for my backyard DIY - no complaints with it so far.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/bosch-gbh-2-21-2-3kg-electric-corded-sds-hammer-240v/319ky

YMMV if you’re a tradie, or using it everyday in demanding conditions…

for the price this is a fuckin beast x3 power

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The Titan one is pretty popular at the budget end.

What do you need it for?

They're generally measured in Joules and kg. A light weight one is around 2kg and something like 1.5-2.5J.

That will drill holes in concrete with ease.

If you really need to smash shit up for long periods of time then you'll want something bigger.

If money isn't much of a consideration then a light cordless one is great. I'm not sure I see the point in beefy cordless ones as if you need a hug SDS then you'll probably be using it for longer periods of time so have to swap batteries out.

I'm happy with this Bosch Blue one which came with a case: https://www.screwfix.com/p/bosch-gbh-2-21-2-3kg-electric-corded-sds-hammer-240v/319ky

My cordless stuff is Dewalt and all their cordless SDS are pretty pricy so that ruled them out. The Bosch has a metal gearbox and replaceable brushes, plus all the hammer and chisel functions. So on balance it seemed like the right balance of price, power and quality for me. In terms of my planned* use; remove some tiles, a bit of chasing drilling lots of holes in concrete, and general diy hole drilling.

*I've only actual drilled concrete and general holes in brick.

For the money Erbauer are pretty good vfm. Nicer ergonomics than Titan stuff.

E.g.
https://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-erh750-3-4kg-electric-sds-plus-drill-220-240v/232fv
as a middle ground.

@dbr helped (did everything) me install the bathroom vanity with marble top. Invented a new way to silicone behind the sink, although you need arms like that to even get the silicone to the end of the tube.

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Great t-shirt