Home DIY

First floor bedroom and single brick wall, so if there are pipes you know where they are. No wall ties either.

The brick feels dry so it seems like its just the lime plaster (if that is lime plaster) and then subsequently the gypsum is damp. Lack of breathability is I'm sure an issue, but why just this spot 🤔

Any finish will yellow it. And the pine will yellow/darken over time anyway. Osmo Polyx clear is what a lot of people (including myself) have used and recommend. There’s also fiddes which is a bit cheaper and some prefer it, but I think it scratches easier.

Edit, here’s a photo mid sanding vs finished with osmo polyx clear. Because it’s more reflective when oiled, it looks a bit lighter in the photo, but hopefully you get the sense of the tone change. The floor is beech not pine, but the colour change will be similar.

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Planned to find some black outdoor paint to colour saw dust and wood filler. However, my storage shed is still half full of furniture from the indoor work.

Trying a different tact on the second bench.

I figured if I was happy with the idea of black filler, then the darker colour of the saw dust and glue should also be acceptable.

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wall tie sounds very plausible to me. I also have a bee in the bonnet about mixing plaster technologies+ the covering in lining paper shortening the life span. It looks so localised with no obvious failure,, have you been into (investigated) to the loft space?

For this sort of thing in the past I’ve wood glued the split and wiped away the excess leaving a shallow crack and then used wax filler. Briwax filler sets are cheap and a good starting point. Once oiled if looks like new.

Cheers.

Do you reckon that'd survive outside?

We got three of these for a tenner at a boot sale years ago - so even it didn't it wouldn't really matter. They've held up pretty well considering. Just felt like giving them some love.

I also had a bit of a meltdown the other weekend trying to chase runs for installing some sockets. The pressure of noise, risk of damaging the floor, doing the job in a tiny window of time and cleaning after sent me over the edge. So I'm trying to get my confidence back.

I’ve only used it inside tbh, but they are only really crayons so should be fine. The beauty is you can just rub in some more if it does fall out.

no wall ties in this wall and that's paint not lining paper

I have been in the loft and there doesn't appear to be anything and also surely it would be at the top of the wall as well if it was coming from above?

What’s the pointing like on the exterior wall? We once had a damp patch on our Victorian end terrace halfway up the first floor level, that was eventually traced to a badly repointed section. It looked ok, but it was hard cement between soft bricks over lime mortar and the rain was running behind it until it got to a bit that was ok and just hung around there and eventually found its way inside.

Ah, it was just a moment of are you sure there's no cavity/wall tie,

Well I now understand why people use wood filler over wood glue+saw dust.

On the pros it looks less stark and doesn't go off as quick. On the cons it takes so long to go off hard enough to sand that for a diyer you're basically leaving it until its rock solid...which makes sanding harder.

I also think I underestimated the imperfection in the surface of the wood and have filled in more than I expected. With the filler it was a lot easier to scrape off before it cured.

Basically I think I've accidentally created a lot of thoughtful sanding work for what was meant to be a quick knock down, fill the worst gaps, and oil. Lesson learned, use the wood glue more carefully.

(pics show one end quickly gone over which still has a way to go, and the other end that's been leaned on which still requires work)

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I wonder if planing that down would have been more appropriate than sanding - the imperfections look very fiddly to fill well and it will probably just crack if it’s left outside.

Yeah. Now you suggest planning, that probably would have been the right move.

However, it's a lot more effort. I did the other bench in about an hour in total work time - including cleaning with oxygenated bleach, and oiling.

If you like the rustic look just oil it and be done with it.

It's just the other one is neater so I want to get it similar. Obvs still rustic.

Not too fussed about cracking. They're pretty thick slabs of pine(?) and have survived quite a few years outside with just some left over indoor floor varnish for protection. Plus they were a tenner and we've still got a spare one in the loft

Sadly rendered so you could be right that maybe there is a badly repointed or multitude of sins on the other side. How you ever fix that I don't know. Removing the render is a long term wish.

Plane was a good shout. Made quick work of the excess wood glue. My technique needs some work but it's meant to be rustic. The wood glue and sawdust looks better than my filler and sawdust.

Pretty much done. Just needs a few more coats of oil on the 2nd one.

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New double socket in, ring extended, me knackered. Will tidy up around the back boxes another day.

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I’ve always liked a big splodge of quick set bonding when fitting flush back boxes just to hold them nice and firm (in addition to screws and plugs of course). Plugging stuff in and out is surprisingly forceful and a loose back box does my head in.
Good effort getting it done though. I definitely don’t miss doing domestic work!

Well done.

Mine is still very much WIP.

I thought about some kind of adhesive but both plugs are well seated in brick. It's not the most level but it will be behind furniture so hidden, and not much plugging/unplugging.

Oh for sure. And you don’t have to travel far if the customer wants it fixed later on ;)

Or if I have to get a grown up in to rectify my handywork. I'm mostly just glad I didn't fuck the ground floor circuit.

BTW what did you use to attach the new cable to the existing ring?

Wagos. Which as I've learned with them being a customer, is pronounced "vah-go" and not "way-go". But I'm not about to go into Screwfix and ask for some vah-goes.