How do I bathroom / kitchen / extension? etc.

Bona Mega One

I used this on my hallway floor about 8 months ago and it still looks like it did the day I applied it.

@CYOA can you make a joke here before I do please.

Bit busy with a Sémillon at the mo, meht

Not too far away from having the kitchen finished now. Seems like getting the last little bits finished up has taken an age. The builder went back to Czechia in early Sept and has now returned and put in a day before Christmas. Got the hit and miss vent up, ceiling speaker in, replaced a rotton bit of timber round the bottom of the door and fitted the reclaimed architrave. I got the reclaimed architrave out of a skip in the street and then had it stripped at PJ Pine in Crystal Palace and reckon it looks spot on.
Room just needs the paint finishing, the tiling behind the benches done and the the sockets fitted. Have purchased a Denon AV reviver off Ebay to go under the stairs to be used in conjunction with a chromecast and home mini speaker and the ceiling speaker.
Absolutely love induction cooking and the heated floor.

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What a result. Great work in an unconventional space.

Also that oven!

does anyone have experience with different types of 'corian' solid surface worktops?

Are all the different brands more or less the same or are some better than others?

Some (Dekton?) more heat resistant than others I think.

Our worktop if from Gemini which appears to be a generic or rebranded corian. Couldn’t tell the difference with the sample chips and not complaints at all with the final product.

Dekton is a weird heat bonded ceramic and much more expensive than corian with is more like epoxy glue with bits of rock in.

Corian ( by DuPont) is the original and is an acrylic - I think it’s all synthetic - the other brand of this type I’ve looked at is Hi Macs. They tend to look less natural. Can look a bit plasticky and be a bit soft compared to quartz.

Dekton is sintered stone - much tougher - no resin so higher heat resistance. More lab worktop vibe etc but do market to domestic.

Quartz - silestone / Caesarstone are at the big brands - natural stone / mineral dust and chips bonded in resin - supposed to be harder than granite but not heat resistant.

Any 3d software/app recommendations to help visualise house changes we’re planning. I want to be able to create a 3d model of the current layout and then pull down walls, replace with glazing etc.

Thanks

I used sketchup for this, it had a free version (not sure if there still is) and it’s fairly easy to learn.

Home.by.me (website)

Thanks both, will have a play

it isn't sealed on the inside at all. All the seal is on the outside and I remember this being a deliberate thing from the guy who (re) did it at the time cowboys left. So there are gaps inside

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And are you 100% sure that the seal is ok on the outer edge? It looked like there was some pealing. Unless it is sealed behind the bar when it’s installed then you only have that outer seal stopping anything coming through.

You could easily test it by pointing your shower head at the bar and standing on the outside to see if water is coming through (or see it coming through at any other point)

Yes, you’re not meant to seal both sides (so the water can get out)

yeah seal on outside not 100%. Will redo it. Thanks.

Unless it is sealed behind the bar when it’s installed then you only have that outer seal stopping anything coming through.

looking at below comment too from @fredtc, if I redo the outside, I am only having 1 'layer' of silicone which will be my first and last line of defence

The silicone (I think that's what it is) on the drain is protruding out too and gathering shit which is hard to clean, so might redo that too

Cheers both again

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You have to put a small bead on the bottom inside edge where it meets the bath and but not on the part of the U cross section where it’s touching the bath on the screen side, basically any water that runs down can flow into the bath but not out to the bathroom.

Yes, as Fred says, you aren't supposed to seal both sides.

Loft structure basically done, gonna fit the Velfac next week. Hyped to get it watertight!

Ground floor masonry going up around the scaff, ground dug down to lowered floor level, half the floor slab poured.

Pace is accelerating and shit starting to look real. On budget so far as well…

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On budget so far as well

Impressive! Are you happy with your builders? We're going to need some this year...

Who's PM/budget manager? You?

We have just had our tiling done. The tiler has left the window recess like this, and said that it is normal for it to look like that as it isn't completely square. What do you think?

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Builders been very good so far, they’re a new-ish outfit and are using our project as a showboat so have been very amenable to entertaining my wanky bullshit and trying new stuff out.

I’m doing the job of ‘architect’ (very strong word) and half of the PM job. Sourcing and choreographing bespoke materials has been the most challenging thing so far, followed by budget management and dealing with things like figuring out MVHR duct routing, simplifying and cost optimising the ASHP plumbing etc.

It’s fun, but all-consuming, and often challenging juggling this, work, a newborn, 10yo kid, sofa surfing between two places… I have to keep reminding myself that we deffo couldn’t afford paying an actual architect to do this.

100% get him to redo it. Build up at the back edge with adhesive or packers to make the cill level. If it’s in a shower area put a slight fall into the room so water doesn’t pool there.