Home DIY

Had a bit of a lightbulb moment. You can get some early failure of acrylics on exterior surfaces if you have a lot of fine filler dust on the surface. Happens occasionally if you go a bit overboard with the filling and sanding.

How do you mitigate this?

A proper wipe down, using a higher grit?

Use a decent exterior filler and finish it with a sponge and then don't sand or use a higher grit. Wiping/hoovering/rinsing the surface can help too. There are a lot of factors with exterior paintwork if you want it to last 10 years or more.

One case where you can get problems is using Toupret Fine Filler on top of the primer or 1st coat. If it's interior walls you can use something like Gardz. Dulux do a very thin primer for their weathershield system which is good for any porous surfaces.

Is there a special kind of wood filler to use on floors?

Our kitchen is neaaarrrrly done, so obviously the new floor has now been damaged. Looks like maybe a screw got under the dust sheets at some point and was trodden on.

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I'd use Liberon Wax Filler Stick for that, Leyland have them if you're in London

Edit: best to defer to dbr

Use a black filler Imo.

It'll be impossible to colour match that, so a contrast will be less noticeable.

Does anyone have a reco for a socket? Because I'm being a bit lazy on searching.

Wish list:

• plane white
  
• inexpensive
  
• modern / semi-attractive (doesn't need to make a Bauhaus climax, just be unobtrusive)
  
• slim/low profile - i.e. to make my life easier
  
  

Cheers

Plane white and modern? I think there is only one option really.

Why is it so out of breath?

These are my go to for basic reliable sockets with decent connections from MK.

[https://www.screwfix.com/p/mk-logic-plus-13a-2-gang-dp-switched-plug-socket-white/15747?

Get them from a reliable source like Screwfix though, there are some MK knockoffs around.

Sweet. That's exactly what I was after.

Is the floor oiled or varnished? If varnished then wax stick.

If oiled and its a dent not a gouge I'd start by lightly wetting it and carefully ironing with the tip of a clothes iron or soldering iron to try and swell some of the fibres back up first before wax sticks

Next question, before I go to TLC or Screwfix...

Can I lift one or two floorboards with just a claw hammer and an old fine cold chizle? Or do I need to pick something up to make my life easier?

https://www.screwfix.com/p/magnusson-pry-bar-8-/8640v

https://www.screwfix.com/p/roughneck-utility-bar-15-/58202

Cheers.

Do you reckon I get away with just the 2nd?

yeah black is how any knots etc have been filled from the supplier (same as you used, IIRC), so that's fine

Thanks @dbr and @Grumpy_Git also - it's "laquered" so I guess varnished rather than oiled. It's a proper gouge, annoyingly, but I'll forget about it soon enough I'm sure.

I'm changing two double wall sockets in a bedroom that we have recently decorated.

First one was a cinch with only three wires on the existing socket and aside from adding an earth from the socket to the metal backing plate took less than ten minutes.

However the second one has nine wires going into three terminals (3 x L, N & E).

As if this wasn't painful enough i.e squeezing three wires into each terminal, the wires are quite short and the new socket has terminals in different places to the existing socket meaning that they are unlikely to reach far enough once I try to fix the socket in the backplate.

Any suggestions, for example is there a recommended, safe way of extending the wires or should I just give it up as a bad job and leave the old socket in place?

Knightsbridge sockets were recommended to me via electricians.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/mk-logic-plus-rapid-fix-13a-2-gang-dp-switched-socket-white-with-white-inserts/814ph

3x 3 screwless terminals is much easier than trying to get three wires into one screw terminal IMHO. I expect if you are an electrician that does it all the time you get better at it but for occasional people screwless is so much easier.

I think you can extend with some 32A connectors - I'd use Wagos - but I'm not sure. I'd be very slightly worried about 2.5mm not being rated to the breaker but you are unlikely to ever get to 20+ amps. You might find the back box is too shallow for the extra connectors though.

Day 5 of door sorting. Maybe getting obsessive.

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Thanks, the linked socket looks good

You’re a braver man than me!

I pulled an original Victorian 5-panel glazed front door out of a skip a few years ago, been meaning to restore and fit it but just can’t muster the gumption for the monumental task of filling/sanding/trimming/painting so gonna get an insulated door blank a-la @dbr and fit a couple of triple-glazed units in it for an easy life.

I just want to IR strip all of that.

More than welcome to.

I’m about most weekend so just pop over. Happy to provide tea