Home DIY

https://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-dcd778d2t-gb-18v-2-0ah-li-ion-xr-brushless-cordless-combi-drill/268fx
This one was mentioned I believe when the whole topic of drills was discussed. Search the thread

Cheers, that looks pretty similar to what I was looking at.

Filling in a wall after chasing for electrics, how easy is it to get looking fairly neat without replastering everything or it all crumbling? What do people recommend?

The vast majority will be behind kitchen cabinets doesn't have to be perfect but some bits will be visible.

Any cordless circular saw recommendations? Have Makita batteries already so probably makes sense to stick with them. DHS680Z looks like a good option? Ideally after one that can be used with a rail adapter.

It's not that difficult but you need smallish amounts of a few materials that come in larger quantities.

Hopefully your wiring is in some form of trunking possibly plastic, pinned into place so that it's easy to plaster over.

PVA the channel, mix up some bonding plaster (not multi finish), slap that in and roughly level it off, best if its a little below the surface but just less than proud is best.

Let the bonding plaster dry, 24hrs should do it if the central heating is working. Wash the bonding off the walls surrounding the channel with a sponge. Should now be clean walls.

Use some TX110 from toupret or similar if you have another filler you prefer. Fill the channel to flush. If you want a slight texture to match surrounding walls then get creative with a sponge. Let it dry a bit then sponge of any excess.

Paint with Gardz from Zinsser. Let that dry and finish with emulsion.

So you need pva, plastic trunking and some nails, bonding plaster, decorators filler & gardz

Cheers. All very comprehensive although I'm sure it's a bit trickier when actually doing it.

Most looks pretty reasonable but the plaster seems to come in 25kg bags which is a bit excessive.

That’s the one I’ve been eyeing up when the day comes when I actually buy one.

Most looks pretty reasonable but the plaster seems to come in 25kg bags which is a bit excessive.

25kg sounds like a lot. It's not. I relaid four slabs on my front path recently. Took 30kg of sand and 40kg of cement, and they're still not level.

I'm not even going to mention the 1.7 tons of slate I put on the front garden. By hand. With a spade and a bucket. Oooops...

British Gypsum do 7.5 and 12.5kg bags for some of their range.

You can get it in 5kg bags sometimes. You could just use a filler but it might cost as much as a bag of bonding. It's just the easiest material to do it with because it's designed for that job.

I think the 25kg bags are pretty cheap. Try and find a building site they might give you a small amount.

Why filler and not multi finish?

No. Funnily enough I’ve just had to replace one of these in my new house, leaking from inside the tap body itself. They are shit. But I replaced it with the same because they are cheap and I will be replacing the whole kitchen soon enough. Just get another, preferably at a much higher price.

This evening I just decided to give it a play and after loosening the mounting bolt the ring at the bottom spins and tightened nicely.

There’s been slight untraceable wetness in the cupboard below for as long as I’ve lived here so probably the cowboys that installed it years ago never bothered tightening it up.

(I have a dishwasher so it barely gets used)

I was hunting around to name a particular filler that works for the depth in one hit. Bonding vs multi finish is quite different, bonding is very good at building depth without compromising the structure and it still dries fast. There are some fillers like Murex but they're generally specified for outdoors because they use elements like ground marble to provide waterproof hardness.

By all means try multi finish, it takes longer to dry and tends to shrink away from the walls of the channel because it's being applied too thickly.

Ah sorry I actually meant, was there an advantage to use;

bonding to fill the majority of the volume then filler for the last 3mm

Vs

Bonding to fill the majority of the volume then multi finish for the final 3mm?

Chances it's salvageable with some tightening etc?

Some disassembly first, as replacement seals are needed. Finding the right seals may be a problem, as at that price point not many places will stock the spares.
I had the same issue with a Grohe tap and got a seal kit.
https://www.bathroomspareparts.co.uk/grohe-europlus-single-lever-kitchen-sink-mixer-32941002-spare-parts-13510-c.asp

In the bonding vs filler chat, that was one lesson I learned very quickly when labouring. I had to do a few chases and holes as the plasterers were often busy doing actual plastering.

What @Airhead says about trying to get the bonding to be slightly lower/recessed is a really good tip. I did not know this initially. Trying to sand that stuff back is a bastard, hard as nails with more inclusions than filler. I imagine that this is what gives it the additional strength for filling the larger holes. Get it close with bonding plaster then finish with filler.

Cheers all. I have found some 7.5kg bags of plaster but they seem to be more expensive than the 25kg bags ...

You can also get it reasonably flat with the surface of the wall, leave it to dry for about 30-60 minutes so it is like playdough and you can scrape it back a few mm really easily

One other question. I guess this is the type of trunking you'd use to cover the wiring?

If I wanted 3m of plywood at about 19mm thick, where would I find it? (most places are 2.4)

1525 x 3050mm is the standard jumbo size I think - 15/18/24mm thick.

https://www.slhardwoods.co.uk/products/sheet-material/birch-and-hardwood-plywood/wbp-birch-plywood-bb-bb-short-grain-1525-x-3050mm

Great. I'm trying to work out worktop vs plywood for new desk dreams.

I just used Toupret - filled it over a few days using a euro filler knife

Time to finally tackle the drafts all over the flat.

I know there's various products for sealing the gap from bottom of skirting to the floor, but they're all a bit expensive. I was gonna get some Draughtex, but it seems pointlessly expensive. I know there's foam tape that expands upon application, but again, seems expensive.

Is there any reason I shouldn't just use this Soudal stuff:
https://www.screwfix.com/p/soudal-genius-insulation-foam-hand-held-750ml/25943
It's lower expansion so should make less mess, and looking at how many meters of skirting I need to do, using tape or similar looks expensive. I was just going to put painters tape down to protect the floor and go carefully. I also hope I can recess it enough that it's not too obvious. The current accidental shadow gap isn't very perceivable.

I reckon I will have to stump up for Draughtex for the floor gaps (of which there aren't as many as I initially thought), but the 11mm Draughtex is £27/10m - which will quickly go as you work down the boards.

In the long term I'll probably use beading on a lot of it. But I want to get the drafts sorted in the meantime!

Interestingly this has also lead me down the rabbit hole of draft vs draught. As far as I can tell draft is better suited to the unwanted airflow!