Home DIY

So true!

I also missed putting away the DIY materials. Which my wife would say is very apt.

Do you have a link to the polish parquet?

Has anyone had experience removing pebble dash. I’m thinking of removing it myself and then hiring a pro to do the brick repairs. We’ve been quoted 5-8k to do everything but that’s comes down to 3k if we remove the PD ourselves.

I'd say that secret to this and everything else, including bike maintenance, is in a good preparation. If done properly first time, as I mentioned above few coats of Danish over 3-4 days (some of it applied to underside as well), it would never come to this state.

What Gillies meant and I concur is that it takes 30 min max to ensure all is tip top for years to come. I used IKEA or lemon/orange oil from TK MAxx which goes on around taps once a month in the eve before going to bed - 3 minutes to apply, leave 20 minutes and remove any residue. Done.

But nothing will keep it nicely looking if water is left unattended on the wood, so a cloth to wipe and spills near by taps is needed. Hence that blue square one on top of my knife block in the pic above :)

No I would not be rehanging shelves once a year, or re-grout either. But wood needs oil to protect it from the water and if once a year (OK this is me to keep near 100 years old worktop looking good) or perhaps once every 2-3 if done properly first time is a small price to pay to have nice kitchen.

Do you clean your bike less than once a year? Do you use any polish/wax etc on it? Same for your car if you own one? You don't shop for clothes in Primark I hope, as that would be....well telling me all.

Having removed a lot of internal concrete render/tanking - it's a pretty painful job that takes time and is messy/noisy/physical.

i clean my countertops about 2 or 3 times a day and the only thing on them outwith cooking times is a chopping board, salt bowl, pepper grinder and a kettle. Thinking about it I can accept that this may not be the norm

You don't shop for clothes in Primark I hope, as that would be....well telling me all.

Wow.

I mean, your first post was right up there with it's patronising tone, but this one is amazing.

If I had to wipe water off my car/bike and oil them once a month to stop them rotting, I’d say they weren’t fit for purpose either.

I don’t even think wood looks particularly nice in a kitchen.

None of your examples are analogous.

My car won't leak if I don't wax it. I wouldn't respray it every year.

I ride a bike so little that I barely maintain it. However, I do change the oil and service the brakes, charge the battery, etc. on my motorbike regularly. The oil is done possibly more often than necessary.

However, as far as I can see a work surface has two pretty simple jobs and cannot be compared with a complex engine.

Sorry did meant it to be, I just can’t understand what is the issue with looking after the stuff to keep it for years, rather than throwing out and replacing with new like clothes from Primark, not to mention the source of these or where all that plastic ends.
So apologies for the tone.

which makita LXT circular saw in the UK is easy to get some guide rails for if you wanted a budget sort-of track saw in the future.

Work surface is where you wash your dishes or make your food which ends in your body so it looks like a simple function, but is really an important one. Forget to clean it and you’ll soon have to clean a fair bit more elsewhere...

If we are talking analogy- you do not need to have a shower every day or wash your hair weekly or more either. After a certain period your body will take care of itself and your skin and hair will be just fine. But you do it because it feels nice and smells nice and ....

Wood is similar to an extent. It can be left outside without any protection if a certain type, but if not it will rot and perish quickly.

This thread is called DIY, so the clue is in the name. If not prepared to do it than simply swap for something more durable, but as OP want to keep it the only choice is to maintain to a good standard. No other way I’m afraid.

Wood does look good in the kitchen BTW. Just not good for restaurant one. But even there it takes a team of people to clean and buff it every single day. I know as have worked in one and boy did we scrub and scrub and scrub again till our fingers hurt.

And when comparing cars or bikes, when buying used it quickly shows how it was maintained and value is adjusted accordingly.

Maybe I’m a bit harsh, maybe the OP does not own the property and does not need a hassle of repair and maintenance, but owing a house means having to deal with that too I’m afraid.

The damage is reparable and can be made look good again, but no point if won’t bother with a little elbow grease. At least he has a choice.

and a second, unrelated question, ive looked up removing and reapplying silicon in shower tray - it doesnt look too difficult if you take your time, but im worried if i do it wrong ill cause a leak and not even notice it.. is it that hard to fuck it up?

I should point out, I don’t want to keep it but there’s no point changing it until we do the whole kitchen. What I do want to do is cut out the rot, re-seal it with something impervious to water, install a nice big stainless sink/drainer that will contain most splashes and most importantly stop water going down the back and into the wall.

Not sure whether to just go wild with the silicone sealant or pull the trim off (inevitably making a big mess) and start again.

If you have a multi tool, a sealant blade (I’ve got a silverline one) makes removing it very easy.

I’m not sure about how to prevent a hidden leak but you can usually see if it hasn’t adhered properly.

we have this gap in the skirting where a rail for sliding doors is,

the rail is iust screwed into the wood floorand we got rid of the doors, my plan was so remove the rail, and replace the shorter skirting as it all gets damp and mouldy anyway, and theres other gaps in it where the old built in wardrobes used to be

the real problem is ive now realised that its just wet behind the skirting, if i put my fingers in the hole (picture) its actively wet, not just damp, no idea what to do about it

1 Attachment

It's mostly uncomfortable in showers because of the cramped conditions. After many years of doing the job I've settled on a method.

Spray with CT1 Multisolve, this softens the silicon.
Run a stanley blade between tray and silicon and between wall and silicon. You can use a multitool and specific blade but be careful with plastic trays as they scratch easily and you don't want to have to polish out the scratches (don't ask how I know!)
Remove as much silicon as you can with a plastic silicon removal tool.
Spray again with CT1 Multisolve, now you will see small amounts of silicon lifting from the tiles and tray, wipe these off with rags or the catering type blue cloth. Try to resist using toilet roll, it's just not very good at the job.
Check that the surfaces are completely clean of old silicon.
Apply masking tape to tray and wall leaving the right size gap for the bead of silicon that you require. (I like the blue Tesa tape, not some £1 shop roll that's been stored in the shed for 10 years.)
Apply fresh silicon. You will never get the quantity correct, it will almost always be too much or too little. There must be a scientific law that covers this phenomenon.
Smooth it out with some kind of silicon smoothing tool. I also use a specialised mix of water and some agent that makes the smoothing process very easy but you can use diluted washing up liquid.
Remove the masking tape very carefully. It will leave odd edges probably. Finish the smoothing process very carefully if necessary, sometime I use the tip of my finger for this part because you need very light pressure, the less of this final finishing you have to do the better. It all depends how well you've calculated your masking tape position/silicon quantity/silicon consistency.

I've been using this method for 5 years achieving professional results every time but there are little bits of technique involved that only really come with experience. The previous 25 years were a learning curve involving all kinds of blood, sweat and tears.

Don't be surprised if it takes you 4 hours at least. It took me a long time to get quicker than that.

thanks, super useful

If you search in thread there's a YouTube on using sealent that is a solid helpful guide.

Well I am fucking triggered!

What’s on the other side of the wall?

brick. rendered on the outside.

no insulation

Does the hole go through to the brick or something else? Do you have drywall on the inside (ie is that a sheet of drywall above the hole?)

Is it a solid / cavity wall? What floor is it on?

Render is really good at keeping rain out. But even better at keeping it in...