Home DIY

"... the halfway point... ... meet her somewhere in the middle."

🤔😂

Sand and cement render has cracked and fallen off at least once before, only a few years after being done professionally

Is the mortar between the stones and bricks lime or cement?

Is that area bigger than it looks? Because it looks like about a square metre. Also, I’m not sure what you mean by ‘smoothing out’ as an alternative. You’re not going to be able to get tremendous smoothness on brickwork. Unless you render it, of course. You’re right that you’ll need something to apply the render with. I’m sure a professional would make a better job of rendering, and that it might even last longer, but all render has a limited life span, and £30 for cheap tools and materials is a lot less than you would pay for a pro job. Also, I’m puzzled why, if you get on with your neighbour, they would object to you attempting to making their half look less shit. I painted my neighbour’s flaking and shit looking window frame with their permission. Asking for it was the first time I had spoken to them.

What's your neighbour going to do if you just cover her side too.

Just rendering it to the halfway point is going to create a nice water retaining barrier that will prevent drying out of the brick on your side, with a nice water entry point on your side.

Is it a solid or a cavity wall, and where is the damp proof course on it?

Thanks all. So it's a solid wall - Victorian terrace- no idea about damp proof course. This area is about 1.5-2m above street level but still below the level of my ground floor, since the house and the whole terrace is raised up significantly. So it's essentially I think part of the foundations rather than the house proper, and I'm more worried about rain than rising damp.

I don't know what the original mortar is made of but I would guess lime given that it seems a)very old and b) very crumbly.

Neighbour is a bit of a hippy and I think prefers the wabi sabi look. Weeds are growing around and into her doorframe and she doesn't do anything about them, despite being a keen gardener who spends most of her time at her allotment.

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Done (apart from a bit of touching up around the socket). Sanded to 120 grit (a little lazily in places), waxed then buffed. Now to move my set up down from the loft room and put some pictures up. Hardwood windowsill got 3 coats of UV stable teak oil (as recommended from here) after sanding to 180.

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Looks well. Good job! Bet you are glad it’s done.

Let there be (some) light. Need a brighter bulb for the lamp.

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Glad the sanding is done but there was no real other way to do it.

Update. There does appear to be a thin layer of slate between the area that is missing its render and the house bricks proper.

So does that mean if this area is below the damp proof course I don't need to worry about water penetrating?

Looks cosy that! Lovely WFH (I assume) space.

Those windows are gorgeous too.

WFH (I assume)

Correct, this is my office.

Is there a forum approved supplier of bathroom fittings, specifically a shower mixer tap

That window looks really good, is it one of the new ones you had done?

Yeah, it's one of 11 that Everest put in.

Any recommendations for a corded jigsaw? For occasional DIY use, mostly with ply, softwood, bit of skirting and very occasional sheet metal cuts. Prices seem to range from £30-500. I assume I should just go main-manufacturer and aim at the £100-150 range?

Mira stuff is quality.

Nice work! It’s all worth it in the end.

+1 for Mira. Have a mixer spigot thing (chunky great chrome bastard) for a shower going at least ten years strong.

Get something with speed control and preferably oscillatong blade (Bosch call it a pendulum action) The cut speed is a lot quicker. I have the Bosch 700 E but I’ve used the 800 and it is significantly better.

Orbital action and quick change blade are a must, adjustable base angle is a nice bonus.

Fuck Mira.

Have some some of their TMV taps at work. 3 weeks before replacement parts arrive in the UK and this is via Trade accounts at Wolseley.

Might be cheap but unreliable for spares.

Is that what you’re worried about? I thought you just wanted it to look nicer.

Thanks @Nef + @chiroshi, that narrows it down a bit!