Home DIY

Thats the one. Thanks! What a bloody horrible name... surprised they don't put "and Son" or "MFCO est:2016" or some such shit after it too... but... they are kinda nice or am I going mad?

Hi Forumengers.

This isn't strictly DIY as someone else is doing it but: We are looking at getting a full wall library-esque shelving system made similar to the image below. The chap who is coming to take a look has recommended MDF (around 20mm).

Personally I hate the shit and I am worried about flex , but he reckons that unless we get spendy on a hardwood, MDF is our best bet as cheaper wood such as pine are poor quality these days and we'll be painting it anyway.

What doth you think to this? Sound legit.

MDF is shit to work with, but once finished it's often more stable than wood. Bending is more a product of the distance between the uprights, below 600 mm c-c and 20 mm MDF should be just fine.

I'd do it in pine wood if it was me though.

I returned the Buster & Punch dimmer switches I bought, it's hard to tell from the pictures but the knob really is a knob, seriously fallic. You may like this, it made me feel inferior.

I'd forgotten/ignored removing all the old architrave around the doors and now I've got a shit load of making good to do as chunks of plaster and render came with it. Had to totally reconstruct the loft hatch too because it was made with droopy hardboard. Never ending ball ache.

Kitchen Q. Just ordered all the cabinets from DIY kitchens and I think I've made a mistake by keeping the wall cabs the same height above the sink as everywhere else. There'll be 500mm gap between the 650 deep work surface and the 300 deep wall cabs...? Will I be able to see the tap?

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Cheers @drøn. Yeah if I was doing it myself I'd do it in pine as well.

Alas, I've made a promise to Mrs.Andos that I stop doing all the DIY and we get a pro in for this as I tend to obsess over things and it'll take me weeks. So long as it looks good painted and doesn't flex I'm happy with MDF, I suppose.

Cheers

Some good looking projects on here, made me realise that somebody might have use for an unused Geberit concealed cistern & flush plate, bought for my bathroom but annoyingly just didn't quite fit in the space i needed it to.

Cistern is only 8cm deep and is the UP720 model as this link:
https://www.qssupplies.co.uk/bathroom-furniture-shower-taps/83075.htm?gclid=CJbi3YGf7NECFYS77Qodgh4KeQ

Flush plate is simple white plastic Geberit Bolero model as this link: https://superbath.co.uk/3484/geberit-bolero-flush-plate-wc-white-115777111?channable=e5366.SVNJMTAxMDI0Mw&utm_campaign=Shopping+UKhttps://superbath.co.uk/3484/geberit-bolero-flush-plate-wc-white-115777111?origin%3Dannonceproduit&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=&utm_source=google_shopping&utm_content=&gclid=CNTEluaf7NECFYGd7QodwYUKlg

Both cost me about £160, if someone wants them i'll take £80 plus postage.

Good quality kit, just didn't fit my final layout.

I'm about to launch into a whole head of building cupboards and shelves out of MDF. I'm copying a design that uses 25mm MDF across spans of about 1000mm and it's perfectly stable. I'm going to go with 18mm because the spans are more like 600mm and won't be heavily loaded.

One very useful thing I'm looking into is getting a load of boards ripped into planks at a timber yard. Since all the units will be a fixed depth I can then just cross-cut these planks to make the carcasses and shelves. That saves about 90% of the cutting (and the noise and dust). The bonus is that the kind of places that do the cutting tend to carry good quality MDF that is probably better to work with than the stuff you'll get from B&Q. PM me if you want details.

My flat is full of dicks so they'll fit in quite well.

Gonna order from Chiltern Timber soon if you want to jump on it...

Very probably - What's the deal, shall I email you?

Are you out this way DBR? That's local to me, in fact just called them for a price on 17 sheets of 12mm plyboard.... £642 delivered, hmmm not great....
Edit: I do rate them though, even if there's never room to park a van.

Both of you using MDF for shelves - I'd use ply. Less saggy, less heavy, less horrible dust. Takes paint just as well - maybe better on the end grain once sanded.

This.
18mm ply has about the same sag resistance, it looks better, and it weighs less.

PLY ALL DAY.

Poplar ply is way lighter and normally cheaper than birch, if you can find it.

Yep, just shoot me an email with dims

I never get sheet material from them, just oak and walnut. Always very helpful, they deliver for a reasonable cost and they'll machine stuff to size. They've been very quick for delivery too.

Try Richard Russell for sheet material.

Cheers chaps. I had not really thought of ply to be honest. Agree it looks a lot nicer, and we have the option of leaving the end grain exposed then (possibly painting the shelf insides). I'll mention this to the carpenter and see what he says.

Thanks again

They're a long way from where I live, they just quoted £10 a sheet more.

What would be your method of fixing ply shelves to the sides of a bookshelf. The MDF shelves we have a just screwed straight through from the outside. I imagine that would split ply.

That's why ply is not as popular as mdf. I've used so much mdf I'm bored of it but it does what it was designed to do well. I quite like the dead acoustic quality it has.

I'm not sure ply gives as paintable an edge, if you sand mdf edges properly they become like the board face, very paintable. A lot of people don't do this and it's horrible. Until the recent architect/designer lead plywood renaissance ply was often edged with hardwood strips.

The method of joining ply without it splitting is rabbiting and gluing, you could add dowels if you think you need it. The face is clearly not going to finish as smoothly as mdf without some treatment.

There are other modern board materials you could use. Veneered mdf is very nice with the matching iron on edges and a little lacquer. Theres a new type which has a more plastic veneer which is very hardwearing, I thought it was real wood when I saw some cupboards made out of it. I don't know the name of it though.

It's worth investigating alternatives to painted mdf as most modern paints don't stand up well to use. If you don't move stuff around a lot on the shelves it's ok but high traffic and the paint gets damaged fast.

Richlite is an interesting board too.

Correct size of pilot drill and hole depth for your screw with accurate perpendicular drilling and you can screw into the edge of 12mm ply or thicker. 3.5mm screws for 12mm, 4.0mm for the rest.

So i need to take the tiles off on the wall side as the shower spray was getting the gaps as i hadn't regrouted.

I can't find the matching tiles so was just going to make it a feature wall probably in white bezeled tiles. I can get the old cracked ones off but cant be arsed to do the more skilled bit

TLDNR does anyone have the details of a tiler in South London

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