Basic DIY questions?
- Thread starter UnderOpenSky
- Start date
Epona
Radar 2006-2020, Sonic 2006-2022, Jakey 2007-2024
Smear filler on and spread it over the area with cracks using a flexible putty/filling knife.
Wait for it to dry, then sand smooth.
Any tape would look worse than cracks, cos the edges of the tape would stand proud of the plaster and you'd see the edges under the paint.
Using filler and sanding you get a completely smooth surface
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
Boudicca
Seaside Queen
Agree with above, tape won't work. Plasterers use it to join plasterboards, but then they slap a layer of plaster on top.
You can buy 'Fine Surface Filler'but try and find the own brand ones not Polyfilla.
If you really can't bear sanding, you could try decorator's caulk and wipe of the excess. It might be enough with paint over the top, but there is a risk of it still showing.
Fez909
toilet expert
I bought a new house in the summer and it requires a lot of work. The kitchen in particular is old, and needs a full re-model, which we're planning to have done in February-ish. The problem is it's fucking freezing already, and it's only going to get colder, so I need a temporary insulation solution.
There's a sort of shed/boiler room which would normally be on the outside of the house, but here it's inside the kitchen. Hard to explain, so I'll get some pics, but I have never seen anything like it before.
It's got its own roof, which has a broken tile and has been sort-of blocked off with a single pane of glass. From the kitchen, it looks like a door leading to another room, and I suppose it kind of is. But there's no door, only a curtain, which does a surprisingly good job of keeping what little heat there is in the kitchen.
I need some sort of solution to block up or insulate it somehow from the rest of the kitchen. I'm willing to spend a little bit of money, but seeing as it's only for a few months, I won't be spending a lot.
What are my options? Fibre-glass/wool, taped to the roof of the boiler room? A better fitting door, to replace the curtain? My girlfriend suggested just stuffing loads of cardboard in there, and we do have lots of it after the move, so it's the cheapest and most accessible option, but I don't know how effective it would be.
If I go the fibre glass route, is that something that's safe to have so close to the kitchen? I have vague memories of it being dangerous to work with and needing masks etc.
No rain get in through the roof of the boiler room, so that's good, but I'm fairly sure there's lots of air gaps. I read about using a smoke/leak detector - is it worth getting one of those or waste of money given the half-arsed job I'll probably do and the short time scales we'll need it for?
Pics to follow.
Any advice much appreciated!
There's a sort of shed/boiler room which would normally be on the outside of the house, but here it's inside the kitchen. Hard to explain, so I'll get some pics, but I have never seen anything like it before.
It's got its own roof, which has a broken tile and has been sort-of blocked off with a single pane of glass. From the kitchen, it looks like a door leading to another room, and I suppose it kind of is. But there's no door, only a curtain, which does a surprisingly good job of keeping what little heat there is in the kitchen.
I need some sort of solution to block up or insulate it somehow from the rest of the kitchen. I'm willing to spend a little bit of money, but seeing as it's only for a few months, I won't be spending a lot.
What are my options? Fibre-glass/wool, taped to the roof of the boiler room? A better fitting door, to replace the curtain? My girlfriend suggested just stuffing loads of cardboard in there, and we do have lots of it after the move, so it's the cheapest and most accessible option, but I don't know how effective it would be.
If I go the fibre glass route, is that something that's safe to have so close to the kitchen? I have vague memories of it being dangerous to work with and needing masks etc.
No rain get in through the roof of the boiler room, so that's good, but I'm fairly sure there's lots of air gaps. I read about using a smoke/leak detector - is it worth getting one of those or waste of money given the half-arsed job I'll probably do and the short time scales we'll need it for?
Pics to follow.
Any advice much appreciated!
Last edited:
Fez909
toilet expert
So, it's the bit marked "store" here on the plans:
Looks like this in real life:
Curtain entrance:
Inside:
And the view above the boiler, to the roof:
So, you can see the pane of glass that's been installed as a sort of barrier, and then the broken roof beyond it. The roof is tiled, but has missing tiles - not sure if they're missing because it's broken or because there was originally an exhaust vent of some sort.
I don't feel any wind, or see the curtain move, when it's stormy, so perhaps it is air tight, and it's just cold because it's a single pane of glass? Obviously I'd rather not remove that glass, so perhaps I can get into the space from the outside, in through the roof. Could I just stuff this gap with some sort of insultating fibre?
Hmmm.
Looks like this in real life:
Curtain entrance:
Inside:
And the view above the boiler, to the roof:
So, you can see the pane of glass that's been installed as a sort of barrier, and then the broken roof beyond it. The roof is tiled, but has missing tiles - not sure if they're missing because it's broken or because there was originally an exhaust vent of some sort.
I don't feel any wind, or see the curtain move, when it's stormy, so perhaps it is air tight, and it's just cold because it's a single pane of glass? Obviously I'd rather not remove that glass, so perhaps I can get into the space from the outside, in through the roof. Could I just stuff this gap with some sort of insultating fibre?
Hmmm.
Fez909
toilet expert
No. They're old and cheap looking, but double glazed.
Fez909
toilet expert
If that's the stuff I'm thinking of, that sounds like something I could do. It's pretty easy to work with, isn't it? I did think about that stuff, but wasn't sure how insulating it would be.
I guess anything is better than what's there now (nothing).
Can you cut this stuff with a regular saw? And is it OK going around the pipes of the boiler?
If it's only for a few months I would suggest insulating both the walls between the kitchen and the boiler room and putting in a door with draught excluders. Minimum 50mm of Celotex or similar. It can be cut with a standard handsaw and you can easily scoop out sections around pipes with a cutting knife. Stick it to the walls with adhesive foam and fill any gaps with same. Effectively you are creating a cold shed in the same way you would a cold loft. Insulating the shed would be a bigger job and would need professional advice as changes to dew points, etc can cause condensation issues. Just let it get cold and stay breathable in there.
Fez909
toilet expert
Thank you, this sounds like a good plan and not too difficult
teuchter
je suis teuchter
As an alternative to what ignatious suggests (which sounds like quite a lot of work for a couple of months' benefit) could you cut a sheet of insulation board that's basically the same shape & size as the strange glass ceiling panel, and fit it immediately under that panel?
That would not be a good long term solution due to condensation issues but you would get away with it temporarily and might be less work.
That would not be a good long term solution due to condensation issues but you would get away with it temporarily and might be less work.
Saul Goodman
It's all good, man
That "glass" looks suspiciously like acrylic sheet. If it is, it's a already a good insulator.
teuchter
je suis teuchter
It's only "good" compared with glass.
If it's 10mm thick it'll conduct about 100 times as much heat away as a 100mm thick piece of celotex type insulation board.
Saul Goodman
It's all good, man
Which is what I was comparing it to.
He’s still going to have 2 outside walls and the floor (all probably uninsulated) so the room will be cold and, by the looks of it, damp.
It’s not much effort to cut and stick a couple of insulation boards to the wall and the pipes above the mystery panel will still be visible and accessible.
Fez909
toilet expert
Right, I've had a proper look today in the daylight and figured out the issue, and it's a bit more complicated.
So here's the daylight shot of the panel. I tapped it with some scissors and it definitely sounds like plastic rather than glass.
It's a nice shape, so would be easier to do what you said teuchter. However, looking back towards the kitchen, I noticed this:
The wood on this side leads to this storage above the door to the boiler room:
So whatever insulating effect the perspex is having is being completed undone by the gaps in the wood into that cupboard. (that door has been ajar for a few weeks, annoyingly. I've just reordered the crap inside and closed it
)
Inside the storage:
I think the perspex sheet is about halfway up the back wall of this.
The cupboard felt way colder than the boiler room below it, but I haven't got anything to measure with to rule out confirmation bias. But, at the vest least, if I was to cover the back and top of this cupboard with something, that should have an effect straight away for very little hassle.
I touched all the walls in the boiler room, and unsurprisingly, the two outside walls were much colder than the one between it and the kitchen. I know this house has cavity wall insulation, but not sure if those outside walls have cavities, given the weird construction. It's also the only place in the house with a concrete, rather than suspended, floor, so I suspect it might not have cavities, and therefore isn't insulated.
I don't have a ladder high enough to get a proper look from outside, but here's what the broken roof of the boiler room looks like from ground level:
So here's the daylight shot of the panel. I tapped it with some scissors and it definitely sounds like plastic rather than glass.
It's a nice shape, so would be easier to do what you said teuchter. However, looking back towards the kitchen, I noticed this:
The wood on this side leads to this storage above the door to the boiler room:
So whatever insulating effect the perspex is having is being completed undone by the gaps in the wood into that cupboard. (that door has been ajar for a few weeks, annoyingly. I've just reordered the crap inside and closed it
)Inside the storage:
I think the perspex sheet is about halfway up the back wall of this.
The cupboard felt way colder than the boiler room below it, but I haven't got anything to measure with to rule out confirmation bias. But, at the vest least, if I was to cover the back and top of this cupboard with something, that should have an effect straight away for very little hassle.
I touched all the walls in the boiler room, and unsurprisingly, the two outside walls were much colder than the one between it and the kitchen. I know this house has cavity wall insulation, but not sure if those outside walls have cavities, given the weird construction. It's also the only place in the house with a concrete, rather than suspended, floor, so I suspect it might not have cavities, and therefore isn't insulated.
I don't have a ladder high enough to get a proper look from outside, but here's what the broken roof of the boiler room looks like from ground level:
Attachments
Fez909
toilet expert
Surprisingly, it's not damp. The dark floor looks wet, but it's some kind of stain.
teuchter
je suis teuchter
I was assuming we were looking at an old house with solid walls. If it's cavity wall with insulation then that's significant for what your best strategy is.
The floorplan you posted above (if it's accurate) suggests that it's cavity wall all around inlcuding the "shed" bit. So does the brick bonding in the photo from outside. You can probably double check this by checking the thickness of the wall where the window just to the left of your curtained doorway is.
The floorplan you posted above (if it's accurate) suggests that it's cavity wall all around inlcuding the "shed" bit. So does the brick bonding in the photo from outside. You can probably double check this by checking the thickness of the wall where the window just to the left of your curtained doorway is.
teuchter
je suis teuchter
You said it's "already a good insulator". It's not. It will be performing slightly less terribly than a sheet of glass, which would be providing virtually no insulation other than creating a barrier to the physical movement of air.
Fez909
toilet expert
The floorplan should be accurate, as it was done by an architect. The house is a 1930s semi, so not too old. Feels like the shed bit is an addition, but every house in the street has one, so maybe not.
What did you notice in the brick bonding that suggests cavity walls?
teuchter
je suis teuchter
It's stretcher bond like top left here. That's what you usually see with a cavity wall because the outer leaf of brickwork is just one brick thick. In a solid wall you usually see the heads of bricks that are rotated to run through the thickness of the wall, like eg flemish bond in that diagram.
If it's 1930s the cavity insulation might not be all that much/effective.
If it's 1930s the cavity insulation might not be all that much/effective.
teuchter
je suis teuchter
If the walls are insulated cavity then I'd argue that your biggest weak point is at the ceiling level where the perspex is, plus as you say, if there is cold "loft space" on the other side of those wooden boards. That volume above the perspex and under the tiled roof, which will basically be at outdoors temperature, that's the bit you want to insulate your kitchen from. You can effectively do that by insulating the walls between kitchen & boiler cupboard but it seems to me that you're then having to insulate a larger area plus having to install a whole draught-sealed door.
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
Not sure where to put this, but didn't seem worth a thread of it's own. Facebook advertising me was telling me that changing the shower head can improve the perceived pressure of the water. Now our shower isn't bad, but more is always better right? Has anyone done this and did you notice a difference. It seems you can get more generic ones from Amazon fairly cheaply...
teuchter
je suis teuchter
Well if you imagine a shower head with one small hole that shoots a single tiny high velocity jet of water at you, that may increase the "perceived pressure" but it also might not be what you want. Lots of shower heads have a rotating head so you can choose between various options; you pretty much trade off wideness of spread vs pressure.
Boudicca
Seaside Queen
Yes, the shower on my top floor in my last house had low pressure so I did buy a head that was supposed to help. I can't see it is going to help much if the pressure is ok already. I put a pump in in the end and I also put one in my new house. Treat yourself to a pump.
Saul Goodman
It's all good, man
There will be a point at which the the pressure of the water starts to drop due to the volume of the holes in the shower head being greater than the volume of water the shower can provide. Stopping just short of this would be the ideal size, IMO.
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