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Show us yer house and house-related meddlings

furluxor said:
I got a bout of anxiety just reading this. Hope there's an end in sight.
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There is but its just going to take a while and some money I haven't earned yet. Fence patched up in the meantime, alert set for back in stock on the raised beds then the mulch and other bits fill be sorted out. Logs can be sorted for when the firepits are ready and have been dried for a few months now. Can do smaller dump runs and maybe a council collection in the meantime for the big stuff once I have either completed or failed on the firepit conversion lol. Just need a dry day to dump everything out of the shed and deep clean it, stash all the nerf in the old one and then pick out the larger/pricier/easier to move bits and sell them as on. Problem is we are right by a series of huge fields so its not an issue that will simply go away, its all preventative with the rats. We did manage 9 years before they got in there tho, just have teenagers using the freezer in there at night now and being equally useful at closing the door it seems. Had thought maybe the dog would have helped keep them away but it may have kept the cats away instead who actually did this lol.
 
Looby said:
We’ve sat in the dining room a bit more than usual this weekend and decided to finally sort it out and decorate it. The floor is really dodgy but we probably won’t touch that, we have some really ugly pipework to box in and this monstrosity below.
It used to be a table that attached to the wall. We took the table off but can’t really remove what’s left as I suspect half the chimney breast will come with it. There’s possibly also asbestos behind that MDF so we don’t really want to touch it.
How the fuck am I going to cover that up in a way that doesn’t look horrendous? I really don’t want one of Mr Looby’s DIY jobs, he still hasn’t reassembled the table he dismantled and hacked apart several years ago.
Any ideas? I was thinking a radiator cover type thing but it goes to the floor and round the sides too.
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3 years after this we have a plan. 😄 Radiator covers don’t fit around the horrible wood and I’m desperate to hide it. We’re going to build a box around it with chipboard and then tongue and groove it with a small shelf on the top.

We’ve also removed the notice board above as per the photo the other day so need to fill and skim that. Then we’re just going to paint, we can’t be arsed with paper which was the first idea.

I also need to ask my landlady to tackle the floor as there are bits we’re scared to walk on and it’s only safe because of the horrible carpet over it.
Then we’ll look at other flooring.
 
Looby said:
3 years after this we have a plan. 😄 Radiator covers don’t fit around the horrible wood and I’m desperate to hide it. We’re going to build a box around it with chipboard and then tongue and groove it with a small shelf on the top.

We’ve also removed the notice board above as per the photo the other day so need to fill and skim that. Then we’re just going to paint, we can’t be arsed with paper which was the first idea.

I also need to ask my landlady to tackle the floor as there are bits we’re scared to walk on and it’s only safe because of the horrible carpet over it.
Then we’ll look at other flooring.
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Filling is super relaxing but I would urge you get Tetrion rather than Polyfilla as it is so much better, especially if you have a fair bit to do - it doesn't sag or slip so much. Also get the powder that you mix up with water rather than a premixed stuff. Mix it up so it is a similar consistency to making royal icing for a cake, it's easy. It goes off quick though (will start to be less workable after 15 to 20 mins) so make up a small batch and use it, then mix up some more. Use a small silicone bowl for it (a couple of quid from a DIY shop or catering supplier) because you can turn the bowl inside out and just pull off any dried bits from the last batch of filler.

Get a putty knife and a filler knife that is quite flexible and designed for the task (cost under £5 from Wickes or Screwfix etc.) as they will make your life so much easier, don't use a scraper which is much more rigid or kitchen utensils which might seem like a good idea at the time because you already have them, but will make it difficult to do and leave a poor finish. Then sand it when it has dried (you either plaster and skim the plaster when wet, or fill holes and uneven bits with filler and sand when the filler is dry- the option you go for will depend upon the amount of area to cover and in some cases the depth and size of any holes).

You mention a landlord though - if you are renting fill and decorate if you want to and are allowed to, but if anything needs actually replastering/skimming then I feel like that should be the landlord's remit/cost.
 
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Thanks, a friend owns the house and we pay a pretty low rent so do a lot of maintenance ourselves. We didn’t have to take the notice board down so I think it’s fair enough we sort it out. I’ll be asking them to sort the floor because that’s definitely not for us to do.
 
Bathroom ceiling under eaves has been dodgy and damp for a while and presumed guttering or loose tile
IMG_20230414_202943757.jpgIMG_20230414_203004020.jpgIMG_20230414_203014624.jpg
Had a look outside from ground at guttering and it is leaking/dripping near corner

Then noticed roof tiles near edge/corner are raised! :eek: hard to see how many from ground

Wondering how this happened, the flue for boiler had to have a hole in the roof and that was quite a few years ago so the people who did that could have caused it?

Any guesses/experience/ideas please?
What looked like a guttering/lose tile job could be a fair bit worse!
Thanks

E2A - And why does the brown pipe go up in the air higher than the guttering?
 

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ddraig said:
Bathroom ceiling under eaves has been dodgy and damp for a while and presumed guttering or loose tile
View attachment 370668View attachment 370669View attachment 370670
Had a look outside from ground at guttering and it is leaking/dripping near corner

Then noticed roof tiles near edge/corner are raised! :eek: hard to see how many from ground

Wondering how this happened, the flue for boiler had to have a hole in the roof and that was quite a few years ago so the people who did that could have caused it?

Any guesses/experience/ideas please?
What looked like a guttering/lose tile job could be a fair bit worse!
Thanks

E2A - And why does the brown pipe go up in the air higher than the guttering?
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Brown pipe is a soil pipe (brown is usually used underground as it's not UV stable) and should extend above window level, as it does, so smell from the sewer doesn't get in through open windows.

As for the tiles they probably need repointing. The cement can break down through frost.
 
Could do with seeing a side on view, that is, looking from the left, compared with those external views.

That corner with the lifted tiles visible, doesn't look to be in the right place, compared with where the damp appears to be internally, to make sense as the cause.
 
Finally using the power washer I got a while back

20230415_151433.jpg

20230415_160845.jpg

It does a good job.

The paint has gone to shit.


Also a bit frustrating as the pressure doesn't quite go all the way to the top of the bay.
It's done a lot of work but I'll need to figure out a solution for the rest.


Edited to add: found the do an extension for the wand. Ordered it .
 
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Wash All The Things!
I was the same when I first got my steam cleaner - have I bothered since though, have I fuck.
I'm not lazy, I'm energy efficient. :thumbs:
 
Epona said:
Wash All The Things!
I was the same when I first got my steam cleaner - have I bothered since though, have I fuck.
I'm not lazy, I'm energy efficient. :thumbs:
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Hehe. Did the same with my steam cleaner.

I want to get some filtered water before I break out my steam cleaner again.
 
Yay! Our new patio may be on its way this week - gsv has ordered about 2 tonnes of paving brick arriving midweek. Likeably sweary Bulgarian bloke we found for the job can turn up around then and start on it. Then gsv is going to make the new shed that's sitting in our basement in bits at the moment and stick it in one corner, and hope we can fit all out stuff in it, but if not we'll get one of those little top-opening storage boxes and stick it round the side for smaller garden stuff.
 
Not quite finished yet, still needs painting and loo-roll holder, towel rail radiator re-fitting once wall painted, soap dispenser and shower screen fitting. Too hot and shower screen doesn't sodding fit.

But have just totted up that in the nine years I have lived in this house I have had 4 baths, so this is fifteen grand very well spent...:rolleyes:
 
CosmikRoger said:
15k? Fuuuuck.
Looks good though dude.
How much just for the plombing? Or was it all done by the same entreprise ?
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All by the same people. Frau Bahn does the bookkeeping for a bathroom studio so gets everything at cost, which is ~35% of retail, which is nice, but it's still a lot of work. Had the downstairs bog done too for that. A BOGOF, if you will...
 
CosmikRoger said:
Looks good dude, pleased for you.
Did ours in the same style but with an italien shower instead of a bath.
Spent less but yours looks better.
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Cheers.
I never use it, shower in an ensuite, still late 90's style, not getting that done up for the foreseeable.
 
For some reason I wasn't sure about gsv's idea of brick paving but one it was done it was obvious it works really nicely with the wall, which gsv said didn't occur to him beforehand either!
 
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