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Show us yer house and house-related meddlings

I haven't posted on this much recently but we're still doing stuff.

When we moved in the bathroom was a split toilet & shower/bath.

1596901521929.png 1596901516262.png

That's a wall dividing them. When we moved the bathroom to a different room as detailed previously on this thread:



we got them to smash up this wall, get rid of the old fittings, go back to brick and replaster, but was it. That was mid-2018 and we hadn't touched it since.

That recently got a new window, painted and carpeted and serves as an office now:

1596902201572.png

The other thing that's going on is our bedroom is being gutted. Unlike the lounge, there's no skimming the plaster up here, it's another back-to-brick job.

1596902328858.png
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1596902404217.png

Also my fireplace work is pretty much done:

1596902667910.png 1596902542499.png

I'm on about my fifth trip to the tip so far and also managed to find a new home for a set of wardrobes. No skip required as yet though.

Aside from the basics of replastering this room, other things that are due to happen this year, mostly with trades rather than DIY:

  • fix the leaking leading on the roof at the front
  • repoint the whole front of the house
  • get some handdrawn tiles made for the fireplace
  • get a cast iron radiator for the bedroom
  • parquet floor for the bedroom
  • fitted wardrobes
 
Our next question is 'do we tackle the front room or daughter's bedroom next'

At least one would be good to do this year while we're not likely to have an au pair in situ, so need less space, and daughter could potentially stay in au pair's room while hers is done. Her room needs a complete re-do at once - it has massive, heavy built in wardrobes that we need to lose at least 60% of, so those have to come out, carpet replaced, walls redone. We know that the previous owner built things in super rigidly, so we're likely to lose chunks of plaster while taking the wardrobe out. I'd like to get a carpenter in to assess whether we could use the carcase of part of it (given it's rock solid) to one side of the chimney breast, and just put new doors on it and repaint the frame - this would save the inevitable replastering, and the repainting, of that stretch of wall. The rest needs to go as it actually blocks light from the window.
 
Gsv has completed stage 1 of unfucking the front garden - the whole thing has been a patch of dirt for four years, with a concrete plinth of the bins. He is determined to turf it, which I'm not sure is wise, but at any rate, he didn't want to roll bins over it so he had the idea of putting down sleepers to make a 'bin path' only they weren't quite wide enough, so I suggested filling a gap with shale/stones, so that's what he's done and it does look quite good. He'll be getting the turf down after we get back from hols (and after a lot of work on the earth)20200809_113919.jpg
 
Is there any good reason why you're supposed to paint woodwork last?

About to paint daughter's room. There's a picture rail/window frame/skirts in wood. The picture rail sticks out maybe 2cm from the wall. It would be much easier to tape the wall, paint the rail then take the tape off and paint the walls. Surely it's much easier to cut in to the rail rather than trying to paint the rail and cut into the wall?

A couple of websites say you can do the woodwork first, 90% of them say start at the top and work down, do the woodwork last.
 
Sweet FA said:
Is there any good reason why you're supposed to paint woodwork last?

About to paint daughter's room. There's a picture rail/window frame/skirts in wood. The picture rail sticks out maybe 2cm from the wall. It would be much easier to tape the wall, paint the rail then take the tape off and paint the walls. Surely it's much easier to cut in to the rail rather than trying to paint the rail and cut into the wall?

A couple of websites say you can do the woodwork first, 90% of them say start at the top and work down, do the woodwork last.
Click to expand...
It's easier to paint over emulsion with gloss than the other way round. So I'd slap the emulsion on the walls, not worrying too much about getting it on the rail, then tape the wall and do the rail. I don't think it matters much though.
 
Boudicca said:
It's easier to paint over emulsion with gloss than the other way round. So I'd slap the emulsion on the walls, not worrying too much about getting it on the rail, then tape the wall and do the rail. I don't think it matters much though.
Click to expand...
OK thanks :) Will tape not take off the fresh paint (obvs I'll wait til it's dry but wondered if the tape might take off the paint when I remove it)?
 
It mostly depends what kind of tape you use IMO. Good masking tape, applied carefully and not left too long is a very different case to any old tape left to bond to the surface.
 
mauvais said:
It mostly depends what kind of tape you use IMO. Good masking tape, applied carefully and not left too long is a very different case to any old tape left to bond to the surface.
Click to expand...
I used to get into all sorts of bother with cheap masking tape. Then I found Frogtape.

FrogTape Multi-Surface Green Masking Tape - 36mm x 41m | Wickes.co.uk

FrogTape Multi-Surface Green Masking Tape - 36mm x 41m
www.wickes.co.uk www.wickes.co.uk
(seriously good in my experience)
You do the wood last because its a small area you going to paint carefully anyway. Particularly if you are painting upstairs and doing skirting boards with carpets. Just chuck the emulsion on, then paint tidily with your matt wood paint. No real need for tape, and as Boudicca said, its easy to paint over emulsion, which will probably dry quicker than your matt wood paint would, if you did it the other way round.
 
mx wcfc said:
I used to get into all sorts of bother with cheap masking tape. Then I found Frogtape.
Click to expand...
Whatever the blue 3M stuff that car detailers use is good too, I have some but I've forgotten the details. But even then you don't want to leave it on too long on a hot day or whatever.

Oh and tape can degrade on the roll too, turns into a sticky mess.
 
Last edited:
Sweet FA said:
Is there any good reason why you're supposed to paint woodwork last?

About to paint daughter's room. There's a picture rail/window frame/skirts in wood. The picture rail sticks out maybe 2cm from the wall. It would be much easier to tape the wall, paint the rail then take the tape off and paint the walls. Surely it's much easier to cut in to the rail rather than trying to paint the rail and cut into the wall?

A couple of websites say you can do the woodwork first, 90% of them say start at the top and work down, do the woodwork last.
Click to expand...
Top down only works if you only have skirting board. I'd do the woodwork first and let it dry well. Emulsion will then wipe off the gloss easily with a damp cloth.
 
Painting done, thanks for the replies. Cutting in looks OK mostly if you squint a bit. Did it the trad way in the end - walls then woodwork. I'm still 50/50.

Questions about shelves:

The wooden shelves on the floor in the photo are ages old from Ikea - the Ekby Jarpen. They've been in the loft for 12 years and they weigh a fucking ton but they're OK. I can put a shelf up but generally I'm shit at DIY. They're going above her bed; what type/size screws/rawl plugs etc do I need? danski?

Also the other shelves have got the residue of packing tape on them and are a but marked. Is there a simple solution for getting it off?

Ta.


117877720_3850512684963388_4627556393748222328_n.jpg

Yes, the picture rail looks weird - the previous owner tore out his fitted wardrobes when he left. Boxes get piled on the wardrobe so it's usually hidden.
 
Sweet FA said:
Painting done, thanks for the replies. Cutting in looks OK mostly if you squint a bit. Did it the trad way in the end - walls then woodwork. I'm still 50/50.

Questions about shelves:

The wooden shelves on the floor in the photo are ages old from Ikea - the Ekby Jarpen. They've been in the loft for 12 years and they weigh a fucking ton but they're OK. I can put a shelf up but generally I'm shit at DIY. They're going above her bed; what type/size screws/rawl plugs etc do I need? danski?

Also the other shelves have got the residue of packing tape on them and are a but marked. Is there a simple solution for getting it off?

Ta.


View attachment 227141

Yes, the picture rail looks weird - the previous owner tore out his fitted wardrobes when he left. Boxes get piled on the wardrobe so it's usually hidden.
Click to expand...
Ooh, no pressure :D

I'm making an assumption it's older than 30 years so should be plaster on block.

If they weigh a ton the most important thing is whether the wall is sound enough to take the fixings. You can get an idea by tapping and seeing if it sounds hollow/rattly but you won't really know until you drill it. Any holes can be easily filled and repainted. You might be unlucky and hit a mortar course that doesn't offer the strength you need but you'll know that as the screws won't seem to grip.

Without feeling the weight of the shelves and knowing what the wall's like ie. depth of plaster etc it's kind tricky but I'd probably try drilling 7mm. holes (carefully!) use brown plugs (tapped into the wall beyond the plaster so the plaster doesn't crack when the screw expands it) and 3" x 10 screws. If the plaster is deep then maybe 4".

Jesus, I hope that makes sense. I'm shit at getting this stuff across. Much easier to do it!
 
Talking of shelves, we spent a year not knowing what shelves to get for our kitchen before the kabbess had the brainwave of getting the guy that had made our concrete worktop to make concrete shelves.

We got him to put holes in the back of the shelves so they could be attached floating but also got brackets that would be effectively non-functioning for aesthetics. They were a nightmare to put up even still, which made me glad I got alone proper expertise to do it — it still took two guys three hours to do it. We used 250mm lengths of 10mm self-threaded rods to secure them, with cement into the wall and silicon for the shelves so they can theoretically be removed if necessary. The holes in the back were not uniform, however, so making the shelves level was a tough job.

The result does work well, so it was worth it
8165559A-0529-446A-BD58-8BCC33D81A84.jpeg4C429EFE-DBE9-4311-AE95-1AC5A0F3CCA7.jpegF18B13A4-F19C-4626-A4A4-459AF033C7A3.jpegCAFB7DF9-0D83-44C0-B0BC-E0C6DE240EE6.jpegD7066C85-BB40-4C7A-AC9D-5407C8368B8F.jpeg
 
Last edited:
I'm going to have to take major issue with the fake brackets i'm afraid. Especially as they aren't even on the bottom ones. I'm actually feeling quite unsettled by these images.
 
kabbes said:
Talking of shelves, we spent a year not knowing what shelves to get for our kitchen before the kabbess has the brainwave off getting the guy that has made our concrete worktop to make concrete shelves.
Click to expand...
After watching too many youtube videos I'm considering making a concrete worktop. But I'll inevitably fuck it up. If it's not too gauche a question, what did it cost to get someone to make yours?
 
danski said:
I'm making an assumption it's older than 30 years so should be plaster on block.

If they weigh a ton the most important thing is whether the wall is sound enough to take the fixings. You can get an idea by tapping and seeing if it sounds hollow/rattly but you won't really know until you drill it. Any holes can be easily filled and repainted. You might be unlucky and hit a mortar course that doesn't offer the strength you need but you'll know that as the screws won't seem to grip.

Without feeling the weight of the shelves and knowing what the wall's like ie. depth of plaster etc it's kind tricky but I'd probably try drilling 7mm. holes (carefully!) use brown plugs (tapped into the wall beyond the plaster so the plaster doesn't crack when the screw expands it) and 3" x 10 screws. If the plaster is deep then maybe 4".

Jesus, I hope that makes sense. I'm shit at getting this stuff across. Much easier to do it!
Click to expand...
Yes very clear - thanks.

Er. Except I don't really get the whole holes/screw thing. (I know, I know; my dad was shit at this stuff too. I had to go to A+E with concussion when I was 9 after shelves he put up collapsed when I was demonstrating how strong they were.)

So you basically drill a really shallow hole (7mm deep), bang the plugs in, then screw in those really long screws? Just using a screwdriver or some cunning drill thing like the big boys have got?

eta you mean use a 7mm drill bit don't you? :facepalm:


Screws like this? Quicksilver PZ Double-Countersunk Woodscrews 10 x 4

I'm going to get a new drill :cool:

Why, in amongst all the old screws and plugs, don't I have the right size and have to buy 200 more of something else when I only really want 4?

eta the screws don't fit in the shelf anyway





danski said:
Ooh, no pressure :D
Click to expand...
Don't worry it's already on the list of things I worry about late at night. Along with 'what if she sleepwalks and falls down the stairs?' and 'was that her snoring or gasping for breath?'
 
Last edited:
kabbes said:
Talking of shelves, we spent a year not knowing what shelves to get for our kitchen before the kabbess has the brainwave off getting the guy that has made our concrete worktop to make concrete shelves.

We got him to put holes in the back of the shelves so they could be attached floating but also got brackets that would be effectively non-functioning for aesthetics. They were a nightmare to put up even still, which made me glad I got alone proper expertise to do it — it still took two guys three hours to do it. We used 250mm lengths of 10mm self-threaded rods to secure them, with cement into the wall and silicon for the shelves so they can theoretically be removed if necessary. The holes in the back were not uniform, however, so making the shelves level was a tough job.

The result does work well, so it was worth it
View attachment 227209View attachment 227210View attachment 227215View attachment 227216View attachment 227217
Click to expand...
What coffee machine is that?
 
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