Plasterboarding questions

[divuk83]

Quick question for those who know a bit more than me (most people). My uncle has bricked up a doorway that we no longer use (before and after pics below) and at the moment my plan is to plasterboard it then skim it (once the wall has fully dried out in a week or so).

1. Do I need to PVA the wall first?
2. I was planning on using 1 large board however it won't go in the car, does anyone know of anyone the delivers cheaply as Wickes are £16 delivery for a £7 board?
3. Any general tips would be appreciated!

Cheers

Dave

 

[divuk83]

Thanks all. We did think about a window however as we plan on initially using it a cupboard/storeage area it seemed a bit daft to have all our junk on display as you come up the driveway! We are considering a sunlight tunnel at a later date but it will be fine for now. It should be much warmer without the drafty old door anyway. Door is the hall door on the plan.

You reckon I can get away without boarding it? Sounds good to me, I thought it would be easier to skim boards than blocks and it might look neater? But it will save me a few quid so that sounds like a better plan.

Cheers

Dave

 

[divuk83]

WTF!?
So if something catches fire, like say the oven, hob, microwave, dishwasher, toaster, washing machine, fridge or dryer. ALL OF WHICH ARE IN THE KITCHEN!!!
Then your only escape route, is through the nicely burning inferno (assuming you don't all die of smoke first as everything is on one floor). I hope you have broken at least one planning reg here or they aren't worth the paper.

Seriously, sit down and work out your escape route from every room.


OK back to question.
I hope that's a double skinned wall he's built, but even so it's going to get a bit cool, I'd batten it out and put some Kingspan behind it.
If he's put insulation in the wall already then just brown and skim it.

Wall is double skinned brick and block with some Knauf cavity insulation and is tethered to the exisiting wall with numerous steel brackets (I think we used 12?). Should be much warmer than the drafty old wooden door fitted with non safety glass. Glad to be rid of it.

Don't own a microwave, toaster, dishwasher or a dryer. But if there is a fire it's posible to get out of the house through the back bedroom window or just smash any other of the large windows (I have a big maglite that lives in the house purchased with that in mind). When the house was re-wired last year it also had manins powered smoke and heat detectors fitted. There are hundreds of near identical bungalows near us and ours was one of the few left that had 2 doors. Most have either used the space to create stairs to a loft conversion, made bedroom 2 bigger or made the bathroom bigger. Our previous rented house only had 1 entrance/exit and no windows you could climb out and that was all above board.

The more a read/google on this the more conflicting advice I find! Do PVA, don't PVA, skim plasterboard, plasterboard doesn't need to be skimmed, don't plasterboard just plaster! All very confusing.

Cheers

Dave

 

[divuk83]

The alarms have a battery backup as well so need need to fit even more! The Kitchen has a heat alarm and the hall has a smoke one.

I can count the number of times we opened that door in the last 2 years on one hand. As I said, it's not safety glass, it lets in a hell of a draft in not to mention water and damp get in round it. As well as that all the post gets put through that letter box which then invloves climbing over hoovers and shoes to get to it. People always knock on the door too, despite there being a much newer upvc door with a doorbell a few steps passed it! I think we might miss the light it provides hence posibly fitting a sunlight tunnel, but that's the only thing we will miss!

I think either just plaster or just boards is the way to go, it's only going to have shelves or coat hooks on it anyway!

Cheers

Dave

 

[divuk83]

Our bedroom window is plenty big enough to climb out of so no need to break that. Easily meets minimum size as per B1. I'm sure the noise from the alarms would give us ample time to get out. Not having locks on windows worries me, having been broken into before xmas I would prefer to have locks.
BTW. Maglite is a big D cell with an xcapecap. http://www.xcapecap.com/

What kind of fire extinguisher would you go for? Not powder as that would be more dangerous than not having one as filling the area I'm trying to escape with powder would be just as dangerous as the smoke! CO2 needs to be maintained regularly and water is not that useful. It's just a bungalow with 2 bedrooms not a huge HMO!

Dave

 

[divuk83]

AFFF ones are bit specialist for home use, plus we don't have a chip pan/deep fat fryer! Powder ones are great for all fires but make a huge mess and are not really for use in confined spaces/indoors. Even using them outdoors makes a hell of a mess! For home use CO2 is the best bet as I think most likely option is an electrical fire.

How on earth did this thread get on to this when it started about plastering......

Dave