What "man jobs" have you done today?

Hellish few days but I've managed to...
1. Fully insulate the sub floor (100mm PIR + foam where required)
2. Run 9 CAT6 and 5 aerials (some are prep for when I do the living room)
3. Try and fail miserably to save the old boards (lost like a full day doing this...)
4. Got the Plumber out to disconnect the old gas fire main (we thought it was blocked off already)
5. Order and fit 22mm boards:

8krVVC3.jpg

I've glued the tongues and put a portion of the screws in. When I removed the old hearth I was surprised to see the joists finish quite early so the left hand board isn't glued yet. I need to make up the floor by a fraction.

Next job... strip and plaster the chases. Any recommendation for what plaster/primer to use? Where it is plastered directly to brick it is coming off in sheets.........
 
Check out Plastering For Beginners (YouTube or he's got a website). I've learned a lot of theory but not put much to use yet. This weekend my brother in law is coming and we'll plaster the living room...

- Remove any loose material and brush down

- Coat of watered down PVA so the bonding plaster (filler/build layer) binds properly and doesn't dry too quick. Dilute with anything from 2 to 5 parts water.

- Fill bigger holes with bonding plaster and smooth out to leave a few mm below the wall surface for skimming

- Another coat of dilute PVA so the finishing plaster also adheres nicely and doesn't have the moisture sucked out. Basically plaster sticks by the moisture being sucked into the substrate it's on.

- Get you some multifinish plaster and slap that on, smooth it out along the wall for a nice flat finish. Can do 2 coats if you like.

You can also use easifill to do the filling and finishing at once if you like. Depends how much area you need to cover.
 
LuckyBenski said:
- Another coat of dilute PVA so the finishing plaster also adheres nicely and doesn't have the moisture sucked out. Basically plaster sticks by the moisture being sucked into the substrate it's on.
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I've kinda learned to plaster watching his videos as well, a good tip was to give the wall a brush with only water after both dilute PVA coats, if the water runs down, the wall is ready!
Controlling the suction was the bit I struggled with for my first couple of walls. It's no fun being one step behind the drying plaster!
 
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R.O.S.S.I said:
For anyone interested in some pics of this.

This is the garde, after my last stint of work. Sleepers installed to give garden a new edge, some weed membrane at the back and up the side which we will eventually fill with slate chippings. Main lawn area has been rotovated and i've tried to level it by hand, with a rake not fit for purpose - after this the level of soil gradually sunk as it was compacted by rain and what not.


Next up, over 40 x 4.8m battens painted and ready to go. You can see where I've put the new fence posts at the back.


Said battens now fixed into 2 sections of fencing.
KtPkCFd.jpg

Next up was shifting in 3 tonne of top soil which the BIL brought over.
V0tOHpc.jpg

About a week later another 1.5-2 tonne went on and was flattened with 25sqm of turf laid on top of it (again by the BIL, thankfully!)


I ran out of battens to complete the back fence but that's been finished now too so its all level (just need to chop that one fence post down to size). I've also covered all of the joins with arris rail vertically which makes it look a lot tidier.
The wire fencing is still up to keep the dog off there for at least another month until the lawn has bedded in. Bought a little sprinkler for the lawn but thankfully we've had some decent down pours.

It's finally starting to feel like a garden!
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That's what I call a hard slog - I like the fence - good idea with roof lath's ? - Did you by chance put any verticals up the back just to stop them twisting/bowing over time. Also dead easy to maintain.

I used 4x1 treated rough sawn to make my panels but made them like 5 bar gates with one cross piece top left to bottom right. They just slot in to the concrete posts.

Did that because we have field at bottom of garden
 
DXP55 said:
That's what I call a hard slog - I like the fence - good idea with roof lath's ? - Did you by chance put any verticals up the back just to stop them twisting/bowing over time. Also dead easy to maintain.

I used 4x1 treated rough sawn to make my panels but made them like 5 bar gates with one cross piece top left to bottom right. They just slot in to the concrete posts.

Did that because we have field at bottom of garden
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Yeh they were 38mm x 19mm treated roof timbers. Quite cheap from Selco, best price around for me.

Haven't put any verticals in the middles but that is a good idea on reflection, some of them were slightly bowed but nothing major. I was going to just fit a tiny spacer in the ones that were a bit bowed to even them back out which you will only be able to see if you go up close to them. I just need to whip the top off the last post but im going to get my multi tool out for that as its the most precariously bedded in post so don't want to hack and disturb it with my hand saw:eek:

The hardest bit to be honest was setting the posts tbh as I had to get them as close to the back of the wall as possible as technically the wall is the boundary line. Behind that stone wall is very steep sloping earth basically so it was a task trying to dig through it and loads of other rubble and big roots to get something of decent size to spike them into and then cement around. Not the best fixing for them but should hopefully outlast us in this house :cry:
 
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Finished some painting in the kitchen. Later I will do the remaining trim pieces for the doors. In a few days I will be refinishing the kitchen countertops, fitting two sinks, and checking my the brand new microwave isn't sucking the hot steam steam away.
 
Been painting the hall, stairs and landing this week. After we had a plasterer in to skim over the artex walls, what where there before. To say I don’t want decorate another room for awhile is an understatement. After two misting coats and three coats of our choosen colour. Still need to finish painting the skirting boards what I will be doing tomorrow.
 
200sols said:
Yes @dLockers use easyfill that way when you plaster it perfectly make a hideous mess of it you can sand it back to a perfect finish.
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You cursed me with this post tbh. I had planned to get plastering today but decided to see how easy it was to make a wall that looked like this:

c7dJKak.jpg

Look like this:

FrZ4epB.jpg
Edit: the old fireplace has been blocked up luckily but not plastered over particularly well. So I need to skim that lower half....RIP

Hands are busted. I'm going bankrupt from sanding pads. Milwaukee 4ah batteries don't charge quick enough, so I've gone really old school and found my 16 y/o detail sander with some old 40 grit I had knocking around.

I've no idea what the yellow crap is. It sands off leaving perfect plaster though, so my brain is confuddled with "this is a ball ache" countered with "but my god its easier/cheaper than skimming the whole room"...

I'm 50% through, then I can sand. MAYBE I'll get to emulsion'ing the ceiling down to the picture rail.
 
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Also, check out my bodge period features!

7eLTHir.jpg

Not sure what to do with this. I'll see how I get on with a skim... its above picture rail so it'll be white.

Replastering the whole house will happen in 10-15 years so not looking for perfection here :D
 
I fixed our old Focus again treating it to a new alternator and wiper mechanism. Figured it would be good to have working wipers in the UK. Car just won't die. Hopefully the next thing to break is something big enough to write it off so I can get rid of the selfish ****. ;)
 
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Cadder said:
Looking for bright ideas on a job I'm looking to start soon. We've got carpet over MDF stairs. We have been wanting to get rid of the carpet for some time now and stick to hard flooring/stairs. I am struggling to come up with ideas to make the MDF look presentable.

Do painted MDF stairs look OK? Such as contrasting colours on tread and risers.

After that it's figuring out what to do at the bottom where the stairs meet laminate, as well as the final step on to the landing if we lay laminate there too.
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How big is your budget?

www.oakstoredirect.com

Solid Oak Stair Tread & Riser Cladding Kit 22x270x1000mm

Solid white oak stair tread & riser cladding kit 1000mm with bullnose edge manufactured from prime solid American white oak. Oak cladding kits can be used as a replacement for existing stair tread cladding and over-laid using recommended adhesives.
www.oakstoredirect.com www.oakstoredirect.com
 
jaybee said:
I fixed our old Focus again treating it to a new alternator and wiper mechanism. Figured it would be good to have working wipers in the UK. Car just won't die. Hopefully the next thing to break is something big enough to write it off so I can get rid of the selfish ****. ;)
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MK1? Modern classic! Keep it mint and it'll appreciate :)
 
JRJ said:
How big is your budget?

www.oakstoredirect.com

Solid Oak Stair Tread & Riser Cladding Kit 22x270x1000mm

Solid white oak stair tread & riser cladding kit 1000mm with bullnose edge manufactured from prime solid American white oak. Oak cladding kits can be used as a replacement for existing stair tread cladding and over-laid using recommended adhesives.
www.oakstoredirect.com www.oakstoredirect.com
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Looks good but that's a bit steep for us. Just want to get the house in order to sell. The carpet on the stairs is nearly 9 years old so needs something doing, but just enough to make it presentable.
 
I think ours was done in the 90s but its concerning that they seem to have plastered over the wires with no use of conduits, at least near the light switches. I can see two spots where the grey sheath wire is slightly exposed above the plaster.
 
Basic stairs look OK painted, better with a runner up the middle but if you are selling just pop to the carpet shop get a cheap offcut and fit that.
Cadder said:
Looks good but that's a bit steep for us. Just want to get the house in order to sell. The carpet on the stairs is nearly 9 years old so needs something doing, but just enough to make it presentable.
Click to expand...
 
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