What "man jobs" have you done today?

Problem solved the basin waste outlet being too low for the washstand, we had to guess at the time of plastering. I needed to extend the down pipe from the basin somehow.

Somehow we ended up with two waste traps, nickel is hard to come by. So looking for a cheap option and a way of joining two pieces together without an unsightly coupling, I cut off a small section to make a ring collar and then removed a small section to reduce the circumference so it would fit inside. Voila.

Just needs reliably sealing and securing.

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Unsure why my thumb looks so gross.

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DanTheMan said:
Looks good. The lazy decorator in me would have painted before putting the coving up so I didn't need to worry about cutting in around it.

I've got to batten and board our bedroom this week. Any tips?
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You've got all the inevitable caulking and filling with coving so you'd end up needing to paint anyway!

After doing coving in one room, I'm not doing it again. The main bedroom can be the 'fancy' one :D


Getting my box room sorted after putting it off, striped painted wallpaper off the walls, chopped down the original stair box into a smaller 'ramp' so I can have a wardrobe built over it and had it skimmed to get an even surface to paint onto and to get rid of the horrible textured ceiling.

Boxed out the window reveal with MDF, tarted up with architrave and made my own window overboard using two lengths of bullnose cut and glued together (I need more clamps and a bigger bench).





How it started - I amused myself using foam plasterboard adhesive and batons to keep it flush with the rest of the wall. Seemed to have done the job.



 
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Macky said:
How easy is this to do? Looking at a few houses that have textured ceilings that I'd like to change!
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I've skim coated two popcorn / textured / stippled ceilings in my house myself so far.

Neat SBR first. Sometimes needs a bonding coat if the stippling is very deep and you don't want to scrape (cause of asbestos risk).

2 coats of multifinish.

The first ceiling one was hard. Second one I used extra time and an Ox Speedskim with a very bright work light to show up imperfections, and it was flawless.

I'm an amateur. Watch a few decent plaster videos on YouTube and have a go and it's nowhere near as hard as plasterers would have you believe. I'm very happy that I forced myself to learn as I now have a seriously useful and cost saving skill.
 
Participant said:
I've skim coated two popcorn / textured / stippled ceilings in my house myself so far.

Neat SBR first. Sometimes needs a bonding coat if the stippling is very deep and you don't want to scrape (cause of asbestos risk).

2 coats of multifinish.

The first ceiling one was hard. Second one I used extra time and an Ox Speedskim with a very bright work light to show up imperfections, and it was flawless.

I'm an amateur. Watch a few decent plaster videos on YouTube and have a go and it's nowhere near as hard as plasterers would have you believe. I'm very happy that I forced myself to learn as I now have a seriously useful and cost saving skill.
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How long/how many attempts did it take you to get to a decent level? Plastering walls not ceilings.
 
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Macky said:
How easy is this to do? Looking at a few houses that have textured ceilings that I'd like to change!
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Cost £300 to have the whole room done, would work out cheaper if you had a few rooms done at the same time.

Happy to give most things a go but I lack the patience for plastering.

There are products that 'melt' artex for safe scraping and removal too, but the plasterer was happy to deal with it as is.

Another completed job from a couple of weeks ago - Porch was looking worse for wear after four weeks of builders going in and out for the bathroom so slapped some leftover flooring from the main bedroom, painted over the grey glitter paint on the walls (essex for you) and painted the door an actual colour and not home bargains grey.






 
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sigma said:
How long/how many attempts did it take you to get to a decent level? Plastering walls not ceilings.
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About the 4th wall I got to what I would call more than acceptable, i.e. to the level I wouldn't have complained if I had paid a pro.

As Janesy says it's not massive money to pay a plasterer, but in my case a) almost my whole house needs doing so it would have added up and b) I actually enjoy doing it myself; I am more reliable and fussy than most tradesmen!
 
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Participant said:
As Janesy says it's not massive money to pay a plastered, but in my case a) almost my whole house needs doing so it would have added up and b) I actually enjoy doing it myself; I am more reliable and fussy that most tradesmen!
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Same here, but now with a lifetime of some serious DIY work behind me and significant joint issues I've had to reduce on ceiling plastering, and now only do the smaller rooms ceilings which is a shame.

I still do all but the largest rooms on the walls, especially as I can take the time to sort out the odd major low spots where our current house has a very uneven thickness mortar base coat (back to block would be even more effort). Without that a top coat would never be anywhere near even and using a Speedskim would be out of the question.

Some professional re-plastering that was done in about 2013 before we moved in just follows the uneven walls and was done over poorly adhered vinyl paint or dusty walls so it can be removed easily with a scraper!
 
Joe Jones said:
Definately a 'man job' this one......decorating the small room in a new house for my youngest....ombre painted the walls the other day. Parma violet at the bottom fading into fairytale pink at the top. Next is build a wardrobe and bed frame.

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It may look over the top at the minute but with everything in it should tone it down.
Our daughter wanted lime green and sunshine yellow, it was very in your face until the furniture went in with the duvet and pillows, then it looked a lot better.
 
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That picture makes it look more vibrant than it is....it's a bit more muted and pastel colouring.

The carpet will change and the new bed I'll build will be white so it 'should' be fairly sane. :D

My other daughter wants her room to be yellow and orange like a sunset with a yellow carpet....I told her I don't think they make yellow carpets.....eek
 
Joe Jones said:
That picture makes it look more vibrant than it is....it's a bit more muted and pastel colouring.

The carpet will change and the new bed I'll build will be white so it 'should' be fairly sane. :D

My other daughter wants her room to be yellow and orange like a sunset with a yellow carpet....I told her I don't think they make yellow carpets.....eek
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You may be surprised by how good it looks, lol
 
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