The Home Improvements Thread (2)

[WAslayer]

I would like a balcony, I am on the 2nd floor. Do I need building permission for a wooden deck? Or do i just need a structural drawing approved and stamped? Will my levy be impacted because I now have more sq metres?

How much money you got..? To get your balcony structurally sound, is going to cost a pretty penny.. since it doesn't sound like the building was built with support for a cantilever force from a balcony, support structures would have to be put in place to support it, pillars and such..

In addition, your neighbors may not be very happy with that and considering that they as the BC would have to give permission, you would likely have a hard time getting the BC to say yes, nevermind all the plans and approvals needed from the city..

 

[Pineapple Smurf]

How much money you got..? To get your balcony structurally sound, is going to cost a pretty penny.. since it doesn't sound like the building was built with support for a cantilever force from a balcony, support structures would have to be put in place to support it, pillars and such..

In addition, your neighbors may not be very happy with that and considering that they as the BC would have to give permission, you would likely have a hard time getting the BC to say yes, nevermind all the plans and approvals needed from the city..

Thanx for this
Not worried about BC
I am BC and a trustee
The old people love me
Not worried about labour at all as this will be free from my best friend who builds wooden deckings for a living.
I would need to pay for the timber myself, as well as the drawings.
I dont want a big balcony, I would guess 2m wide with building and stick out 1m. This would be North WestFacing
My existing balcony on other wall is 4m x 1m and faces South West

 

[RonSwanson]

Thanx for this
Not worried about BC
I am BC and a trustee
The old people love me
Not worried about labour at all as this will be free from my best friend who builds wooden deckings for a living.
I would need to pay for the timber myself, as well as the drawings.
I dont want a big balcony, I would guess 2m wide with building and stick out 1m. This would be North WestFacing
My existing balcony on other wall is 4m x 1m and faces South West

Sounds legit

Build the roof out of solar panels.

 

[Pineapple Smurf]

Sounds legit

Build the roof out of solar panels.

Exactly there is my best side of 3 pitched roofs I have for my apartment, it gets the most sun so i was thinking that is where it would make good access to get to roof for future solar panels to hose off pigeon kak, coz thos things kak everywhere.
But I like your idea as well as I was thinking what to put up above 'future balcony' to offer protection of sun coming into lounge, and that is also where the North Wester rain comes in at gail force speeds.
Will think about this.
I guess I should start with a drawing that my bud can do for me on autocad or whatever it is that people use nowadays and then I submit that to BC for pre-approval, from there go see a structural engineer

 

[xrapidx]

Excuse the crap picture, any quick way of fixing this besides digging up the paving.

The actual thread has "unravelled".

Here's an interesting one - while trying to see if the above part is in fact removable with a screwdriver - I noticed it was scratching off what I thought was eroded paint - but turns out its some sort of build up.

This is a pic of the pool, the black stuff literally looks like pant thats chipped to bare fibre glass, it actually looks worse in real life. I've even had a pool company confirm we need to repaint the pool about two years ago.

With my new found screwdriver scatch discovery I got a metal brush from the garage and with a bit of elbow grease the black comes off. Fortune discovery, because I was literally getting quotes for redoing the pool, and they're all R30k+

I suspect something reacted with the Blu52 we use... but - looking at replacing with a chlorinator, so hopefully won't be a problem in the near future.



Tomorrow I'm going to scrub the entire pool, see what it ends up looking like.

 

[RonSwanson]

Exactly there is my best side of 3 pitched roofs I have for my apartment, it gets the most sun so i was thinking that is where it would make good access to get to roof for future solar panels to hose off pigeon kak, coz thos things kak everywhere.
But I like your idea as well as I was thinking what to put up above 'future balcony' to offer protection of sun coming into lounge, and that is also where the North Wester rain comes in at gail force speeds.
Will think about this.
I guess I should start with a drawing that my bud can do for me on autocad or whatever it is that people use nowadays and then I submit that to BC for pre-approval, from there go see a structural engineer

As long as it does not make the building look like those in Mogadishu. What area in CT are you in?

 

[prod]

Hi all, can I just replace the battery of the electric fence energizer myself? Looks like a 12v 7ah one (https://www.takealot.com/12v-7ah-battery/PLID71833108), any precautions I need to take?

 

[Steamy Tom]

Hi all, can I just replace the battery of the electric fence energizer myself? Looks like a 12v 7ah one, any precautions I need to take?

very easy, just turn the fence off and the power first. 2 screws holding the battery cover in, 2 allen screw holding facecover on (assuming it is a nemtek)

 

[prod]

very easy, just turn the fence off and the power first. 2 screws holding the battery cover in, 2 allen screw holding facecover on (assuming it is a nemtek)

Yea thanks, I opened it up to check the type of battery. So I can just unplug and insert a new one? Thanks!

 

[Steamy Tom]

Yea thanks, I opened it up to check the type of battery. So I can just unplug and insert a new one? Thanks!

yep 100% just make sure the fence is in an off state and unplug incoming power, no issues

 

[Pineapple Smurf]

As long as it does not make the building look like those in Mogadishu. What area in CT are you in?

Somerset West in an old complex built in the 50s

 

[RonSwanson]

Somerset West in an old complex built in the 50s

'50s buildings are usually solid.
I had visions of this. Not a bad price when you consider that this is in the same building.

 

[Pineapple Smurf]

'50s buildings are usually solid.
I had visions of this. Not a bad price when you consider that this is in the same building.

Ours is more discrete, no neighbours can see us with all the oak trees around us
We are away from street view as well
On the river
Only bergies walk past us to have their weekly baths

When I drill into walls it is all claybricks

 

[TedLasso]

Here's an interesting one - while trying to see if the above part is in fact removable with a screwdriver - I noticed it was scratching off what I thought was eroded paint - but turns out its some sort of build up.

This is a pic of the pool, the black stuff literally looks like pant thats chipped to bare fibre glass, it actually looks worse in real life. I've even had a pool company confirm we need to repaint the pool about two years ago.

With my new found screwdriver scatch discovery I got a metal brush from the garage and with a bit of elbow grease the black comes off. Fortune discovery, because I was literally getting quotes for redoing the pool, and they're all R30k+

I suspect something reacted with the Blu52 we use... but - looking at replacing with a chlorinator, so hopefully won't be a problem in the near future.

View attachment 1182788

Tomorrow I'm going to scrub the entire pool, see what it ends up looking like.

Perhaps, switching from blu52 to HTH will help. My lessons learnt via this forum when I started pool maintenance journey 5 years ago, was to avoid Blu52 and others with lots of iron / metal in it. So all I ever put in was HTH chlorine and sparkle it cubes randomly.

It's only in the last month , that I had to for the first time add green to blue, because it was the first time my pool went green in 5 years, cos I was out of commission and couldn't manage pool to add chlorine for about 5 weeks. the pool chaps that did my work added 2KG alkanility up.

Oh, and I got the invoice. Its cost me :- R2041 for a pool light, transformer, fixing my outlet, installing pool skimmer the alkalinity up and good clean of pool , filters etc. Bargain! IMHO

 

[xrapidx]

Out of interest, the pool shop I just visited has an adaptor with a sandy surface that you hammer into the outlet.. and it has been thread on, so you don't have to fix the outlet if it's to expensive/difficult.

I left it for now, going to install a chlorinator at the end of the month, so they'll check then what the best approach would be with the inlet.

 

[Deefish]

Hi All, starting a bathroom renovation shortly and have a question regarding the grout. Is there a need to seal the grout after it has been laid with something like TFC grout seal? Getting conflicting answers from different tile stores. The grout colour is called "cloud grey" which is quite a light shade of grey, so I'm leaning towards sealing?

 

[Steamy Tom]

Hi All, starting a bathroom renovation shortly and have a question regarding the grout. Is there a need to seal the grout after it has been laid with something like TFC grout seal? Getting conflicting answers from different tile stores. The grout colour is called "cloud grey" which is quite a light shade of grey, so I'm leaning towards sealing?

I have never had grout sealed, the grout should be waterproof already, the sealer apparently stops growth but i am pretty sure it would make it looks shiny?

 

[Deefish]

I have never had grout sealed, the grout should be waterproof already, the sealer apparently stops growth but i am pretty sure it would make it looks shiny?

Apparently the grout is waterproof, or water repellent. It's the Progrip stuff from CTM. Happy to not seal if the grout will stay looking fresh and not darken but just worried with it being a lighter colour and in the bathroom that it will get dark and dirty quite quickly? I didn't think of the issue of the sealer making it shiny, though, which is not what we want. Been instructed by the wife to also call one or two more tile places this morning for more input.

 

[JPSTORM]

Morning, can anyone perhaps recommend a good roof specialist in the Centurion area? After the latest rain, I have a pretty major leak in my house.

 

[WAslayer]

Apparently the grout is waterproof, or water repellent. It's the Progrip stuff from CTM. Happy to not seal if the grout will stay looking fresh and not darken but just worried with it being a lighter colour and in the bathroom that it will get dark and dirty quite quickly? I didn't think of the issue of the sealer making it shiny, though, which is not what we want. Been instructed by the wife to also call one or two more tile places this morning for more input.

I forget the name but, it comes in a yellow bottle and is either an additive when you mix the grout or you replace it with the water completely to mix the grout.. this is meant to seal the grout as well and shouldn't result in a shiny finish as it's mixed in when mixing up the grout..