The Home Improvements Thread (2)

[Aeryn23]

Almost finished with my DIY flooring installation. It was a mission - much more than I expected it to be. Still need to add the quarter round (I couldn't get the skirting boards off). Then I have 2 more bigger rooms to do...

I learnt alot in the process that will help me with the next rooms though.

 

[WAslayer]

Almost finished with my DIY flooring installation. It was a mission - much more than I expected it to be. Still need to add the quarter round (I couldn't get the skirting boards off). Then I have 2 more bigger rooms to do...

I learnt alot in the process that will help me with the next rooms though.

View attachment 1220846

Your skirting boards may actually be concrete made to look like skirting.. those edges are very rough, unless the previous people went super cheap and used wet off saw planks for skirting with absolutely zero planing or sanding of any kind..

 

[Steamy Tom]

Had this before and it was a leaking pipe.

see!

 

[RonSwanson]

I must be stupid, but 100sqm is like 10m wide and 10m long. That's huge.

You can swing a cat around in a 10sqm room which is 3.1m by 3.1m

Exactly, some 3 bedroomed homes are built in 87 squares.

 

[RonSwanson]

Walk in showers are the biggest load of bullsh1t. I have 3. When I bought the place I immediately had a door installed on the main bedroom walk in shower. The water sprays all over the floors. Cold wind/draft always on you etc.

I agree if you design it as a long one with the entrance one side and the shower head on the other side the water spraying is not too bad.

The same happened to me, bought a place that had one, looked splendid, until I used it for the first time, bathroom looked like Alabama in flood season.
But you quickly learn how to use it properly, large strategically placed bathmats on either side, and just don't shower so violently. The only time that you have an excuse is if there is more than one person in the shower.

 

[Lupus]

Exactly, some 3 bedroomed homes are built in 87 squares.

Our 2 bedroom was in 82,it was tiny. But then again the first place we lived was 53. So yeah have lived in some tiny places

 

[richjdavies]

Thanks for the feedback. I ended up buying the product below from Builders and used a spray bottle to apply it to the areas of the floor with glue, let it sit for 10 min or so and then I scrapped it off. I got most of the glue off. There were some stubborn patches where I removed as much as possible but it wasn't an issue for the installation of the new floor.

The product is expensive for the amount I needed. Had to buy 2 cans for a 10m2 space so it's not a cheap solution unfortunately. It did have a fairly strong smell but went away after a day or so and there's no smell now.

View attachment 1220840

Yup had a local DIY store recommend the Xylene thinner... 3 months of pain and anguish (3 nights wife and kids decided to go stay elsewhere, until I sealed.up the room it was in, thankfully a spare room!). Still hadn't fully gone away.

Just now on day 3 of airing after trying to seal the wood again.

Lesson learned. Paint thinners are for experts!

 

[TedLasso]

Let's marvel at the genius of the engineers from 2000 years ago. We would be lucky if any of our structures would still be standing in 150 years time.

Noblewoman’s tomb reveals new secrets of ancient Rome’s highly durable concrete

It's a combo of unique volcanic aggregate and unusual chemical interactions over millennia.

arstechnica.com

 

[W@P]

The same happened to me, bought a place that had one, looked splendid, until I used it for the first time, bathroom looked like Alabama in flood season.
But you quickly learn how to use it properly, large strategically placed bathmats on either side, and just don't shower so violently. The only time that you have an excuse is if there is more than one person in the shower.

Exactly and my shower is 2m x 1.2m with two 400mm x 400mm showerheads. Moerse nice. But you need a door.

 

[maumau]

Exactly, some 3 bedroomed homes are built in 87 squares.

Renico says hello

 

[Other Pineapple Smurf]

Painting nicotine-infused walls has not been fun. The stuff is bleeding through my first coat of wall and all even though the walls were washed. I let the flat stand for a week before I was going to do the second coat and this allowed me to see how bad nicotine bleeds.

We will be looking for a shellac-based primer this week to block the stains.

If I can't find any, I still have some Zinsser 1-2-3 from my bathroom here at home to test.

Fortunately, the worst bleeding has been on the cornices where and we will be replacing these with bigger cornices. This will hide the worst of it. The only other problem area is in the kitchen corner and this will be covered by cupboards to the ceiling.

So far the nicotine challenge has only added time and not money to my painting as I'm doing this whenever I go over to my flat. The new expense of blocking primer has already been easily absorbed into our budget as we just discovered the bathroom water damage was just surface and not a leaking pipe in the wall.

 

[surface]

Renico says hello

We lived in 90 sqm house for almost 7 years - that is all we could afford at one time. Nothing wrong about that?

 

[surface]

Following is what we don't have at the moment but considering these as "must have" in bathroom renovation. Thoughts?

Heated towel rail
Downlights
Space for concealed trash can (visible right now)
Space for concealed laundry basket (visible right now)
(If possible), long corner cupboard to keep things like mop etc? (currently mop etc is in garage)
(Not sure) - move washing machine here (in garage right now)

 

[WAslayer]

Following is what we don't have at the moment but considering these as "must have" in bathroom renovation. Thoughts?

Heated towel rail
Downlights
Space for concealed trash can (visible right now)
Space for concealed laundry basket (visible right now)
(If possible), long corner cupboard to keep things like mop etc? (currently mop etc is in garage)
(Not sure) - move washing machine here (in garage right now)

Why is a heated towel rail a must have..? I have never had a towel not be dry by the next day, no matter how cold the weather is..

 

[W@P]

Why is a heated towel rail a must have..? I have never had a towel not be dry by the next day, no matter how cold the weather is..

Agree, absolute POS those heated towel rails. I have them and have never used them. Rather see if you can at least install a decent-sized towel rail. Not one that you can only hang face towels on.

 

[RonSwanson]

We lived in 90 sqm house for almost 7 years - that is all we could afford at one time. Nothing wrong about that?

Agreed, the cat moans a bit when you swing it, but otherwise it's quite ok.

 

[surface]

Why is a heated towel rail a must have..? I have never had a towel not be dry by the next day, no matter how cold the weather is..

eh - worked great when we stayed in many hotels. May not be needed in sunny SA though. Just checking forum opinions.

 

[RonSwanson]

Renico says hello

Group wave from Renico, Century, Hyder and just about every other property developer today.

 

[I.am.Sam]

gents i need to crack open a wall and replaster but add waterproofing

whats the best method

someone told me to crack open and add permabond to the cement when plastering

i need to do this to the outside walls as its causing the inside to crack. the inside walls i will replaster and paint

but also on the outside i want to paint the house one time. What would you use as waterproofing ?

also for painting whats a good outside paint not too crazy expensive

do you also need to do a undercoat ?

 

[Steamy Tom]

gents i need to crack open a wall and replaster but add waterproofing

whats the best method

someone told me to crack open and add permabond to the cement when plastering

i need to do this to the outside walls as its causing the inside to crack. the inside walls i will replaster and paint

but also on the outside i want to paint the house one time. What would you use as waterproofing ?

also for painting whats a good outside paint not too crazy expensive

do you also need to do a undercoat ?

the outside wall isn't causing the inside to crack, the building must be moving or something, it either cracks because of speration or compression.