The Home Improvements Thread (2)

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Claymore said:
5mm is fine if the floor needs any compensation. 3mm is good only if the floor is absolutely perfectly level, otherwise the tile edges can end up being a little high or low. Especially with big tiles, much harder to compensate for an uneven floor.

Our tiler was brilliant, he figured out the right flows from room to room, taking into account slight variances in the room levels.
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Nice.

If something's out of line you have to live with it forever and once you've noticed a teeny, tiny error it's impossible to ignore even if it's in a far away corner.

I'm trying to take a step back and wait to see the tiler's opinion because one room is 4m wide so with 5mm grout that's 6 tiles = 390 :crying::crying::crying:. Have to trust him to compensate somewhere - but I neeeeeeed to know before he reaches the point of no return.
 
I would make him lay the tiles out through each room and adjust accordingly to give you the best result for each room before laying them.
 
Just a quick rant here:

Recently had an older SunTank 250L panel solar geyser replaced with a Kwikot 300L evac-tube system. Man alive does the newer system heat up the water in no time at all! Very pro install and all that but I noticed the water pressure inside the warm taps was a lot lower than before and the water comes through fairly tepid. They installed a 400kpa PCV as per the norm so couldn't be that. Spoke to the guy before they left and he said there's a Temper Valve installed that mixes the cold + hot water and allows a certain temp-range of water to flow to the taps. He also said the valve will take a bit of time to adjust accordingly so we must just be patient - 1 day max!

Missus gave me that "fix the solar geyser my a$$" look on Sunday after her tepid bath that took about 30mins to fill. Hopped on the roof to see if I can adjust the bloody valve - flat screwdriver and some elbow grease later and the water temp just goes colder if I adjust the bloody valve...at least the water pressure in the taps increase as I adjust the valve colder. Logically, that means the valve isn't allowing enough hot water from the geyser to mix with the colder water. Plumber coming out today to inspect and replace the valve. Luckily, we are in the middle of a heat wave so I am spared the true wrath of the missus :D

Can definitely say the new geyser is fantastic at heating up the water as my roof is north facing with 0 shadowing from early on - planning my PV system fairly soon!
NEW GEYSER
IMG-20220930-WA0004.jpeg

OLD INSTALL from drone footage


Bottom line - Murphy just sometimes has to bring you back down to earth after something nice happens!
DJI_0306.jpg
 
maumau said:
Nice.

If something's out of line you have to live with it forever and once you've noticed a teeny, tiny error it's impossible to ignore even if it's in a far away corner.

I'm trying to take a step back and wait to see the tiler's opinion because one room is 4m wide so with 5mm grout that's 6 tiles = 390 :crying::crying::crying:. Have to trust him to compensate somewhere - but I neeeeeeed to know before he reaches the point of no return.
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IMHO, 600x600 tiles should have 3mm, or even 2mm grouting gaps. It just looks much neater, especially when using a flat porcelain tile.
 
deesef said:
IMHO, 600x600 tiles should have 3mm, or even 2mm grouting gaps. It just looks much neater, especially when using a flat porcelain tile.
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Thanks Deesef, that makes sense.

These are Terracotta tiles from Mazista 12mm thick so hopefully the wider grout will look OK.

Tiles are a bit darker than this in real life, actually they're quite violently bright :D but the look and feel of natural clay? stone? mud? is irresistible and to my mind Terracotta no matter which shade, is neutral.

What is noticeable though is that they absorb heat from the sun. WOW do they get hot and will heat the room up somewhat - nice for winter but a killer in summer. I've got a few kelims for in front of the windows so that should help.

1664786666309.png
 
maumau said:
Thanks Deesef, that makes sense.

These are Terracotta tiles from Mazista 12mm thick so hopefully the wider grout will look OK.

Tiles are a bit darker than this in real life, actually they're quite violently bright :D but the look and feel of natural clay? stone? mud? is irresistible and to my mind Terracotta no matter which shade, is neutral.

What is noticeable though is that they absorb heat from the sun. WOW do they get hot and will heat the room up somewhat - nice for winter but a killer in summer. I've got a few kelims for in front of the windows so that should help.

View attachment 1393665
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Yeah, terracotta needs a wider gap than porcelain
 
Talking about the heat :) we just had 35% Klingshield installed on all our sliding doors (which are NE and N facing), 7 of them, plus a few windows. Make a big difference to the heat levels inside the house.
 
Claymore said:
Talking about the heat :) we just had 35% Klingshield installed on all our sliding doors (which are NE and N facing), 7 of them, plus a few windows. Make a big difference to the heat levels inside the house.
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Would you mind saying what it cost?
 
Claymore said:
Talking about the heat :) we just had 35% Klingshield installed on all our sliding doors (which are NE and N facing), 7 of them, plus a few windows. Make a big difference to the heat levels inside the house.
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Please do share. Did you DIY? My furniture is getting moered by the sun.
 
Interesting fact:

90% of workers doing our renovations only speak Portuguese.
 
W@P said:
Please do share. Did you DIY? My furniture is getting moered by the sun.
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We actually went to Klingshield (https://www.klingshield.co.za) direct, and they used a contractor, Haywood Bothers ([email protected]). I would not want to DIY this, it looks like something that needs the right tools, careful prep, and a lot of practice. It apparently cuts out about 99% of UV, so it'll really help with furniture and laminate floors. The rolls are 1.5m wide, so you can end up with offcuts depending on the size of the sliding doors or windows.

Trivia: Apparently I featured in Klingshield print ads way back when, after I ran into a glass door at my father's office that had had Klingshield applied the day before. Undoubtedly saved me from being cut to pieces (the door shattered, but held together).

maumau said:
And does it make the room dark/er @Claymore?
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A little, but not significantly so. I think given that all our rooms have sliding glass doors, the area of glass lets in plenty of light anyway. It's the same tint as you get on many modern cars by default. You can get a 45% tint, but it's not recommended because it is dark, and it makes the glass very hot. There are also mirror and bronze tints.

Sepeng said:
Would you mind saying what it cost?
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It was R23.5K in total, for 8 glass sliding doors, 1 large (sliding door size) window, and 7-10 smaller windows (depending how you count them).
 
Claymore said:
We actually went to Klingshield (https://www.klingshield.co.za) direct, and they used a contractor, Haywood Bothers ([email protected]). I would not want to DIY this, it looks like something that needs the right tools, careful prep, and a lot of practice. It apparently cuts out about 99% of UV, so it'll really help with furniture and laminate floors. The rolls are 1.5m wide, so you can end up with offcuts depending on the size of the sliding doors or windows.

Trivia: Apparently I featured in Klingshield print ads way back when, after I ran into a glass door at my father's office that had had Klingshield applied the day before. Undoubtedly saved me from being cut to pieces (the door shattered, but held together).


A little, but not significantly so. I think given that all our rooms have sliding glass doors, the area of glass lets in plenty of light anyway. It's the same tint as you get on many modern cars by default. You can get a 45% tint, but it's not recommended because it is dark, and it makes the glass very hot. There are also mirror and bronze tints.


It was R23.5K in total, for 8 glass sliding doors, 1 large (sliding door size) window, and 7-10 smaller windows (depending how you count them).
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Thanks for that. Did they put it on the inside or outside? I have floor-to-ceiling glass on the whole on side of my house. The one specific room is getting hammered by the UV. Will consider this.
 
Has anyone replaced the brush-type weather seals on aluminium doors? The ones I can find online are all self-adhesive, but the ones on the doors seem to be inserted into a channel and not stuck on. I can't seem to find this style.
 
W@P said:
Thanks for that. Did they put it on the inside or outside? I have floor-to-ceiling glass on the whole on side of my house. The one specific room is getting hammered by the UV. Will consider this.
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They put it on the inside, but it can go on outside too if the inside is too difficult to get to (close trellidoors, or something like that).
 
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HunterNW said:
Boreholes.
What's your setup ? How do you control the level sin your tank ?
1 or two tanks ? 1 - supply house, 1 - garden irrigation ? All with one pressure pump or a separate one for irrigation ?
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morning

I'm re opening this question, pretty set now on borehole.

I've the same question but I'm keen on which pump required for 2 bath 2 toilets, we use alot of water for washing machine etc...
average water found in my area is 35 meters . house and small irrigation setup front yard for now.
I will talk to borehole companies ..

cause Eish Govt....

1. 5000 litre jojo enough ?
2. which pump I'd guess fully electronic when water is low in tanker other options
3.most importantly which filtration of water I saw a blue filtration on neighbours yard for house usage.

depends how far is tank from pump I'd guess less then 5metres.

thanks everyone
 
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