The Home Improvements Thread (2)

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Steamy Tom said:
yeah anything that will remove the adhesive will affect the plaster and mortar, you just gotta get in there with a big flat cold chisel and 4 pound hammer
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Alternatively use bonding liquid and tile over that.
 
TheSlinger said:
I'm in the process of removing some ancient tiles from our one bathroom. They're leaving a fair bit more adhesive behind on the wall than I expected. Can someone recommend some kind of remove to soften it? Google tells me that there should be such a thing, but all the decriptions of the products I can find talk about adhesives as in the glue sense.

I'm willing to sit and chip with a chisel, but I am hoping there's an easier solution!
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Rent one of these:

https://coastalhire.co.za/product/bosch-electric-chipper

Will soften in no time..
 
I asked for recommendations on someone to install my aircons in the old thread and Mark from Cape Climate was recommended. Just thought I'd follow up and post my feedback on how things went.

Communication was excellent. Mark was quick to respond to e-mails even out of normal office hours.

I had them install 2 split units today (R2800 ex VAT per unit), the 1 was side to back and the other back to back. Took them 3 hours to install both units and they cleaned up afterwards too (there's still a bit of dust but most of the mess they made they cleaned up). The team he sent to do the install were quite friendly and did exactly what I asked them to do.

I also used their recommended electrician to do the wiring to the DB board (R2000 ex VAT per unit) and installation of the breakers. This guy was a bit untidy and I wasn't too happy with the neatness of his work. He didn't use any trunking to cover up the wires nor did he affix them to the wall with any sort of clips so I'll have to sort that out myself.

Overall, they get a thumbs up from me but I wouldn't pay their electrician the R2k he charged again - I can do a better job of it myself.
 
chickenbeef said:
I asked for recommendations on someone to install my aircons in the old thread and Mark from Cape Climate was recommended. Just thought I'd follow up and post my feedback on how things went.

Communication was excellent. Mark was quick to respond to e-mails even out of normal office hours.

I had them install 2 split units today (R2800 ex VAT per unit), the 1 was side to back and the other back to back. Took them 3 hours to install both units and they cleaned up afterwards too (there's still a bit of dust but most of the mess they made they cleaned up). The team he sent to do the install were quite friendly and did exactly what I asked them to do.

I also used their recommended electrician to do the wiring to the DB board (R2000 ex VAT per unit) and installation of the breakers. This guy was a bit untidy and I wasn't too happy with the neatness of his work. He didn't use any trunking to cover up the wires nor did he affix them to the wall with any sort of clips so I'll have to sort that out myself.

Overall, they get a thumbs up from me but I wouldn't pay their electrician the R2k he charged again - I can do a better job of it myself.
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So about R5,500 for installation only of one unit?
 
R2k for the electrical work per unit? Thats a fscking rip off of note....

R2k for both units, including all materials is the number I would think is in the range of acceptable.
 
ToxicBunny said:
R2k for the electrical work per unit? Thats a fscking rip off of note....

R2k for both units, including all materials is the number I would think is in the range of acceptable.
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Agreed, more so after seeing the workmanship.

Wrote it off as school fees and don't want to think about it anymore :confused:

Hopefully this will help others that use them (don't let them do the electrical).
 
Something I have been curious about, why is it that in most bathrooms, you find the walls are tiled? I can understand the shower walls being tiled but any particular reason for the rest of the walls within the bathroom to be tiled? Is this just for better ease of cleaning?
 
ahmedy said:
Something I have been curious about, why is it that in most bathrooms, you find the walls are tiled? I can understand the shower walls being tiled but any particular reason for the rest of the walls within the bathroom to be tiled? Is this just for better ease of cleaning?
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Mine are tiled for the low maintenance.
 
ahmedy said:
Something I have been curious about, why is it that in most bathrooms, you find the walls are tiled? I can understand the shower walls being tiled but any particular reason for the rest of the walls within the bathroom to be tiled? Is this just for better ease of cleaning?
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Most new builds only have the shower tiled and basin area. It saves quite a bit on cost, but doesn't look as good.


I think it's also due to newer Paints having better mould and water resistance
 
it used to be a trend in old times to half tile, then the trend became full tile, but it is slowly drifting back to half tile.

my personal opinion is that unless you have a moisture issue (like a compact bathroom with a shower) then half tile, and use a neutral tile, you can easily change the bathroom colour with a paint and accessories.
 
Steamy Tom said:
it used to be a trend in old times to half tile, then the trend became full tile, but it is slowly drifting back to half tile.

my personal opinion is that unless you have a moisture issue (like a compact bathroom with a shower) then half tile, and use a neutral tile, you can easily change the bathroom colour with a paint and accessories.
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Personally I'm all for no tile... It looks better when done right.
 
Steamy Tom said:
agreed, your arm will be dead tomorrow if you arent used to hard labour
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I'm okay with dead arms, gives me an excuse not to do other things.

Google was adamant that water could soften it, and while it does soften it not enough to help the large chunks be scraped off like it says. But the "concave" bits of adhesive (might be that they used grouting only?) does soften... So I'm going to chip off the worst of it, then spray some water on the bits that remain and run over with a sander to smooth everything over including the wall underneath.

Maybe if i pressure washed it with water there would be more affect, but that would create too much mess... Rather some chips on the floor than a stream down a passage.
 
TheSlinger said:
I'm okay with dead arms, gives me an excuse not to do other things.

Google was adamant that water could soften it, and while it does soften it not enough to help the large chunks be scraped off like it says. But the "concave" bits of adhesive (might be that they used grouting only?) does soften... So I'm going to chip off the worst of it, then spray some water on the bits that remain and run over with a sander to smooth everything over including the wall underneath.

Maybe if i pressure washed it with water there would be more affect, but that would create too much mess... Rather some chips on the floor than a stream down a passage.
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We did the same in our bathrooms, chipped off everything with a bolster and 4lb hammer, back to the brick, plastered and re-tiled floor and floor to ceiling.

Chipped off everything over 2 weekends, used water sprayers to lessen the dust, but did nothing to make it softer.

Get yourself a good pair of thick gloves... they help a lot! ;)
 
TheSlinger said:
I'm okay with dead arms, gives me an excuse not to do other things.

Google was adamant that water could soften it, and while it does soften it not enough to help the large chunks be scraped off like it says. But the "concave" bits of adhesive (might be that they used grouting only?) does soften... So I'm going to chip off the worst of it, then spray some water on the bits that remain and run over with a sander to smooth everything over including the wall underneath.

Maybe if i pressure washed it with water there would be more affect, but that would create too much mess... Rather some chips on the floor than a stream down a passage.
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No bra, grout and tile adhesive definitely do not get soft when wet. That would defeat their purpose entirely. Water help with the dust but that is it. Unfortunately there is no shortcut here for this situation.
 
AlmightyBender said:
No bra, grout and tile adhesive definitely do not get soft when wet. That would defeat their purpose entirely. Water help with the dust but that is it. Unfortunately there is no shortcut here for this situation.
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Then I have no idea what was used here, but it certainly does soften it a little bit. As in "smudges" while being sanded.
 
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