The Home Improvements Thread (2)

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xrapidx said:
Your experience sounds similiar to mine when we did the kitchen, in my case, the plumber died.
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There's something sobering about being the last job a tradesman will ever work on, the sparky was probably about 60. A lifetime of trade
 
Sorry about the sparky @SAguy. RIP.
It hits home because we start knowing these people on a personal basis when they are in and around your place so often.

How would you guys go about to mount/store these slinky hoses on a wall?

I have three of them for each corner of the yard but I can't even attempt to leave them on the ground at the taps because the staffie will go to town on them.
Too much hassle to unhook them each time and put them in the garage too.

So want to somehow mount them on the walls right above the taps when finished.

Thanks guys.

coiled-hose.jpg
 
APoc184 said:
Sorry about the sparky @SAguy. RIP.
It hits home because we start knowing these people on a personal basis when they are in and around your place so often.

How would you guys go about to mount/store these slinky hoses on a wall?

I have three of them for each corner of the yard but I can't even attempt to leave them on the ground at the taps because the staffie will go to town on them.
Too much hassle to unhook them each time and put them in the garage too.

So want to somehow mount them on the walls right above the taps when finished.

Thanks guys.

View attachment 976736
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Use sections of either gutter down pipe or the large 160mm waste pipes mounted to the walls..

These hoses were supposed to come with a round cage where the hose was meant to be stored..
 
WAslayer said:
Use sections of either gutter down pipe or the large 160mm waste pipes mounted to the walls..

These hoses were supposed to come with a round cage where the hose was meant to be stored..
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Blah!!! That is so obvious now that I think about it.

Thanks @WAslayer.

110mm PVC pipe will work perfectly for the size hoses I have. And I have 110 PVC pipe laying around as well.

We inherited them from the previous owner and they had no dogs so they just lay around the taps. No cages or mountings or anything.
Unfortunately we know our staffie will make a chew toy out of them.
 
Room i was converting to a bachelor pad to rent out I ended up giving to my son. The same room the insurance repainted after the geyser was replaced.

A far cry from the kind of room I had to share with my 3 brothers while growing up that was half the size with two bunk beds. He's only 9.20201216_094756.jpg
 
APoc184 said:
Blah!!! That is so obvious now that I think about it.

Thanks @WAslayer.

110mm PVC pipe will work perfectly for the size hoses I have. And I have 110 PVC pipe laying around as well.

We inherited them from the previous owner and they had no dogs so they just lay around the taps. No cages or mountings or anything.
Unfortunately we know our staffie will make a chew toy out of them.
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My lab completely obliterated my gardena hose and is now slowly working his way through the cheap garden master I got.. even mounted on the wall...
 
Bought some outdoor chairs, saligna wood. It came with some sort of clear coat, but over the last three months being outdoors in the rain and sun it's starting to look worse for wear.

I used some wooddoc outdoor furniture deep penetrating weatherproof wax, about a month back too. Looked good initially, but now the pics show the state of the wood.

Any suggestions on how to treat, to ensure these chairs last for a while?

20201216_151309.jpg20201216_151302.jpg20201216_151252.jpg
 
Arzy said:
I swear by linseed oil for outdoors wooden items.
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So just apply 1 or 2 coats directly to the wood?

Nothing specific to do to those part which look a bit grey?
 
Ecco said:
So just apply 1 or 2 coats directly to the wood?

Nothing specific to do to those part which look a bit grey?
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You would have to sand the grey parts down to get rid of the grey colour.. think of it as you having gotten sunburn..
 
Ecco said:
So just apply 1 or 2 coats directly to the wood?

Nothing specific to do to those part which look a bit grey?
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Sand it down slightly and then apply the oil. Brings out a wonderful color and protects the wood. Let it soak in properly and then do a second coat as it's the first time being oiled.

I've spent many hours stripping old varnish off wooden window frames and garage doors in order to replace it with linseed oil.

From there on its easy though, you just apply another coat every year or so.

I also personally prefer the more natural look of the oil in comparison to the gloss of varnish.

Have lots of old wooden furniture in the house, the maid knows she doesn't even polish nereby these pieces. Every so often it's just some teak oil that's applied not to sparingly and left to absorb. Some of the pieces are over 60 years old, and come from my grandparents, but apart from the odd scratch or ding you'd never think it.

Wood just loves the right oils.
 
While nothing beats real wood, the maintenance makes me want to put in composite decking when we do our back yard instead of wooden decking.
 
SAguy said:
I think its more just ridges from as the trowel moved the screed around.. hard to see on the pics though.

View attachment 976496

View attachment 976498
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Did you see them mix the screed? Did they hand mix or use the mixing attachment on a drill/tile glue mixer type machine. I know the self leveling screeds are very finicky about the way its mixed. It doesn't normally leave trowel lines like that. Looks like it was spread a bit too thin to actually self level and settle the way it's supposed to.

Also advice for others, have the floor checked to see how bad the high/low spots are. Then first have them raise it with a cement mix and then apply self leveling screed for that perfect level surface. I have learnt this the hard way. Sadly nobody is perfect and we all go through things like this.

The broken aircon... it's difficult with the guys at times. I've also had things like this happen before... well luckily smaller much cheaper things and not aircon breakage. Sometimes the guys do things which I wouldn't be able to explain even if my life depended on it. It's a never ending battle with some guys and even with one of my best. Sadly I've had to let one of my best go due to this. I wish I could know what goes through the mind of the guy who does it but I'll never know. Even simple things like drop sheets, I don't want my guys working without them but they're always in such a hurry and so confident that they wont mess. Endless battle to get them following rules. Fortunately my guys are lucky that I don't lose it and I have a decent conversation, other guys are not as lucky and their employer fires them.
 
Smokey mcpot said:
Did you see them mix the screed? Did they hand mix or use the mixing attachment on a drill/tile glue mixer type machine. I know the self leveling screeds are very finicky about the way its mixed. It doesn't normally leave trowel lines like that. Looks like it was spread a bit too thin to actually self level and settle the way it's supposed to.

Also advice for others, have the floor checked to see how bad the high/low spots are. Then first have them raise it with a cement mix and then apply self leveling screed for that perfect level surface. I have learnt this the hard way. Sadly nobody is perfect and we all go through things like this.

The broken aircon... it's difficult with the guys at times. I've also had things like this happen before... well luckily smaller much cheaper things and not aircon breakage. Sometimes the guys do things which I wouldn't be able to explain even if my life depended on it. It's a never ending battle with some guys and even with one of my best. Sadly I've had to let one of my best go due to this. I wish I could know what goes through the mind of the guy who does it but I'll never know. Even simple things like drop sheets, I don't want my guys working without them but they're always in such a hurry and so confident that they wont mess. Endless battle to get them following rules. Fortunately my guys are lucky that I don't lose it and I have a decent conversation, other guys are not as lucky and their employer fires them.
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Thanks for the response. Yeah, the guy mixed it with a wooden stick/pole. I also had more bags left than I expected to have, so you may be onto something with it being spread too thin.

I took a sander with a 80 grit paper to the floor today, for the raised spots. Managed to sand them down and I think it's going to be ok... although my feelings towards my builder has taken a turn for the worse. I was not planning to be on my knees for 5 hours today sanding a floor which was supposed to be done right the first time.

The aircon acrobat's colleagues also just shook their heads at his stupidity for sitting on the thing, when they had been using a ladder in the same area just the day before.
 
SAguy said:
Thanks for the response. Yeah, the guy mixed it with a wooden stick/pole. I also had more bags left than I expected to have, so you may be onto something with it being spread too thin.

I took a sander with a 80 grit paper to the floor today, for the raised spots. Managed to sand them down and I think it's going to be ok... although my feelings towards my builder has taken a turn for the worse. I was not planning to be on my knees for 5 hours today sanding a floor which was supposed to be done right the first time.

The aircon acrobat's colleagues also just shook their heads at his stupidity for sitting on the thing, when they had been using a ladder in the same area just the day before.
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So seems the issues have been found. It needs to be mixed thoroughly using an electric mixer and very accurate in terms of amount of water used.

I can tell by the colouring it's not been mixed properly and already explained the thinning bit.
I would say let them buy the correct disc for the grinder and have them grind it down... but then again you don't seem to have faith in them anymore so probably would not trust them with that either.

Also please do check it with a straight edge. Sanding will smooth out the ridges but could also cause it to not be level anymore. If it's not straight and level then I'd personally rather use the left over bags and do it again properly.

On the picture it already looks like the edges in the passage seem to be dropping a bit and are not actually straight... could just be me high on meds though Haha
 
APoc184 said:
Sorry about the sparky @SAguy. RIP.
It hits home because we start knowing these people on a personal basis when they are in and around your place so often.

How would you guys go about to mount/store these slinky hoses on a wall?

I have three of them for each corner of the yard but I can't even attempt to leave them on the ground at the taps because the staffie will go to town on them.
Too much hassle to unhook them each time and put them in the garage too.

So want to somehow mount them on the walls right above the taps when finished.

Thanks guys.

View attachment 976736
Click to expand...
Purchased two of those and still have on in the box brand new, decided to rather install these - https://m.takealot.com/waterwize-retractable-i-auto-rewind-hosepipe-grey-teal-20m/PLID60868959

I cannot stand hosepipes lying around. Not cheap but man they are solid and work well, half the price of the gardena one as well
 
jezzad said:
Purchased two of those and still have on in the box brand new, decided to rather install these - https://m.takealot.com/waterwize-retractable-i-auto-rewind-hosepipe-grey-teal-20m/PLID60868959

I cannot stand hosepipes lying around. Not cheap but man they are solid and work well, half the price of the gardena one as well
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I looked at those, and then realised they're guaranteed to break via my gardener. I just got cheap wall mounts - and a cheap hosepipe, its under three months and I see its already three hosepipes.
 
2 brick layers, 2 assistants. R1900 for the day.

This is what these f***ers did, 30 blocks in one day....

Looks like they took 6 hours of lunch and 2 hours of actual work.


0488891aed20b518b7bb46420998ace5.jpg
 
  • Haha
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