The Home Improvements Thread (2)

[Quey_Quick]

I have one of those concrete boma fire pit braais standing to the far left on the pics and also have an indoor braai.

It was said in jest, I saw the boma.

 

[W@P]

It was said in jest, I saw the boma.

All good.

 

[Tabac]

I need to win the lottery to be part of this thread.

 

[W@P]

Must have cost a pretty penny but damn that looks much better! Fits the look of the house very well.

Thanks, the costs that bothered me the most were the bloody pots and Buxus plants. The pots I got on a moerse special but the plants were like R400 each. And then 5 bags of potting soil and mulch per pot. Gardening is expensive.

 

[SAguy]

I need to win the lottery to be part of this thread.

Yip, I can't wait for this thread to be closed and a new one opened.

The first page of this thread already makes me feel poor with @Arzy's kitchen pics.

 

[ElixirCoder]

So I bought the house with this POS composite deck. It's 5 years old and FUBAR. The substructure started collapsing and the composite planks started to perish and break in places.

During the 5 years, I have replaced some of the wooden substructures here and there and finally, I had enough and replaced it with concrete and on top of the concrete, they put a Cemcrete screed. Here are some before and after.

I am very happy with the end result.

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I love the cemcrete products. I’ve had my internal fireplace done with cemcrete and it looks amazing

 

[Doom5003]

I recently had some water damage done on my ceiling and looking to replace it with iso boards, already bought.

My question, would it be better to remove the current rhino boards or would it be fine/better to install the iso boards underneath them?

 

[Arzy]

Yip, I can't wait for this thread to be closed and a new one opened.

The first page of this thread already makes me feel poor with @Arzy's kitchen pics.

I'm still saving up after that in order to do the bathrooms.

Then I also have this issue with replacing all the gutters around the house.

 

[W@P]

I love the cemcrete products. I’ve had my internal fireplace done with cemcrete and it looks amazing

Yea they make amazing stuff. Mind showing your fireplace?

 

[Tabac]

Yip, I can't wait for this thread to be closed and a new one opened.

The first page of this thread already makes me feel poor with @Arzy's kitchen pics.

I've got a question for the thread:
Laminated flooring. Can you install them over existing tile flooring ?

 

[Mike Hoxbig]

I've got a question for the thread:
Laminated flooring. Can you install them over existing tile flooring ?

Yep.

It requires more maintenance and being careful with spills, heavy furniture etc though. And at the price depending on the area size it may just be worth it to rather put in a bit more and go for a wood look tile...

 

[SAguy]

I've got a question for the thread:
Laminated flooring. Can you install them over existing tile flooring ?

I did at my old place and had no problems whatsoever.

The biggest thing with tiles is that you need to be 100% sure that there are no high spots. Don't be scared to take a grinder to any tile corners that are standing up. Drag a long level across the floor to check.

You'll of course need to trim doors and things, so just check out for that and plan accordingly.

 

[Mosgi]

I've got a question for the thread:
Laminated flooring. Can you install them over existing tile flooring ?

Yes, they also have water resistant laminates, but installed that in December, had a leak, they’re FUBAR.

 

[Tabac]

Yep.

It requires more maintenance and being careful with spills, heavy furniture etc though. And at the price depending on the area size it may just be worth it to rather put in a bit more and go for a wood look tile...

Thanks. I've got a couple of broken tiles - of which you don't get anything that matches. SO it's either
re-tile the entire house or laminated flooring. Thinking flooring will be cheaper ?

 

[SAguy]

Thanks. I've got a couple of broken tiles - of which you don't get anything that matches. SO it's either
re-tile the entire house or laminated flooring. Thinking flooring will be cheaper ?

Less messy, but not necessarily cheaper.

Our vinyl plank flooring cost more than tiles would have in our new build, and given the constant stress of it being scratched by a stray stone under someone's shoe - I'm not sure we made the right call.

 

[Tabac]

Less messy, but not necessarily cheaper.

Our vinyl plank flooring cost more than tiles would have in our new build, and given the constant stress of it being scratched by a stray stone under someone's shoe - I'm not sure we made the right call.

MMM. Then it won't work in my house. Just don't feel like a BIG fcking mess. We'll see later in the year.
ALso want to revamp atleast one bathroom.

 

[Mike Hoxbig]

MMM. Then it won't work in my house. Just don't feel like a BIG fcking mess. We'll see later in the year.
ALso want to revamp atleast one bathroom.

It's 2 weeks pain and then you live pretty much care free. With vinyl it's less disruption but then you spend years being paranoid...

 

[hj2k_x]

At night around 10pm it’s fantastic. Rest of the time I take a cold shower if I need to cool down

Do you not have a lot of green algae? And therefore need a lot of chemicals / pool cleaning to keep the pool blue?

 

[SAguy]

It's 2 weeks pain and then you live pretty much care free. With vinyl it's less disruption but then you spend years being paranoid...

Well said yeah. Our vinyl floors look great, but in the back of our minds we already know that in 10 years time we'll probably need to lift and redo.

 

[Mosgi]

Indeed . In my case, it was understanding that my kids were responsible enough at their young age. When other children are there, it's a different thing. Then I am paying attention always.

Thankfully even with the leaf net it can hold a small person but since they can't get to the water , children don't try.

Also the worst thing about PVC cover:- they look amazing when installed,.a month later :- dust and dirt makes it look like crap. With the leaf catch , looks nice all the time

Waiting to collect it, managed to secure a used removable pool fence for a 10x5m pool, reckon I won’t need all of it since the house is close to one side and the fountain on the other. Just need to find a way using cunning landscaping (Spiky succulents & cacti) to prevent access from the top and sides of the pool. The slide is getting canned.

Also, no idea how the previous owner got this right but they mis-aligned the pool to the house, and then proceed to tile it in the worst way possible, which highlights the error.

Thinking of going with a dark tile (would we have to remove the old or just tile on top), maybe some form of poured on rubber “tar”