I have quite a few projects planned for next year, and buying more and more tools. I just wondered where people learn't their skills? I just mostly make it up as I go along learning from my mistakes (woodwork) and plumbing and electrical I read my DIY manual.
I have built the back gate and and done a lot of similar things to a decent standard.
I learnt a lot of plumbing skills of my old joiner mate who originally fitted our bathroom although my skills are limited to fitting taps, sinks, washers and compression joints I am no plumber but have done a lot of plumbing and repairs in this house.
With electrics I do very limited amount of stuff mainly as I don't have the test equipment, so the most complex thing I would do is add a socket or change a light fitting.
I just wondered how people who are not in a trade but are good at DIY got their skills.
I would say what limited skills I have are mostly from watching my old joiner mate. The one thing I can't do to save my life though is plastering, it is black magic.
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I suppose the main reason for learning is also my parents could never afford to get any traders in. In the past ten years the only trader we have in did some work on the roof and some pointing, also had one in to replace a window. Everything else I've fixed, when its either fix the valve in the water tank or have no running water you tend to learn fast.
One of my mates has just moved into a flat a few months back, and had to show him how to change a light bulb.
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>> I have quite a few projects planned for next year, and buying more and more tools
Depending on the job... sometimes cheaper to pay the person with the tools already. Unless you use them over and over.
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Thats my plan to buy decent tools which will last as long as I do :) Like my Dewalt drill its well over speced for a DIYer but it will last a long long time. Used it to fit some more ethernet sockets in my workshop yesterday, and it made even a simple task like fitting the back box far easier than I could ever imagined.
I did once spend over 5 hours fitting a mortess lock, but I better at DIY now, and like a bad workman I am, my chisel was blunt.
I think as for DIY/Trade it depends on the job, certainly any electrics beyond changing fittings I would get as spark in now, as they can do the testing and certify etc.
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I have been in engineering / building construction all of my adult life. Very fortunately, for much of it, I have been paid to watch others work. I have always made the point of asking "why are you doing it like that ?"
One summer vacation as student I was employed to carry stuff from one store room to another while they totally refurbished the first - I bored the electrician senseless and bent a few steel conduits under guidance too.
One tip I remember from the mid-1970s was shuttering carpenters using Plastic Padding (car body filler) to make good imperfections in the shutters for fancy face concrete. That was maybe 20 years before Ronseal had their 2-part wood repair stuff on the market.
I am by nature curious - not many people are these days. We have a whole world of knowledge at our fingertips and what do so many do ? Tweet about visiting the lav and watching YouTube clips of cats dancing.
It's a strange world...........sigh.
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....
My father taught me the basics, practised it on my first house, then got it right on my second.
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I taught myself years ago but still learning.
I have wired two houses and a bungalow and part flat plus other misc jobs for folks.
Plumbed two houses, a bungalow and part of a flat. Installed sinks, loos, tanks, CH controls, radiators etc. Installed three kitchens
Lack on money was the main driver.
I started plumbing with compression fittings but soon converted to end fill joints cos they are cheap and neat. very easy to do but I still file off the odd "snots" for a pretty look.
I cheap or S/H pipe bender is worth getting if lots of pipework to do.
I have recently tried plastic joints but still avoided plastic water pipe.
MFI stuff was always a challenge but IKEA is so much easier.
I have done small plastering jobs but so so slow. I would call in the boys.
I have only capped off gas pipes and I always call in an expert for the rest.
Tools seem to be cheaper than the old days. Given up saw sharpening.
I buy some low spec tools for a one off jobs.
I always buy good hammers.
You need to sort out you chisels. I was always told BLUNT chisels are dangerous.
So much to read up now on the web, It makes life so much easier.
Lots of forums re solve my problems but as so often, do read more than one answer
Read up on wall fixings - how to do rawlplugs correctly etc.
Simple white chipboard bookcases etc are easy as the sheds will chop stuff to size and then just screw it together.
Problems- so many bodgers around so who to watch?
So many tricks of the trade that are nasty short cuts.
Good luck.
.
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A good job with carpentry has to serve its purpose well and look decent, elegant or invisible. The functional is easier to get right than the aesthetic.
My father, a civil servant by profession, not an artisan of any sort, liked making things, repairing things and taking things apart. I learned to be like that myself and many skills from him, mechanical ones too. But I have also learned from watching and talking to professional skilled men, these British workers I have recently been suspected of knowing nothing about. When you work with people they show you things. When you ask them they usually tell you.
I can do all sorts of stuff although I wouldn't want to exaggerate. Suffice it to say that I find all this damn Corgi rubbish intensely annoying. I'm not such an idiot that I don't know when I can't cope and need a pro.
I wouldn't go so far as to say I have ever really got it right. But I have often got away with it.
Get tools when you need them Sheikha, and protect them from your friends and relations who will damage them and leave them outside in the rain.
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Lord Finchley tried to mend the Electric Light
Himself. It struck him dead: And serve him right!
It is the business of the wealthy man
To give employment to the artisan.
H Belloc
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>> Lord Finchley tried to mend
Heh heh... very apposite CGN, unless you meant it to refer to me of course. Just in case you did, from memory I believe it is the duty (not business) of the wealthy man to pay workers. However since I don't normally make pedantic points, I may be wrong.
I love Belloc. Remember John Vavasseur de Quentin Jones, whose fondness for throwing stones led to his having to WORK to keep alive, Yes, all day long from ten till four, For half the year or even more, With but an hour or two to spend At luncheon with a City friend...? His uncle's carer, Nurse Darling, got left the money instead, and 'now resides in Portman Square, And is accepted everywhere.'
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definitely "business"
I always liked :
Pale Ebenenezer thought it wrong to fight,
But Roaring Bill, (who killed him) thought it right.
The whole moral dilemma of war summed up in two lines
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>>. The moon on the one hand, the dawn on the other:
The moon is my sister, the dawn is my brother.
The moon on my left and the dawn on my right.
My brother, good morning: my sister, good nigh
>>
'When I am dead, I hope it may be said, 'His sins were scarlet, but his books were read'
I think Hilaire had you in mind when he said this Lud:)
Pat
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My dad. His engineering experience, carpentry skills passed on from his father and pluming which he learnt at night school in his 30's are all slowly being passed on to me.
Im also now at that age where Im eager to aquire these practical skills, shame they dont teach this kind of stuff in schools.
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There you go, Rattle. Improve your DIY skills, cure your anxiety problem and save money as well. :)
www.gb-medical.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod=520-1084
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YES!!! Rattle could train to be a dentist!!!
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The only Artisan(s) I have employed in the last 20 years have been
1/ The Plumber to fit the new Gas boiler, because her indoors wouldn't let me.
2/ Garage changed the cam belt and water pump to er Clio - I couldn't face the agro from her if it later snapped.
And thats it.
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My Grandfather was a school teacher. He had 3 sons of whom my Father was the eldest. When the boys were young my grandparents decided to build their own house from scratch. All hands on deck so to speak they managed to do it and although it's no longer in the family it still stands today in a street in Edinburgh which formed around that original property.
As a result, my dad and my uncles were all pretty good at the basics of joinery, plumbing, electrics, bricklaying etc. We the next generation picked up some of that but I didn't really use that knowledge for much until about 20 years ago I bought a derelict old grain mill in the Scottish Borders with my then new 2nd wife. She's still the current one by the way !
We lived in that property straight away despite it being basic in the extreme. We fairly quickly got the very large room which became our kitchen in shape and weather / watertight. We lived entirely in that room at first as it was the only habitable area and had a working fireplace. Gradually we re-built first the interior of the house, new walls, floors, ceilings etc. We couldn't afford builders so any new skills had to be researched at the library and tried out on a trial and very often error basis.
In time, it was done and we ended up with a 3 storey stone building with 4 bedrooms. Odd shape. It had on the ground floor only a large workshop / cellar and to one side a garage. The living area was approached by a set of stone outside stairs to a balcony leading to the first floor where we had our kitchen, an office and a large sitting room. An internal spiral staircase led from there to the second floor where we had the bedrooms and bathrooms.
We bought in effect, only the stone walls and the roof. The rest we did ourselves with minimal knowledge and money. I don't think we had the faintest idea of how hard it would be ! It nearly ruddy killed us but we got there in the end and in time sold it at a very decent profit.
One of the reasons we bought our current ( then new build ) house was to give ourselves a break from constantly having "projects". The idea was to rest up for a couple of years and then do something similar again.
We've been here nearly ten years...
:-)
Last edited by: Humph D'Bout on Sat 31 Dec 11 at 10:44
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>> We've been here nearly ten years...
>>
>> :-)
Just think, in two hundred years it will be REAL mock Tudor. They are bound to have Mock Mock Tudor by then.
Edit, or would that be Mock Tudor revival?
Last edited by: Zero on Sat 31 Dec 11 at 11:10
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Well certainly not from my Father. Might have seen him wield a paintbrush once but that was as much. I was the family plug wirer from age 11 'cos I could actually do it neatly.
Uncle on Mum's side was a telephone engineer and reasonably handy with cars. Showed me the main bits of an engine and also electrical basics. He actually repaired things as well, remember at age about 7 him fixing a leaking carb float with a blob of epoxy.
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The family pass down house skills like wallpapering and painting, plumbing and mechanical was learent at work & did a building / plumbing course at school/building college for 3 months.
It's mostly learn as you go & make a few mistakes but learn from them, fitted bathroom and saved at least £800.00 on labour which was donkey work as it's a long narrow place.
Electrical i can fit sockets and spurr off & fit new lights etc.
Plumbing pretty much anything to tackle a waste sewer pipe in the spring.
Building a raised flower bed from a mix of stone in spring/summer & just got a cement mixer as by hand is back breaking.
Enjoy painting and decorating & made wrought iron railings and gate some time back as welding was learnt many years ago in the garage trade.
The only thing im not doing is any job that involves ladders scare stiff of heights but one day i should overcome this or fall off. :-)
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Sounds like we are in for yet another intriguing New Year!! ;-)
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Same here, I even hate going in the loft due to the ladders, though the ceiling is 12ft, and the entrance to the loft is next to the window.
I had to go in the loft to change the water tank inlet valve once which had stopped working which resulted in it constantly raining in the back garden.
Sanded and painted all the downstairs windows myself five years ago, they still look fine, got a decorator in to the upstairs and the paint is peeling now.
I think the key to being as good at DIY is knowing your limits. I am not even going to attempt to the pointing or replace any windows because I know it will only end in disaster.
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I learned most of my practical skills from my father - not so much DIY as in jobs round the house, more mechanical. He worked on developing agricultural machinery during the war. I got a large Meccano set when I was about five and was totally entranced by it. I made cars with geometrically correct steering and simple gearboxes. I made a reasonably accurate pendulum clock and so on.
Later I transferred those manual skills to car maintenance, decorating and suchlike. Though I've tinkered with plastering, it really is a skill mastered only after several years. A few years ago I was awe-struck by plasterers who re-plastered some artexed ceilings - without spilling any plaster on the floor - achieving a near-perfect finish in big rooms, the job complicated by existing coving. That is skill.
Brick-laying I have also found difficult - another skill which needs plenty of practice.
My most recent project (completed during the warm spell last autumn) was a sizable pergola, built from scratch; simple carpentry, really, but very satisfying to work with the feel and smell of wood. Nicely scrolled ends to the cross-pieces. A hell of a lot cheaper than buying a pergola kit, anyway.
Last edited by: FocalPoint on Sat 31 Dec 11 at 14:36
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>> Brick-laying I have also found difficult - another skill which needs plenty of practice.
Its quite easy actually if you follow the guide books. However laying 6-800 perfectly even level bricks in a day is really skilful. Mind they do have a labourer mixing up the muck to just the right consistency.
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"Its quite easy actually if you follow the guide books."
Ah. Really?
Last edited by: FocalPoint on Sat 31 Dec 11 at 16:24
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I certainly learned "on the job".
Due to creaky knees I will no longer climb ladders so I will be calling in the lads for the next outside decoration.
a couple of events in my learning curve.
My wife was not allowed to leave the maternity ward with our new born until my fitting of the only loo in the house was completed. ( It was a very difficult job at that stage of the learning curve.
I was in the loft doing a little plumbing with a blow torch - no problem.
The nearby pipes were lagged with that hairy blanket type stuff. The hairy bits suddenly were alight and the flames raced along the pipes. A real brown trouser moment as thought the house would burn down. Fortunately it did not.
The old adage- measure thrice and cut once is always useful.
Extra neat finishes to a job always give me pleasure although I am possibly the only one who knows there was ever a challenge.
I have just supervised the replacement of the external cast iron soil pipe plus bath, basin and kitchen sink waste pipes into the stack and the repositioning the down pipe from the gutter.
I specified the boss connections, pipe clips, pipe runs etc and the end result is incredibly neat.
Why? I did a little research online and in Wickes to find the best products AND the pipework is on the back of the house so it is in full view from our patio thus a bodged job would always be " in yer face". Only I would notice but there -- I am happy.
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In the 80's I was earning £30 per hour, so it made sense (to me) to go out and tune a jamjar (which I enjoyed doing) + have a chinwag and a cup of tea with the geezer (or gal) and let some other ex spurt fit my kitchen / build me a fire place / plaster my ceiling / erect my jardin fence / fit my new windows / even wallpaper my lounge (at one time)
Course I can do most things like anyone else (who is practical) and I do do diy these poverty stricken days but - if y'all can earn good money yourself fiddling about with motherboards and viruses, I'd call in someone who knows their trade like you know yours.
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>> and let some other ex
>> spurt plaster my ceiling
That's just too much Dog :)
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Where did you learn DIY skills ?
I didn't !!!
I am totally useless at any DIY around the house, as was my dad and as was his dad ! When i was in my thirties I gave up trying as I finally realised that getting whatever I had cocked up put right cost more than getting somebody competent to do it in the first place !
I was good at fixing cars up to the MK2 Escort era, but these days all i do is fill the washer bottle, check tyre pressures and make sure that "OIL OK" comes up on the display !
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>> I am totally useless at any DIY around the house,
>> I finally realised that getting whatever I had cocked up put right cost more
>> than getting somebody competent to do it in the first place !
>>
Absolutely no problem with that.
It is very important to recognise the situation as early as possible before real danger is encountered.
I have several friends who are real non DIY types.
I say to them that it is no shame to call in an "expert". The real problem they have is not admiting their situation but identifying a true expert.
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From next year which is tommorrow there starting DIY courses at the local college fancy having a go at plastering £299.00 for a 4x day course of 8hr days & there is cheaper ones from £99.00 for 1x d
Well the rooms need plastering so i fancy having a go myself or mess it up.
Last edited by: Bigtee on Sat 31 Dec 11 at 17:41
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The guys who did the job described in my post above reckoned you need two years' experience before you can plaster proficiently.
Sorry, but four days' training won't get you there. And I have no idea what one day would do for you. Not much, probably.
Last edited by: FocalPoint on Sat 31 Dec 11 at 17:45
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A pal of mine who is a bit handy did a tolerably decent job of plastering at his first attempt.
Bigtee's previous posts indicate he is also good at DIY, so I reckon with a little expert tuition he could get the hang of it.
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A small area isn't beyond the ability of a careful amateur with the right tools and materials. Often these days it's just a scrim coat over plasterboard anyway (even that takes skill ). But proper thick plastering over large areas - a beautiful sight when done well, after drying but before painting - takes a great deal of muscle, from perhaps three or four people, as well as skill and practice. It has to be done rapidly as plaster starts to set as soon as it is mixed.
A friend who does a bit of property developing told me that plasterers tend to get miserable and unhealthy in middle age. He attributed it to physical exhaustion and heavy drinking (made possible by the loadsamoney). I don't know how true it is though. He exaggerates a bit sometimes.
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>>Sorry, but four days' training won't get you there
I did a four (or five, can't remember) day course. True, you don't become a professional plaster overnight, but you learn enough to be able to do your own walls. You get plenty of useful small handbooks that keep you on track with correct mixes for render, plaster e.t.c
The best thing to do is plaster your walls while the training is fresh in your mind, and you still remember the right technique. Pepare to get mucky. It's a dusty, physical job. You have to be fairly quick with modern plaster but you can always damp it down again and re-finish if there are any dodgy looking areas.
Last edited by: corax on Sat 31 Dec 11 at 20:42
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Plastering (propa) is what I'd ave liked to have learnt, but in this 18th century cottidge (with it's 18th century walls) even I could improve, or at least match what is on there now!!
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>> Plastering (propa) is what I'd ave liked to have learnt, but in this 18th century
>> cottidge (with it's 18th century walls) even I could improve, or at least match what
>> is on there now!!
That would probably be lime plastering wouldn't it Dog? A much slower process than modern plastering, and needs days to set so that the plaster doesn't dry out. It's not perfectly uniform but that adds to the character (bonding agent contains stuff like horsehair), and you can limewash it in a number of subtle natural colours.
I should think lime plasterers are hard to come by these days. I did a one day course on it. Modern plasterers would hate it as it requires time and patience. They like to get in, bosh, bosh, get out and earn the wonga. They prefer doing whole walls rather than repairing small areas as well.
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I learned many DIY and electrical skills from watching my dad around the house, although I was never allowed to join in. I learned mechanical skills from him too, especially once I had my own cars! Between us we got an Allegro decoke down to 2 hours from start to finish by the 6th attempt, and we also once changed the gearbox on my MkII Cavalier in his garage with a trolley jack under the 'box and a wooden beam on the wings to hold the engine up.
Various bits of car bodywork were also straightened out at home after minor indiscretions over the years. I picked up some more advanced bodywork skills whilst working at a friend's car bodyshop for 18 months, and even now I'd be able to repair most dents, damage or rust with confidence.
I was shown how to lay carpet and hang wallpaper by my colleagues whilst doing some, er, compulsory work refurbishing a residential home in my early 20s. Stood me in good stead for later life, as I've since been able to tackle any decorating tasks fearlessly in the many places I've called home over the years.
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I don't attempt plastering...but with a plasterer as a SiL, why should I try ? He's skimmed most of our hovel over the past couple of years. I'm a good decorator but I now know a man who's better and does it professionally......he needs to feed his family so I find it a lot easier to write him a cheque when it's done. We only have one room papered now, the rest are smooth plaster and just need emulsion...I allow him to do that as well !
I do all my domestic electrical work......logical and easy-peasy. My Stepdad was a plumber with Manchester Corporation and his skills rubbed off on me. I can still wipe a lead/copper joint, a skill I've not needed for a long time. He used his thumb to smooth off the molten lead solder.....I'm not that daft, I used a bit of cardboard. I don't have a bobbin to spread the lead pipe now, but there are other ways.
I can do everything on a car, still got lots of tools that haven't been used by me for a long time...clutch dowels, Panel spoon and other body tools, spring compressors. I keep my account with BOC for Oxy/Axy, though. Handy kit to have around when you've got an old car.
Ted
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>>I can still wipe a lead/copper joint, a skill I've not needed for a long time.
>>
Frowned on now especially as the replacement connector needs little skill and a lot less time n risk.
I admit to opting out and using Plastic Padding when I last connected lead many years ago.
I still use old fashioned solder on C/H pipes but of course the new expensive stuff is required for domestic water pipes.
Lead water pipes n old paint - how have I survived so long ? I had better get my marbles checked just in case I am looosi..............m
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I have asked, begged and pleaded with the younger members of the tribe to watch what I do so that they get an idea of how to DIY. A complete failure unfortunately - they've had their chance and blown it. It'll be get a man in for them.
Over Christmas I remarked on the bird poo stained car of a visiting offspring and suggested they wash it off - "don't know how to" was the response. I gave instructions but stayed indoors - it never got washed. Sigh.......again.
Two tips from previous posters I support: measure twice, three times but cut only once and never, never lend a tool of yours to anyone.
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The joke continues, have been asked on Monday to help a mate build a flat back DVD rack as he tried and couldn't do it. That is a 1 star DIY job. Blimey and my skills a limited compared to most here.
To be fair I can do a lot more electrical work than I do, but I sort of have the believe that some knowledge can be a dangerous thing. E.g spuring off you need to be certain that the socket isn't already a spur or it is against the regulations etc.
Most electrical work is common sense though. My plumbing skills are limited to compression joints but I haven't really had the need to do anything more than that. We still have lead pipes going into the house, but my uncle many years ago made the copper joints to the sink downstairs. So its only leads to the internal stop cock.
When my old joiner mate did a lot of plumbing he was so glad my uncle made the joint as he admitted he couldn't join lead to copper. Even at 19 though and being a joiner he was able to do soldering copper joints and do a reasonable job at some plastering in our kitchen. In many ways its shame I feel out with him as he was very talented and learn a lot from him, but I got sick of him calling round very night while I was at university, he didn't get the concept of not being able to go out because I had assignments and exams to study for.
In the summer my plan is to get a trader in to make the kitchen floor level and re-plaster the ceiling and then I will replace all the units and do any plumbing which needs doing. So I am keen to improve my DIY skills further before then.
My new project is to build a secret laptop safe to store laptops in.
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>>That would probably be lime plastering wouldn't it Dog?<<
Sorry corax, I missed this last night as I’ve been in France since Xmas day,
The Somme, Verdun, Ypres, Passchendaele, Flanders etc., The Bosch launched a major offensive yesterday, broke through the British and French lines again but the Americans have finally come in (after 4 years) and stopped The Hun,
The next few months could well see Germany defeated although I would say all nations involved in WW1 lost, and some :(
I’ll have to ask the previous owners of this cottage about the plaster, what I do know is that it wasn’t lived in since the 1960’s and the Farmer next door used to keep her Chickens in here!
The place must have been damp when we came here and I’ve managed to dry it out with heat and ventilation but I’ve noticed lately that areas of plaster are very unstable and the slightest prod will cause it to break away,
Would they have used Lime plaster over Granite I wonder, I would have thought Lime would mainly have been used with Cob or W & D but, what do I know ;)
www.thelimeplasteringcompany.co.uk/
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I agree i won't be a proffesional at plastering after 4 days but it's a skim over job as the walls have been done 90 yrs ago.
It's more about learning something new rather than learning something i have done before and upgrading the knowledge which usually bores me.
Next could be wood work from that of learning to repair old doors & using a lathe, Metal work i have done for 24 yrs so no real interest to do a course in that.
There is other courses that look of interest besides it keeps me interested.
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL. :-)
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Probably be cow-muck an straw then Dog, get yer best "puddlin" wellies on!
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>>Probably be cow-muck an straw then Dog<<
One of my favourite films devonike AND set in Cornwall www.imdb.com/title/tt0067800/
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>> cow-muck an straw then Dog, get yer best "puddlin" wellies on!
Cow dung is much used as a building material in Africa, as well as a fuel. It is used as a supplement in the adobe used throughout the Sahel and in much of the banana belt and elsewhere. It makes the adobe more waterproof and helps provide a smooth finish, although its organic content makes it attractive to some sorts of insect. It also makes buildings (not well sealed in terms of door and window openings) sweet-smelling.
With a proportion of cement - I don't know what proportion but it's fairly small, 10 or 15 per cent at most - also added, that adobe becomes as durable, very nearly, as a hideous ghastly breezeblock wall, the often preferred alternative, while being a very great deal cheaper and a hundred times better looking.
But where buildings have separate roofs (not flat roofs as in the desert or igloo shapes as in a few places) corrugated iron is vastly preferable to thatch, to live with anyway if not to see. You are better off with a proper roof in places where it can rain very heavily indeed. Noisy stuff of course and hot, but it keeps the water out.
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>> Would they have used Lime plaster over Granite I wonder, I would have thought Lime
>> would mainly have been used with Cob or W & D but, what do I
>> know ;)
According to this link a lime based render can be used on stone. But I applied it to timber lathes.
www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=56441
Lime plaster needs to have a bit of moisture otherwise it starts to crack if it gets too dry. Maybe that's whats happening to your walls. Or maybe it can't breathe properly through the granite. I'm no ex spurt :)
This is what I don't understand with this plaster. If you keep the walls from getting too dry, it's not going to be very pleasant to live in - it'll always feel cold. You need to heat rooms occasionally in the winter :)
You could knock all the old plaster off and stack straw bales next to the walls for insulation - might make your rooms a bit smaller though, and I think your walls are thick enough...
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>>You could knock all the old plaster off and stack straw bales next to the walls for insulation<<
I reckon if I put some Deep Purple on the radiogram it'll fall orf by itself!
The new part (extension) is concrete block (c2007) and it always feels warmer than the old Granite part, so praps they didn't have central heating & double glazing in the 18th century and they learned to live with the taters in the mold.
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How would you like to 'flick' some lime plaster on this then corax ~ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cob_stitch_copy.jpg
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Home_at_Hollyhock.jpg
Last edited by: Dog on Sun 1 Jan 12 at 20:21
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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cob_stitch_copy.jpg
I'll do it in a couple of years when I've grown the beard :)
Did you ever see Grand Designs when Ben Law built that woodmans cottage? Amazing guy with an enormous breadth of talents.
www.channel4.com/4homes/on-tv/grand-designs/episode-guides/sussex-the-woodmans-cottage-08-05-15/display/subpage/1
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>>Did you ever see Grand Designs when Ben Law built that woodmans cottage?<<
Yes I did see it corax, what a wonderful position and far from the madding crowd!
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>I reckon if I put some Deep Purple on the radiogram it'll fall orf by itself!
The first house we bought in the UK had internal walls built from plaster and straw blocks. The blocks were made onsite by chucking bundles of straw into a wooden mould and pouring plaster over the top. The walls were then given a coat of coarse black browning and a thin skim coat.
Over the years the browning had separated from the blocks and bowed outward. The only thing holding everything together were the half dozen or so layers of wallpaper including the final layer of magnolia painted woodchip.
The plasterer I called in said that there was no way he could re-plaster onto the blocks, he would need to hose them down for days or the plaster would just dry out and fall straight off. He fixed plasterboard to the walls using some type of adhesive and six inch nails and then plastered over the top. Brilliant job.
It took me two years of evenings and weekends to re-wire, re-plumb and re-everything the whole house, one room at a time.
The DIY botch jobs we found were plentiful including a 13A socket wired off the back of a light switch.
The biggest disappointment was finding that the master bedroom had originally had a corner fireplace ripped out by a previous owner.
Just when we'd got the house sorted, my employer moved me to the new head office in Bracknell. I swore that I'd never do it again.
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When was that house actually built Kevin?
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Dog,
It was built around 1900 for a manager/slave-owner in a Yorkshire steel mill.
Last edited by: Kevin on Sun 1 Jan 12 at 21:38
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>>It was built around 1900 for a manager/slave-owner in a Yorkshire steel mill<<
Yep! - that just about sums it up, and within a few years 100's of 1000's of those slaves died in WW1.
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We still have lead pipes going into the house .
Ah, that explains a lot then ! :-)
Happy New Year, Rattushka !
Ted
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Like so many of those above, my DIY skills ( like my car repair skills) were learnt by watching, trial and error, and necessity.
I've always preferred to have a go myself rather than pay someone else.
A few houses to do up without any money concentrates the mind and very few techniques can't be learnt from a good DIY manual.
I've done a few small areas of plaster repair but learning to do full rooms has always been put off til later. Well now I haven't got the strength for overhead work but I did go on a two hour skimming course at the local B&Q recently. Not long enough to perfect anything but I was seeing it done at close quarters, being able to ask questions and making a mess in someone else's place.
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Where did you learn DIY skills? - RattleandSmoke
