Beyond Blue Home Improvement Thread

[geoff]

Hi everyone. I'm Geoff and have been a dedicated Volunteer on the forums for 13 years. I am proud to have stopped some of the stigmas that are associated with mental health as well as doing my best to help others too

Before my health went south I was a builder in all aspects of home construction and renovation. If you don't have a handyman around I hope I can offer you some tips that may be of help. I have had many years of experience in home renovation and will do my best to help you out if you are stuck and need some advice

I hope my experience may be of help to the people on Beyond Blue and make their life a little bit better. Even if you need help with the most basic painting job or putting up a shelf I can help there too with some tips

I will do my best to get back to anyone that has a question when I can as this is social yet important thread

Geoff

[geoff]

Hi RX, not really, it just tries to keep the fence together, but the screws would only be short, so if you have a gale blowing they would be useless and they may break.

No, I wouldn't want to cut holes in a new fence either, just an idea for the wind to get through.

Are the sheets attached on your side of the yard or on the other side where you can see the rails, I would think on your side to make your back yard neater.

The angled wood braces into the ground would absolutely help, but depends on how they are put into the ground and attached to the fence so there is no wobble.

If the wind does blow the fence down, and hopefully this never happens, then your insurance may pay to it re-erected.

If you do have an excess on your policy then ask the person who is giving you a quote to include your excess in the quote, so you aren't out of pocket.

When I was quoting for an insurance job I would ask the customer how much their excess was and then include this in the quote, so they aren't out of pocket.

Best wishes.

Geoff.

[Elizabeth CP]

I mentioned ages ago about a leak in a kitchen cupboard. Claimed on insurance & paid the excess. Over 2 months later I have the flooring ripped up except under the fridge Couldn't move it!!!! The 2 cupboards are removed but bench left in place. They plan to reuse the old kickboard & doors. My sink is in the backyard with the tap waiting to go back in. Because of the delays the wall behind the cupboards & floor below is covered in mould so we can't live in the house. My husband came out of hospital last Thursday & we're in temporary accom until repairs are done. We don't have a hospital style bed like at home so I'm worried about my husband. I've put the bed on blocks so it is on a slope but it is not ideal.

I need to get home ASAP but need the mould removed. I don't trust the builders the insurance have assigned What can I do to fix things. I'd rather get a pay out & do the work myself than rely on the builder but I need the mould gone first.

[geoff]

Hello Elizabeth, I thought I had posted my reply and left my desk to put the kettle on, but the screen went strange, anyway I'll start again.

First of all, I'm really sorry about your husband having to have an operation and really hope he does improve.

You could finish it off yourself, just concerned you may need a plumber, tiler and/or carpenter.

To get rid of the mould you need to get rid of the pores, so 'mould kill' you can buy from the supermarket, bleach will kill the surface, but there are many other products to kill the pores.

When it's clean you can paint the wall with enamel paint, where brushes need to be cleaned with turbine, if you paint the wall with acrylic paint the mould can come through the paint and may start again.

The enamel paint you can easily wipe off and they may sell a mould killer.

The paint store has a small bottle you can add to the paint, it's a product to stop the mould, I've used it so many times and the paint store may add it for you and then put the can of paint on their shaker and stir it up.

Hope that's OK but please ask any question you want to.

Geoff.

[geoff]

Hi Elizabeth CP, one thing I forgot to say is that if you want to keep your brush and/or roller soft overnight after you've used enamel paint there are a few ways, wrap the brush and roller up in glad wrap, then put them in a plastic bag, seal them tight and either put them in the fridge (if you are game) or in a dark corner.

The other option I used to do was put the brush in a jar of water, then next day shake all the water off and you right to go, same with a roller but use a painter's tray full of water.

Geoff.

[Guest_1584]

Hi Geoff , and thanks as always.

Think you must've fixed everything round bb haha , things are pretty quiet. Wish l could get to jobs and getem done as fast as you can reply l'd really be in business.

Yeah my mate just threw on the angled wood brackets till he figures something better out,.

Bo gale winds here for a wk or two now so if they can hold off another week l'm off for awhile then so l can get onto the back fence with some idea or another.

Hope you've been traveling well mate.

All the best

rx

[Elizabeth CP]

Thanks Geoff, I use you ideas for keeping the brush/roller between coats. Too hard to clean properly every time otherwise

[geoff]

Hi RX and Elizabeth, the turbine is too expensive and buy cheap brushes/rollers that you can just throw away when you've finished the work.

My brother has his house on the market and yesterday he told me that he kept on painting over a rusted nail but the rust kept on showing, just a nail head it was, so I said that acrylic paint won't hide the rust.

I told him he will need to get a cotton bud and dip it in a sealer or in enamel paint and dab it on the nail head then he can paint over it with acrylic paint, preferably a sealer but in his case because he's selling enamel will do, then the rust won't show.

Take Care.

Geoff.

[Guest_1584]

Hi to one and all.

Hey Geoff. Mate there was one thing l've been meaning to ask ya, how do l seal aroid the top of the bath?

lt's just old cement sheeting painted , running down to the bath top all round but there's a few gaps where water seeps in and out. l've sealed it twice now right around but it only last 6mths the starts to come away again.

lt's hard to know how to dry it out inside too before l seal it too because even if you don't use the sower for a day or two there's probably still loiter inside the gaps.

Any ideas

Cheers

rx,

[Guest_1584]

ps , sorry l made a mess of that one.

But yeah the seal not only comes away from the wall , which l suppose is moisture that was still in there, but it comes away from the top of the bath itself too as well. You'd think it could at least stay stuck to the actual bath.

Cheers

[geoff]

Hi RX, can I ask you a couple of questions if that's OK.

How old is the cement sheeting, I'm just worried whether or not it's asbestos, it has a pattern on it if it hasn't been painted and it's difficult to hammer a nail through it, whereas cement sheeting is easy to nail.

The 'water that seeps in and out' even happen when the shower hasn't been used for a day or two still happen when the shower is turned off and can you tell me what type of sealer you are using.

Thanks best wishes.

Geoff.