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

[ecomama]

Thankyou so much Geoff! I've saved this page number in my phone and will use your advice when my kids let me, or are out of the house, either one lol. Thankyou!
I can't wait to have thick, chunky skirting boards (I noticed them first in the house in the 'Stuart Little' movie. I actually LOVE their colour palette for the whole house too but I am already pushing it with the kids 😉

When I told the kids my plans around the skirting boards, they said oh no mum, please do the painting first. Notice no one offered to help... I'll let their friends know next weekend because their friends LOVE painting. And I can organise a paint party, again.

I've bought lots of paint for different places. They are different surfaces...
Under the house - technically the first story of the house, with a concrete slab for floor and 2 walls, the chalkboard wall and 1 other. 1 outdoor wall I had a handyman put up a plastic mesh screen to keep chickens out. The other outdoor wall will be a green, living wall growing plants. It's like an 'underwater theme' if you will lol...
This room is being converted to an outdoor loungeroom for the kids to hang out, lounges, coffee tables etc. The kids wanted to move their hang out area from the garage to 'outdoor' because of covid.
* I need to repaint my chalkboard wall there for the grandson, my kids say, but it's really for them too lol. There is damage to a bottom corner which I could repair first. It's a fibro material I think.... any suggestions how I could do this?
I bought a bubblegum green chalkboard paint, but I need to paint over a black chalkboard. Do I need to undercoat it first?

* the other wall is a painted rendered wall. Awful colour. I bought a light turquoise for that and a glitter paint to go over the top. There are bits of concrete that splashed up from laying the slab, how do I get rid of these? Should I sand them because I'm worried about using a chisel. Also a huge place where an old air con was removed so it's bare concrete. How do I prep this wall?

* I bought an outdoor paint for the concrete slab, think I'm okay with this.

I totally agree about cheapy tools, hence mine were stolen. But I'm fine with cheapy paintbrushes for outdoor like surfaces.

Thankyou again Geoff!
EM

[geoff]

Hi EM, can I reply to this in different replies if necessary as I have to go out.

With the chalkboard it's always best to give it a sand, wash it down and then undercoat it, you can always get this coloured to the final coat.

To get rid of the splashes of concrete, if they are only marks then any spray might help, but if there are pieces of concrete then hydrochloric acid will do so, and because it's a chemical name wear some gloves, you can also dilute it with water and pour it on the marks, don't be afraid.

There is no problem buying cheap paint brushes, I've done the same with 2 pack epoxy.and then throw them away.

Has the hole where the aircon was been fixed?

Will get back to you, sorry.

Geoff.

[Guest_1643]

Hey Geoff,

I contacted the estate agent about the lizard, they asked how big it was and i replied medium size (I don't know how big lizards are generally...) after that they never followed up or replied so i guess they don't care.
I'm freaked out about the lizard. The place isn't properly sealed and has constant bug issues, spiders etc, so the lizard just creeped me out. I guess maybe it's not something for the landlords to help with, but I am actually wanted to move into that room with the lizard and am freaked out a little about sleeping there.
I am also organising to mount a tv on the wall so need to ask them about that too. I hope they will be helpful. Thank you again

[geoff]

Hi Sleepy, the real estate people wouldn't be too concerned due to the COVID-19, if however, it was a snake then they would have contacted someone.

If you want to sleep in that room I would persevere and I've also got a tv mounted on the wall, it's great, maybe the tv person can do this for you.

I actually didn't ask the real estate I just had it installed but need to make sure when I leave just repair any holes, have a spare set of batteries near the bed.

How have you gone with the other jobs?

Best wishes.

Geoff.

[Guest_1643]

Hi Geoff,
.
I had my blind fixed which was great but the remaining issues are that I have a gas fireplace with a broken fan. The landlords tried to intimidate me that maybe it wasn't really broken and I just couldn't use it properly, but I've had it checked by two friends, and it's definitely broken.

I also have I think a problem of drain flies or some kind small moths in the house

I also have the lizard - I do have a handyman coming next week to install the tv and I was wandering if he could help me with the lizard - would he be able to seal the spot in the wall where the lizard disappeared into? Or would I first need to try coax it out. The problem is I'm quite terrified of it.

I also feel it's not great that a lizard can crawl into the wall, but I guess in old houses there are lots of cracks etc and this isn't such a valid complaint

[geoff]

Good Morning Sleepy, the fan has to be fixed as it comes under 'the essentials' that are needed to operate for a tenant, just as if the stove, toilet etc ned the landlord to get them fixed, so keep telling them every day if needed because it's cold, you have every right to do this.

It maybe more affordable for the landlord to replace the whole heater, rather than just the fan, they can claim this on their tax.

With the lizard, you can't be sure whether or not it's in the hole, you could leave some rough meat near the hole and wait to see if it appears.

A way to stop mice, rats and a lizard from entering your house is to use steel wool and fill the hole with it, they certainly won't chew through it.

If you can afford to buy a spray which you attach to the wall, it sprays every few minutes and keeps the flies out.

Let us know how yo get on.

Geoff.

[ecomama]

geoff said:

Hi EM, can I reply to this in different replies if necessary as I have to go out.

With the chalkboard it's always best to give it a sand, wash it down and then undercoat it, you can always get this coloured to the final coat.

To get rid of the splashes of concrete, if they are only marks then any spray might help, but if there are pieces of concrete then hydrochloric acid will do so, and because it's a chemical name wear some gloves, you can also dilute it with water and pour it on the marks, don't be afraid.

There is no problem buying cheap paint brushes, I've done the same with 2 pack epoxy.and then throw them away.

Has the hole where the aircon was been fixed?

Will get back to you, sorry.

Geoff.

No apologies necessary!
I can prep the chalkboard like that. I already undercoat somewhere.
Thankyou …. the splotches of cement on the walls are chunky. I was thinking of using an old knife or chisel to chip away at them.
The air con removal didn't leave a hole, just a huge unpainted area, VERY old ducted air con unit doing more harm than good to our indoor air.

EM

[Guest_1584]

Hi to Geoff and all.

l've finally started on the outside of the house geoff 2 wks ago and man the change is incredible. l finished the front porch 18mths ago , bar the outside wall of it , but to start l got stuck into the back porch. Which was just a dark grey hole around the back door and broken fibro. l repaired all that and fully painted it put in shelving and tidied up the door area man it looks soooo nice. Really pleased you wouldn't know it's the same porch. Then l started on the eves spouts and breather pipes , tidied all that up and l've then been painting the eves and spouts all this wk , and l've finished thee back , right up the side, across the front and finished off the outside wall to the front porch. Man , you would've seen how dramatic these changes are many times l know but l honestly can not believe it, it looks like a different house , and sooo nice.

Anyway , what l wanted to ask is are any of those gap fillers in a tube for concrete , any good. ? We have 3 gully traps around the back and the concrete surrounds in all cracked , holding together , sorta , but cracked up. Wondering if l'd need to fill them with cement and lime or something , or could l just use some of the brick and cement no gap fillers ?

Any thoughts ? Thanks mate. rx

[geoff]

Hi EM, the chunky bits of concrete will come off easily, but make sure you try and hit the concrete with a chisel, otherwise, you could dig into the wall, which will then need to be filled etc.

There is a powder that comes in a yellow plastic jar starting with tric***ium, it's a much superior to anything else and something I always used to clean greasy walls leading to the bathroom and what else you want to clean, this may then be able to any remaining concrete.

It may be a little more expensive, not much, but it's worth paying for it, then use a scalpel to remove the rest.

Does the wall for the air con need to be painted or is it still causing trouble.

Take care.

Geoff.

[geoff]

Hi RX, I'm sure you have done a fantastic job to the porch, only wish I could see it.

One option for the cracks is there is a 'self-levelling' powder which you mix with water, which I've used before I've installed new lino or tiles, this stops a marble from rolling down from one corner to another, but have these gully traps been installed as one piece or are they rectangle in length and have holes where the water falls and escapes.

The question if I can ask you is, are these cracks going to appear again, this will depend on what you use.

Look forward in hearing from you both and anyone else who has a question.

Take care.

Geoff.