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 Paul, yes you can use spray cans, but you have put a second coat on in a certain amount of time if needed, remember to shake the can.


hi CMF, great to have you on this post, is it for brick, timber or hardiplank, please let me know. Geoff.

[CMF]

Hi Geoff,

i used it for my metal letterbox. It sits in my picket fence and was a different colour so I was advised to buy this tin of liquid which adheres the paint to the metal. Guess you could use it for gutters, roves and spouting too.

Cmf

[geoff]

hi CMF, to be honest, I don't know, maybe it could be PVA, I would ask the paint store, but please let me know. Geoff.

[Birdy77]

Hi Geoff,

I would love to hear your tips on repainting a weatherboard cottage, it's on our list to do this year.

Thanks heaps 🌻birdy

[geoff]

hi Birdy, I remember many years ago I got the contract to paint an old weatherboard house that hadn't been looked after for a long time, so I started sanding and scrapping the boards on the 4 walls, it took a lot of hard work, dollars on sandpaper and many days till I got to the point where it had to be washed down before I could start painting.

I went down to the paint store and hired their 'high pressured water cleaner' well what this did was take off more loose/bad paint than what I had scrapped off for many days, all in an instant, so instead of sanding scrapping for days on end, go and hire a high pressured water cleaner, all I needed it for was for half a day to go around the 4 walls plus the window frames.

It saved me time and money and only wish I knew this before I wasted days in the heat scrapping, sanding and getting sore knuckles.

Do you have to do the roof? Geoff.

[Birdy77]

Thanks Geoff, top tip 👍

The roof is only a couple of years old, so no.

There is a new fence that abutts the house, it's treated pine and was errcted about 6 months ago, is it ok to paint that yet or too early?

Thanks again Geoff 🌻birdy

[geoff]

hi Birdy, 6 months should be long enough so you can paint it, the wood needs time to dry out and you can tell by noticing any cracks in the timber.

You can always give it another coat after 2 hours or after winter, are you using fence paint or solid paint, that is the same colour as your house is or is going to be.

Fence paint will fade quicker than solid paint, but you can keep recoating it with a brush, roller or small spray gun.

Fence paint is cheaper and can be put on freely without much care in the world, while the solid paint is expensive and has to used carefully on a fence. Geoff.

[Birdy77]

Thanks so much Geoff for your great advice, i will use fence paint if they can tint it to match house.

Thanks again 🌻birdy

[blondguy]

Hey Geoff

what is the right paint to use under the eaves.....just a flat white?...

I have no idea...any help would be appreciated and thankyou

[geoff]

hi Paul, nice to see you back, absolutely nothing else but flat paint, if you use any shiny paint all the undulation of the eaves will show and it looks terrible.

Do you have a broomstick you can attach to your roller, this saves you having to get up and down a ladder because that tires you out quicker than you would think.

Just screw the broom handle into the end of the roller, do this a few times so that it will form its own groove, then it won't make the roller fall off, then you can stand on the ground fill the roller with paint and paint the eaves on the ground, it's much quicker.

Good luck it doesn't matter if you are a rubber shovel, you can do it. Geoff.