Home repair/maintenance/improvement thread

[MrFood]

Guys, thank you very much for your suggestions on what to do with the wood floor in the bathroom.

I'm definitely going to give some of those ideas a shot when I get the chance. But right now I've got a slightly more pressing problem...

I removed an old conservatory from the back of my house. It was aluminium and it came down easily - but the edges that were affixed to the house were sealed with fucking bitumastic.

This stuff, if you don't know, could give Spiderman himself a run for his money in a horrible-stretchy-resistant-unbelievably-sticky materials show-down.

It's on concrete. I need to get it down today. Anyone got any suggestions before I just get the angle-grinder and rout it out and put filler over the top?

Cheers for any suggestions.

And fuck bitumastic right in it's face.

[elisha wiesner]

Good luck. Heavy duty oven cleaner can work but honestly it's probably angle grinder time.

Even if you manage to remove it, it will have seeped into the concrete and stained it.

[pwalshj]

Anyone have any experience sealing exposed brick? My kitchen is that way, and I love the look, but am not into the dust. The problem is that most sealed exposed brick I've seen, while functional, doesn't look great. It gives it an almost plastic appearance. Is that just inevitable, or are there different techniques you can use that yield different aesthetic results?

Scrub the brick first with MEX or another TSP substitute. Avoid the hardcore detergents (Prosec 600 etc) as they will bleach the brick to an oddly light and unnatural color (you have likely seen those results on a few co-op buildings in your neighborhood). Let it fully air out for a week and rescrub any areas where efflorescence occurs until it dissipates. After all efflorescence has been tackled allow to air out for a week then coat with 511 Impregnator from Miracle Sealants. It locks everything in but has a matte finish. It looks totally natural but no more dust. Good luck.

Edit: When you go to galleries and shops in Soho and wonder how they manage those natural looking exposed brick walls with no dust on the clothes or art? ... 511 Impregnator

[MrFood]

Good luck. Heavy duty oven cleaner can work but honestly it's probably angle grinder time.

Even if you manage to remove it, it will have seeped into the concrete and stained it.

I went straight for the angle grinder. It did cause some grief because it flicked the shit everywhere and I'd occasionally slip and put the blade almost an inch into the wall - once I got the angle right it was ok. Not too much filler work was needed.

Fuck bitumastic right in its face.

[floog]

So, had some builders do some work in the bathroom. Asked them to lay the nice T&G flooring which I'd approximately cut to size and oiled already for the job - and the spastics screwed the things down. Hundreds of huge, badly aligned screws running up and down the bathroom now.

Anyway - there's no way I'm gonna replace these so, is there an effective way of hiding all the screws? I mean, I know I can fill over them but is it just gonna look even worse? Is there a better solution?

I'll throw in some more ideas, there have already been some good ones.

1. Fine sawdust mixed with Lacquer Sealer, thin wood glue, or if you can find something called Wood Flour Cement. Sand down a piece of scrap wood with 100 grit sandpaper. Collect the dust, mix it in small amounts and fill the floor. Sand off any excess and re-oil. Color match will be almost exact.

2. Wood Plugs - Like the suggestions before, but instead of a dowel, use premade hardwood plugs. See http://www.chicagohardwoodflooring.com/floor-plugs for reference. They come in a variety of sizes, and are tapered to stay in the hole. Use a contrasting color wood like American Walnut for a "Ships Plank" look.

Good Luck!

Hi Mr F - I know you've had plenty of advice on this, so I'm coming late. All the previous ideas are good, and it's just up to you to choose the approach you like. Jim's sawdust + glue mix has worked well for friends.

What I would say is that the screws might not be a bad thing. If much of the bathroom plumbing is above ground, then no problems. But if the plumbing is underneath the floor then screws make the pipework easily accessible for any changes, investigations or repairs. In our house, with three children and a wife with hair like Aslan, pipes are always getting blocked or stuff lost and poked where it shouldn't be. If we want to move a toilet or sink, which we will do in the next couple of years, then it does makes things just that bit neater.

I had horrible experiences with cut nails mentioned above. Very secure sure, but split the wood and difficult to get up without levering and cutting the wood when we needed access.

Good luck with the work.

[MrFood]

Hi again,

Thank you for your continued suggestions about the bathroom floor. Again, one of those techniques is gonna get used pretty soon when I'm making good, rather than actually rebuilding and renovating, which is the phase I'm at now.

Anyhow, I repainted the side of the house yesterday and I wasn't careful enough to avoid the PVC drain-pipe down the side. Got a few shatters of masonry paint over it and it looks so scruffy.

Any ideas on getting paint off drain-pipes?

I came up with a technique of dipping garden twine in paint-brush restorer and wrapping the string round the pipe and pulling it roughly back n forth. This would work pretty well, but the solvent wasn't strong enough. Paraffin?

[DanH]

So, had some builders do some work in the bathroom. Asked them to lay the nice T&G flooring which I'd approximately cut to size and oiled already for the job - and the spastics screwed the things down. Hundreds of huge, badly aligned screws running up and down the bathroom now.

Anyway - there's no way I'm gonna replace these so, is there an effective way of hiding all the screws? I mean, I know I can fill over them but is it just gonna look even worse? Is there a better solution?

I'll throw in some more ideas, there have already been some good ones.

1. Fine sawdust mixed with Lacquer Sealer, thin wood glue, or if you can find something called Wood Flour Cement. Sand down a piece of scrap wood with 100 grit sandpaper. Collect the dust, mix it in small amounts and fill the floor. Sand off any excess and re-oil. Color match will be almost exact.

2. Wood Plugs - Like the suggestions before, but instead of a dowel, use premade hardwood plugs. See http://www.chicagohardwoodflooring.com/floor-plugs for reference. They come in a variety of sizes, and are tapered to stay in the hole. Use a contrasting color wood like American Walnut for a "Ships Plank" look.

Good Luck!

Hi Mr F - I know you've had plenty of advice on this, so I'm coming late. All the previous ideas are good, and it's just up to you to choose the approach you like. Jim's sawdust + glue mix has worked well for friends.

What I would say is that the screws might not be a bad thing. If much of the bathroom plumbing is above ground, then no problems. But if the plumbing is underneath the floor then screws make the pipework easily accessible for any changes, investigations or repairs. In our house, with three children and a wife with hair like Aslan, pipes are always getting blocked or stuff lost and poked where it shouldn't be. If we want to move a toilet or sink, which we will do in the next couple of years, then it does makes things just that bit neater.

I had horrible experiences with cut nails mentioned above. Very secure sure, but split the wood and difficult to get up without levering and cutting the wood when we needed access.

Good luck with the work.

Yeah, I'd be pretty pissed if someone fucked t&g that bad. Seriously, did they not know to use a nailer? The idears brought forth already are good ones but you should make the "contractor" fix it. God, what an atrocity.

[scott]

Dunno, from what I've been reading screws are superior to nails when it comes to wood flooring. Probably the reason they used nails all along was they were fast and easy, not because they were the best. Nails in wood floors = creaky floors down the road from what I've read anyway. And one of the solutions is to upgrade to screws. So you could be happy you have screws.

[Sabol]

I know that nails are supposed to be inserted at a 45 degree into the tongue of the previous board with a handy little tool(img) and finishing nails are to be used on the end piece.

Id tell the contractor that he should hire floor layers, not deck builders, and demand they redo the crappy job they did.

also, i see what your saying scott,
In other places around the world they tend to use trim head screws(img) and even then they go into the tongue at a 45 and then center on the end board, virtually disappearing it into the board requiring very little filling. You probably finish the boards after the build though.

and like you said, that would make for an expensive floor due to the man hours required. Sorry to say, but I bet it was just the builders cutting corners and sticking it to you. it looks like the only tools they used for the job was a screw gun. what assholes.

I like the idea of backing out the screws and using a counter sink to sink them lower then use the wood dowels, but all that will show up and look like shit since all the screws are not in line with each other. thats a tough one you got there..

[deep.BTUz]

Anyone have any experience painting wood floors? I know it's allegedly resale suicide, but I don't really care. They're not that great of floors to start with. I like the gloss look (see below). Are these realistic? Are they going to be an upkeep nightmare?

I used this 'corpoxy' industrial floor coating at the cafe in an area that regularly gets wet (painted onto freshly laid plywood) and it's holding up fine. Not sure how well it works on sealed wood, but if you sand it down first you should be fine.

Thanks. I will look into it. It's one of my projects that is on the horizon right now,


This thread needs more design and more pictures. Here is my backyard renovation from a year ago:

[John Houlihan]

Dunno, from what I've been reading screws are superior to nails when it comes to wood flooring. Probably the reason they used nails all along was they were fast and easy, not because they were the best. Nails in wood floors = creaky floors down the road from what I've read anyway. And one of the solutions is to upgrade to screws. So you could be happy you have screws.

Screwing your wood floor down is stupid. A properly laid, nailed, wood floor should last you about, oh I don't know, 300 years with negligible creakage.

[EmpireStateTroopers]

Dunno, from what I've been reading screws are superior to nails when it comes to wood flooring. Probably the reason they used nails all along was they were fast and easy, not because they were the best. Nails in wood floors = creaky floors down the road from what I've read anyway. And one of the solutions is to upgrade to screws. So you could be happy you have screws.

Screwing your wood floor down is stupid. A properly laid, nailed, wood floor should last you about, oh I don't know, 300 years with negligible creakage.

Staples suck and often lead to creaks. Cleats do not. Rent a cleat nailer.

[MrFood]

Just to give some settlement to the debate: I installed a floor in the living room with a porta-nailer (the weird angled clout nail gun thing) and it is beautiful, flat, free of creaks and best of all - THOUSANDS OF SCREWS ARE NOWHERE TO BE SEEN. You have to go to the bathroom if you want to see that.

But, agreed - should I need to get to pipe work under the bathroom floor the screws have made it a damn site easier. But as I've had an entire, brand new bathroom suite and boiler and plumbing system installed within the last two years I have precisely NO PLANS to go ripping that floor up in the next... Ever.

[Sabol]

Just to give some settlement to the debate: I installed a floor in the living room with a porta-nailer (the weird angled clout nail gun thing) and it is beautiful, flat, free of creaks and best of all - THOUSANDS OF SCREWS ARE NOWHERE TO BE SEEN. You have to go to the bathroom if you want to see that.

But, agreed - should I need to get to pipe work under the bathroom floor the screws have made it a damn site easier. But as I've had an entire, brand new bathroom suite and boiler and plumbing system installed within the last two years I have precisely NO PLANS to go ripping that floor up in the next... Ever.

I would assume they would just make service holes in your ceiling under the bathroom. 1 layer of drywall or plaster is way easier then a floor with unknown layers and shit sitting on top of it. I would have though if you heard creaks and squeaks it is more then likely due to the sub floor that needs a couple shims in it.

[scott]

Dunno, from what I've been reading screws are superior to nails when it comes to wood flooring. Probably the reason they used nails all along was they were fast and easy, not because they were the best. Nails in wood floors = creaky floors down the road from what I've read anyway. And one of the solutions is to upgrade to screws. So you could be happy you have screws.

Screwing your wood floor down is stupid. A properly laid, nailed, wood floor should last you about, oh I don't know, 300 years with negligible creakage.

300 years eh? Well then it's safe for me to say of the numerous apartments I've lived in, in Chicago and DC and VA, that none of them had a properly done floor. I can't recall a single 50, 75, 100 year old floor that didn't creak. But then again you know what they say, back in the old days they didn't know what they were doin and they cut corners left and right cause shit wasn't built to last.

I'm not questioning whether you know more about this stuff than I do. I'm sure you do. All I was offering up is what I've read on some websites, and in a DIY home repair book I got for Christmas. I couldn't tell you if any of them are wrong or right. Cheers.

[elisha wiesner]

Dunno, from what I've been reading screws are superior to nails when it comes to wood flooring. Probably the reason they used nails all along was they were fast and easy, not because they were the best. Nails in wood floors = creaky floors down the road from what I've read anyway. And one of the solutions is to upgrade to screws. So you could be happy you have screws.

Screwing your wood floor down is stupid. A properly laid, nailed, wood floor should last you about, oh I don't know, 300 years with negligible creakage.

300 years eh? Well then it's safe for me to say of the numerous apartments I've lived in, in Chicago and DC and VA, that none of them had a properly done floor. I can't recall a single 50, 75, 100 year old floor that didn't creak. But then again you know what they say, back in the old days they didn't know what they were doin and they cut corners left and right cause shit wasn't built to last.

I'm not questioning whether you know more about this stuff than I do. I'm sure you do. All I was offering up is what I've read on some websites, and in a DIY home repair book I got for Christmas. I couldn't tell you if any of them are wrong or right. Cheers.

I'm doing a renovation on a 250 year old house right now and was totally surprised that the original pine floors do not squeak at all. It's not even T&G, just plain boards, side nailed with crazy antique nails. No sub floor.

Often the squeaks that you are hearing are the sub-floor moving on the joists, not the actual flooring or at least some combination of the two. When we lay a sub-floor we PL and nail the shit out of it. Older houses typically have smaller sized floor joists, often spaced farther apart than modern construction which leads to more bowing/flexing/squeaking of the floors. Also, woods like Maple and really any flatsawn lumber, which expand and contract WAY more then other woods will get all squeaky a lot faster then a quartersawn oak or antique heart pine floor. A properly laid and nailed floor should last for a long ass time. And yeah, staples suck.

[deep.BTUz]

I had to replace a floor two years ago. I'm not sure if it was the original floor. If it was it was in the neighborhood of 150 years old. Squeaks, soft spots etc.

[DanH]

All the floors in our house are maple. They are nailed in. The only creaks are coming from where the floor has settled out. I can't see how to put screws in T&G. Do you put them in like nails? I have a Bostitch floor nailer that I used a few times. If anyone needs to use it...lemme know.

We put in a few floors, but I'm no profesh by any means.

[black taj]

Most floors squeak because the sub floor moves. Screw the sub floor, and nail the wood floor.

[Jim]

Dunno, from what I've been reading screws are superior to nails when it comes to wood flooring. Probably the reason they used nails all along was they were fast and easy, not because they were the best. Nails in wood floors = creaky floors down the road from what I've read anyway. And one of the solutions is to upgrade to screws. So you could be happy you have screws.

Scott, can you link or reference where you read this? I assume they were talking about repairing creaks in floors, not a new install. If not, that is either some really bad info or you took it out of context. Screws do have their place in wood floor installs, but it usually is in wide plank floors larger that 6", and still at that, using an elastomeric adhesive instead is still preferred by most.

Powernail is an awesome family owned and run company. They have been making nailers and cleats in Illinois since 1946.

Most floors squeak because the sub floor moves. Screw the sub floor, and nail the wood floor.

This is 100% true. Wood floors, both solid and engineered, and subfloors, both plywood and solid planks are Hygroscopic. This means that they change with the presence or absence of moisture, most commonly relative humidity in the air. Floors and subfloors will expand with presence of moisture, mainly in humid months, and shrink with the absence of moisture, usually in dry winter months. Keeping an even relative humidity year round through the use of humidifiers (winter) and dehumidifiers (summer) helps keep wood floors more stable. Air Conditioning units act as a dehumidifiers.

Staples suck and often lead to creaks. Cleats do not. Rent a cleat nailer.

This is also true. Staples for use in wood floors are a relatively new tool that came with the advent of jobsite compressors. Staples enter the tongue and groove just like a cleat, and splinter out both ways into the subfloor. They hold the floor so tight, that when the floor tries to shrink or expand, it often causes the tongue to break and you lose the holding power of that staple, and often times the whole board.

Incredible job!