A couple of jobs - advice needed.

[pren]

Hi.

I've been volunteered by my good wife to help out one of her friends. Her ex-husband decided to start 101 '5 min jobs' on their house before ditching her and the kids for a younger model, leaving most of the house in dung state for the last 2 years. Nice chap. :evil:

One job I'd appreciate some advice on is sorting out the window board in the bathroom. It's approx 30mm thick by 300mm deep by 1200mm wide. It's bowed upwards by around 15mm. I'm asuming this was caused by it being fitted too tightly into the space and the moisture has made it expand?

My plan of attack was to either remove it, take 5mm off either end to allow for expansion and replace it, screwing it down in the middle to flatten it, covering the gap with a flexi filler. Otherwise, do the same thing but with a new window board.

Does that sound right?


Also, the door linings in the house are out of square/true. The good man of the house got as far as removing all the doors and architraves in the house ..... and that's it. :roll: There's a curtain pinned across the bathroom doorway for privacy.

For this, I was intending on removing the door linings to reveal the brick/stud openings, replace the linings and shim/pack them out until plumb/level and then screw/nail them to the opening through the shims to avoid warping. The doors will then be hung from the linings and the stops fixed to the linings.

Sound about right? What is the proper sized timber to use for the linings/stops (by 'stops', I mean the section of timber planted on the lining to form a rebate in which the door sits - have I got the right term?) Also, do i need to make an allowance for movement in the timber?


It really hacks me off that someone can do this to their family. Marriages fail. I get that. But you take responsibility for your own actions! The tiles around the bath have been smashed up to fit the new bath - leaving jagged 'teeth' that the lady and her kids keep cutting themselves on. The sink is held up by the water pipes and the toilet can only be flushed by reaching into the cistern and lifting the flush valve! :evil:

I'm more than happy to help her out, I just want to make sure I get it right first time for her.

 

[big soft moose]

i'm not an expert but it sounds like you are on the right track, all credit to you for taking it on (presumably) unpaid - i agree that its a scummer trick to pull on the parrt of her ex but unfortunately nort everyones the gentleman you clearly are.

my father left my old dears house in a similar state when he jumped ship, and it fell to me (then 18 yrs old with no diy experience) to sort it all out - partly what led me into woodwork . I'm 36 now and we are still finding bits that he bodged up which need redoing properly.

(one point from experience - make sure the lady has a photographic record/witness statements of the state her ex left the house in before you do any remedial work - this will help her if her ex dedcides to contest property ownership/ financial setlement in any divorce case)

 

[Benchwayze]

I won't comment on the reasons you got the job(s) but good on you for taking it on.

If I am teaching egg-sucking then my apolgies in advance:

When you are truing up the door-casings, it helps to cut yourself a length of 50mm x 25 mm timber, measured against a standard door width.

You can use this as a gauge when you shim the casings. Then you'll know that when the casing is perpendicular, it's also the right width.

It's nice to be able to fit doors without having to plane the edges to a smaller opening.

The photographic 'evidence' is a good idea too.

Good luck on this 'project'.

PS... I think if you go to a good Builders' Merchant, you'll be able to buy standard door-lining section and even made-up casings. This will be the right sized section.

I could measure mine, but they are all imperial!


Regards
John.

 

[stuartpaul]

I tend to agree with you about the window board, - sounds about the right course of action.

You say the door linings are out of square/true, - by much?

Are the doors still around and if so will 'truing' the frames mean the doors won't fit?

If it's an older style house that out of square may be what some call character

Good on you for taking the job on.

 

[studders]

Truing all the doors might end up as a lot of work. I would be inclined to rehang them and only remedy any problems where, for example, the door won't stay closed or has very unsightly gaps. It's often a lot less work to pin battens to the opening to make a better fit than it is to alter the door.

 

[AndyT]

Again, at risk of stating the obvious, there are a wide variety of 'frame fixings' for anchoring the door linings to the internal walls. With the right sort of multi-purpose bit, you can drill through the timber and into the brick, then insert the fixing through in one go. No need to mark positions, remove timber, drill, plug, re-align timber etc.

 

[pren]

Cheers guys! What get's me most about this is that the Ex is a builder! :shock:

This whole thing is going to be a long-term, 'evenings & weekends' project. I'm just looking to make the place safer in the short term before correcting all the faults. The lady's going to save up what she can and get things like tiles, toilet, sink, timber etc.. when she can afford them. I'll fit them when their available.

All the internal doors (five of them in total) were promply smashed up and burnt after removal. One thing he could do very well, apparently. :roll: The worst frame is out by about 1" with the top of the hinge side leaning inwards. Another one has plumb sides but the top plate( :?: ) has one end about 3/4" lower than the other. It seems the guy in charge of the doorways had a liquid lunch that day. :?

The house is actually quite nice (apart from the obvious). 1970's exec style. All the 'damage' is cosmetic (ie - not structural) so I'm pretty confident I can sort out more or less all of it.

Thanks for the tip about the door frame guage, John! Sounds much easier than faffing about re-measuring the opening every time I move the lining. I've hung a new door in an old frame before but not replaced the lining, so all tips greatfully recieved! :-D

I'm going to sort out the bathroom first, as the kids (7 & 9 - the youngest is Autistic) aren't allowed in there alone because she's worried the sink will fall on them or they'll slash their hands on the tiles or put their feet through the gaps where the floorboards were taken up!

I'm doing this all for free (unless you consider coffee and cake payment) however I do expect to be dining out on the brownie points for the rest of my days. :lol:

 

[Digit]

Fitting doors to odd shaped frames/openings is one of the worst jobs going IMO Pren.
My solution is based on hating the job!
Make/buy the door, fit casing to it then fit casing to the opening!

Roy.

 

[jlawrence]

Unless you've absolutely no choice then it would be a lot less hassle to make the opening the right size to fit a standard size frame in.

 

[pren]

Make/buy the door, fit casing to it then fit casing to the opening!

Roy.

Interesting! I suppose once the lining is assembled with door stop, the door (complete with hinges) can be laid in the lining on the floor and against the stops. Hinge positions can be marked and bracing fixed to hold the frame exactly to the shape of the door without having to juggle it on an old chisle. I likes it!

I assume the door needs to be removed from the lining in order to fit it in the opening?

I'm going to get the door linings with the standard sizes rebated into the head. I'll go with whichever one is closest to the current opening size.

 

[Digit]

I assume the door needs to be removed from the lining in order to fit it in the opening?

Yep, with bracings to keep it square etc, I fit all the door furniture on the bench before installing the frame.
I use jigs for hinge setting etc and normally use planted closing strips.

Roy.

 

[OPJ]

As John said, good on you for taking this on - it sounds almost like a job for DIY SOS! :wink:

I've hung a few doors but I don't think I've come across a single frame/lining which is either square or true, let alone both! Plus, as with furniture, these things will move over time anyway. If it's less than 2mm say (???), you should be able to make a door fit and operate correctly.

 

[pren]

it sounds almost like a job for DIY SOS! :wink:

We did seriously suggest that she get in touch with them! I swear there have been people on there with far less of a sob story than hers. :lol:

 

[Smudger]

Why not do it! It's always worth a try. I'd draw the line at Tommy Walsh, though...

 

[Digit]

Why not do it! It's always worth a try.

Gotta be!

Roy.

 

[pren]

I'd draw the line at Tommy Walsh, though...

Agreed :!: The poor woman has been through enough without that lumbering bolster jockey draining her tea supplies! :roll: :wink: :lol:

 

[big soft moose]

The lady's going to save up what she can and get things like tiles, toilet, sink, timber etc.. when she can afford them. I'll fit them when their available.

tell her to join freecycle and check it on a regular basis - one of my workmates got a complete bathroom suite on there - 1 year old being removed from a new build because the new owner didnt like the colour , while someone else i know got most of a kitchen.

It would also be worth her contacting the local b&q, focus, etc as they rip out and dispose of cheap display kitchens and bathrooms

you are clearly a top guy to take all this on for free - brownie points not withstanding - if i lived closer i'd offer to give you a hand but the commute might be a tad far.

 

[JonnyD]

Just an obsevation on the window board. Timber doesnt expand or contract along its length so there is no need to allow any gaps at the ends. The bowing is probably down to it not being fitted properly.

well done for taking this on.

cheers

Jon

 

[pren]

I really do appreciate all the back-slapping! :lol: I ain't no hero, tho. Just an ordinary Joe doing what he cans. :lol:

Good tip about the B&Q display sets, BSM. I know a guy who got a whole bathroom for next to nothing, on the basis that it was sold as seen, no refunds. Aside from a couple of slight scuffs (from kids getting in and out of the bath instore) it was perfectly fine.

As for the window board: it did occur to me that I'd read here that wood only really expands across the grain, not along it. Would something like GripFill do the job on a correctly fitted board?

 

[Digit]

Would something like GripFill do the job on a correctly fitted board?

Put some screws in the wood from the underside, drill mating holes in the brick/blockwork, fill the holes with Gripfill/epoxy/mortar and weight the board into place. And hope you never have to remove it! :lol:

Roy.