Steve's workshop - Painting the outside walls

[Steve Maskery]

Thanks. You sound as if you are right. I'll try to remember for next time... :?

 

[Wizard9999]

Your workshop is looking great, don't worry too much about the floor I am sure no one will notice. For future reference though a couple of small points. Firstly you made things harder for yourself by laying the boards with the grooved edge outwards, if you set off tongue out, so to speak you are applying glue to the previously fixed board and not handling a board covered in wet glue. It also makes it much easier to get your last board in. Secondly those type of boards are usually stuck together with d4 adhesive which foams up and fills any gaps and can be scraped off the top afterwards, thus leaving a gapless finish. I know pictures can be misleading but it looks to me as though you didn't put nearly enough glue into your joints, it should squeeze out of the joint as you pull it up tight.
Anyway, hope you find some of this of interest, I am really enjoying your build, be pleased to see it up and running.
Neil.

Neil

I am thinking of using the same flooring, so would like to pick your brain. The explanation on fitting you give is completely consistent with the data sheet on the Caber website. However, they also advocate either glueing to joists or using secret nailing. That seems to suggest to me that with the floor permanently tied to joists there is no scope for the floor to move, so in this case and expansion gap around the perimeter would serve no purpose. Is that correct? If it is correct, how would you approach an installation where the floor is glued in line with manufacturer's instructions, but left floating on insulation, as in Steve's installation? Is an expansion gap around the perimeter necessary then or is the flooring so stable as to not require one?

Terry.

 

[Steve Maskery]

The first job today was to see just how salvageable my floor is. I'm relieved to report that It does look as if all is going to be OK. That dark patch you can see is just grout dust swept up from the four boards you see in the picture. So a good scrub with a towel will sort it out, I am sure.

I was going to fit the skirting next, but I plan to have a small kitchen unit in the back corner, so it seemed sensible to fit that first. I'm a bit reluctant to admit that I went to B&Q. I asked the NYL what the thickness of the back panel was. 8mm, apparently. I thought that would be pretty robust so I bought a 1000mm and a 500mm unit and came home.

Well what can I say? It is adequate. No more. There are chips in the melamine and the first cam I put in just broke as I tightened it, and I wasn't being heavy handed. They are made of cheese. But at least nothing was missing. TBH it looks as if it an ex-display model, even though it was in a sealed box. And oh yes, the back panel is 3mm hardboard, not 8mm.

Included was a Customer Care card, so I rang the number. It goes to Norwood, who make for B&Q. The phone was answered almost immediately by a NYM who expressed his condolences. Apparently it is only the Cooke and whatever-it-is range that has 8mm backs. Anyway, he is sending me a spare cam and a replacement drawer support piece, which was the most badly damaged piece.

It'll do, and is was inexpensive, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised.
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Now then, I could do with your advice.

There is some discussion above about the clearances at the edges of the floor. When we laid it, we kept 11mm at the edges

but already, the gap is smaller along the back wall. Here it is about 8mm

So it has already expanded a bit. I'm wondering if I should trim it back. I've been given a door trimmer thing, a cross between a router and a circular saw. I've not used it, and neither had the guy who gave it to me, but I think it would do the job quite well. Should I go to the trouble?
--------------------------------

It will be easier to fit the skirting if the architrave is fixed first, so in order to do that I had to line the door first. I have lots and lots of spare T&G cladding, so it made sense to use that. There isn't quite enough width to line the whole doorway with the flat part, so I kept the scooped out bit to the front But this means that I have to scribe at the corners. To do that I mitred then first and then cut to the line created. The tapered face is because I didn't have the saw blade perfectly vertical.

I had to clean out the other side as I'd squirted a load of PU foam into the gap. Messy, isn't it?

And so, as the afternoon drew to a close, I decided I wanted to put up one piece of architrave, just to see what it would look like. I did and it shall look good when it is finished. But when I came to fit the top piece, I found that it is not long enough. It's long enough for a door up to 33" wide, but mine is 36", and so it is too short. Never mind, I thought, I have a bit of architrave left over from doing the roof. It's wood rather than MDF, but no matter. Until I put them both together and found that although they are both torus, they are not from the same cutter and therefore will not mitre properly. It's too late to take the first piece off as it is glued as well as pinned, but I think I can salvage it. I'll tell you how if it works!

 

[Racers]

That floor is looking a lot better now Steve.

Pete

 

[Graham Orm]

Architrave Steve. I always start with the head. That way you can get the reveal back to the casing exact on each leg and the head. Mitre Bond is a good idea too to avoid them opening up. Can't say I've ever glued them on.

 

[Steve Maskery]

I'm beginning to regret blogging all this, it illuminates my ignorance too much...
S

 

[Steve Maskery]

Incidentally, it was 10 deg C when I went in late morning and it was still 10 when I left. I didn't have the heating on at all. It was OK for working in. Given that it's a couple of days since any heating at all has been on, I'm quite pleased with that.

 

[Graham Orm]

I'm beginning to regret blogging all this, it illuminates my ignorance too much...
S

Steve, if anyone claims to know everything about any trade he's a liar. Take a look at my signature comment, Everyone is learning all the time....usually after doing it wrong at least once!

You've done a superb job, and I for one have learned from following the thread!

 

[Wizard9999]

The first job today was to see just how salvageable my floor is. I'm relieved to report that It does look as if all is going to be OK...

There is some discussion above about the clearances at the edges of the floor. When we laid it, we kept 11mm at the edges...

...but already, the gap is smaller along the back wall. Here it is about 8mm



So it has already expanded a bit.

Steve

Now the grout has had time to dry it looks much, much better. Looks like the only casualty was the saucepan.

And, given your floor has already expanded, seems a pretty clear answer that the gaps around the edge are necessary. But just for my idle curiosity I'd be interested how this floor works when glued or nailed in place, given the movement you have experienced already.

Terry.

 

[StevieB]

Hi Steve - just for reference, after loads of looking/research on my kitchen before I fitted it, Wickes were the only people I could find that did 18mm backs (same thickness as the sides) and this was from their ordered rather than 'off-the-shelf' range. B&Q kitchens were awful (the showroom ones in my local store were not even put together properly) Homebase were extortionately priced even in the sale. Ikea were OK but too modern in style for our house and Howdens I didn't get to see as SWMBO liked the Wickes one before I got that far (and you need a trade account with them also).

Steve

 

[Eric The Viking]

Totally agree about B+Q flat-pack.

I ordered one tall cupboard split vertically (two doors) a few years back. After three deliveries (IIRC, one rejected at the front door because the packaging was so damaged) they couldn't produce one that wasn't damaged. They took months to produce two doors, that were ONLY damaged in ways I could hide.

The whole experience was staggeringly awful. Never again.

 

[Mark A]

I bought three 1000mm base units from B&Q for storage in my garage. For the price I paid (around £30 each with Tradepoint discount) I don't think they're too bad. But then I wasn't expecting much in the first place.

 

[Eric The Viking]

One's mileage does vary ;-)

 

[Mark A]

=D>

 

[Steve Maskery]

The first job today was to sort out the outside lights. It took us all morning, but we did eventually find out what the problem was. The feed from the distribution board to the switch was damaged and it was shorting. I guess we have managed to put a nail or a screw through it somewhere. The ends were connected correctly but it was definitely that section of wiring. Unfortunately we couldn't pull it out, it was jammed, which would also be consistent with it being pierced somewhere. So we simply cut it off flush inside and out and replaced it with a new piece. Anyway, all is well now.

After lunch we turned our attention to the expansion gap. I've been given this:

It's for trimming doors and I had thought of using vertically against the wall to trim the flooring back. But it is difficult to open the blade guard in that orientation and given that it looks like a power tool from the 1960s (it's metal-bodied and so is not double-insulated, so how long ago was that practice ended?), neither Ray nor I wanted to use it in a way in which it was not intended.

So instead we used my track saw

We could get it as close as we could to the wall and we were left with a 15mm or so gap. Plenty of room for expansion, but it will not show when the skirting is on. So with the perimeter fixed, or at least as much of it as we had access to, we could start to fix the skirting. I scribed the short piece for the front and Ray glued it in place.

When it was caulked and cleaned up it looks like this

I need to get the rest of the door trim done before I can fix any more skirting.

 

[Graham Orm]

Looking mint Steve.

 

[The Bear]

Skirting board in a workshop, now that is posh !

Mark

 

[paulm]

Nice neat job Steve, looking good

Cheers, Paul

 

[Mcluma]

looks good

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

I must be missing something......why did you need to pare back the floor before fitting the skirting? You had already left an expansion gap hadn't you. The skirting would cover the old and now the new wider gap so I'm confused at the step with the tracksaw in widening the gap?