Help need urgent advice on laminate as carpenter due back in morning
design novice
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
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Parquet Flooring
Comments (39)Lucky you - discovering a Parquet floor, this one is Pine, laid herringbone design, it has been previously sanded - not sympathetically though, you can see some chatter marks. Don't worry they will all come out - if you have it professionally sanded - Parquet is a specialist sand as the grain of the wood is not in all the same direction. It can be stained - I would reccommend a water based stain and finished in a clear matt lacquer. If you wanted to paint it white, you would need to treat all the knots with knot primer, followed by a floor primer, then a couple of coats of paint ie Farrow & Ball Personal recommendation a clear finish to highligh the knots and grain of your wood - using white accents Good Kuck - Elaine...See MoreIs this the most difficult space to work with?
Comments (101)I think the option of having the tv under the stairs.. Is the best idea.. Maybe have a tv, media unit made to measure if possible .. Draws or cupboards underneath for storage. Small shelves at the sides for little ink-naks. If needed.. A smaller maybe glass oblong table in front of the window. The table will still allow light through.. Making sure passable through to the stairs.. And the sofa on the back wall.. Lovely rug in the centre with coffee table or chest for extra storage if needed... Maybe some open floating shelves off set above the sofa. Use an accent colour with accessories.. From the rug or cushions.. Don't go overboard with large piece of furniture... Simple statements.......See MoreFreezing Lounge - ideas needed
Comments (21)As an experienced architectural designer my answer deals with your specific problems, but also contains general advice which could be useful to other readers, so please don't be offended or take what I write personally... I'm just trying to help people. I notice your house has a massive external surface area with which to lose heat, plus lots of windows so it will not be an easy house to keep warm! It would be very sensible to check out your whole house internally and externally with an infra-red thermometer as this will show up the worst heat loss spots. They could be around window frames, doors, skirting, ceilings and these are the places to target your heat loss fighting energy and finance. Your problem could be caused by a whole range of issues. Do you have a suspended timber floor which is ventilated? Just like your open chimney, the wind will rob any heat from the room unless you stop it doing so. This would involve insulating the floor in some way, and if you were taking up the floorboards you would be wise to treat the joists (especially the ends) and check for evidence of mice, which can play havoc in cavity wall insulation. Taking up the floor is a very disruptive job, which is why it has not been done in my house. Untreated timber could rot if ventilation is restricted by close-fitting insulation. If you have an unventilated floor, it may not have any or enough insulation. Also, beware of internal insulation as a solution, as this makes your outside walls colder/damper and usually leads to later problems with damp/mould/rot and expensive remedial work, even structural failure. Make sure you follow the advice of a competent person who understands how complex building physics can be. (Building services engineer). Bay windows are usually really poor bits of construction... If your double glazing has a large gap between the panes of around 20mm, it may not be the real problem. If the spacers (between the glass) are shiny aluminium, this is not good, so if you ever replace the glazing, don't settle for anything less than Edgetech Superspacer or Truplas, the very best warm edge spacers available. I live in a 1930's ex council house and I have blocked the only remaining chimney with a massive bag of loft insulation. The floor was already overlaid with a cheap laminate floor, so the floor gets cold when the winter winds roar. Reflective blinds (checkout Reflex Rol) can be used, but with a bay window, fitting will be complex and heat will still escape around the edges of the blind. Reflective foil is able to bounce radiant energy away from itself, but there should always be an airspace on each side of the foil or the energy just conducts through to the cold side. If the window faces south, then blinds could make the room even colder, unless you always remember to raise them early each morning - the same goes for thermal shutters. My house in Somerset has a gas combi boiler which has hardly needed to come on at all so far this winter. My gas and electricity comes from EBICO, as they have no standing charges. I have insulated the house externally with 50mm of Celotex, covered with treated battens and Marley Cedral weatherboard (which does not rot) and only adds around 80mm to the wall thickness, plus Cedral is perfect for eaves boards and soffits. (You can paint it whatever colour you like). This, plus a porch outside the front door has made a massive difference to my warmth as I am 70 and now live on my own. The attic has been properly insulated and boarded to become an unofficial room. I am lucky to have two unshaded windows that face south and they bring in lots of free energy. I am not stupid and I'm often in and out to my garden, so in winter I wear a vest under my T shirt, as well as a fleece and longjohns under my trousers (get them at Lidl) which is also a good place to buy LED lights. Always start with energy conservation and insulation rather than things that burn timber or fossils fuels and ignore the real problem. I would avoid burning wood, given the state our atmosphere and lungs are in. We are not cave men anymore and should be evolving. New energy efficient houses sometimes feature large south-facing PV roofs which directly heat a central water tank or can feed electric underfloor heated zones - and just like my 1970's experimental solar house, these super-insulated dwellings do not have a 'normal heating system'. I can't stand curtains, they look a mess, often block out solar radiation / light and have to be washed. I like close-fitting wooden floors which you can simply sweep with a brush and run over with an upright vac-cleaner. Tiles are a pain to keep clean and can break your hip as well as things you drop. We can save lots of money and energy by not buying things that need to be washed and dried, as well as things we really don't need!...See MoreDIY mishaps and regrets
Comments (19)DIY renovating our little 1950 house since 2012. We did the major work in the first 2 years, went slow afterwards. So plenty of mistakes too LOL. Some bad choices, like cheap bathroom floor tiles (huge discoloration on the shower floor) and cheap bathroom paint (which is already pealing off walls and ceiling) and cheap alkyd for the woodwork (some areas look like a chain smoker lives here). Some not so handy decisions, like taking out the original pine floors to be able to insulate underneath and remove weird patches and hatches, then nailing them back onto osb, but never thinking about the possibility of the current massive creaking (just about everywhere).. It looks great though.. But also some 'fun' experiences, like discovering a huge abandoned wasp nest above a bedroom ceiling, roof beams that had been chewed on by longhorn beetles for about 10 years (which thus had to be replaced, did that ourselves too though.. humble yet pround and slightly stubborn).. And, last but not least, we had to use polyurethane glue to fix just about every impact plug used for the insulation of all of our external walls, because it turned out our (13cm thick) concrete walls were not quite solid, but made of concrete frames (with 20mm steel reinforcement, also great when drilling onto) filled with iron slag. Always remember: It's better to regret the things done, than to regret the things you didn't. And better to try and fail, than .. Oh well, you get the point ;)...See Moredesign novice
5 years agodesign novice
5 years agodesign novice
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoJules Mc
5 years agodesign novice
5 years agolast modified: 5 years ago
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