Hey friends,

On last week's wood filling and painting I didn't think there was any more to learn on the topic but Dave got in touch with two products I'd never heard of and thought I'd pass along:

Just a quick tip for you (a bit of role reversal), in my experience 2 part wood filler is hellishly expensive. Try U-Pol car filler, I’m pretty sure it’s exactly the same product in a different can for half the price.

Also, I know you like to do things once and properly, so for painting exterior wood I’d take a look at linseed paint. It’s expensive, but there are coats of it on buildings in Scandinavia that have lasted 500 years and it’s a beautiful natural product. Smells amazing too.

🛀 Bathroom Progress

You know you're in trouble when your other half is loudly pronouncing how many hair washes they have left until the date you promised the new bathroom will be finished. With that ticking time-bomb I've cracked on with my list and completed all the yellow items.

I've skipped over cutting the soil stack for now because...well, I'm nervous tbh. I'm not sure what to do with that feeling. Sometimes it acts as a good warning to get a professional in but other times I've pushed through, it's worked out and I'm glad I did. I do find it a bit annoying that we're paying out for the pipework to be dealt with yet for the trickiest bit I'm left to my own devices. Humph.

However I thought I'd get some practice in by tackling the bit of cast iron that connected to the old loo inside. I started with a hammer which after a few hits cracked the pipe. It's a good idea to stuff newspaper or something in the pipe beforehand as bits may fall down the pipe and clog your drain.

The thicker connecting ring wouldn't break so I used my angle grinder with a metal cutting disk to cut through so that it was flush with the wall.

I then filled the soil pipe with spray foam and used bonding plaster over the front as well as for filling in the gap where the old stud wall was to make the wall flush for the tile backer. This probably wasn't necessary but I needed the bonding plaster for the other wall so I figured I may as well. I have no technique to speak of, I just smeared it in with my tape and jointing tools.

So I did go with Marmox board in the end - 20mm thick on this outer wall. Once I had it in my hands it made sense. In my head I imagined it to be spongey or flexible but it's very rigid stuff whilst being easy to cut and lightweight.

There are a bunch of options for fixing this type of tile backer: tile adhesive, dot and dab, foam adhesive or mechanical fixings. I went with the last option - 60mm screws, washers and wall plugs with around 12 per board.

I realise this is probably a weird thing to say, but as a timber guy, I don't really trust wall. It's crumbly and wall plugs can and do fall out and I had visions of the board and tile falling on the boy. So for the top layer I also added one longer screw and squirted in some of Marmox's MSP360 adhesive/sealant to really give a good hold (resin would work well too). I also used the MSP360 between the boards in the wet area around the bath and shower for the waterproofing.

I think this board will make a good difference to how warm the bathroom feels and bonus, vapour won't condense on this wall in winter as it would otherwise.

The next job was to put up the mirror cabinet (Plumbworld also sell on ebay and Amazon and regularly change their pricing - we picked this up for £215) . It's usually the last job but I'm intending to have it embedded in the wall and tile up to it. Once in I could frame out the wall around it

There will be 2 or 3 niches in the shower on the right and one above the sink. We're going for this sort of look to try to keep the sink free of toothbrushes and soap and make it easy to clean:

This required a lot of thinking ahead for tiling and the studs either side of the cabinet are spaced away from the cabinet so it doesn't end up looking weird. It's hard to explain now but will become clear when I tile, if indeed I've got it correct.

The stud wall also has supports for the sink and shower screen to attach to, very little is on centre. As ever with framing a stud wall inside, you have to get your top and bottom plates in and fill in the studs afterwards as you can't lift it from horizontal. The alternative is to leave a gap and fill with a second top plate but you just know that's never going to fit. I toenailed/screwed the bottom of the studs to the bottom plate but was able to get into the loft to secure the studs to the top plate in the usual fashion.

There are a few small timbers to add still but I moved on to the plasterboarding. Steve and I did a swap. He borrowed my carpet fitting tools and I his panel lifter which he bought after the carnage of doing my garden room ceiling with just a timber jack. It makes life so much simpler and folds down to a reasonably sized box. Banana for scale, and my breakfast:

Joe helped me cut and carry the plasterboard and we got the ceiling covered in an afternoon. You'd never know he's turning 76 soon.

Then I taped and jointed. I would have liked to have tried mesh tape but I've still got a long roll of paper tape so I used that along with the same jointing compound I've used previously (new bag, it does have a use-by date). As I've said before, the nice thing is I didn't need to do any corners as I'll be tiling up to the ceiling so only one tapered joint and two butt joints. I can't say I've gotten any better at it (my vid on the topic) but it's a nice 'skill' to have. Saved probably £300 and a 2 week+ wait for a plasterer.

Once I've painted I'll be moving the bath in and can close off the big hole to the landing then can frame the concealed cistern loo we've gone for. Solid progress this week though. What have you been up to?

👋

This clip gave me a good chuckle. Personally, I'd love to be greeted this way at B&Q. If that link is not showing, here's a copy/paste:

https://www.reddit.com/r/CasualUK/comments/ucwtkv/welcome_to_bq/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

Hit "reply" if you've got any comments on this week's newsletter – otherwise I'll see you next time. Have an epic week :)

P.s. If you think a friend will enjoy this newsletter, feel free to send them this link where they can sign up.

P.p.s. You can find all previous newsletters here.