The DIY thread

[AlwaysAVFC]

20 minutes ago, av1 said:

Here is a manual for a Triton  system

When we were house hunting I insisted to my Mrs that I'd never buy a house with a Triton shower (Not quite at the level of that bloke that refused service from Auto Windscreens when stuck on roadside with wife and kids in bad weather) Anyway haven't been tested whether I'd go through with my convictions. It's the one sponsor of them that had always wanted me to avoid.

My attempt at fixing a drip coming from my mixer shower, pretty up sums up my DIY skills.

Got soaked when I took off one too many bits before turning off the water at the mains.

Had a fiddle, and put it back together and without trying somehow managing to get the water temperature to match the dial which it didn't before, but made no difference to the drip whatsoever.

 

[wilko154]

Check this out, it might give you some ideas how to sort the issue.

 

[blandy]

On 17/02/2023 at 10:24, blandy said:

must admit, I’ve got a double sliding door (already there) which is not aligned properly and I’ve been putting off fixing it for around, er…5 years. Gonna do it soon. Honest. One sliding door feels a lot simpler than two which should, but don’t, meet in the middle.

Sliding doors are a pain. I’ve fixed them now. Dismantle, fettle, re-assemble, align, dismantle, paint, re-assemble, paint the detailed bits, 15 windows in each, so 60 edges to the glass on each side, so 240 in total. It’s taken forever. Still need to clean all the glass and razor blade off the odd bit of paint on glass. Just get a wall or ornery doors!

[Stevo985]

I've bought a house.

The stairs don't have a bannister.

I want a bannister. One that includes a handrail and spindles and newell posts etc.

Where do I buy one? Who do I need to fit it? Can I do it myself? (almost certainly not) What sort of price will it be? 

So many questions

Edited March 7, 2023 by Stevo985

[villakram]

2 hours ago, Stevo985 said:

I've bought a house.

The stairs don't have a bannister.

I want a bannister. One that includes a handrail and spindles and newell posts etc.

Where do I buy one? Who do I need to fit it? Can I do it myself? (almost certainly not) What sort of price will it be? 

So many questions

You can absolutely do it yourself. Loads of vids online of various utility. I did oak post and bannister with black metal spindles. Don't have a pic unfortunately. All the big home improvement centers have the parts over here.

The key point is having a proper solid anchoring for the newell post. I mounted it on the first step rather than the floor due to stairs being near the front door. Next step is if there are holes on the steps already from previous or if you need do new. See what the regs are (<4" between spindles over here, and >38", <44" height for bannister).

Buy a laser level as you'll generally mount newell - then the bannister - then mark spindle positions on threads and bannister and drill out. This part is impossible to do with a measuring tape and a regular level imho. Then you sand and stain etc., before finally installing for good. Our old house that I did this in was old, with zero right angles or straight lines anywhere. I think I did a ~ 40deg angle on the bannister with our stairs... laser level crucial here again (and a miter saw). This may be dependent on your stair dimension and wall trim angle if present. I mounted the bannister to the newell with a "MiniLock Handrail to Post Fastener" (see amazon), so no tricky drilling required here.

A second pair of hands is only briefly required when mounting the bannister etc., no hard work required from this help. Took about 4 weekends in total, which I'm certain is pretty slow, but I got it done!

 

 

 

[chrisp65]

3 hours ago, Stevo985 said:

I've bought a house.

The stairs don't have a bannister.

I want a bannister. One that includes a handrail and spindles and newell posts etc.

Where do I buy one? Who do I need to fit it? Can I do it myself? (almost certainly not) What sort of price will it be? 

So many questions

All the parts are easily available in B&Q, Screwfix, or Wickes etc..

It’s all down to opinion, but unless you’re fairly confident in your DIY skills, it’s a job I’d get someone in to do. It’s not just getting it to stay standing and look like a bannister and handrail, you want it fixed securely so someone doesn’t rely on it and go arse over tit.

[Stevo985]

Yeah I’m unlikely to do it myself. I guess I just didn’t expect it to be so complicated. 
 

I thought I’d be able to just pick a bannister and see how much it is. 
 

I’ve looked for ages and I have no idea

[foreveryoung]

15 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

Yeah I’m unlikely to do it myself. I guess I just didn’t expect it to be so complicated. 
 

I thought I’d be able to just pick a bannister and see how much it is. 
 

I’ve looked for ages and I have no idea

You'll need a carpenter if you want it done right, good luck, all the decent ones are booked for months, so fill your pockets with ££££££ to have any chance. I've just had a extension completed, getting good tradesmen at the moment is a nightmare.

[chrisp65]

35 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

Yeah I’m unlikely to do it myself. I guess I just didn’t expect it to be so complicated. 
 

I thought I’d be able to just pick a bannister and see how much it is. 
 

I’ve looked for ages and I have no idea

Find something you like on Instagram, grab the picture and post it together with your current stair to ask for quotes on checkatrade.

I don’t know if you’ve ever used checkatrade, its quite straightforward and you can describe the job and post pictures to help describe what you want.

The parts will be a couple of hundred, the labour cost is a bit of a lottery. But it will give you an idea how much you need to budget for at the very least. It also lets you post what your budget is if you want to put that.

 

[Stevo985]

Bannister update!

I had one done by a professional. It ended up costing about £1,300. So yeah, that sucks.
But it looks great.

 

So next question, I had a "primed" one fitted so in theory all I need to do is paint over the top of that right? What about varnish? Do I need it varnished? Is that a protection thing or is it to make it shiny or what? Do i do that after i've painted?

Also, I need to caulk it all. Where the **** do I do that? Every little gap or join or just round the external bits? (you know like where the bannister meets the wall and that?)

[AvfcRigo82]

32 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

Bannister update!

I had one done by a professional. It ended up costing about £1,300. So yeah, that sucks.
But it looks great.

 

So next question, I had a "primed" one fitted so in theory all I need to do is paint over the top of that right? What about varnish? Do I need it varnished? Is that a protection thing or is it to make it shiny or what? Do i do that after i've painted?

Also, I need to caulk it all. Where the **** do I do that? Every little gap or join or just round the external bits? (you know like where the bannister meets the wall and that?)

Yes caulking is essential to give a nice neat finish where the banister meets the wall. As it's been primed already, make sure your area is clean and dust free then caulk all your gaps before you apply your painted finish.

When caulking, you want to cut your nozzle at an angle but not too big a hole on the nozzle though or this will shoot out too much and make the caulking look shite, once that's dry then it's good to paint.

As for the banister itself, are you wanting it all one colour or the hand rail different from the spindles?

Generally if it's already primed then you are good to go with Satin/Eggshell/Gloss, depending on whatever type of finish you want to achieve (all give off a different finish once dry - however, Gloss yellows overtime and it stinks because it's oil based).

[Stevo985]

37 minutes ago, AvfcRigo82 said:

Yes caulking is essential to give a nice neat finish where the banister meets the wall. As it's been primed already, make sure your area is clean and dust free then caulk all your gaps before you apply your painted finish.

When caulking, you want to cut your nozzle at an angle but not too big a hole on the nozzle though or this will shoot out too much and make the caulking look shite, once that's dry then it's good to paint.

As for the banister itself, are you wanting it all one colour or the hand rail different from the spindles?

Generally if it's already primed then you are good to go with Satin/Eggshell/Gloss, depending on whatever type of finish you want to achieve (all give off a different finish once dry - however, Gloss yellows overtime and it stinks because it's oil based).

Yeah we've got eggshell paint ready to go. We're having the handrails (and maybe the newel posts) black and then the spindles and all the other woodwork white.
So I'm good to go on that. it was more whether I NEED to varnish it after that? Like is that essential for protection or is it just for if you want that kind of finish?

Caulking I think i'm good with. It's just where to caulk. Between the wood and the wall etc is fine, but do I caulk every little bit? Like all the joints on the actual bannister?

[AvfcRigo82]

16 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

Yeah we've got eggshell paint ready to go. We're having the handrails (and maybe the newel posts) black and then the spindles and all the other woodwork white.
So I'm good to go on that. it was more whether I NEED to varnish it after that? Like is that essential for protection or is it just for if you want that kind of finish?

Caulking I think i'm good with. It's just where to caulk. Between the wood and the wall etc is fine, but do I caulk every little bit? Like all the joints on the actual bannister?

Sounds nice!

After you have applied the two coats of eggshell there would be no need to varnish it to protect it.

I would recommend carefully caulking and filling in the little gaps on each spindle as it will give it a professional look once it's all been painted.

It is a pain in the arse but you'll be glad you did once you see the end result.

[Stevo985]

1 minute ago, AvfcRigo82 said:

Sounds nice!

After you have applied the two coats of eggshell there would be no need to varnish it to protect it.

I would recommend carefully caulking and filling in the little gaps on each spindle as it will give it a professional look once it's all been painted.

It is a pain in the arse but you'll be glad you did once you see the end result.

Thanks mate, appreciate it!

[StefanAVFC]

I just bought this for the garden

I'm pretty good at putting stuff together, but this came and it looks like a total nightmare. 4 packs of tiny planks and the biggest bag of screws and nails I've ever seen

[bickster]

51 minutes ago, StefanAVFC said:

I just bought this for the garden

I'm pretty good at putting stuff together, but this came and it looks like a total nightmare. 4 packs of tiny planks and the biggest bag of screws and nails I've ever seen

@sidcowis definitely the erection expert. You could always ask him for advice in getting it up

[sidcow]

4 minutes ago, bickster said:

@sidcowis definitely the erection expert. You could always ask him for advice in getting it up

Desperate plea for a KW there 

 

Oh go on then. 

 

[sidcow]

1 hour ago, StefanAVFC said:

I just bought this for the garden

I'm pretty good at putting stuff together, but this came and it looks like a total nightmare. 4 packs of tiny planks and the biggest bag of screws and nails I've ever seen

I'd have that up in a jiffy. Practice makes perfect as they say.  And I've had plenty of practice 

[Mandy Lifeboats]

3 hours ago, StefanAVFC said:

I just bought this for the garden

I'm pretty good at putting stuff together, but this came and it looks like a total nightmare. 4 packs of tiny planks and the biggest bag of screws and nails I've ever seen

I normally have no problem screwing after getting wood.  The size is not important.  Just take it slowly and make sure you use a well oiled tool. 

[Davkaus]

Thinking of investing in some cushions, Stefan?