Lukus
Junior Member
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Post by Lukus on Mar 24, 2024 15:22:16 GMT
Can anyone recommend a good (free) room designer app (ideally on PC rather than phone)? Mostly just want to get an idea of different colour combinations before I paint the walls and get a new carpet.
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Blue_Mike
Full Member
Meet Hanako At Embers
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Post by Blue_Mike on Mar 24, 2024 17:53:18 GMT
Can anyone recommend a good (free) room designer app (ideally on PC rather than phone)? Mostly just want to get an idea of different colour combinations before I paint the walls and get a new carpet.
Base game of The Sims 4 is free to play if all you want is the look of walls and floors. |
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Rich
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Post by Rich on Mar 24, 2024 18:11:33 GMT
I can't remember the names, but googled this last year and tried a fair few of the ones that were recommended. They were all generally a bit shit and not worth bothering with.
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Post by Dougs on Mar 24, 2024 18:41:04 GMT
That is my experience too.
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Lukus
Junior Member
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Post by Lukus on Mar 24, 2024 19:23:28 GMT
I thought that might be the case, they all look too basic to get much of an idea.
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mrpon
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Post by mrpon on Mar 25, 2024 9:59:36 GMT
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Post by zisssou on Mar 25, 2024 10:17:42 GMT
Anyone got any recommendations for 'cheap' tools to put some skirting board in? Mitre box and coping saw do the job? Or should I get some fancy power tools, as I'll probably end up doing the entire house at some point.
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nexus6
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Post by nexus6 on Mar 25, 2024 10:30:45 GMT
Anyone got any recommendations for 'cheap' tools to put some skirting board in? Mitre box and coping saw do the job? Or should I get some fancy power tools, as I'll probably end up doing the entire house at some point. Mitre box and hand saw almost entirely useless in my opinion, as to cut a 45 degree cut you have to hold the skirting in it's upright position which is a bollocks to try and cut reasonably well with a handsaw. Not a coping saw either. A compound mitre saw is the way to go - but there again if you want to cut the skirting to go round an internal or external corner you need to make sure it has a vertical cut height of your skirting plus a little bit. Or you have to get in to tilting the blade to 45 and laying the boards flat on the cutting surface which is a pain also. What are they fixing into? New plasterboard? A brick wall? A little bit of wood at the base of the wall? If brick you will need a hammer drill for drilling the holes of course. Once you cut the main 45 cut you will need to use a coping saw to 'undercut' the bevel to accommodate your walls not meeting at exactly 45 degrees. |
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minimatt
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hyper mediocrity
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Post by minimatt on Mar 25, 2024 11:11:08 GMT
if skirts are going to be painted and if it's a one-off then I'd say a mitre box and any old saw plus a tube of caulk would be most cost-effective if you're doing multiple then a mitre saw is a good call, and they're handy to have around too, nothing fancy, a 216mm/8.5inch one is plenty big enough, tend not to be square out of the box though so will need tuning (the manual will have instructions for this, you will need a known good square to reference) fitting to plasterboard you can get away with adhesive, fitting to flat plaster or block work you may get away with adhesive (a good one like OB1) - you may need to drill into walls as nexus notes - be very careful beneath plug sockets/light switches - two options - either sink a rawl plug and screw the boards in or drill a hole, hammer a wooden dowel in then pin nail the boards to the wall into the dowel (one of these obv requires a lot more caulk to make pretty)
proper chippies will tell you you shouldn't be mitreing internal corners anyway but scribe them, but if boards are to be painted (and gaps caulked) i've never seen a reason for this, suspect it's so they can show off how good at scribing they are
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Post by zisssou on Mar 25, 2024 12:57:58 GMT
Yeah it'll be plasterboard. I'll take a look at some mitre saws! Yeah the corners strike fear in me, but I'm willing to give it a shot. Not the end of the world if I fuck it up.
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Post by elstoof on Mar 25, 2024 13:07:18 GMT
Circular saw set to 45 degrees and a speed square will get you just as close as a mitre saw
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Post by zisssou on Mar 25, 2024 13:34:12 GMT
There's too much choice.
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mrpon
Junior Member
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Post by mrpon on Mar 25, 2024 13:36:29 GMT
Just butt them up square and do a cowboy caulk coverup.
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minimatt
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hyper mediocrity
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Post by minimatt on Mar 25, 2024 13:47:26 GMT
on mitre saws i've got two which i can recommend
first a cheap & tiny angry little fucker evolution r210cms - very small, packs away even smaller, bullet proof blade i use if there's a risk of going through a nail. not terribly accurate, no soft start, extremely loud, fine for skirting unless your chosen boards are particularly tall
other one is a dewalt dws774-gb - bit bigger but still very compact by normal mitre saw standards, a fair bit more expensive, extremely capable. the dws773 variant doesn't have the shadow-line feature (which i do find quite handy) but does come in a bit cheaper. think Trowel 🏴 also has one of these |
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Post by zisssou on Mar 25, 2024 13:52:01 GMT
on mitre saws i've got two which i can recommend
first a cheap & tiny angry little fucker evolution r210cms - very small, packs away even smaller, bullet proof blade i use if there's a risk of going through a nail. not terribly accurate, no soft start, extremely loud, fine for skirting unless your chosen boards are particularly tall
other one is a dewalt dws774-gb - bit bigger but still very compact by normal mitre saw standards, a fair bit more expensive, extremely capable. the dws773 variant doesn't have the shadow-line feature (which i do find quite handy) but does come in a bit cheaper. think Trowel 🏴 also has one of these Yeah I was looking at the r210 on amazon. But now you say about the boards being tall.. of course my partner wants quite tall ones ha. Not sure we want to spend the dewalt money. I also have to factor in buying a work bench too. |
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minimatt
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hyper mediocrity
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Post by minimatt on Mar 25, 2024 14:14:50 GMT
Yeah I was looking at the r210 on amazon. But now you say about the boards being tall.. of course my partner wants quite tall ones ha. i'd have to measure it to be sure but I think 10cm would be about max height you could get away with (using the compound tilt - ie. skirting board layed flat) - a sliding compound mitre saw could get you more - like the dewalt, but evolution also do a slider version of the r210 - with the sms suffix which I've not used but should be a cheaper option I also have to factor in buying a work bench too. i'm all for tool porn but this is a nice to have rather than a necessity for occasional diy - the floor is ok and what i use for really long bits (like skirting boards)
edit: and elstoof's circular saw recommendation is solid too - bevel it over to 45, clamp a straight edge across the board to guide it, job done. I'm slightly reticent to recommend as they can be slightly more risky than mitre saws and having seen one person turn their thumb into bloody chunks (on a table saw - much, much nastier) i tend to over compensate on safety. if you have a battery drill the chances are high whoever made that also makes a circ saw that takes the same battery
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Post by zisssou on Mar 25, 2024 14:49:49 GMT
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mrpon
Junior Member
Posts: 3,737
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Post by mrpon on Mar 25, 2024 15:19:53 GMT
Thought about hiring? Only fractionally less really, so I get the purchase route.
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Post by zisssou on Mar 25, 2024 15:22:05 GMT
Suppose I'll get re-use out of it by chopping up bodies etc.
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minimatt
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hyper mediocrity
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Post by minimatt on Mar 25, 2024 15:22:15 GMT
yeah that's not a bad price - they're frequently on offer for some reason. like i say, only difference between that and the 774 is the shadow-line thingy, which i rate, but not £100 rate. don't feel bullied into spending money though, if this is the only job you're ever likely to use it for then cheaper options are ok and you won't tell the difference once everything's caulked
(if caulk is not an option, eg. if you're putting in naturally finished oak boards or something, then budget for some practice bits, or maybe get a chippy in)
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Post by zisssou on Mar 25, 2024 15:29:06 GMT
I'll have a think whether to buy that for £180 or the cheaper r210. I've always wanted to try this sort of thing, so might be a worthwhile investment to spend a little more.
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Post by elstoof on Mar 25, 2024 15:41:10 GMT
You’ll most likely find very limited use for a mitre saw in future tbh. The best thing they do is cut lots of short-ish strips to the same length. A hobbyist will get much more use from a circular saw
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Post by simple on Mar 25, 2024 17:42:01 GMT
House sagas here:
The roof - we’ve got the repair work booked in but have been thoroughly ghosted by the original contractor. For the sake of mrs simple’s mental health we’re just going to take the hit for now. Although we’re far enough along that if we wanted to initiate any small claim against them it wouldn’t take much more work so got that in our back pocket if we need it.
The boiler - still producing a faint fume smell in the half an hour or so after its been running. Everyone tells us that since its not a gas leak, hasn’t triggered either of the CO monitors I put in the room and the exhaust is still visibly venting to ourside that we’re not in danger. I’m not convinced and have a guy coming this week to go over the whole thing. Its probably just a loose seal or something but I don’t really want to get gassed while working from home or freezing while sleeping with the windows open.
The two plumber firms I go to have both been great about everything in the past so I know I can probably trust them but since one has space to fit us in I’m not missing my chance.
At least everything that needed immediate attention in the allotment move is done now.
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patrick
New Member
Ugly bag of mostly water
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Post by patrick on Mar 28, 2024 10:26:35 GMT
I don't belong in this thread because I've never fixed anything in my life and dont even have a home to have anything to fix in it but I must say I'm feeling very happy I fixed my 'rents broken toilet that was stuck permanently flushing. It's a start I guess.
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nexus6
Junior Member
Posts: 2,527
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Post by nexus6 on Mar 28, 2024 10:47:40 GMT
It's a brave man that tackles plumbing in someone else's home. Kudos.
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Post by Dougs on Mar 28, 2024 10:51:33 GMT
Finally gave in and got a man in to sort the stuck UPVC French doors. £270 lighter as it needed a new mechanism but he was a very nice chap. Who also sorted the front door out for free too.
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Post by zisssou on Mar 28, 2024 12:32:57 GMT
£270 for back door action is fairly reasonable.
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Post by simple on Mar 29, 2024 12:29:49 GMT
Yesterday’s engineer wasn’t able to make so mrs simple booked in British Gas instead as they were the only people doing bank holiday call outs and logged it as potential gas leak.
They couldn’t immediately identify the cause of the smell on the boiler but they did checks on everything around the house and found there’s a drop on the system somewhere. Can’t do the full trace and repair today so they’re capping us off for the weekend.
I guess that’ll stop the smell but it also means no hob or boiler until Tuesday at the absolute earliest. Shite.
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minimatt
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hyper mediocrity
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Post by minimatt on Mar 29, 2024 12:48:30 GMT
you must be getting sick of it simple  remain glad you're not at risk of being exploded |
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Lukus
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Post by Lukus on Mar 29, 2024 12:56:50 GMT
Anyone replaced a waste disposal unit under a bath? And if so, what are my chances as a man with very soft hands of doing it successfully with no prior plumbing expertise?...
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remain glad you're not at risk of being exploded