Teaky's attic

[teaky]

Would you use him again?

Yes.

 

I'd also be better able to assess the number of days work involved which would give me more confidence anyway.

 

 

Edit:

Thinking about this further, I'd probably use the guy I was originally going to use too but who lost out due to his poor communication.  Part of this though is down to the scarcity of plasterers.  Neither of them provided the level of customer service I would consider satisfactory but both did good work and you would definitely not employ me for my plastering skills!

Edited June 1, 2018 by teaky

[TT-Pete]

Thinking about this further, I'd probably use the guy I was originally going to use too but who lost out due to his poor communication. 

 

I'm having this experience with tilers on an urgent job at the moment, emailed this bloke's works email (as he suggested) to arrange the start time, which he ignored and then texted me saying "do you want me to start?" but so late in the day I'd already given the job to someone else. (Who is cheaper and doing a cracking job - result. :-) )

[teaky]

I'm having this experience with tilers on an urgent job at the moment, emailed this bloke's works email (as he suggested) to arrange the start time, which he ignored and then texted me saying "do you want me to start?" but so late in the day I'd already given the job to someone else. (Who is cheaper and doing a cracking job - result. :-) )

Good to hear you're sorted now Pete.  I can't help thinking you made a poor choice of verb in relation to tiling though. 

[TT-Pete]

Good to hear you're sorted now Pete.  I can't help thinking you made a poor choice of verb in relation to tiling though. 

 

Sorry, but I stand by my choice of verb...

 

But credit where credit's due, he got the walls of the first ensuite cut and stuck in a day:

 

Incidentally the chippies say that the stairs will be installed next week. But then they first said that a fortnight ago. And "next week" was what the plumber said about coming back to install the oil-fired boiler, and the sparkies about coming back for the 2nd fix - both about 3 weeks ago.

 

I am starting to suspect that "next week" is either the building trade equivalent of "manyana" or code for "tell the schmuck what he wants to hear"...

[TT-Pete]

As you can see it is already drying nicely.  In fact it will probably be ready for a mist coat before I have done all the things on my to do list (not all loft related).

 

Aaaaargh. Don't talk to me about mist coats. I've been at it for weeks yet there are always acres still to do...

 

And one day this will be the man cave/model railway room...

 

But I get the feeling that yours will be finished and that you'll be playing trains long before I will...  

[chris p bacon]

Aaaaargh. Don't talk to me about mist coats. I've been at it for weeks yet there are always acres still to do...

 

 

 

One of the best things to hear is when a customer says " To save money we're painting it"  we leave at 5-5.30 and give them a long list of walls to be painted before morning so we can continue. By morning they're usually asking if the painter is free as they're very busy as it dawned on them at 10pm they've got 8* hours painting to do every evening.  

 

*=8 hours for a painter, but an average 10+ hours for a DIYer.

[teaky]

At least I'll know where I am when I don't turn up to do the next coat of paint. 

 

I will also not have to suffer some local radio DJ and his/her awful playlist from the 80s. 

 

I know what's coming though and sympathise with TT-Pete.  Painting large areas is mind numbing.

[teaky]

And one day this will be the man cave/model railway room...    A model railway room with a fireplace.  You're just showing off! 

 

 

But I get the feeling that yours will be finished and that you'll be playing trains long before I will...     At the rate I work? 

[teaky]

Anyone want to see pictures of plaster drying?  No?  It's every bit as exciting as paint drying. 

[The Stationmaster]

One of the best things to hear is when a customer says " To save money we're painting it"  we leave at 5-5.30 and give them a long list of walls to be painted before morning so we can continue. By morning they're usually asking if the painter is free as they're very busy as it dawned on them at 10pm they've got 8* hours painting to do every evening.  

 

*=8 hours for a painter, but an average 10+ hours for a DIYer.

 

When 'we' built the house we considered this aspect very carefully for all of two minutes - and told the builder to get his painter subbie in to do the lot.  Absolutely top notch job so it was two minutes well spent.

[teaky]

When 'we' built the house we considered this aspect very carefully for all of two minutes - and told the builder to get his painter subbie in to do the lot.  Absolutely top notch job so it was two minutes well spent.

I spent less than two minutes considering this and concluded that I'm too stingy fiscally cautious.

[chris p bacon]

I spent less than two minutes considering this and concluded that I'm too stingy fiscally cautious.

 

 

I bet you thin the emulsion....for every coat 

[teaky]

No, just the first coat. 

[TT-Pete]

A model railway room with a fireplace.  You're just showing off! 

Now an ex-fireplace - the chimney breast had to make way for the extension. Rather than board it over I am considering lining it with shelves and turning it into a book case/display cabinet (I have already been informed that my beer glass collection will not be on display in the living room )

 

[chris p bacon]

You could build an 'Inglenook' layout in there.

[teaky]

Over the last few days, as well as some gardening that needed doing I have spent time on a whole series of trivial little tasks like spots of filler, lightly sanding a few areas, filing & filling the top corners of the balustrade which were a little sharper than is ideal (my angle beading not the plasterer's fault), fitting architrave on the inside of the door frame, fitting extra skirting in one of the wardrobes, fitting a door stop around the eaves hatch and probably a few other things I've forgotten about.

 

Today though I opened a tub of emulsion and I have now completed the first (mist) coat in the main room and stairwell.  I'll spare you photos, partly because I haven't taken any, but also because I'll take some when the first proper coat of white is on.  I am anticipating three coats in total even though it already looks quite white now that the plaster has absorbed much of the water from the mist coat.

[chris p bacon]

 I'll take some when the first proper coat of white is on.  I am anticipating three coats in total even though it already looks quite white now that the plaster has absorbed much of the water from the mist coat.

 

 

I sold one house when part completed and the customer asked for it all to be painted in white, I looked up the specification and it was 7 coats (vertical, horizontal & diagonal).  I was happy enough to arrange this but their timescale for moving in precluded it, so it had just 3.

[teaky]

Seven!  The paint will be as thick as the plaster!

 

Three will definitely be enough (for me anyway).  More specifically, when I say three it will really be three and a bit as I am intending to do a little patch painting today on the little spots which always seem to require a little extra coverage due to little impurities in the plaster, angle beading on corners, flexible caulk on a few joints etc.

[Stubby47]

Will the top coat be a light blue ( sky ) ?

 

When my family moved into our house in Rhyl, dad over-painted the hall / stairway / landing wallpapered walls in a lighter colour. Over the years, this got painted again a couple more times. Eventually, the embossed pattern was becoming too indistinct, so the decision was made to strip the lot. We found under our three coats and the wall paper another two coats of paint, more wall paper and more coats of paint before we got to the plaster. The area must have grown by about half an inch.

Edited June 7, 2018 by Stubby47

[TheQ]

A pair of my uncles / aunts moved into a house on the Wiltshire  Somerset border, when they came to strip the walls he found over an inch of layers of paint and wall paper!!! Well the house was part of the former manor house and had been built in 14 something or other..though most of the wall paper was almost certainly 1800s or later. They also removed  1950's fireplace to find another behind it, to find a brick oven behind that , eventually they got back to the flint walls, now you can sit inside to old fireplace either side of a central  steel fire place he had built, or you can open a hatch in the steel work above and climb up the original iron rungs bonded into the flint wall with hooks all up the chimney to hang your hams. The chimney is about 8X4 feet inside.

[teaky]

Will the top coat be a light blue ( sky ) ?

That's an idea I keep returning to Stubby.  I can't decide at present.  This needs some serious thought along with baseboard height, position from walls/ceiling, backscene ...

[TheQ]

Having light blue walls, not only acts as a background but modifies the light reflected onto the layout into something more natural. Unless you want normal British weather, dark raining, dismal...    dark grey walls anyone?

[teaky]

That's certainly something to consider TheQ.  I'm not sure I'll opt for the blue room but the colour of (reflected) light needs thinking about.

[Harlequin]

That's certainly something to consider TheQ.  I'm not sure I'll opt for the blue room but the colour of (reflected) light needs thinking about.

Four-colour LED tape with a suitable controller would give you complete control over brightness, colour and white balance.

 

You probably wouldn't use all the gaudy colours that such a system can produce but being able to tune your whites slightly one way or another might be very useful for creating different atmospheres and of course you'd be able to create orange-reds to emulate sunrise and sunset.

 

[Edit: With three-colour tapes, all 3 colour LEDs are full on to create "white" light  and so if you want to tune your white colour slightly you inevitably lose some brightness. With four colour tapes each unit consists of RGB+White so the white LEDs produce the basic brightness and the RGB LED colours are mixed in.]

Edited June 7, 2018 by Harlequin

[teaky]

Thanks Phil, that's useful.  I didn't know 4-colour LED tapes existed.  I've seen a few articles and RMweb posts where people have mixed cool white and warm white LED strips to obtain the balance they were after but the 4-colour tapes may give even more flexibility.

 

All I need to do now is work out how to get the light to ripple from one end of the layout to another so that I can recreate the classic summer weather where a thunder storm rolls across an otherwise sunny day.