Del-inquent

with the budget in its current form I intend to close my eyes and wave the hammer around blindfolded, I can’t afford to find any more problems 😂

Had it tested a couple of weeks back, it’s not AIB just asbestos cement board, non licensed, however I am still getting someone in to do it as I don’t want to. Some things are best left to the pros.

They’re in a bad way as is the facia on one end, so work is needed regardless, plus the soffit sit on top of the window frames and have been sealed to it in the past. Ideally I wouldn’t have touched it but it has to be done

Interesting, I’d never have thought that would be sufficient on the width but I do have a habit of over-engineering everything.

No additional fixings used on yours either?!

I guess as it'll be sitting on top of the wall and pinned every 400mm (or thereabouts) plus supported by the fascia, probably should be okay. Can't put a batten on the wall as the wall stops just below soffit height lol

Would you bother with any additional support for the soffit - like ply run underneath the batten before the soffit goes on, or just straight up with some soffit?

We are having all the soffits on our Chalet Bungalow taken out shortly as they're asbestos cement and the window installers want it gone first. I'm just not sure about how to replace them, never done any on a roof structure like this before. There is nothing at all supporting the soffits at the moment, they're just sat upon the external leaf and held in place by a groove on the back of the fascia panel, nothing to attach any replacement to at all. The facia's may well be replaced as well, will have a look at the condition of them once the soffits are down as they're currently capped with UPVC (badly). Soffits are 380mm from wall to fascia. I wanted to replace them with UPVC, cheap and cheerful and as little fuss as possible and if the fascia's do need replacing (pretty likely) I'll use 18mm UPVC ones. How would you approach it?

I’ve got a small (very small) area of external blockwork that will be rendered but due to delays it’s not going to be done until next year now. I’d like to seal / prime it now, just to give it some protection from the elements. Whats a good choice of product that can be got in small quantities? Total area is only 2m2 so don’t really want to pay a fortune for a big tub that will only be binned!

Cheers both, that makes life a lot easier!

Can't get hold of the sparky and need an answer for the kitchen designer on this urgently! A slight deviation from the plan with the boiler install has meant I'm going to have to have a shallow depth cupboard (100mm deep) between countertop and underside of wall cabinets. It'll have a functional door on the front face of it. Can the grid switch for the FF / DW / Fan / Hob ignitor go INSIDE that little cupboard? It would also then make it a lot harder to accidentally switch off the fridge or freezer...

Ah got ya - I need to skim coat as the rest of the wall has lots (seriously lots) of little imperfections all over it, I just wasn't sure what to do about the couple of larger, deeper patches before skimming it. I assume from the depth that trying to do in one hit with the finishing plaster would be a bad idea (would end up 8mm deep in those places!

Thanks Russell. I have a bag of easifill sat here but wasn't sure if it was wise to put under the final skim coat or not. I'll crack on!

I did have a look before posting but didn't have much joy unfortunately! Loads on how to do the actual skim, not so much on prepping a less than ideal finish ready for it.

Quick bump, anyone got any advice before I just go for it? Be much appreciated if I could get a bit of guidance.