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Hi All - Wondering if anyone has any suggestions for an expansion gap between an engineered wooden floor and old brick floor. I've finished laying the boards now and managed to get the levels I was after. I want to use something as inconspicious as possible for the transtion to the old cottage, so no wooden strips or similar if it can be helped. The best I've been able to come up with as possibly being suitable is burnt sand mastic but not am guessing it's probably not got sufficient stretch. The rest of the floor has a huge 40mm gap but would like to minimise what goes here if possible. Someone suggested leaving it as a shadow gap but I am not sure that will work from a cleanliness perspective as it will just pick up all the muck over time. Thanks, Paul

Apologies. Completely forgot I had posted this one. I was quite happy to use a tent outside but the rest of the fam gave that hard no. I've cleared out my old kitchen now so have a space in the corner that I can break out hot and cold. It will be a bit of a challenge getting the water out with the waste quite high up and the ceiling really low. Think I'll have a go at building a frame and get some hygene board silconed together with a camping shower base. Maybe a pump of some kind to push the water out.

I've spoken to Osmo now and they were happy with the application and number of coats so should have been fine. We agreed to put another fine coat on with a rub down and then to try avoid using as much as possible for a couple of weeks.

Thanks all. Apologies for delay in replying. I took the eolgation route and it worked out well. I bought one of those common jigs from Amazon which seemed to work well on the smaller drawers but at some point it must have taken a knock as it was just not lining things up properly as that's how I wound up with the problem. After that I just took a slowly slowly measure 3 times approach with a pocket square. Thanks again.

Hi All - I'm preparing for the next part of my refurb which is making good the upstars bathroom and am looking for ideas for how to build a super easy and cheap temporary shower cubicle in the old kitchen space downstairs. Has anyone done anything like this? I remember seeing little cubicles at the gym that were brought in when they were re-doing it up but can't seem to find anything like it for a reasonable price. I have mains water and waste I can tap into in the kitchen and will have gotten rid of any local electrics so as not to have any zoning issues. Thanks, Paul

So I thought I'd gotten the tops ready for Christmas, but it was a bit of a let down. They didn't hold up well at all. Plenty of ring marks and water stains. I'd got about 4 coats on and they looked and felt great so really thought they would have held up better. Going to call Osmo tomorrow to see if I've done something wrong in how I've applied. There was very light use on the day as well, much less than how they'll end up being used every day.

Thanks Nestor. The white pigment does seem to settle anywhere there is a little grain or its a bit rougher due to imperfections like knots, I've epoxied anything large but didn't apprecaite how little it needs to settle and catch in smaller gaps. Overall I really like the look but that does spoil it a bit in places. I think the mistake I've made was not spending more time getting the rough factory belt sanding out so there are some deeper scratches that pick up the pigment.

Hi All - I have been finishing the oak tops with the 3068 natural version of the Osmo Top Oil however it seems to go on quite different to the normal satin/matt version. I'm applying it with a brush and rubbing the excess off after a few mins. Because this seems to be a very differnet oil it feels like more coats are needed. Just wondering if anyone out there has any experince with these oils. Oak tops. Initially sanded to 150. Applied two coats 12 hrs apart, then rubbed down with 240 before applying a third coat. Forth applied same as third. Cheers, Paul

Hi All - So in my mad rush to get everything usable for Christmas I've managed to mess up the handles on the tall cupboards. Not quite sure how I did it, but no matter it's done now. They are about 2mm out. I tried drilling a larger 5mm hole to get some play but its not enough. Before I bite the bullet and drill an even bigged hole is there any other one ways to solve this? Doors are MDF -- no idea how diy-kitchens get to sell it as solid wood when it's all chipboard and mdf, but that's another thing. Cheers, Paul

Thanks all this has been helpful. Not least becasue I send the £100 trend jig back unused.

Hi All - It seems to be the norm to cut a mason mitre for worktops but I wasn't sure if that applies to solid wood tops also or if it matters. I figured either way there is the potential for movement with the solid wood so wasn't sure if it made a difference. A secondary question was if there is a recommended way to seal the joint for the purposes of avoiding any build of muck over time or whether its just something you live with. Thanks,Paul

Hi all - I am looking for some painting advice. I've just finished a second mist coat over the plaster and have noticed that the imprint of some of the metal corner beading shows through. I did a quick look on YT and found a recommendation to use the zinnser stain cover. I had some laying around so painted a couple of inches either side of the corner covering the bead. This does appear to have hidden the metal but presents a new issue, the zinnser paint now stands out instead. I've tried rolling two neat coats of emulsion over the top of the zinnser but it still clearly visible underneath. Is there a right way to do this? I did try a little light sanding but this hasn't really helped either. Rolling the zinner on doesn't seem appropriate for this type of paint. Thanks, Paul

None whatsover and to be fair the videos I've watched haven't made it look any easier. Thanks.

Hi All, I went for the cement flowing screed based on the the recommendation from the screed company that this was more suited to glue down flooring. I am planning to do this myself with herringbone engineered oak (18mm). The floor is level (55m2) with some minor bumps and imperfections (and acorns apparently...). I was expecting to be able to glue the wood down direct with no more than a good hoover up before hand but am now nervous that this isn't enough so am questioning whether any further sanding/levelling, priming is needed. I see from a previous post its been suggested the glue thickness for herringbone is insufficient to mask anything but a completely flat floor. How much tollerance does herringbone have? There are a couple of transitions I need to factor in as well. On one side I have bifolds (3.3m+2.8m) and the other is the cottages brick floor (3.6m). The remainder of the floor has 25mm PIR + the blue expansion strip all round so not concerned there but ideally I'd like the gap around the transitions to be as small as possible for a cleaner look. Two questions here, how small can that expansion gap be and if it's got to be more than say 10mm are there any nice looking products available for creating a neat/seamless looking transition. Thanks, Paul

Thanks all. This is exaclty what I was after.

Hi All - I am looking for guidance on plasterboarding. I am relatively comfortable with the basics but know there is stuff I just don't know. The main thing I want to properly understand is edge/corner bead stuff and whether it is required everywhere or just in certain places, like, doorways, windows, etc, and the types of bead to be used, etc. If anyone can point to a reference guide or resource on this it would be appreciated. Thanks, Paul

Okay so it sounds like liquid cork or regular cork is the solution here. Panic over!

So it has just occured to me that I may be about to make a terribly expensive mistake. For an engineered wooden floor it is recommended to have a min 15mm expansion gap around the whole floor. Personally I don't really understand that in the context of a floor that is glued down as surely it can't really more in any meanigful way without pulling itself up. That said if I want a flush threshold up to the back of the bifolds I can't leave a gap and I'm not aware of any flexible material that looks like wood that I can install around the edges to allow for this. Is this a problem that means I need to switch to tiles or is there a clever solution that I'm not thinking of? Good job I'm always thinking ahead Ordered the screed today as well.

Perfect, that is exactly what I need didn't realise I wanted, albeit not cheap.

Ha, it didn't occur to me to use gpt. That said I get scared by some of the technical answers it spits out in my field I like the IPA idea s that could be quite an easy one. I'll test on some scraps. Thanks.

Thanks. So a flush threshold from the inside is the goal. The bifolds open outward and don't impede on the internal space at all so think I can bring the floor all the way to the edge of the frame. I was told that what I have is appropriate for a flush threshold. The drawing extract from for the door comes from the manufacturer so hopefully I'm good on that front.

Hi All - Trying to figure out the best way to deal with the thermal bridge insulation around the bifold doors. Originally I was going to pull the 25mm PIR upstand around the whole floor including the bi-folds but the more I think about it the less I think it's the right way to go. For the rest of the room it will be lost behind the plasterboard and skirting but for the bifolds the floor will run all the way up to the edge and because its a herringbone pattern floor I am not sure about sticking down onto PIR and whether there is a risk of compression over time. Would appreciate any views on how best to approach this. I've sketched out the way I thought I was going to do this originally against alternatively just allowing the foam strip to go up to the bifolds. My preference now would be option 2 but not sure if I am going to give myself issues with thermal bridging Thanks, Paul

Does anyone happen to know how to remove newly applied patination oil? I've just bought the G1 cleaner only to realise it specifcally says it doesn't remove the oil and refers to somewhere that doesn't seem to exist anymore. My new lead cappings are showing water stains quite badly even though they were all oiled before going on. Pic below was taken the day after the first rain since installing 2 days prior. The lead guy has reoiled them several times now and says he's never seen it before. He has suggested cleaning them off and reapplying the calder patination oll as opposed to the bond-it one I gave him because the calder order was delayed. The lead is all code 5 calder. No signs of any stains or damage when delivered. Thanks, Paul

Thanks both. I have been round with lasers and a level to check the level across the frames. There is a 5mm delta between them which I am not overly concerned with. My bigger issue now is going to be that my transition from the main house to the extension is slightly off from what was planned based on the frame heights which means I am going to have to try and do something clever, I'll do a separate post for that though.

So they agreed to provide a better finish for everything which they have now done (pics below). However, -- and I didn't realise they had changed it until the last day of fitting -- because my retaining wall is in the way of the doors opening at the original position they moved the whole frame and cill further back into the aperture. The result of this is that the cill and drainage slot no longer projects beyond the outer leaf. From what I am told the only water that will exit through this cill drip is what gets inside the frame through the gaskets which should be very little. I am planning a weathered threshold so the entire cill will be completely covered anyway with an aco slot drain. That said I was still expecting the drainage from the cill to have to go beyond the wall. The company have told they really don't think its an issue, that the frame is sealed and there is a dpm on the inside. I am not sure that is really the point, I don't think I want any water getting in at all if it can be helped. It just feels like building in a flaw. The BI had no interest whatsoever and I am struggling to find something to push back at them to say it has to be done or not. They had a surveyor come out to measure so I would argue this is on them and they should have proposed a wider cill or more smaller doors. If anyone has a view on why this is or isn't acceptable I would appreciate it. Thanks, Paul