The Morecambe DIY Project

[trevnhil]

The grouting certainly transforms the tiling. It is a job that I was never keen on. It always seemed to go off whilst I wasn't looking.
Another job that I cannot remember ever doing is sticking tiles up side down.

The white faced hardboard looks OK as well Keith You must be well pleased at how it all coming together now.

I am still interested in the floor covering and the real ceiling.

Regards. Trev..

[accykeef]

I don't mind grouting or tiling for that matter. It is hard work especially when step ladders are involved but I have a system which works and the job gets done. I am patient so tedious jobs are not too much of a problem.

The whole job has been going well but today was a bit of a none day as I have had to sort out a couple of niggles. Both were totally avoidable but hidsight is a wonderful thing.

I made a mess of the tiling in this corner but thought it would not be a problem as it is tucked away. Once the grout was in, I was looking round and realised that the corner looked a mess. The main problem is the eye is drawn to the glass feature thing (need a name for it) and the tiling next to it, over the arch does not match the pattern. I could have left it but things like that would spoil the job


So it was off with the tiles. I am not impressed with this tile adhesive at all as it is still soft after several days although I did make a boo boo and tried to get some to stick to the waterproof paper. The tiles were not loose but didn't take a lot of teasing away from the wall (apart from one stubborn one).


I removed all the debris and this time did the filling in properly with bonding plaster. The tiles will have to wait until the plaster has had chance to dry.


The other stupid thing I did (or didn't do) was check that the wires to the sockets would fit the new ones. When I came to fit the new sockets - I couldn't get a screwdriver into the back of the socket as the spice rack was in the way. I have had to take off 2 rows of tiles and rewire the sockets. They were mounted on MDF and that is not the easiest material to chisel through. The job was no match for an annoyed Keith and a chisel, gently applied to a the MDF with a 1lb knockometer.


New sockets fitted without the shiny face place and all nicely plastered up. Ah yes - and the experiment - is bonding plaster better than Wickes tile adhesive - watch this space

[mpprh]

By trial and error (and watching professionals) I've developed a technique for grouting.

Wipe with a wet sponge as you go.

The then remaining dry film comes off easily with an empty nylon potato sack.

[accykeef]

The nylon potato sack idea sounds good as a none abrasive cleaner but our spuds come in paper sacks - not the same really.
I think the secret is quite simple, get rid of the grout from all surfaces while it is still wet. I have seen various methods for removing the grout, some more successful than others.
I apply the grout with a paint scraper, work it into the tiles with a small piece of sponge and then clean the tiles with a damp sponge which I was out frequently in clean water. When most of the grout has gone from the tiles, the final polish is done with a soft dry cloth.

[accykeef]

Tiling behind sockets completed and new sockets fitted without the face plates


sorting out the problem corner


carrying on the pattern looks a lot better than the old jisaw puzzle


and finally the last tile in place, we will gloss over the fact that the top tile is out of line now - it looks a lot better than it did before.


looks even better from a distance and the grouting has magically appeared around the old light switch.


The door pillar looks better now it is grouted


and so does the odd shaped wall next to the arch.


Well it does after it ws cleaned - more pics to follow.

[accykeef]

As Churchill said "Once more to the fridges, dear friends". It was time to take the fridge out again, this time to grout the tiles.


A bit of remedial work was required as I discovered a loose tile. I have found the best cure is to remove the loose tile, scrape off the adhesive and stick it back on the wall with bonding plaster. Sometimes, the tile adhesive just does not stick to the wall behind - even when it is bare plaster, very odd and annoying


Bonding plaster sticks like the proverbial to a blanket so no worries there then.


Looking all posh now it is grouted


and some tarting up of various areas with the spare plaster


Make it look a bit straighter - might be tiling this bit, not sure yet.


Time to turn the attention to some electrical stuff


New socket next to the fridge had to be wired up as well as sorting out the the downstairs ring main. It was all safe but a bit of a rats nest down under the door mat. The ring main is now split into 3 sections all accessable from the junction boxes. The electrics to the garage are disconnected for now until I have got a suitable consumer unit.
All that is hidden away under the doormat.


Now to fit the new double light switch (supplied by the Mickey Mouse light switch company) They are nice looking but having holes at the top and bottom rather than the sides makes for a bit of a problem. First problem is the the holes are blanked off. How are you supposed to fix the switch to a backing box without the bolts passing through the holes? With backing boxes, the blanks are simply tapped out, not with these things however as no amount of tapping has any effect. I was doing all this with the power off so my drill was not available. (cordless drill has gone to the great appliance heap in the sky). I ended up drilling it with the power drill but what a pain in the *&^*&^.


Next problem was rotating the metal backing box to accept the vertical bolts. I didn't think to check the layout of the bolts when I moved the backing box because there shouldn't have been a problem in the first place.


The box just had to come out of the hole in the tiles.


The wires are central to the box and you cannot bring wires into a box under the fixing bolt in case you tighten the bolt through one of the cables.


Solution was to use a real single backing box with 4 fixing holes and offest entries. My box of spare electrical bits saving the day again.


Tonight we are doing some tests with lighting, more of that in the next exciting installment of

'Honey I have Shrunk the Kitchen'

[trevnhil]

Goodness me I am getting so far behind it is unbelievable. I am still on the bits of MDF coming off with the tiles.
At least the 1lb knockometer was the answer.
I notice that (at this time) you have the old worktop protecting the new.

I never thought of using bonding plaster to fix tiles. The tip may come in handy some day.

So you have had to move the fridge out once more. Hopefully it will be it's last glimpse of freedom.

I like the detailed picture of the electricals complete with labelled wires, al accessible under the Mat well. I see the mat well edging seems to be on tiles. Does this mean that the kitchen floor is going to be a tiled one.

What a shame having to change the light switch box. At least you had one to hand. It looks to be a fancy light switch you have got, it looks bang up to date.

Please excuse the word BANG !! I am sure all will be fine.

Cheers. Trev..

[mpprh]

May 16, 2013 6:38:11 GMT accykeef said:

The nylon potato sack idea sounds good as a none abrasive cleaner but our spuds come in paper sacks - not the same really.
I think the secret is quite simple, get rid of the grout from all surfaces while it is still wet. I have seen various methods for removing the grout, some more successful than others.
I apply the grout with a paint scraper, work it into the tiles with a small piece of sponge and then clean the tiles with a damp sponge which I was out frequently in clean water. When most of the grout has gone from the tiles, the final polish is done with a soft dry cloth.

This is the same as me, except my final clean is with the potato sack.

Works exceptionally well when I mix resin with the grout when it is for surfaces that will be frequently wet like shower cubicles, etc

[accykeef]

I can see an end to the major works now. There is still much to do but most of that involves making shelves etc. inside the cupboards. I have left them empty so that we can design them as we go along.

So to today's jobs.

First the microwave had to be evicted to allow me to grout the walls at the back of the shelves.


and at the back of the worktop - I keep finding those pesky tile spacers


I still keep finding bits with missing grout - a job for Mrs Keef is to make a mental note on paper of all the bits I have missed. I did say I would get her some fluorescent green paing to mark the areas requiring attention - she thought I was serious.
Whenever am I serious


Time for some dodgy wiring but fear not dear reader - it is only 12volt stuff but even at this low voltage, it is still possible to make things go bang. Experiments in my youth involoving firing 6 inch nails using a coil is testament to that. I think I have mentioned the dart board, the plaster and the brick wall before but I digress.
This is an experiment in lighting using the strips of LED's a friend of mine brought back from Thailand. I thought they would look great under the shelf so time to do a few experiments with them to work out the power requirement. I already had 3 groups of 3 of them wired up and at their rated 12 volts they pulled 240mA out of a power supply. So each LED draws 27mA. The Main reel of them I had left was 44 groups of 3 so that is 132 lamps. With a bit of maths - that is 3.56A!!!! I am thinking that my 500mA power supply is going to get a bit warm, then even warmer and then go bang so I need to either reduce the number of LED's or get a bigger power supply.


So how much light is actually required?


Let's light some up and see what they llok like. So after blanking out the window and door with a mixture of sheet wood - I was really in the dark about the whole thing ;D


By the way - the lights are quite interesting - well they are to a geek like myself - they are totally submersable - as long as any connections are waterproofed.


Not something I need to consider so the clear plastic covering has to be cut back to expose the solder terminals. There are 4 terminals, 1 live and one each for red, blue and green colours. Joint the colours together an you get a white light.


Connecting them to the National Grid resulted in a nice white light.


Leaping forward in time - the strips of LED's are self adhesive and have been stuck into some U shaped plastic capping I had in the garage - this is so the light will shine down and cannot be seen from the front. The completed strips were then siliconed to the underneath of the shelves and clamped to stop gravity doing what it does best.


The wiring will stay like this until I am sure there are enough lights.


and they will stay clamped in place overnight to ensure the silicone is properly set.


I might remove the clamps before we go to bed to see the light in the darkness - who knows.
I still need to put something under the spice rack to finish it off. Not sure what yet - it could end up being a piece of plastic painted black.

[trevnhil]

Well I bet you are glad that all the Major work has been done to the kitchen units and walls. It really is looking good and as mentioned before there is a satisfaction in having completed it yourself.
I like the third picture the best as it show so many different things.

The under shelf lighting is good but would be beyond me I am afraid. I bet you un clamped the supports last night so that you could see the lighting results in the dark.

Well done with all you have accomplished

Trev..

[accykeef]

A day of fettling twiddly bits beckoned so I stood in the kitchen and worked out what needed to be done. As predicted, the clamps didn't stay on the lights all night as I wanted to see what they looked like in darkness. The conclusion is that they will do the job just fine. I even popped downstairs at 4am to see what the under shelf lights looked like when turned on in total darkness and surprisingly, they are extremely bright.

We started the day with Mrs. Keef sticking green insulation tape to any areas which did not meet her exacting standards. Here I am now, after a day of working still covered in green tape. Some people are just never satisfied.
The end of the tiles near the oven needed some finishing off and I decided to use some of that nice alli trim with a strip of tile inserted into it and my solution got a brownie point from the Clerk of Works.


It will look a lot better when the dust has finally gone


here it is in close up but still very dusty when it dries


and I finally plucked up courage to cut one of the hard tiles to fill in this little missing bit


I suggested making a fancy thing out of tiles but I think Mrs Keef just wants the job finished so suggested I stick a piece of plastic trim on. I knew she wanted it finishing because she said to stick it with silicone - and she does not like silicone.


The other side is a bit rough but that is still on the list.


The grouting over the oven is finally finished - there is still some to do when the oven is next out but it is not a job for today


and a final job for today was filling a hole in the floorboards whre the old gas pipe came through. That took longer than it should have done but at least it is sorted now or ticked off the list, as Mrs Keef says it.


The end is nigh and tomorrow I need to mix some grey grout as there are still numerous items on the list which mention grey and not all of them refer to my hair.

[trevnhil]

I can well understand why you still have green tape stuck to you.

But Mrs Keefy will be well used to you by now I would imagine.

I am glad that the lighting strip is well up to scratch. All your jobs are well up to scratch anyway.
You detailed Photos are good and show how well your twiddly bits are coming along.

I don't know why your OH does not like silicone. It is wonderful stuff and has been on the market for a long while.
I have used it as a glue when we were putting the sections of a big porch together. And I have also used it to glue tiles on with.. Wonderful stuff.

Good luck with the grouting and the small details that you may have to attend to.

I am looking forward to the floor and ceiling.

Trev..

[accykeef]

I agree that silicone is great unless you get some where you didn't want it and then it is a nightmare to remove. I was thinking about it spreading across a work top at the speed of light rather than anything personally embarrassing.

Anyway on with the plot

I had been doing some work with the pull out utensil rack thingies yesterday but have had a few problems with the design.
Today however the oven came out and there was tiling to be finished off


A few cut tiles and some mixed plaster later and the job was done.


Even managed a fancy cut out round the gas pipe which nobody will see.


Fitting the side panel to the cupboard was next and this was made more complicated by having to fit it close to the extractor hood.


It involved some serious routing - had to get it right first time so no pressure then!


It fits a treat


Just a bit of filling to do on the cupboard


and then the pull out utensil thingies


Done the fronts and the handles but the whole thing is a bit flimsy at the moment.


Needs a bit more design to be done


and then the job will be sound

[accykeef]

A bit more tiling to do today as well as filling various holes in. I got some decent sand paper to do the job rather than the useless stuff I have been using. I still can't get my head round why tiles attached to an overhang do not drop off but that will remain a great mystery to me.


With various filling and tiling completed


it became obvious that the plastic trim is now wrong and will have to be redone - bah!


Been out shopping today and picked up all kinds of uesful things. For the first time ever we now have glass in the upper window.


There is a dodgy bit of wiring into the main light but that is simply to supply a neutral to the under shelf lights.



A chance meeting in PADS (paint suppliers) on the White Lund resulted in getting hold of some suspended ceiling grid and making a very useful contact in the building supplies department. Mrs Keef reckons that the ceiling grid will be installed by tomorrow night and I think she may well be right.


We picked up some ducting for the fan from ScrewFix and some wooden trim from Wickes.


I have also discovered what can only be described as a monumental cock up! Do you remember the old, 2 part, digital weigh scales we used to have on the wall by the spice rack? Those very useful weigh scales seem to be missing from the new design - oops!

After some deliberation - a solution has been found.

[accykeef]

First job today was to cut and mitre the perimiter angle pieces for the ceiling


Once the perimiter was sorted, I then had to work out the position of the other pieces.


It quickly bcame clear that basing the whole ceiling on 60cm square tiles was not going to work. I am so glad I didn't buy any tiles for the job. After a conversation with the supplier of the metalwork yesterday, I decided to follow his advice and use plasterboards instead. Being such a small kitchen, the size of the tiles was not as important as making the layout look balanced. There is a single 60cm x 60cm opening in the centre of the room for the light fitting but the other tiles are all custom sizes.


Plaster boards are a lot easier to cut than the old fibrous ceiling tiles I have worked with in the past and they don't snap in half, or lose a corner unless you treat them very rough.


Standard plasterboard cutting.
Mark the cut and run the knife down the line


turn the board over and snap it


cut along the back - simples.


Test them for fit as you go along.
The best part about a small kitchen is that only 4 support wires are required.


The job is going well although one of the main supports is a bit too long and is distorting the shap, that will be easily rectified with tin snips tomorrow.


Over the cooker is the only messy bit bit this was unavoidable unless I made the difference in width of the front and back sections too obvious.


There is also the tarting up of the coving to be done but the filling and painting will not be seen from a passing bus.