tom169

Interesting. Thanks.

Maste

Right guys, pergo flooring. I know it's easy to do, but I don't have a circular saw and can't get one from anywhere, and would rather use what we have available to us as we are frugal and don't have too much money right now!

Can I use a good saw instead of a circular saw? Just checking before I go ahead and do it.

steveq

Yes, a good HARD POINT saw is fine, or even a hacksaw, but really, Harbor Freight witll have a handheld cordless that will work fine.

Steve

Pulaski

You could but do you want to?

You're also going to need an offset saw for the doorway(s) and a mitre saw for the shoe molding. Unless you are ery patient with a pin hammer and panel pins, you will need a nail gun and compressor for the shoe molding.

For the best over all job you should remove the skirt board (base board) and put the Pergo under the skirting (you must still leave expansion room up to the wall), then put the skirting back. And you could upgrade the skirting while you're at it.

Maste

Well, that's what I'm asking! The room is pretty much perfectly rectangular, and has no skirting or toe moulds currently, so I'm feeling it'll be an easy enough job. I also measured it up, taking into account expansion gaps to be left, and not a single piece of pergo will need to be cut down the length, only across the width.

Plan is to scrape the paint of the ceiling and walls, kilz all over, the paint them the colour we want them. Then I can pergo the floor, and after that we can put toe moulds in.

Pulaski

Personally I am not a fan of "floating" laminate floor, as it sounds hollow. It is more work, but I would always install nail-down flooring, unless the subfloor is a concrete slab.
Why are you planning to scrape the paint off the walls and ceiling?

Firstly, it will be a huge PITA and you will likely damage the wall and/or not be able to get all the paint off. Under almost all circumstances I would just Kilz over what is there.

Secondly, if your house was built before 1978 then it likely has lead paint, which creates zero health concerns .... until you start chipping the paint off and creating paint dust.

Thirdly, if the paint you are planning to scrape off the ceiling is that wretched popcorn stuff, then unless you know it was applied in the 1980's or later, you may have an asbestos problem, and should get a small sample tested before you attempt to remove it.

Maste

I'm not scraping it all of, sorry to confuse! There are areas where the paint is flaking, and I'm just scraping those bits off only, then I will Kilz the whole thing.

Girlfriends dad has checked, no asbestos or lead paint anywhere in the house, despite our house being over 100 years old!

Pulaski

Asbestos, maybe but sorry, most paint prior to the 1970's had lead in it, so unless the home has been stripped of all its painted timber - doors, moldings, skirting, window frames, chair and picture rails, etc., (and wall surface materials if the walls were painted), at some point since 1978, then I will pretty much guarantee that any house that is 100 years old has lead paint in it.

I suspect that your girlfriend's dad did a surface check - i.e. a check for lead paint that has not been painted over. Given that lead paint has been unavailable for almost 40 years, then it is highly likely that all the lead paint is safely "encapsulated" under several layers of lead-free paint. Encapsulation is considered to be the safest thing to do with lead paint - encapsulate it in situ, as that is actually safer than removing the timber and risking creating dust that includes lead paint.

Therefore when removing any flaking or peeling paint I would recommend wearing a dust mask rated for lead paint sanding/removing, which means more than those basic paper face mask filters.

RICH

I agree with this. My house was a HUD sale and LBP was a sticking point for the sale. The remediation was a good coating of paint over the lbp areas. Scraping it off is not an option.

Maste

No you're exactly right, he did a surface check and didn't find any lead painting in any of the top layers, and the house has changed ownership numerous times over the years that the chances are the lead painting had layers upon layers on paint. My girlfriends dad told us to just kilz everything before we paint it, to be on the safe side.

Some of the door frames did have lead painting flaking but those have been replaced and sorted out now by experts.

The room I am about to scrape, kilz, paint and pergo is the sunroom, which was added onto the house during the late 80's/early 90's, which I am going to assume will be safe to go ahead and just scrape?

Pulaski

Yeah, you should be fine with that. I suppose hypothetically someone could have used an old can of paint from the 1970's when painting the room, but I would say that is rather unlikely.

When it comes to painting, if any parts of the room (window frames and sills primarily) are going to spend a long time in the sun you would do better to use an exterior grade of paint as it is made to be more resistant to UV light than interior paint.

petitefrancaise

quick question peeps.
I need to replace the bathroom shower head and faucet -- this kind of set up:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/MOEN-Adl...2603/300213962

The handyman says I should replace it with the same brand to avoid having to drill into the tiles. Trouble is, I can't find the brand on it and I'm guessing that it's the same as the taps for the sink which is HD "glacier bay" which honestly looks like rubbish.

So is it true I should replace like with like? No universal fittings?

zzrmark

If you want a similar setup you 'should' be ok.
If unsure, unscrew the bits you are replacing and take them with you, to compare ...
I have a similar setup to the pictured stuff and seem to recall setting the faucet pipe on glue before fixing to the wall - so be warned that it might not unscrew!

If you aren't an avid handyperson with oodles of the correct tools/back up plans (for leaks) then sometimes it's prudent to employ a spotty yoof who might know what they are doing!

petitefrancaise

I am employing a handyman to do this! I'll have a go at most things but not plumbing and electricity.

I'm replacing all the bits -

Pulaski

The shower head and the spout over the tub are universal - both are ½" screw thread fittings - the shower head just screws to the bent pipe sticking out of the wall, and there is a similar piece of iron pipe, with a screw thread at each end inside the spout - which is why it sounds hollow and may feel flimsy. You can just grab hold of the spout and turn it anticlockwise and it will come off in your hand.

The lever/ knob and cover for the valve mechanism is the tricky bit - but I'd just take the lever/knob and cover plate off and take them to your local DIY store or plumber's merchant and get someone to help you find something that fits. I think they are also mostly interchangeable, but not truly universal. .... The cover plate may even have the brand name on the inside even if it doesn't appear on the outside. The problem is that if it is a HD own brand then somebody made it for them, and it might be difficult to work out which brands the lever is compatible with.

I am not sure why your handyman is contemplating drilling into the tile.