Outdoors: Just as you can’t have too many electricity sockets indoors, you can’t have too many taps in the garden for watering, filling the pool or pond, etc. I strongly dislike dragging metres and metres of hose pipe everywhere, only for it to be left to perish in the sun.
Before I get shot down about wasting water, I will be talking about using “grey” water in later articles, but whether it is fresh, grey or borehole water, having the taps in the right position makes life easier.
There’s no real need for sanitaryware in the garden, but old baths make great flower boxes, or, sunk into the ground and well-sealed and camouflaged, you have a ready-made fish pond.
Garage – Another good spot for a nice big sink, so DIY husbands or wives can clean up outside rather than bringing everything including dirty hands inside to wash.
Adding hot water can be a big benefit, and what better place to gut and clean the fish you’ve caught?
Indoors:
Guest toilet – why is this always the most uncomfortable room in the house? Of course you don’t want your guests disappearing for hours, but spare a thought for their comfort. Please ensure that the toilet has enough leg room and for us gentlemen, please make sure it is fitted with a seat that stays up when we lift it. Finally, what is the point of installing a handbasin so small you can barely get one finger in, let alone your hands?
Remember, doors come in different widths, so if you need more space for the basin a 670mm door will save you almost 150mm of space over a standard door. Also, with careful planning a basin recess can be accommodated next to built-in cupboards in the next room.
Second or third bathroom – I won’t say too much here as I will cover most of the items in the main bathroom, but remember to plan for the family. Children need baths, and teenagers need showers. Always make sure there is a separate toilet to avoid long delays. A shower and handbasin can fit very snugly between adjacent bedrooms, with access from both sides.
Main or en-suite bathroom – Plan this room around your needs and ensure that both husband and wife are spoilt. But remember what might be fun and fashionable now may not be practical when you get older. Start with his-and-her vanities that stop the first argument of the day. In fact, if you have the space and money, plan his-and-her separate bathrooms.
What to put in your bathroom is very personal, but beware of wasting money on items you may only use occasionally. For instance, large corner baths use a lot of water, how often will you use the bidet, and unless you are going to use it constantly, a spa-type bath is expensive. Wall-hung toilet pans save space, as do built in cisterns or flush master fittings.
I believe all baths should have a step next to them, but make sure you use non slip tiles. I am not a fan of showers over baths, although the modern trend is to put an extra drain in the middle of the floor, so excess water can drain away. Showers should be as big as possible, double if you have the space, with overhead roses. Adding a seat can make life easier and, for me, there is nothing better than adding a couple of body sprays at chest and waist height.
One last thing: I must report back on a question from a couple of weeks ago. Stephen asked how to remove scale from the toilet pan. I replied that it was not really my field, but I had heard that Coca-Cola worked. Yesterday I had this e-mail from Stephen: “Thanks Don, the Coca-Cola really worked. It dislodged thick layers of scale at the bottom of my toilet bowl after two days.”
Handy tips: repairs and painting to interior walls
If you have solved your damp problems, beware of starting to paint too quickly. Damp can take up to six months to dry out naturally and you don’t want to buy expensive paint only to see it start bubbling and peeling again. It is important to keep areas that were damp well-ventilated, as the more fresh air that is passed over the surface, the quicker it will dry. This can be speeded up by using a fan to blow air over the surface, but beware of using heat, as an area that is dried too quickly can crack. If you are desperate to get an area to dry, consider hiring a dehumidifier which removes excess moisture from the air in the affected rooms. Remember also that if your external walls have been well-sealed and waterproofed, any residual water will permeate to the inside, so that three to six months is important.
How can you tell if your wall is still damp? Here’s a simple test. Make sure all loose paint has been removed and that you are down to bare plaster. Then cover a small area with a clear plastic bag or similar, say 200mm by 200mm, secure the edges well with tape and wait 24 hours to see if moisture has started sweating out of the wall. Obviously, if it does the area is still damp.
If you are desperate to paint, just to tidy things up a bit, buy the cheapest paint you can find, as it will have little acrylic in it, which will allow the wall to breathe through it. Then scrape that paint off, when the wall is well and truly dry.
In answering another question this week, I learnt that even though you may have removed all the moisture from a wall, salty or alkaline deposits can be left behind, which will continue to burn and discolour the paint, even though the wall may be dry. These areas can be painted over with a moisture-tolerant primer, or damp shield paint. Chat to your local specialist paint supplier.
Once you’re sure the wall is dry, repair all cracks or loose plaster. Fillers are designed to be used in cracks and should not be used in large areas. It might be easier to patch an area with cretestone, but this will not give you the same finish if the area was previously plastered, so try to match the finish with a similar material before starting to paint.
Painting is all about preparation, so having spent time and money on repairing the damp, make sure you have removed all loose paint in the room to be painted, wash down the rest of the walls to ensure they are free of dust, and prime all bare areas with the appropriate primer before starting to redecorate.
* Contact me at [email protected] or SMS only to 082 446 3859. - Weekend Argus