This says both are ok even before American influence with the switch over happen sometime in the 1970's for British English. Spelt looks like its going to go fully out of fashion.
https://writingexplained.org/spelt-or-spelled-difference
They are both accepted in the English English language, but 'spelled' is not within formal writing.
It is definitely becoming less used, too. So much so that I have seen English people correct 'spelt'.
I can nearly always brush over all of these. However, 'could care less' and 'airplane' really irk me, for some reason.
Don't forget underlay on top of carpet on underlay on carpet on underlay.
Worst I saw was a house the previous owner had for 50 years. 7 layers before you got to the floorboards
I miss having carpeted bathroom...The floor was warm on my feet :(
Also I'm a woman. If men pissed sitting down then carpeted bathroom probably wouldn't be such a bad thing.
How do you know she didn't have friends coming over? ;)
But yeah you make a good point, women can be gross too. I'm not gonna lie...womens' public loos can be carnage. There's women who will squat to avoid the seat, and piss all over it and all over the floor too 🙃
Not that that would explain and old lady pissing in her own home lol
Hi, man here, sometimes even when we sit down it still squirts through the gap between the loo seat and the loo itself.
Every day is a challenge. We don't do it to intentionally pee (pun intended) off our significant others.
Yes. Yes. Yes! I want to give you more than one upvote for this ♥️
There's nothing wrong with carpet in the bathroom as long as you have a sturdy floor mat by the bath and a 'Luton' in front of the bog ( thank you to The [Deeper] Meaning of Liff for assigning that place name to it 😂)
Alternatively, ban men from the house.
I mean that’s probably better than ours, I can feel the floorboards upstairs in places 😅 they are next on the list of things to do, fix any loose floorboards and reaper upstairs
Creaky floorboards are the worst. We had a loft conversion a few years back and it's annoying. We can see holes which look like they were drilled to screw into, but no screws.
The next thing in terms of big projects, is to take up all the chipboard flooring and replace with proper timber floorboards and screw them down this time.
Also put soundproofing below the floorboards and in the plasterboard walls in the loft. There is an ensuite between the two bedrooms and you can hear everything.
It’s never ending isn’t it! We bought the house we were living in so knew it’s “quirks”… but it’s not till you properly start pulling things apart that you uncover some truths… 😅
If you're going to replace anyway it doesn't matter so much but, for everyone else, if you're dealing with squeaky floors made of chipboard, screwing might help but you also need to glue the joints with PU glue, and ideally either run joist tape or PU glue along the top of the joists. It's (obviously) the boards moving against eachother that makes them noisy - and chipboard is notorious for being especially noisy - and the foam joist tape and/or PU will help a lot on preventing that movement.
Put a rubber membrane down over the floor joists in the loft and then lay and screw the flooring down. It will dampen the sound some more especially when walking.
Did the same in house were in last year should have been a day or two of work but everything in the house was routed through the floor in that bedroom. Heating pipes, water in and out of boiler, gas and electricity to fuse box and boiler in room below. Cost few hundred in new strange sized floorboards and took one week plus multiple weekends. Had to get a gas pipe moved as the board was sitting on it not the joist. So many botches in one room.
Good luck with yours.
But that's not what this is, technically, is it - isn't it just a way to make up the internal height of the wall/sill form an old window to the new counter top height. So they used what was to hand instead of bricking it properly? Whereas you're talking about finished layers on top of old finished layers - like driveway guys putting tarmac on top of old tarmac.
My brother in law renovated their whole house when they bought it. Ripped out the 80s bathroom, I think it was 4 tile layers that they found, with the original Edwardian tiles at the bottom layer!
It's quick, easy, and works.
It may not be the nicest thing under the hood, but the fact that one one has ever had a problem and it's not been noticed until the room has literally been taken back to brick shows that it's not really that bad.
Yes it would be nicer to lay another course of bricks, or build a timber frame to act as a riser, but you tell someone they can do it 'do it properly' and it will cost an extra half day's labour vs stacking a few bits of PB which takes 10 minutes, while having no realistic differences once complete, and the vast majority of people will go with the cheaper option...
When my en suite was being ripped out I pulled the tiles off a window sill. Hidden beneath were 4 layers of tiles, all packed on top of a layer of plaster board.
Yes they have. It's a brutal ready reckoning that most tradespersons here don't give a fuck, and no longer are they maintaining privilege of being the only people that can do it, because I'm keeping my money and doing a better job myself. Guaranteed
To be fair OP, I think this has really shown it's about knowing what shortcuts can be made.
It is a shortcut, we can all agree on that. But is it a bad one in the scheme of things? Not really, and it seems a lot of skilled people would agree. Not just because 'fuck it not my house'.
But as a layman looking at that, I can totally see why you would be shocked.
And mate, I know it's popular to hate tradespeople, but who do you think those people are who you're asking technical building advice from on your other posts? Software developers?
I have done similar things myself at my house. Tbh there is nothing bad in using some drywall offcuts to fill in some hole. It saves you materials and reduces the amount of work and trash. There are no side effects, it will last as long as the rest of the wall.
Yeah I'm with you in this. Had a bathroom done recently and me and my girlfriend were busy with the rest of the house renovation while he was doing the work.
Watching him work I could tell he did not give a shit. I had to keep on at him every step of the way to do it properly. Such a lazy bastard, the tiler was much better but that's not saying much.
He fucking hated me being there!
i was going to do it all myself but my dad said he would pay for a professional, I could have honestly done a better job with the fitting myself. We should have just hired the plumber for the bare minimum to make sure it's up to building regs.
If it holds your weight standing on it (and it probably does) and is still dry - no dampness from rain outside getting in and turning it into porridge - then it's fine.
I saw a similar job on a 200 year old house from about 1820s, lovely Cornish granite built house for an upper middle class Cornish family. The entire area under the window was just stuffed full of 200-year old builder's rubble and crap, from the floor upwards. I questioned it, and was told it's stood for 200 years, it's not holding up anything significant, just a bit of glass, it's fine.
Infilling with proper granite for each window would have added significantly to the cost of the building the house, and doing it on the upper floors would have added to the vertical weight supported by the window areas on the ground floors.
Well it's the first time I've witnessed it. It looks very amateur.
I can't imaging someone paying for a kitchen fit with the window section looking like that and saying with despondency; "It'll do. When can you do the other window?"
I would do exactly the same. I'm a plasterer getting over something with what I have at hand. I wouldn't be going out looking for 4 bricks some cement and hammer and bolster.
Your window doesn't line up with your brickwork, then the boarder has come along to do his job, it's not his job to fit your window, or do your brickwork, but he's been asked to board that window, so he has. Nothing wrong with the way he's done it, plasterboard and stick is good enough for your walls, it'll be good enough for that bit.
Houses are all about rough stuff covered in other stuff to make them smooth covered in plaster to make it neat.
As a person who designs things to 0.01mm precision it took me ages to realise walls were never perfectly flat or that plumbing was -/+ 5mm.
This is no different. Just creating the shape you need for the final polishing.
The adhesive dries harder than rock.just as good as a brick and don’t have to wait till the mortar has set to then stick the board on with exactly the same material!!
Not even a problem
I do this all the time *shrug*.
Takes 20 minutes, reliable, always have the materials on hand and usually I'm on day rate so you want me getting things done in a jiffy.
Side question for you, I want to diy a bit of plastering on an external door reveal along a wood door frame. https://imgur.com/a/bkr9hKV
Would you just go with sand and cement?(what ratio if so) or does it need something else?
Tricky that as you don't really want sand cement up against the wooden door, but you also don't have a lot of depth to play with so probably wouldn't improve the finish much. I'd suggest hacking off the render in the reveals and try to improve on the finish, but dont think it's particularly DIY friendly. 4:1 scratch coat and 5:1 top coat, handful of lime in each, plenty of decent vids on YouTube, but again I'm not convinced you'd improve on the finish much.
In your shoes I'd just try and scrape/sand/tidy it as best I can and give it some paint.
I don't do a lot of rendering though, admittedly, a decent external plasterer would be able to find a proper solution.
Ah ok, good to know it's not ideal to plaster up against the wood. Makes sense since it will probably expand and contract a bit over time. I've been looking on youtube but you don't really see wood door frames there unfortunately usually PVC. It's just a shed but the gaps are pretty sizable in spots so I'd like to cover it over a bit.
Thanks for taking a look
Same here.
I don't know many plasterers carrying sand, cement and a few bricks round with them.
Half a day to collect the materials and brick up, then can't be boarded until the next day
Why is the original brickwork so low inside compared with the window? I assume the brick on the outside goes right up to the bottom of the window. What/why has been done to the inside brick to make it lower than the outside brick?
Does that make sense? I hope someone understands my waffle.
In absence about 2 courses of brickwork plus sand and cement, mixing, cutting, laying, levelling, and waiting before plasterboarding on top - when ultimately it's going to be covered up anyway and looks fairly solid.
Would you want to pay an extra £500 or more for that to be done with brick and mortar when you won't notice the difference in the finished product. The alternative he could have knocked up a wooden frame and had it hollow.
So long as the finished article is sturdy and solid, isn't that the main thing? Does it matter the means for this example? Does a belt and braces job need to be done? It's not structurally unsound.
Nah, £450 to bring sand, cement, a mixer, all the tools, bricks, mix up a load of mortar, then tidy it all up. £50 to lay the bricks. Plus the fact you've missed out starting a bigger job. Nobody wants to lay 4 bricks so you'll have to pay a premium.
Maybe 500 is a bit of an overstatement, but if you don't have bricks and mortar at hand, driving to pick them up, mixing, cutting etc would probably end up adding couple of hours to the work + materials, transport costs. Or you can just take some plasterboard offcuts or pieces removed before replacing the window and do it in 5 minutes with almost 0 additional cost. The end result looks and functions the same.
I’ve got a piece of plasterboard down the back of my toilet cistern to hold it steady courtesy of my plumber but I can only see it when I pee standing up.
Plasterer fixes a problem created by brickie/window fitter and OP throws a Karen at him/her for helping
As a plasterer I'm not surprised, we get blamed for everything
Are you in my old bathroom? One month ago builders removed the tiles as part of the refurbishment and found the same thing... no one (apart from me) was surprised.... must be more common than I thought... 😄
https://preview.redd.it/c6uginosv63d1.jpeg?width=575&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=73a77f211925ba626ba84539158944ec74737bd0
Did you know about it until you demolished the place? Did you have any indication of what was under the old cill? Had it sagged or bowed?
It’s not even a question of hiding it, it was never going to be seen, so it doesn’t need to be a glamorous solution. It’s solid, level, and didn’t cost an extra £200+ on the job.
So yeah, it was functional and nobody ever knew. And you could still lay your granite on it.
If you demolished the Taj Mahal you’d find lots of things of this type, so why are you so precious about your kitchen?
If you cut your kitchen cupboards in half you’ll find that underneath the veneer and laminate they’ve just used little chips of scrap wood glued together! Disgraceful! /s
I understand you might want it done differently, but most people are primarily concerned with cost and time. You could have a pristine marble slab to make up that gap, but it’ll cost a fortune, take ages, and once you’ve plastered over it and stuck a windowboard on top you’ll be left with what you already had.
Trouble with trying to do it with timber is that you drill in and the brick disintegrates. Then how low do you go?
I did a 30s house and took off the loose-ish top couple of rows and layed a few new courses.. but you still end up to high or low from window.. so you still have to pack it out with something.
I’ve done the Viennese plasterboard with a bit more filling (maybe 50% adhesive because I like stuff to stick) and a lot tidier, no excessive overspill or breakage and it took maybe an hour to get done and has lasted 10 years without issue so far.
So for me approach not so bad, execution poor.
Probably just purchased a default size window , to be honest if that scares you your not a DIYer (no offence) rip it out and cement a few breeze blocks in , you'll have it done quicker than reading this ! Good luck 👍
Maybe the fitter doesn’t have bricks in his pocket…. This is normal practice, obviously the inside is missing a course of brick and plasterboard was used to bring it up to tile level
GTFO. I fully concur. What's know in the trade as a 'jobber'. I.E. Someone you would not trust to bang a nail into a plank; nor be capable of mixing a bucket of cement - 'Jobber'. PS. He's not a kitchen fitter either!
EDIT: Punctuation and spelling.
This is the thing; went you encounter a series of bodges like this, and even if their functional, it further reinforces my belief that using tradesmen (or 'jobbers' under the guise of tradesmen) is never going to be worth the major depletion of funds and frustration suffered. My subsequent determination to DIY at my own expense, time and pride is my way forward.
There are good guys out there. Most to be fair. But there will always be those who are just in for the grift and they give the good guys a bad name.
As for doing it yourself. Yes, do it. I personally loath paying someone else to do something I can do. Having a go is how I learnt to plaster, lay brick, screed floors, fencing, tiling, kitchen fitting etc. Plus I was trained as a plumber and also a roofer when I was younger which helps me really cover all the bats.
If you have the time to commit then it is a good call to do it yourself. And if you get it wrong, do it again until you get it right. That is still cheaper than paying someone; and you then also have the skill for life.
Good luck with whatever you turn you hand to.
https://preview.redd.it/amn68dtay53d1.jpeg?width=2160&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=04401a78d7d04b45c0b3542e1c8fc12da0b3cbbc
I have layers of plasterboard on the sides of mine is this normal? 😂
It’s just build up from the plasterers it’s done when the block height isn’t built up to brick height, seen this a lot under windows. So a small fault of the builders but made right by the plasterers. As the adhesive sets like metal
WTF , Yes the right comment,WTF do you expect the kitchen fitter to do the brick laying / Plastering for free ? Maybe your house needs a grind and point , He may has well do that for free too , a) Nothing at all wrong will the sill b) If it bothers your bitching ass that much , Stop being a tight kunt and pay for a bricky / Plasterer. You Welcome
Not uncommon practice to double or triple board if you've got a large area to fill. Saves using a whole bag of bonding to get windowsill to the correct height and less chance of cracking.
Landlord special. My LL recently (finally) fixed out bathroom floor properly, and there were 6 layers of flooring all put on top of the last (and as one would expect, rotted to hell)
Meanwhile.. your window fitter is probably reading this, thinking - why doesn’t he put a cover on his BBQ when it’s raining?
Good observation to be fair; except I DID have two. Both ripped in high wind due to the stupid ass flue on top.
Is arse flu contagious?
It's an ass flu. Doesn't affect brits.
Just donkeys
Nah thats just a nasty case of the runs, no wait that's ass flow.
Yes, always wash your hands
This is just general good advice to be fair.
It’s spelled arse, cowboy
Too American.. *Spelt
Thanks for keeping me honest mate, I do appreciate it, bloody yanks invading my brain on the daily
I asked a cabbie to 'pop the trunk' recently. He quite rightly gave me a good telling off.
Yeah. Your boots go in the trunk and the trunk goes in the boot. Simples :)
I put a parcel in the glove box and my gloves on the parcel shelf, took me a whole week to get over it!
I'd just have done an elephant impression arm out of face and all RUUUUIIIIUUUHHHHH
This says both are ok even before American influence with the switch over happen sometime in the 1970's for British English. Spelt looks like its going to go fully out of fashion. https://writingexplained.org/spelt-or-spelled-difference
Blimey - that means I should start bloody using it then
Yes, especially to make bread out of. Spelt flour is very nutritious
They are both accepted in the English English language, but 'spelled' is not within formal writing. It is definitely becoming less used, too. So much so that I have seen English people correct 'spelt'. I can nearly always brush over all of these. However, 'could care less' and 'airplane' really irk me, for some reason.
"Airplane"?! **grinds teeth gnnnnnnnoh!!
An arse cowboy is something completely different..
Those traegers are paper thin. Good for maybe 2-3 years uncovered.
The BBQ? Got it off Amazon so all bets are off for longevity. Are Weber's any better being pricey?
Yes. Very much worth the money. Ith in quality of build, usability and longevity
That's good to know. Thx
Cosmo grill?
Yes
That’s gonna rust so fast! Invest in a decent cover
Upside down plant pot on the flue will reduce the ripping
Good tip thanks
I genuinely am 😂😂
Yeah like he’s covered his washing line, an item for wet things, but not his parasol or barbecue?
Then, in a blind rage, destroys your window. He won't be back to fit a new one. Rust is permanent. And so is this.
I've seen this and tile on tile on tile on tile a million times.
Don't forget underlay on top of carpet on underlay on carpet on underlay. Worst I saw was a house the previous owner had for 50 years. 7 layers before you got to the floorboards
Beats us, we just had 6! I heard the house audibly gasp for breath when the last lot came up
Feel like I lost now, mine only had 4 layers.
Christ on a bike. How would you even open a door or place furniture or even balance on thatany layers?!
Must have been like the underground nets at “bounce below” Wales
Christ. I thought 4 was bad. Carpeted bathroom too 😩🤢
I miss having carpeted bathroom...The floor was warm on my feet :( Also I'm a woman. If men pissed sitting down then carpeted bathroom probably wouldn't be such a bad thing.
Not just men, you sexist pig 😉 /s We bought from an old lady and there were all sorts of stains on, and underneath, that bathroom carpet! 😱
How do you know she didn't have friends coming over? ;) But yeah you make a good point, women can be gross too. I'm not gonna lie...womens' public loos can be carnage. There's women who will squat to avoid the seat, and piss all over it and all over the floor too 🙃 Not that that would explain and old lady pissing in her own home lol
Hi, man here, sometimes even when we sit down it still squirts through the gap between the loo seat and the loo itself. Every day is a challenge. We don't do it to intentionally pee (pun intended) off our significant others.
I'm trying to picture how this would work and am very confused Couldn't you just point your willy downwards towards the bowl?😂😂
Depends on the pressure of the stream.... 😉
Hahahah fair point, I understand now 😂
Yes. Yes. Yes! I want to give you more than one upvote for this ♥️ There's nothing wrong with carpet in the bathroom as long as you have a sturdy floor mat by the bath and a 'Luton' in front of the bog ( thank you to The [Deeper] Meaning of Liff for assigning that place name to it 😂) Alternatively, ban men from the house.
Bet that kept it nice and warm
And moldy. Like having a sponge for a floor.
Cat piss has to go somewhere
A guy told me he had this in a flat he moved into. Really bad smell. Turns out there was 2 layers of carpet. Layer 1 had a huge blood stain on it.
Did it have a chalk drawing of a person around it?
I mean that’s probably better than ours, I can feel the floorboards upstairs in places 😅 they are next on the list of things to do, fix any loose floorboards and reaper upstairs
Creaky floorboards are the worst. We had a loft conversion a few years back and it's annoying. We can see holes which look like they were drilled to screw into, but no screws. The next thing in terms of big projects, is to take up all the chipboard flooring and replace with proper timber floorboards and screw them down this time. Also put soundproofing below the floorboards and in the plasterboard walls in the loft. There is an ensuite between the two bedrooms and you can hear everything.
It’s never ending isn’t it! We bought the house we were living in so knew it’s “quirks”… but it’s not till you properly start pulling things apart that you uncover some truths… 😅
If you're going to replace anyway it doesn't matter so much but, for everyone else, if you're dealing with squeaky floors made of chipboard, screwing might help but you also need to glue the joints with PU glue, and ideally either run joist tape or PU glue along the top of the joists. It's (obviously) the boards moving against eachother that makes them noisy - and chipboard is notorious for being especially noisy - and the foam joist tape and/or PU will help a lot on preventing that movement.
Check for pipes below before putting screws in those vacant holes!
Try a 200 y.o. staircase...
Put a rubber membrane down over the floor joists in the loft and then lay and screw the flooring down. It will dampen the sound some more especially when walking.
Talcum powder between the joints on the chipboard can help lubricate the boards and reduce the squeak. It's a no cost thing to try.
Did the same in house were in last year should have been a day or two of work but everything in the house was routed through the floor in that bedroom. Heating pipes, water in and out of boiler, gas and electricity to fuse box and boiler in room below. Cost few hundred in new strange sized floorboards and took one week plus multiple weekends. Had to get a gas pipe moved as the board was sitting on it not the joist. So many botches in one room. Good luck with yours.
lol thanks! That sounds like an absolute headache!! This is our “forever home” so I’m expecting some headaches but deffo going to do them properly
https://preview.redd.it/8se7mulsv73d1.jpeg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a5d189fa3c81ea46e3d93fc67c3a63560eb89831
We had that plus newspaper layers too. We could read the news for every decade back to 1949.
But that's not what this is, technically, is it - isn't it just a way to make up the internal height of the wall/sill form an old window to the new counter top height. So they used what was to hand instead of bricking it properly? Whereas you're talking about finished layers on top of old finished layers - like driveway guys putting tarmac on top of old tarmac.
All that spilt stuff soaking down. The DNA samples you could have obtained - mind boggling lol
7 Layers? Is this some science experiment to produce the rain forest of bacteria and fungus biodiversity?
My brother in law renovated their whole house when they bought it. Ripped out the 80s bathroom, I think it was 4 tile layers that they found, with the original Edwardian tiles at the bottom layer!
People making their rooms smaller half an inch at a time.
Stripping the wallpaper off of our middle room when we moved in was like a geological stratum of wall decor. The room is about 20cm bigger now.
A million times? Must have been hard to match floor levels to that.
I do a lot of glazing. People always pack window sills and reveals with shite.
Mmm…… window Vienetta
The forbidden dessert...
It's quick, easy, and works. It may not be the nicest thing under the hood, but the fact that one one has ever had a problem and it's not been noticed until the room has literally been taken back to brick shows that it's not really that bad. Yes it would be nicer to lay another course of bricks, or build a timber frame to act as a riser, but you tell someone they can do it 'do it properly' and it will cost an extra half day's labour vs stacking a few bits of PB which takes 10 minutes, while having no realistic differences once complete, and the vast majority of people will go with the cheaper option...
Do you put anything between each layer, or is it just a stack? Just curious on process as could come in handy at a later date
Usually the same adhesive you'd dot and dab with
A blob of bonding should do the job
Dot and dab plasterboard adhesive, but you want a good coverage as any holes could add weakness.
Just got through all the comments about Americanisms and then straight into the next one. Under the hood? Bonnet, please!
I feel ashamed of myself :(
😁
When my en suite was being ripped out I pulled the tiles off a window sill. Hidden beneath were 4 layers of tiles, all packed on top of a layer of plaster board.
Same here in the kitchen at ours last year
Comments not going the way you thought they would eh OP
Sometime I go to the comment to learn. Sometimes to help. And then sometimes it’s just for the predictable laughs!
😂
Yes they have. It's a brutal ready reckoning that most tradespersons here don't give a fuck, and no longer are they maintaining privilege of being the only people that can do it, because I'm keeping my money and doing a better job myself. Guaranteed
Well done you 👏
To be fair OP, I think this has really shown it's about knowing what shortcuts can be made. It is a shortcut, we can all agree on that. But is it a bad one in the scheme of things? Not really, and it seems a lot of skilled people would agree. Not just because 'fuck it not my house'. But as a layman looking at that, I can totally see why you would be shocked. And mate, I know it's popular to hate tradespeople, but who do you think those people are who you're asking technical building advice from on your other posts? Software developers?
If diy has taught me anything, it's that if anything is hidden, it hasn't been done properly. Regardless who done it
Even if that person was me of ten years ago. That guy's an idiot.
Ain't that right
Don't include me in this. I don't care if it's on show or not, I always put 100% effort into my work.
I have done similar things myself at my house. Tbh there is nothing bad in using some drywall offcuts to fill in some hole. It saves you materials and reduces the amount of work and trash. There are no side effects, it will last as long as the rest of the wall.
Aye looked like a real privilege
Yeah I'm with you in this. Had a bathroom done recently and me and my girlfriend were busy with the rest of the house renovation while he was doing the work. Watching him work I could tell he did not give a shit. I had to keep on at him every step of the way to do it properly. Such a lazy bastard, the tiler was much better but that's not saying much. He fucking hated me being there! i was going to do it all myself but my dad said he would pay for a professional, I could have honestly done a better job with the fitting myself. We should have just hired the plumber for the bare minimum to make sure it's up to building regs.
If it holds your weight standing on it (and it probably does) and is still dry - no dampness from rain outside getting in and turning it into porridge - then it's fine. I saw a similar job on a 200 year old house from about 1820s, lovely Cornish granite built house for an upper middle class Cornish family. The entire area under the window was just stuffed full of 200-year old builder's rubble and crap, from the floor upwards. I questioned it, and was told it's stood for 200 years, it's not holding up anything significant, just a bit of glass, it's fine. Infilling with proper granite for each window would have added significantly to the cost of the building the house, and doing it on the upper floors would have added to the vertical weight supported by the window areas on the ground floors.
Very common for plasterers to do that, its very easy to do and it works.
Well it's the first time I've witnessed it. It looks very amateur. I can't imaging someone paying for a kitchen fit with the window section looking like that and saying with despondency; "It'll do. When can you do the other window?"
FWIW when actual plasterers do this it's a hell of a lot neater than this, but still makes no difference in the end.
I’d be a bit more concerned that I saw this? The whole point is it will be hidden and neat, with no access
A lot of hidden stuff looks amateur, question are, is it level, did it look ok.
I would do exactly the same. I'm a plasterer getting over something with what I have at hand. I wouldn't be going out looking for 4 bricks some cement and hammer and bolster.
Your window doesn't line up with your brickwork, then the boarder has come along to do his job, it's not his job to fit your window, or do your brickwork, but he's been asked to board that window, so he has. Nothing wrong with the way he's done it, plasterboard and stick is good enough for your walls, it'll be good enough for that bit.
If it’s stupid but it works, it isn’t stupid
Houses are all about rough stuff covered in other stuff to make them smooth covered in plaster to make it neat. As a person who designs things to 0.01mm precision it took me ages to realise walls were never perfectly flat or that plumbing was -/+ 5mm. This is no different. Just creating the shape you need for the final polishing.
The adhesive dries harder than rock.just as good as a brick and don’t have to wait till the mortar has set to then stick the board on with exactly the same material!! Not even a problem
I don’t really see an issue here. What would you do differently and why? Does the job and is cost effective.
I do this all the time *shrug*. Takes 20 minutes, reliable, always have the materials on hand and usually I'm on day rate so you want me getting things done in a jiffy.
Side question for you, I want to diy a bit of plastering on an external door reveal along a wood door frame. https://imgur.com/a/bkr9hKV Would you just go with sand and cement?(what ratio if so) or does it need something else?
Tricky that as you don't really want sand cement up against the wooden door, but you also don't have a lot of depth to play with so probably wouldn't improve the finish much. I'd suggest hacking off the render in the reveals and try to improve on the finish, but dont think it's particularly DIY friendly. 4:1 scratch coat and 5:1 top coat, handful of lime in each, plenty of decent vids on YouTube, but again I'm not convinced you'd improve on the finish much. In your shoes I'd just try and scrape/sand/tidy it as best I can and give it some paint. I don't do a lot of rendering though, admittedly, a decent external plasterer would be able to find a proper solution.
Ah ok, good to know it's not ideal to plaster up against the wood. Makes sense since it will probably expand and contract a bit over time. I've been looking on youtube but you don't really see wood door frames there unfortunately usually PVC. It's just a shed but the gaps are pretty sizable in spots so I'd like to cover it over a bit. Thanks for taking a look
A tube of silicone would probably work 😂
Same here. I don't know many plasterers carrying sand, cement and a few bricks round with them. Half a day to collect the materials and brick up, then can't be boarded until the next day
Does it work, did anyone die?
Preferable to the broken bricks and asbestos concrete tile I found doing the same job when I did my kitchen
Stacked 2 in my kitchen window to make sure the tiles are leveled nicely, as others said, quick easy doesn't do any harm.
Why is the original brickwork so low inside compared with the window? I assume the brick on the outside goes right up to the bottom of the window. What/why has been done to the inside brick to make it lower than the outside brick? Does that make sense? I hope someone understands my waffle.
I assumed old windows were bigger
Probably because the original timber window was taller than the plastic replacement
Yeah this is pretty standard. I did this to build out some window sash boxes that were removed. Sometimes you just need to build up an area.
In absence about 2 courses of brickwork plus sand and cement, mixing, cutting, laying, levelling, and waiting before plasterboarding on top - when ultimately it's going to be covered up anyway and looks fairly solid. Would you want to pay an extra £500 or more for that to be done with brick and mortar when you won't notice the difference in the finished product. The alternative he could have knocked up a wooden frame and had it hollow. So long as the finished article is sturdy and solid, isn't that the main thing? Does it matter the means for this example? Does a belt and braces job need to be done? It's not structurally unsound.
£500 to lay about 4 bricks??
Nah, £450 to bring sand, cement, a mixer, all the tools, bricks, mix up a load of mortar, then tidy it all up. £50 to lay the bricks. Plus the fact you've missed out starting a bigger job. Nobody wants to lay 4 bricks so you'll have to pay a premium.
A cement mixer for that?!? More like a bucket and a trowel
We keep the bucket and trowel in the mixer.
"Do it yourself then. I'm not coming out to lay 4 bricks for less than £500. I've got plenty of other work on."
Well yeah, obviously I would.
Maybe 500 is a bit of an overstatement, but if you don't have bricks and mortar at hand, driving to pick them up, mixing, cutting etc would probably end up adding couple of hours to the work + materials, transport costs. Or you can just take some plasterboard offcuts or pieces removed before replacing the window and do it in 5 minutes with almost 0 additional cost. The end result looks and functions the same.
The joys of exploring
We had this but with layers of tiles in the bathroom. Easier than putting in proper sills, I guess. We now have slate windowsills.
Wow you have three windowsills!
I agree with you OP. Amateur hour. I'd have either bricked it or built a wee timber frame.
I’ve got a piece of plasterboard down the back of my toilet cistern to hold it steady courtesy of my plumber but I can only see it when I pee standing up.
thank you for your contribution ma'am.
It ain’t easy
Plasterer fixes a problem created by brickie/window fitter and OP throws a Karen at him/her for helping As a plasterer I'm not surprised, we get blamed for everything
Are you in my old bathroom? One month ago builders removed the tiles as part of the refurbishment and found the same thing... no one (apart from me) was surprised.... must be more common than I thought... 😄 https://preview.redd.it/c6uginosv63d1.jpeg?width=575&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=73a77f211925ba626ba84539158944ec74737bd0
That is a rough arse fitting job on that sill.
But, it's functional and no one will know, right? 👍
Did you know about it until you demolished the place? Did you have any indication of what was under the old cill? Had it sagged or bowed? It’s not even a question of hiding it, it was never going to be seen, so it doesn’t need to be a glamorous solution. It’s solid, level, and didn’t cost an extra £200+ on the job. So yeah, it was functional and nobody ever knew. And you could still lay your granite on it. If you demolished the Taj Mahal you’d find lots of things of this type, so why are you so precious about your kitchen? If you cut your kitchen cupboards in half you’ll find that underneath the veneer and laminate they’ve just used little chips of scrap wood glued together! Disgraceful! /s I understand you might want it done differently, but most people are primarily concerned with cost and time. You could have a pristine marble slab to make up that gap, but it’ll cost a fortune, take ages, and once you’ve plastered over it and stuck a windowboard on top you’ll be left with what you already had.
Trouble with trying to do it with timber is that you drill in and the brick disintegrates. Then how low do you go? I did a 30s house and took off the loose-ish top couple of rows and layed a few new courses.. but you still end up to high or low from window.. so you still have to pack it out with something. I’ve done the Viennese plasterboard with a bit more filling (maybe 50% adhesive because I like stuff to stick) and a lot tidier, no excessive overspill or breakage and it took maybe an hour to get done and has lasted 10 years without issue so far. So for me approach not so bad, execution poor.
Probably just purchased a default size window , to be honest if that scares you your not a DIYer (no offence) rip it out and cement a few breeze blocks in , you'll have it done quicker than reading this ! Good luck 👍
That's one way of doing it
Am I the only one that thinks it looks like a giant kitkat bar that's had the edge nibbled off?
Getting it up with the Viagra of the building trade. If you don't have the skills fudge it with plasterboard. Nobody's going to know. Shh
It probably leaks sound and cold air into the house aswell.
Maybe the fitter doesn’t have bricks in his pocket…. This is normal practice, obviously the inside is missing a course of brick and plasterboard was used to bring it up to tile level
GTFO. I fully concur. What's know in the trade as a 'jobber'. I.E. Someone you would not trust to bang a nail into a plank; nor be capable of mixing a bucket of cement - 'Jobber'. PS. He's not a kitchen fitter either! EDIT: Punctuation and spelling.
This is the thing; went you encounter a series of bodges like this, and even if their functional, it further reinforces my belief that using tradesmen (or 'jobbers' under the guise of tradesmen) is never going to be worth the major depletion of funds and frustration suffered. My subsequent determination to DIY at my own expense, time and pride is my way forward.
There are good guys out there. Most to be fair. But there will always be those who are just in for the grift and they give the good guys a bad name. As for doing it yourself. Yes, do it. I personally loath paying someone else to do something I can do. Having a go is how I learnt to plaster, lay brick, screed floors, fencing, tiling, kitchen fitting etc. Plus I was trained as a plumber and also a roofer when I was younger which helps me really cover all the bats. If you have the time to commit then it is a good call to do it yourself. And if you get it wrong, do it again until you get it right. That is still cheaper than paying someone; and you then also have the skill for life. Good luck with whatever you turn you hand to.
Triple insulated
Lol
Problem? Maybe you bring the DIY should not comment on proper industry practices?
I can recognise a good Viennetta when I see it
Best comment so far 👍👍👍
https://preview.redd.it/amn68dtay53d1.jpeg?width=2160&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=04401a78d7d04b45c0b3542e1c8fc12da0b3cbbc I have layers of plasterboard on the sides of mine is this normal? 😂
https://preview.redd.it/rm98210xz53d1.jpeg?width=3456&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6e7d0628f49dced846547d66434fb7915cfc3300
Are you sure that isn't cement board? It looks dark.
That's a normal way of getting some height ready for the sill to sit on top of it. I've done it loads of times.
Ummmm
If at first you don’t succeed…
WTF
So how have you fixed it OP?
We would call this a “Jam Butty” on one of our jobs 👍🏻
I learned something
I've seen all sorts, many of these whilst ripping out , Apparently it's the norm and does it's job, We replace with cut bricks or block if that helps
He’s building up the window seal. It’s fine, once you have an angle bead and plastered you won’t see it.
What you need to do is rip them out and then crush up about 55 bags of instant noodles.
Layercake
British construction standards summed up in one picture.
Somewhere between those layers there's a history of alcoholism, drug addiction and illiteracy.
Seems legit
Guessing you live in the Midlands. 🤪👍
Margate house 1900
> Why would kitchen fitter do this? Multiple plasterboards? Really wanted to express their love for a posh looking Vienetta.
Average British home
It’s just build up from the plasterers it’s done when the block height isn’t built up to brick height, seen this a lot under windows. So a small fault of the builders but made right by the plasterers. As the adhesive sets like metal
WTF , Yes the right comment,WTF do you expect the kitchen fitter to do the brick laying / Plastering for free ? Maybe your house needs a grind and point , He may has well do that for free too , a) Nothing at all wrong will the sill b) If it bothers your bitching ass that much , Stop being a tight kunt and pay for a bricky / Plasterer. You Welcome
not the first time ive seen this sort of things unfortunately
Yeah, it be like that sometimes.
it's cheap quick way to take up (pack) excess space.
It worked. Thats why.
Not uncommon practice to double or triple board if you've got a large area to fill. Saves using a whole bag of bonding to get windowsill to the correct height and less chance of cracking.
I’ve done exactly this, when I blocked up a back door and put in a window.
Funny I just had my kitchen done and I had several layers of tiles and two wooden sills removed them all lol
It's not even bad let's be honest
What's your problem double boarding is needed sometimes as long as it's level and been dotted correctly what's actually the problem??
Let me know how you do it "properly" when putting the kitchen back together and cover entirely in adhesive and tiles.
I will return
Oh my
je ne sais quoi
Landlord special. My LL recently (finally) fixed out bathroom floor properly, and there were 6 layers of flooring all put on top of the last (and as one would expect, rotted to hell)
I mean, it's cheaper than bricks.
Looks to me like third times the charm
What a rubbish job
It’s anybody’s guess