Laundry reno

[noelm]

During this isolation business, my wife thought it would be a good time to redo our laundry, it's quite big, 4mX4m plus a shower and toilet, it's all double brick and concrete so everything is difficult. The plan is to get rid of the electrical, running in exposed conduit, and chase that into the brick, get rid of the old ceramic tiles in the shower, Gyprock the lot and re tile the floor. Getting the old tiles off was a nightmare, they were put on with some kind of cement based glue that rips the face off the bricks, plus they shatter into a million bits, so, a day on the jackhammer took care of that! The ceiling is concrete (it's the floor above, a bedroom) so that meant a false ceiling had to be made so I could get ride of the crap look, and the old oyster lights, I thought about timber, but ended up using a metal system that was simple to do, fast and cheap, getting the Gyprock sheets up took some work, just my wife, my grandson and I, the walls were easy, they are just "glued on with masonry adhesive, I took a couple of progress pictures.

[noelm]

A couple more a bit further on, noticed one wall battened out, that proved interesting, I marked the location of the cables in the Gyprock, but the top coat and tape covered the marks

[noelm]

The Gyprock is finished now (very proud of myself) the cables were located, with difficulty, and I have put a couple of tiles on the floor to see the colour.

Edited July 25, 2020 by noelm

[kingie chaser]

Thats a bit of a task, not really knowing much of building but what was the reason you went the gyprock over say rendering??

I would have thought rendering would be cheaper & easier seeing as you dont need to fit studs??

 

Mind you that ripply finished ceiling & 70's tiles would definately be getting re finished 🤢

 

Hope the rest goes well, will make a huge difference Im sure! 

 

 

[Rebel]

Great Reno,well done.

[noelm]

It was only one wall I used timber studs, mainly because it was quicker than cutting brick for the majority of the cables, Gyprock over brick is easy, just mix up masonry adhesive, dab it on the brick and push the sheet on with a straight edge, no screws, nothing, it's all painted now too, did that this morning, tiling to start probably Monday, there's a couple of bits to do before I start, I will get a photo of the finished paint job.

Edited July 25, 2020 by noelm
Typo

[noelm]

Just on a side note, there is a small hand basin I am going to get rid of, I called a Plumber I found on the 'net expecting the job to be about $100, as all that's required is two pipes sealed off, the basins gone, the pipes accessible, he turned up with his iPad, had a look and came back with a quote of $680. I said no thanks, his quote included preparation of tools $28, turn off water $48, and the same to turn it back on again! I will do it myself, just crimp them flat and solder them, job done. He then asked for $58 call out fee, I explained that his add specifically said, "no call out fee" he explained, "only if you get the job done" rather than argue, I just paid him, and suggested I will never recommend him to anyone, and $58 is cheap for a lesson learned......

[Mullatt]

1 hour ago, noelm said:

Just on a side note, there is a small hand basin I am going to get rid of, I called a Plumber I found on the 'net expecting the job to be about $100, as all that's required is two pipes sealed off, the basins gone, the pipes accessible, he turned up with his iPad, had a look and came back with a quote of $680. I said no thanks, his quote included preparation of tools $28, turn off water $48, and the same to turn it back on again! I will do it myself, just crimp them flat and solder them, job done. He then asked for $58 call out fee, I explained that his add specifically said, "no call out fee" he explained, "only if you get the job done" rather than argue, I just paid him, and suggested I will never recommend him to anyone, and $58 is cheap for a lesson learned......

Name and shame mate!

[noelm]

4 hours ago, kingie chaser said:

Thats a bit of a task, not really knowing much of building but what was the reason you went the gyprock over say rendering??

I would have thought rendering would be cheaper & easier seeing as you dont need to fit studs??

 

Mind you that ripply finished ceiling & 70's tiles would definately be getting re finished 🤢

 

Hope the rest goes well, will make a huge difference Im sure! 

 

 

We did think about rendering, but in the end, Gyprock was quicker, cheaper and easier, all the sheets (including the wet area stuff) was under $500, no labour, because we did it ourselves, all in all including doing the false ceiling it took about 3 days at "home handyman" speed, then another day finishing off, a pro might have done it in a day or so, but one quote was 3 grand, so it's quite a saving, I got the floor tiles (600X300) on special, porcelain tiles @ $20 a square metre, and going to lay them myself too, pretty easy job when going over existing tiles, just use the right primer and it's done.

[Berleyguts]

Looks the goods, Noel! Well done!  Did you use Gyprock plasterboard/drywall or villa board for wet areas?

[noelm]

Wet area Gyprock (Aqua tech) and Villaboard around the shower area, being all brick and concrete, water proofing is a breeze, Jesus those tiles were stuck on good, took ages to jack hammer them off.

[noelm]

Been looking at some cabinets, had a kitchen place out to give us a quote, 1.8m of cabinets (3X600) and a laminate bench top was over 4 grand, so I am looking at flat pack, similar thing, but DIY, works out to be $250 a cabinet, with gloss doors, and depending on the top (might go timber maybe) is about $200. it's very simple, just a straight line, no tricky corners and stuff, but that's a way off yet, got to get the floor done to get the washing machine in, as it stands, I have it out the back, connected to the garden hose, very redneck/hillbilly/caravan park.

[kingie chaser]

3 hours ago, noelm said:

Just on a side note, there is a small hand basin I am going to get rid of, I called a Plumber I found on the 'net expecting the job to be about $100, as all that's required is two pipes sealed off, the basins gone, the pipes accessible, he turned up with his iPad, had a look and came back with a quote of $680. I said no thanks, his quote included preparation of tools $28, turn off water $48, and the same to turn it back on again! I will do it myself, just crimp them flat and solder them, job done. He then asked for $58 call out fee, I explained that his add specifically said, "no call out fee" he explained, "only if you get the job done" rather than argue, I just paid him, and suggested I will never recommend him to anyone, and $58 is cheap for a lesson learned......

Its for this reason I try to do as much of what I can myself & if I dont know how to do it I learn how.

I think the same can be said for many trades these days, well except chefs maybe, Id like to charge $5 when someone walks in to look at the menu then decides they have changes their mind & 

 

I recently got 4 taps serviced at a family holiday property & they quoted me $100 a tap + GST, I didnt have time to do it myself so just said yes & copped it, 15 minutes later they were gone with the job done 🤨

I am definately in the wrong trade!!

Should have gone to bunnings & just bought 4 new taps & done it myself, such an easy job but just didnt have time to do it or get another quote to 2.

 

Im actually building my own dual battery system in my 4x4 at the moment & Im doing it myself for 2 reasons, one its so hard to find an auto electrician that is reasonable in price & two someone will still not cut corners & do a job to a decent standard that I cant do better myself.

 

I also like doing things like this because I learn new skills as well.

 

 

Edited July 25, 2020 by kingie chaser

[noelm]

I'm pretty lucky, I have lots of mates who are tradies and I have done some odd work with them over the years, plus I am lucky I can do "stuff" and nothing scares me off.

[kingie chaser]

22 minutes ago, noelm said:

I'm pretty lucky, I have lots of mates who are tradies and I have done some odd work with them over the years, plus I am lucky I can do "stuff" and nothing scares me off.

Yes Im prepared to give a lot of things a go, there is so much information available on the web its just a matter of spending some time to learn the processes.

 

If you dont have time then be prepared to pay.

 

Of course somethings that needs a licenced tradesman like an elecrticial then I would err on the side of caution on that one.

 

Basic auto electrics I can deal with, same for many car servicing things.

 

Look forward to seeing some new pics.

[Welster]

1 hour ago, noelm said:

Wet area Gyprock (Aqua tech) and Villaboard around the shower area, being all brick and concrete, water proofing is a breeze, Jesus those tiles were stuck on good, took ages to jack hammer them off.

The old way of tiling a masonry wall was to render it and dust the surface with neat cement and set the tiles in the render whilst it was still wet.  Much like the way floors were tiled.   Now for floors they screed one day, adhesive fix the next and grout the following day.  The old way was done in the day. 
 

You are right it can be tough to get the render off and it usually takes the face of the brickwork with it. 

Generally if we renew a rendered bathroom we would render with a waterproofing admixture. Once it has dried waterproof and then tile.  There is nothing wrong with using the battens (grounds) as you have done though.  For laundries we would use the wet area plasterboard and villa board for bathrooms pretty much what you have done yourself. Good job. 

Edited July 25, 2020 by Welster
Extra content and typos 🤣

[noelm]

I guess in a way, what you do yourself and what you pay someone to do depends on the size of the job, fiddly jobs, like laundries and simple plumbing/electrical/carpentry work, it's hard to get anyone interested in doing just a couple of hours work, I have two doors to replace (and jambs) and I hate doors, plus it's into brick, so the jambs will be tricky, I called three different guys, they all said, "no" I know one of my mates will do it, but unless I balls it up somehow, I won't ask for a "love job"

[frankS]

Up until just recently I have always done most things myself. Recently Val bought herself a new wardrobe from IKEA three large flat pack boxes arrived and I looked at the job and decided it would take me all day and lots of bending over and frustrations .

I called Air tasker and within 2 minutes had 3 quotes to do the job. I chose one quote for $110 and the guy came 4.30 pm that day and Val vas hanging closes in her new wardrobe by 6.30 pm and loving it.

You can name your own price and except what quote suits you. Fantastic service and I hope it is allowed to mention them on here.

Frank

[mrsswordfisherman]

34 minutes ago, frankS said:

Up until just recently I have always done most things myself. Recently Val bought herself a new wardrobe from IKEA three large flat pack boxes arrived and I looked at the job and decided it would take me all day and lots of bending over and frustrations .

I called Air tasker and within 2 minutes had 3 quotes to do the job. I chose one quote for $110 and the guy came 4.30 pm that day and Val vas hanging closes in her new wardrobe by 6.30 pm and loving it.

You can name your own price and except what quote suits you. Fantastic service and I hope it is allowed to mention them on here.

Frank

I know many who use this service and it is a great idea

[noelm]

Painting all finished now, down lights in, power points go back on when paint dries, I will take another progress picture then, tiling probably tomorrow or Tuesday, depending on this crap weather.

[kingie chaser]

9 minutes ago, noelm said:

Painting all finished now, down lights in, power points go back on when paint dries, I will take another progress picture then, tiling probably tomorrow or Tuesday, depending on this crap weather.

Good day for it, well sort of.

Probably not good paint curing weather but then there wouldnt be much fishing going on today!

Edited July 26, 2020 by kingie chaser

[noelm]

Yep, that's true, paint is nearly dry, I just hope it fines up for the tiling, even though it's inside, it's nice to be able to cut and mix outside, rather than fooling around in the small space, not that it's small (for a laundry), going to carry all the tiles out soon, ready to go, they weigh a ton, boxes of floor and wall tiles.

[noelm]

Progress on the painting

[frankS]

Noel. Just a small tip with the tiles, even if all the boxes are the same batch number, shuffle the tiles from box to box so you don't get clusters of different tones in the tiles. by shuffling them you divide the tones evenly to get a much nicer result.

Frank

[noelm]

The guy from the tile shop told me that too, I started messing around looking at the "set out" but the crap cold weather and rain kind of dampened my enthusiasm, so I packed it in, hope it's better tomorrow,