wood

Hi, I have a mid 1940s house so am assuming that the wooden skirtings, door frames etc are likely to contain lead... Should I be worried that many areas have chips exposing bare wood underneath and a few areas are flaky, potentially exposing my family to lead? (I used to think that as long as...

I am looking to build a shelf/desk in an alcove. The alcove is 96cm wide and for argument sake the depth would be 100cm so looking at 1m sq sheet of material. The desk would support laptop, monitor, mouse, keyboard, etc and would be supported by a baton along the 2 sides of the alcove but not...

Does anyone have any recommendations for the best Shed and Fence paints? I have been using Cuprinol 5 Year Ducksback but I am finding that on the fence in particular its fading in sort of yellowish bits on the fence and not lasting five years. On the shed there is some fading on the door but...

Hi all, I'm planning to refinish my front door with sikkens 7. Before I start I want to fill some gaps in it to prevent drafts and water ingress. There is sone kind of silicone already in place, which blends in really well, any idea what it might be? Check the pictures out for a better...

Rather than replace these windows, i'm going to have a crack at restoring them myself. I want to paint the metal and wooden parts of the frame back, in a non gloss finish, maybe a satin. I'll use Nitromors, a scraper and sandpaper to strip the existing paint - maybe wet and dry paper on the...

I'm looking to deck over an existing patio, the main issue is the low clearance from the door sill. There is roughly 75mm from the patio tiles to underneath the door sill and 100mm to the top of the door sill. Therefore I would need to use thinner joists or lay them flat. Will it be a problem...

Years ago I had a window that was falling apart in my bathroom. I got it replaced with a PVC window and the guy didn't mention anything about the state of the wood around the window. Now I'm renovating the bathroom and I've found the wood under the window is soft and crumbly. Is this dry rot...

Hi, I got an extension with a flat roof and 47x125 trusses with an average distance of centre to centre less than 400mm and a total span of 5.36m A the moment I have a blockwork internal partition dividing the extension into 2 rooms and would like to have one large space as per my neighbours...

Hey team, Can anyone suggest how to fix up this garden office. Inside: corner is cracked and you can just about make out daylight. Woodlice are roaming around! The ends of some of the rear beams have rotten away. Rotting of rear beams, depth 1”. Thinking Ronseal Wet Rot Hardener. I’m...

Hi I've got an door canopy over the front door which stands on wooden posts. Not sure what type of wood as it was put in by previous owner. The wood on the posts is looking very weathered now, see attached photo. Was wondering if anyone could advise what needs doing? Is it that it needs some...

Assuming many have read the news that the government plans to ban the sale of pre-bagged house coal and the burning of wet wood by 2023. Also understand that loose coal (from merchants) will be banned too. I often get frowns for having a burner and an open fire, but the vast majority of the...

Hi, looking for some advice or ideas to make a project I have in mind come to life. I am looking to add clear acrylic covers to the shelving I have attached an image of below. Purpose: cover the fronts of my shelving to stop dust gathering on my ornaments, while also looking aesthetically like a...

I am looking for a desk that fits my home office. My plan so far is to buy the top and the legs and then bolt the legs on. I am not planning to use a frame! My concern is that the desktop might warp with time. I don't plan to put anything heavy - just a screen, laptop, maybe a plant. Here are...

Hey peopleses, I'm sorry for asking, I have Googled this loads and haven't found a good answer. I have recently installed engineered wood floor over a padded acoustic underlay. This was recommended to me by the shop (UK Flooring Direct) as I'm using it upstairs. Once installed though...

I have a wood burning stove which is efficient and does a good job of heating the home. I recently posted a new thread about installing another one in the kitchen -- reason being we have access to free timber (living near a furniture-making town). I have been offered a white limestone surround...

Hi! I'm looking to convert part of our existing outbuilding into a chicken coop. I was initially thinking of simply adding a partition wall but I think that would be a waste of space. Instead I want to build in a chicken coop into the building, essentially a large box raised off the floor with...

A bit of advise please. We've laid a new oak floor in the living room which has been stained and then 2 coats of OSMO polyx oil added. After a week we've as careful as possible tried to put our furniture back in but any slight scrape on the floor is resulting in white flakes coming up from the...

Hi I have removed the old carpet from my stairs .The wood underneath is untreated .I have sanded the wood down and filled the edges that connect to the wall/Bannister .What would be best to coat the floor with ? Many thanks John

Hi, What would be the best way (or is there a tool) to remove the wood paneling from the bathroom wall, please? Stuff like knives and wall-paper strippers just bend, if I get any leverage, and my crowbar is too thick to get in behind each panel. I'm presuming it was glued on. I can't see any...

I have old timber window frames which tend to get a lot of condensation on the bottom sill, almost like small pool of water. Becuase of the water the paint always starts to peel off. Is there a suitable waterproof paint for interior wood such as above in a satin finish? Can I use exterior...