Bad diy, if your not good at something then just don't do it.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
a reply to: nonspecific

I think so. It is paper-based Styrofoam sprayed on to cover imperfections.

I had to repair quite a few cracks that these potato heads left alone. Instead of mitigating the issue they covered it up.

Different stuff but sounds like it does the same thing. Arte is a plaster type product but is patterned or stippled and just awful.

originally posted by: nonspecific
Different stuff but sounds like it does the same thing. Arte is a plaster type product but is patterned or stippled and just awful.

I could imagine.

They were a bunch of lazy effers, I had to strip all the amazing woodwork that they coated in several layers of white latex paint.

originally posted by: BlueJacket
a reply to: nonspecific

I say rip into it all or perhaps just replace the rail and leave the decorative wall board if its salvageable. If not looks like a candidate for some bead board with the aforementioned new rail. Can you build the old rail from pieces? Ive done that a few times on baseboard, but that rail looks iffy.

I have to replace a floor upstairs and have taken up the carpets in the room in question to sand back the floor boards.

I am going to replace the upstairs floor with carpets and then I can use the matching floorboards to make up new skirts archatrave and dado's so it should look origional although only a 70 year old house.

I will enjoy it too

a reply to: nonspecific

Mistakes are part of growing. No fun staying in a box of comfort, afraid to try new things. I do feel your frustration OP, and mistakes should not usually be covered up or buried etc. In our own homes, real old fashoined communication goes a long ways towards keeping these things in check and people knowing their roles in the home. Not to say that is always easy, but easier than the alternative in the long run. Just my pesky humble opinion.
Best regards, and hope your situation improves. I have a 1 and 3 year old, will be 2 and 4 next month, and patience can run real short some days!

I have to admit a favourite thing of mine is to visit a facebook page called "DIY on a budget"

The people on there are INSANE, They wallpaper their living room floors, and put this stuff called fablon on everything, I had never heard of fablon until i visited, Its actually just sticky back plastic,

I urge anyone to join the group just for the LOLZ, The state of the DIY on there is hillarious

originally posted by: nonspecific
...architrave...

Look at you, using big time architecture words.

I want to see you do that after 6 or so pints, 'I'm gonna shove my lintel in your piedmont!'

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: nonspecific
...architrave...

Look at you, using big time architecture words.

I want to see you do that after 6 or so pints, 'I'm gonna shove my lintel in your piedmont!'

hmmm only 2 to go then....

originally posted by: ColaTesla
I have to admit a favourite thing of mine is to visit a facebook page called "DIY on a budget"

The people on there are INSANE, They wallpaper their living room floors, and put this stuff called fablon on everything, I had never heard of fablon until i visited, Its actually just sticky back plastic,

I urge anyone to join the group just for the LOLZ, The state of the DIY on there is hillarious

I am friends with the lady that made and runs that page and to be fair some of the stuff is actually pretty good.

wallpper floors are actually ok if varnished correctly.

originally posted by: nonspecific
hmmm only 2 to go then....

My man, that's why I like you.

You cant be serious, Virtually none of it is ok, The standard of the workmanship is horrific, Unless you like pallets sofas with nails sticking out? And It is Not oK to wallpaper your floor! And you'll not convince me otherwise These people wallpaper the floor then come on the site a few days later wondering why the paper is ripped to shreds, Or how about wallpapering over the tiles in your bathroom? Or painting your bathtub white with gloss paint?
If thats not your kind of thing theres someone on there who can re do your kitchen out of pallets with a nice plywood worktop with a rough jigsaw'ed edge all round?

Then the rest of the animals comment under the pictures of these abominations and congratulate each other.

The site is hilarious.

I was coming in to do a counter rant about people being lazy and practice makes perfect... and then I saw the photo. LOL!

a reply to: nonspecific

The cut looks okay but should have been lined up accurately and caulked on the left. Could have been an easy fix no one would have noticed.

You should embrace other people's # work NS, it creates work for others to fix.
...and anyway meh, I get paid to hide other people's crap work all the time, it's amazing what horrors two coats of plaster can hide.

a reply to: nonspecific

Gak! It looks like they PVAd it and it slipped down after the genius was already off down the drive for an early dart.

Funny. Would ya mind popping over to my house, it could really do with a make over. We have mdf weetbix board for our window surrounds in the kitchen that is so rotten along with our rotten bathroom. I will even take you on as a second husband if you do the work. The only thing is there is no budget.
Have fun fixing.

a reply to: nonspecific

I see that as an easy fix. I've made much worse go away. Some liquid nails,a couple various grits of sandpaper, sanding block for leveling, a good quality spackle (not lightweight spackle) or a couple thin coats of bondo, prime and paint.

a reply to: Cloudbuster

Second husband position available eh?
If you're walking distance from my house I'm game.

I've lived in houses where if you drop something at the front door, you have to chase it onto the back porch.

Isn't that what duct tape is for? How about cutting both sides an inch short at a 90, and then bondo in between them???



Just kidding of course!

I was a pretty good finish carpenter, and in college I did some part-time work for an insurance company; we did wind, water and fire damage claims. Some of the stories I could tell you about not only shoddy DIY work, but even more "worser" professional home builder work would make your toes curl (upward)!

I went in this one lady's house one time to fix some fire damage (and water damage from the FD) in her basement. It was a finished basement. The house was essentially new. There was a door which lead into a laundry room from a rec room. The builder had framed the door out of square (I could see it from 20 feet away). But it gets even better...

The door was adjacent to a perpendicular wall. Because the jamb wasn't plumb this guy had actually ripped down the casing on angle so it would fit. (this was the thing I noticed first when up close). Then, after thinking about it for a moment, I looked closer. (thinking...how the hell did this guy even get the door to close in the jamb???). Sure enough...they'd actually ripped down the leaf out of square so it would fit in the jamb!!!!!! LOLOLOLOLOL!!!

It probably took 5x more work to get that door to close than it would have taken to just tear it out and do it right the first time!

We took pictures of that one. I lost those pics long ago, but I'll never forget that. It was hilarious, if you opened the door, it would swing shut like it had a closer on it! The door wasn't damaged by the fire or the water, but the adjustor had included it in the repairs. We even joked with this joker about whether he was in cahoots with the builder. It was probably one of the funnier ones I've ever seen.

That looks like some fine old handcrafted wood trim,don`t rip it out it will be a lot easier to fix what`s already there than to redo it all.
what really annoys me is when people rip out all the finely hand crafted old wood and slap up some cheesy mass produced stuff that they buy at the local big box home improvement center.
Most of the trim that the big box places sell is wood scraps finger jointed together with glue, or wood particles mixed with glue and pressed into shape or (the one that really disgusts me) fake wood,brown plastic stamped with wood grain and stamped to a generic trim shape.