Category: Building

Tiled Bath Panel Construction

Preface

I could write an article about Building A Bathroom or Tiling A Bathroom but I have decided to just cover a Tiled Bath Panel in this article even though some detail of the tiles on the walls is mentioned. Bath panels can easily be made from painted hardboard or plywood, or boards, but a tiled panel can fit in with the rest of the bathroom very well when all the walls are tiled.

Introduction

In 2005 I began a project to build a new bathroom in the same small room as the existing one. The bath had to be in the same place as before because it is the only place it could fit.

Why have a tiled bath panel? The choices were:

  • the moulded plastic panel offered by the manufacturer,
  • a plain painted wooden panel,
  • a panel made of horizontal or vertical boards finished with paint or varnish,
  • a panel finished with tiles to match the bathroom walls.

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Sighting A Straight Line

Introduction

I would say sighting a straight line is a common practice used by builders and joiners to determine if a piece of timber is straight or bowed. It can be used to test any length of timber, but long pieces in particular, and requires no tools just eyesight with a good depth of field enabling focusing along the whole length of timber to be checked. Continue reading “Sighting A Straight Line”

Wood Screws and Bolts

A collection of facts about Wood Screws and Bolts

This article on wood screws and bolts is very basic at the moment but may get improved with time.

Wood Screw Chart by W. L. Fuller

wood screws and bolts
Coach Bolt
wood screws and bolts
Coach Screw

Wood Screws Which Don’t Split Wood

This link goes to Titan Metal Werks, Inc of Ilinois, USA a company which makes SplitStop screws which they claim won’t split the wood they are screwed into. Designed for fixing decking they appear to drill themselves in and make a countersunk hole to boot.

See their example video which I have embedded below. It shows how an ordinary screw splits the wood when it is screwed in. Then it shows how their screws can be screwed in around it, very close to the edge, without splitting the wood:

This is what TITAN have to say about their products:

“Experience the ability to place wood screws within 1/8″ of the edge of a board without splitting the wood. Install deck boards and railing balusters with little fear of splitting! Penetrate knots without shearing-off screw heads! Countersink effortlessly, even in Oak! All without predrilling!” — Titan

Fixing Shelf Battens To Old Walls

Introduction

I found myself fixing shelf battens to old walls for  someone. They only required two supporting battens at each end of each shelf. The job took much longer than expected. Why? The Victorian house walls on which the battens were fixed were crumbling underneath the plaster. This severely hindered the normal process of drilling holes, tapping in wall anchors and screwing in screws.

NOTE: This work required an assistant to provide another pair of hands to hold pieces of timber in place from time to time.

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