So I fitted carpet tiles in what we pretentiously call 'the office' at home. Thanks for the tips here - rather proud off the result, except...
I think the old thick carpet and underlay were hiding some dodgy woodwork cos there's now a distinct draught in many places from the gap between floorboard and skirting board - up to about 6mm.
What's the best way to fix it? Some sort of filler? Any recommendation?
Ta.
SC.
In article , Simon Cee writes
Yep, you want something flexible and paintable:
Give the gap a good brush out with an old paintbrush to ensure good adhesion and make the fill nice and deep for a good key. You wont need to paint it for only 6mm but avoid silicone as it will inhibit future painting on any adjacent surface it might contaminate.
fred wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@y.z:
The gap can be very deep. Other fillers are okay but you need to bridge the gap rather than try to fill it. I have also used rolled up newspaper = pressed in and then acrylic filler over it.
Canned foam. Quick easy and swells to fill any sized gap. Trim off after it has set. Don't get it on anything else, sticks like shit to a blanket.
Note that last sentance. I'd not use foam in a can it's not very controllable in my (limited) experience and should you ever want to remove the skirting be a right PITA as no doubt it will have bonded most of the back of the skirting into the iregular plaster behind.
I'd go for strips of soft foam wedged into the gap. Easy to remove, won't make a mess of skirting face or adjacent floor. Camping mat has been suggested or those large workshop cushion flooring tiles.
business
No offence but do you mean rope & tar or the tubes in a caulking gun ;-).
I chose sealant over caulk as it has more give/stretch[1] which I have found useful for a gap like floor to skirting which may move quite a bit. When I've used caulk for this it has parted from one part or other of the sandwich over time.
[1] IME, tubed caulk is just a sealant base with inert fillers to make it give a little less and provide a firm surface for finishing.How about builders caulk?
For the cost, I would recommend Siroflex Gun Grade foam and
a £15 gun:
The post-gun expansion factor of that particular foam is not very high either - I found it a lot less messy than other foams, even working upside down.
In article , Tim Watts writes
I agree on using the gun (cheaper at Toolstation), very controllable. You can use masking tape on the skirting too to protect it from inadvertent contact and to make cleaup easier. I find a fine hacksaw blade to be good for at least partially flushing it off before breaking it away.
Well the neighbour with the boiler in the cupboard under the stairs with the smelly flue has agreed to get it serviced on Tuesday. The smell is always in the stairwell area or in the part of our flat that's directly above the stairwell, so I'm back to thinking it is gas from that boiler. The flue is stinking right now but the smell isn't around inside, so it's definitely an on/off smell even when the boiler is on.
The emergency gas guys tested it twice already and found nothing, although both times they arrived to test it the smell had disappeared. Since the boiler servicing will be during the day while the smell is usually not around, that might not unearth anything either. I suppose all we can do is make sure the neighbour makes the boiler engineer aware of what's been going on...
BTW if it is a timber floor, large gaps can be a symptom of joist ends rotting in the walls. (Floor then sinks.)
You should check this out & take any remedial action needed.
That likely won't fix the problem. If the flue is faulty, it needs fixing. If the flue gas is leaking into your house, this is a very dangerous situation. You could be gassed.
Agreed.
Well maybe, a correctly functioning gas boiler doesn't produce much CO. A small flue leak may not give rise to a high enough concentration of CO to trigger an alarm.
But CO is an insidious toxin and it's a combination of exposure duration and concentration that is important. Very low levels for extended periods of time are not healthy. 35 ppm is the OSHA 8hr exposure limit.
The Ei208 CO alarm doesn't do anything below 43 ppm, between 43 and 80 ppm it will silently flash it's red light for over an hour before it sounds the hooter. Higher concentrations shorten the silent period and increase the red light "pre-alarm" flash rate.
Ta chaps. Had bad experience with foam and my clumsiness before so I'll try avoid. I have pipe lagging foam and caulk so I'll try those 2.
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