Help! New to DIY and 36 weeks pregnant

[kathychick]

Hello

My husband and I have very recently moved into a 1930's 3 bed house. I'm 36 weeks pregnant so we're on a very tight timescale - i'm also not able to do very much so we're a pair of hands down.

We need to decorate the nursery (little box room) and our main bedroom before baby comes - in 4 weeks and no sooner! The former owner was a very heavy smoker and so we have removed the carpet from the main room (and the fitted wardrobes) which took up so much space.

The baby's room is a straightforward decorating job. However, in the main bedroom we need to skim the walls with plaster and make good a few small hole smade by nails etc (getting a professional to do this), and we'd like to make good the floorboards which are in pretty good nick, and use them for flooring.

My questions are:
1. We are getting the plastering done on Friday - and have booked the sanding machine for Saturday. We are only skimming the walls with plaster but will all the dust generated from the sander get into the plastering? How long do we need to leave it beofre sanding?

2. The room is about 3 m by 3m. How long does it take to sand a room of this size and how much dust will this generate? Will the sander absorb the dust? If not, how long does it take to get rid of the dust?

3. How long does it take to placed sealant / filler between the floorboards and stain. My husband is a teacher and so this will be an evening/weekend job and we only have a 3/4 weekends before baby comes.

4. We will be decorating after the sanding so need to take care wtih dust sheets etc but any advice here?

5. Finally, is this just a massive job not to be undertaken at all and should we just get a carpet? (currently tempting)

Speedy responses would be very much appreciated.

many thanks
Trying not to panic kathychic

 

[EddieM]

Don't panic!

Firstly congratulations, put your feet up, let your husband do it all. Some IMHO answers.

1. We are getting the plastering done on Friday - and have booked the sanding machine for Saturday. We are only skimming the walls with plaster but will all the dust generated from the sander get into the plastering? How long do we need to leave it beofre sanding?

No probably not, if time were on your side I'd leave it a day or so.

2. The room is about 3 m by 3m. How long does it take to sand a room of this size and how much dust will this generate? Will the sander absorb the dust? If not, how long does it take to get rid of the dust?

Not long, amount of dust will depend on whether the sander has dust extraction facilities, but generally they can create a lot of dust. It takes as long as it takes to throughly vac the room, probably not that long.


3. How long does it take to placed sealant / filler between the floorboards and stain. My husband is a teacher and so this will be an evening/weekend job and we only have a 3/4 weekends before baby comes.

Depends on how many gaps there are!

4. We will be decorating after the sanding so need to take care wtih dust sheets etc but any advice here?


You'd have to be more specific, but if the previous owners were heavy smokers, then I'd give the walls a hhrough washing down with hot water and sugar soap.

5. Finally, is this just a massive job not to be undertaken at all and should we just get a carpet? (currently tempting)

Not really, should be easily achievable in 4 weekends even for one person.

 

[foxhole]

Don't waste time filling floor boards , it's pointless and looks awful.
If the floor sander comes with a reusable cloth dust bag [many are now disposable paper] then before use wet the bag thoroughly and squeeze out excess , this will greatly improve filter quality and reduce dust, bag will dry in use due to the heat generated.
You will also need an edging sander as the big machines only go to within a few inches of skirting.
Your new plaster will need a mist coat prior to decorating.