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Small Scale Engineering offers you the following services:

Engineering, fitting & turning on once-off and short run pieces
All types of welding including bespoke, metal furniture manufacture
Prototype manufacture
Home maintenance, restoration, repairs and renovations
General handyman

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Small Scale Engineering is also building a house out of shipping containers. Follow the project on our blog:

The Latest From the Container House Project

- DIY: Perfect Silicone Beading
  25th Nov 2020DIYAre you installing a new basin in your bathroom? Or, perhaps the silicone beading around your existing bathroom fittings or kitchen counters needs to be replaced? How do you get perfect silicone beading? Silicone beading is something that should be almost invisible. It’s usually only noticed if there’s something wrong, such as mould or low-quality initial installation. In my experience, budget friendly holiday accommodation is usually where one sees the worst examples of silicone beading. The lumps and smears trap dirt making it look worse. I know you don’t want this in the sanctuary of your own bathroom. So, how do you get that perfect silicone beading? Here are some tips and tricks from Kevin and Louis. Perfect silicone beading. #lifegoals Materials Required As with any DIY job, you need a few tools. If you’re using a large tube of silicone you’ll need a caulking gunPaper towels (aka Carlton roll or similar)Masking tapeYour handsSilicone sealant of choice to fit application Process for Perfect Silicone Beading And this is the process: For best results, mask off the area Ensure the area in question is clean of dust and old silicone beading, excess grout, etc. Tape the sides of the gap that is to receive the fresh silicone, leaving about 2mm on each side of the gapIf using a large tube with a caulking gun, prepare the nozzle for the silicone by cutting it a slight angle to best suit the applicationRun your caulking gun along the gap, leaving a nice even strip of siliconeRun your finger along the wet silicone to wipe off the excess. You may need a few runs. Wipe the excess off on the paper towel. On the last run, go slowly and smoothly in one continuous run so as to not develop any ridges.While the silicone is still wet, carefully remove the masking tapeRun your finger along the strip once more, carefully and in one fluid motion in order to remove the tiny step on the edge caused by removing the masking tape The goal: Invisible beading that doesn’t detract from your fittings. Health and Safety Silicone and acrylic sealants are a mild irritant for your skin. Should you decide not to wear a glove while following the above steps, be sure to wash your hands thoroughly after completing the job. Make sure the space in which you are working is adequately ventilated....
- TCL Inverter 12000BTU Air Con Review
  11th Nov 2020ReviewsOur first aircon unit is up and running, just in time for summer. I can’t wait to tell you about it. And of course we’re bringing you a TCL Inverter 12000BTU Air Con Review. We bought this mid wall split unit through Basic Cooling, based in Brackenfell, Cape Town. We’ve never had an air conditioning unit installed in our home before so this really is a luxurious treat. There Are Many Types of Air Conditioning Units There are several types of air cons and I can’t possibly tell you the pros and cons of all of them. However, for the last couple of years, we used a portable unit on the hottest of days here in the Swartland. Our one is noisy and always seems to be in the way. I know that portable units can also be a bit power hungry. So, they’re okay if you don’t have any other options but on most days I’d actually rather be hot than have to listen to it. The brackets ready for mounting the exterior half of the air conditioning unit. But first, paint! However, I can tell you that we purposefully bought this inverter type air con for two main reasons: They use a little less power than other types. This will be most useful when can finally go green and get our solar installation up and running.This particular brand (as well as a couple of others) don’t mind power fluctuations too much. Useful when you live in a country with load shedding and other electricity supply issues.As per the description, we got a mid wall split unit. And that, of course, means that the noisy bit goes outside! Whoo hoo! The downside; they are a bit more expensive for the initial purchase than other types. The same brackets from the inside, after welding Buying and Installing the Air Conditioning Unit The honest truth is that we bought the air con in February of this year. It wasn’t too long before the Covid19 Lockdown in South Africa. Therefore, we had it installed up on the wall for several months before we could actually use it. We had to wait before we could ask an electrician to make the final connections. Thankfully, this was over the winter months so we didn’t need an air con as much (although a heater would have been pleasant). Installation itself meant we had to install brackets on the outside in order to mount the exterior half of the air con unit. Kevin cut two lengths of angle iron which we carefully pushed through holes we cut in the fibre cement boards. Once they were through we securely welded them in place on the interior steel frame. (If you recall, we built a steel frame around the sliding door so that it would fit in the opening where the doors were originally. And we fitted a great little bookshelf.) After that it was quite simple to mount the air con unit itself. But now that it’s up and running, we have had great fun testing out all the features. It’s time for the TCL Inverter 12000BTU air con review. And up it goes! TCL Inverter 12000BTU Air Con Review This little air conditioning unit is perfect for our needs so we are extremely pleased with our purchase. The sleek design looks good on the wallIt is almost near silent when running It has various settings such as turbo, eco and normalIt has an auto-off timer functionIt has a “health” setting, that according to the manual, controls the ionizer or plasma generator (That sounds awesome! Who doesn’t want to talk about plasma generators like they know what that means?)The “sleep” function automatically controls the temperature of the room for the best night’s sleepThere’s also an “automatic” setting that goes by the name of “I feel” on the remoteThe unit comes with a remote control and a holder that you can mount on the wall. We have not yet mounted the holder as we’re still deciding where to put it. Of course, it does also have a heater function for winter I’m sure we’re only just discovering all the settings, but I can’t think of any more we’d need other than those. In conclusion, we’re extremely happy with our purchase and in time, will be purchasing more units for other sections of the house to cater for the other private living areas. Stylish! About Basic Cooling As mentioned in the beginning of this article, we purchased the TCL air conditioning unit through Basic Cooling. This company is based in Brackenfell in Cape Town. They supply, install, maintain and repair several brands of air conditioning units. The TCL brand is the one they recommended for our requirements. We have enjoyed working with them in the supply of the TCL air con unit as well as previously in other situations. They are quick to respond to emails and do on site maintenance efficiently and with a smile on their technicians’ faces. Perhaps they can help you with your own air con requirements....
- Mounting The Wall Hung Toilet
  4th Nov 2020DIY / InteriorIt seems that the North Container bathroom is determined to cause us drama. We encountered another problem when it came to mounting the wall hung toilet. However, a few minor set backs are not going to let us down and we are making sure, steady progress. The toilet is up and it looks fantastic. What? More Problems? We took the risk of buying a shop floor demo model of this particular wall hung toilet. It was a bargain that was almost too good to be true. But, with any second hand item or demo unit, we took a risk in purchasing it. In this case, we found out that the locator nuts that secure the toilet to the wall were missing. Being a demo model, there wasn’t much we could do about getting them from the supplier. However, this is just the sort of thing that Small Scale Engineering does for clients, so it took Kevin no time at all to make up two new ones out of brass. So the problem was pretty insignificant in the end. Here you can see the locator nuts ready on the threaded rods The original locator nuts could have been made out of almost any material. Kevin decided on brass, as an extra precaution, because it won’t corrode in the damp environment of a bathroom. We also found that because of how we had to make and install the frame for the toilet, the threaded rods were not quite long enough for the toilet installation. Again, it was really easy to pull them out and put in slightly longer ones in. Once that was all done, it was a simple task of mounting the toilet. By the way, toilets are really heavy! Mounting the Wall Hunt Toilet We slipped the toilet over the threaded rods. Using an allen key to access the grub screws on the sides, we tightened it over the locator nuts to fix it in place. To stop the toilet rattling or moving against the tiles behind the toilet, Kevin added a bead of silicon that will cushion it. The threaded rod goes through the hole with the plastic piece. The grub screw goes in through the side of the toilet and wedges against the locator nut. This clamps the toilet in place against the wall (see last photo – you can see the hole for the allan key on the side of the toilet) How Likely Is The Toilet to Fall Off the Wall? We’ve all been to a shopping mall that has wall hung toilets. And there in that one cubicle, there’s that toilet that’s sitting at a weird angle, as if it’s about to drop off the wall. I asked Kevin about that. How likely are wall hung toilets to fall off the walls? He told me that many shopping centres use the frames for concealed cistern, wall hung toilets that are supposed to be used behind brick walls. However, the back walls in public bathrooms are usually drywall. The drywall specific frames are much more expensive which is why the contractors buy the cheaper brick type. They do eventually pull through the dry-walling. If the correct installation method is used, there should never be any issues. You may recall that Kevin made a frame specifically for this toilet, so it won’t fall off the wall. Now that the mounting of the wall hung toilet is complete, we are looking forward to many long years of service. I promise that I’ll try and take a better photo for the final reveal of this bathroom...
- Problems! Used Shower Enclosure Installation
  28th Oct 2020InteriorA used shower enclosure, of excellent quality, came into our possession a few months ago. We carefully stored it somewhere safe. Impatiently, we waited for the day we could pull it out for installation in one of our bathrooms. The north container turned out to the perfect bathroom for this amazing shower set. But we encountered some unexpected problems. Why This is a Great Used Shower Enclosure Set There is no doubt in our minds that the quality of this shower enclosure set is first class. This frameless set has beautiful heavy chrome-plated fittings and a triangular toiletries shelf that fits in the corner. The fact that it was only in use for about two years before removal, and that the quality is excellent, means that the parts look brand new. Especially after we polished up the chrome with some car polish. Nice and shiny Surprisingly, this excellent quality was the cause of our first problem. Our First Problem: The Used Shower Enclosure Doesn’t Fit Well Originally, fitment for this shower enclosure took place in a bathroom with badly built, slanting walls. During the original removal of the shower side panels, Louis and Kevin noted that the panels did not fit very well against the walls. Therefore they did not think to check that the glass panels had been cut at 90 degree angles. However, on installing this shower set in the north container bathroom, we discovered that the manufacturer had cut the shower panel at an odd angle to accommodate the crooked wall! As you probably know, general run-of-the-mill bathroom fitting stores usually sell their standard shower panels and enclosures in sets. They have corners that are perfectly square. If your walls are not straight, you just have to install them as best you can using the tolerances as catered for in the design. In this case, the glass had been originally cut to fit the skew wall, just proving that this is indeed a high-end product. Despite this, the panels still did not fit as well as they should have in the previous location. Our guess is that the measurements for the glass were taken before the tiling was completed. The tiling was then completed afterwards, resulting in the ill-fitting problem. We have a gap. Oops! We had a bit of a surprise there. The glass cannot sit perfectly square in the corner of our bathroom. We obtained the smallest gap possible by having the glass against the floor and wall at the points furthest way from where the wall and floor meet. Where the wall and floor meet, it’s hanging in the air. But I know what you’re thinking. How do we know it’s the glass and not our tiling work? Well, see picture below. 90 Degrees Our Solution What’s our plan to fix the problem? Sadly, this set can no longer be a completely frameless shower enclosure. Our plan is to powder coat some lengths of aluminium angle and silicon them into place along the gaps. This will hide the unsightly gap and stop water from running out from under the glass panels. We know that this solution will still leave the shower looking aesthetically pleasing. It will also solve the problems caused by the gap. Therefore, we’re still very pleased to be able to use this set for a few reasons. 1) It’s of excellent quality and 2) fulfills our goal of using as much reclaimed materials and fittings on our house as possible. Our Second Problem: A Rusty Hinge Our second problem was less of a surprise. The insides of one of the hinges was rusty. The corrosion was so severe that the spring inside had broken into four pieces. This one hinge was originally directly in the line of fire from the shower rose. We expected some damage. 1) Refurbishing the hinge. 2) Rusty spring versus good spring We were curious to know how the second hinge compared to the first. It had had a life more in line with what the manufacturer expected. Kevin took both hinges apart to refurbish and check them. We were very pleased to note that the springs in the second hinge look new and shiny (see above picture). Now that Kevin has refurbished the hinge and packed both with new grease, we can expect them to last many more years. Hinge back on the glass! The bathroom is almost complete. It should soon be fully functional. We’ll share more photos soon....
- How to Grout Tiles
  21st Oct 2020DIYCindy and I spent a large percentage of the past weekend crouching awkwardly and teetering on ladders while we grouted the tiles in the south container of the container house project. It seemed a good opportunity to write a DIY on how to grout tiles. It’s probably the easiest part of tiling, but as always, it’s nice to have a few tips to get best results. You don’t want your grout cracking and falling out as time passes. Prep Work As with any job, there’s some preparation work required. Before the tile glue has completely cured, the gaps between the tiles need to be cleaned out. If you wait too long, it’ll be hard work getting the gaps clean. But, you also can’t complete this work too soon as you might accidentally move your perfectly laid tile. We usually use an old screwdriver or something similar to clean out the gaps. We then vacuum out any dust and loose pieces with a vacuum cleaner. If you decide to vacuum out your gaps too, we suggest you use an old vacuum cleaner that you don’t feel sorry for, as this isn’t the best way to treat your appliances. (Read more on tiling fibre cement boards here, and on best results for tiling with marble design tiles here) Once the tile glue has cured enough after a couple of days, you can gather your tools and get to work. Tools and Materials Required You won’t need much in the way of tools and materials: Grout, in the colour of your choice to match your tilesWaterYou may require a product such as Tylon’s Bond-It if you are tiling a high-water area such as a showerA grouting toolSomething in which to mix the grout (we use old ice-cream tubs)A spongeGloves (a wise choice) You’ll note on the pictures below, that we use an old expired credit card or plastic loyalty card for grouting. There are grouting tools on the market but we use this because it does not cost us anything and works remarkably well. Credit cards have the perfect amount of flexibility in them making it an ideal grouting tool. It also gives old cards a second life before we throw them away. It is wise to wear gloves when grouting as the cement is corrosive and quite drying. However, I usually find the abrasive nature of grout usually ends up tearing the gloves before I’ve completed the work. Ones that are tough enough are often not water proof. Finding the perfect pair of gloves for grouting has proved to be difficult. If you are grouting an area that is affected by water, it’s wise to use a product such as Bond-It. Replacing the water with a bonding agent makes the end product more water-resistant. You’ll want to mix your grout with either water or with the bonding agent to make a paste with a medium consistency. It needs to be loose enough to penetrate well into all the gaps, but not so loose that it runs out the gaps between the tiles. How To Grout Tiles With firm pressure, squish the grout into the gaps. You want to get as much in there as possible to firmly seal the gap. If your hands aren’t cramping within a few minutes, you’re not doing it properly. When the grout is just beginning to dry, use a damp sponge to clean off the excess grout around the joins. You’ll need to rinse off the sponge quite often. While the grout is still damp from the sponge, run your finger along the grout line. This seals it nicely and gives it a good finish The sponge will not remove all the excess grout from your tiles. As it dries you’ll notice a fine film of dust remains. As soon as the grout is dry enough, buff the tiles with a dry cloth. This will remove the last of the grout from off the tiles themselves. If you’re using a bonding agent, don’t wait too long as the longer it has cured, the harder it will be to buff it off the tiles. Admiring Your Work The best bit? Admiring the fruits of your labour the next day....
- Tips For Tiling With Marble Design Tiles
  14th Oct 2020DIYChances are that if you can afford to install real marble tiles in your house, you’ll be paying someone else to do the hard work. Therefore, the concept for this article was based on installing standard ceramic/porcelain, digitally printed, marble design tiles. However, actual marble is such an interesting material (I recently discovered) and quite tricky to work with, so we decided to include some information on real marble tiles, just because. The Difficulties of Real Marble It’s not often you’ll see real marble tiles installed anywhere as there are many superior products on the market such as Caeserstone and granite. However, despite this, marble still does give off an aura of luxury that’s hard to ignore. If you do decide to use real marble, you might want to take the following points into consideration: Marble tiles are expensiveBecause of the colour variation in the same box of tiles, you’ll need to buy much more than you would do ordinarily. Just one box of tiles can vary from light grey to black (not taking into consideration any other colours marble may be available in). Therefore, you would need to purchase enough to either make a pattern with the colours you end up with, or to tile in a gradient (ie, the lighter tiles in the darkest part of the room, moving to the darkest tiles in the lightest part of the room)They stain easily. Therefore, speciality tile cement is required, adding to your expenses.They stain easily. Don’t cut yourself. (You don’t want blood stains permanently marking your tiles)They are fragile and require a specialised stone cutter to cut the tiles to sizeThey scratch easily. After installation, marble tiles should be sealed to prevent damage and (you guessed it!), staining. Below is a photo of a piece of marble tile that was recently removed and replaced. The tile piece is from an SSE job site, and has been reduced to nothing more than building rubble (expensive building rubble, but rubble nonetheless). You can see how it has scratched while lying in a pile of rubble. Real marble. Expensive rubble The Difficulties of Digitally Printed Marble-Look Tiles In comparison to real marble, digitally printed tiles are much easier to use. Some cheaper marble design tiles are sold in boxes where every tile has exactly the same print on it. This is not something I find aesthetically pleasing. If you are in agreement with me, we suggest going for a tile that has several matching prints in the set. Tiles with matching (but different!) prints The next step, before you start tiling, would be to sort out all the prints. This way, it’ll be easier to choose a tile before cementing it in place. The goal is to avoid placing two tiles with the same print next to each other. That way you can create the illusion of the digitally printed tiles being more like real marble and more random, even though, in reality, it is not. Other than that, tile as you would any other tile and enjoy watching your project come to life! In conclusion, herewith a sneak peak of the tiling for the north side container bathroom. (For more tiling tips, click here.) Sneak peak!...
- Surprisingly Useful Tools
  7th Oct 2020DIYWe would not have been able to get anywhere as far with The Container House Project without some useful tools. Thankfully, Louis and Kevin have collected some brilliant tools over the last few decades and these are some of Kevin’s favourite ones. Many of the tools we use are electric, but some are not. I asked Kevin a hypothetical question: If he was only allowed one electrical tool with which to build our house and the rest had to be hand tools, what tool would he choose? The look of horror and the silence that followed says it all. Our electrical tools have been invaluable. Kevin did eventually choose a tool. The tool we could not live without would have to be the battery drill, but Kevin did ask for an additional power tool for the hypothetical situation: his grinder. The ever valuable battery drill and grinder Here are some other useful tools we have been using: Useful Tools Shear We use the shear for cutting long strips of metal. It works like an extra-heavy duty pair of scissors. We are using aluminium angle around the windows to help make them watertight. In some sections, a standard aluminium angle has been a little too wide. The shear has worked amazingly well for trimming off the excess material. We have also used it to help fabricate flashings, for areas where we need rain water directed elsewhere. Kevin with the shear. Note the long handle for leverage. Cut-Off Saw and Compound Mitre Saw The cut-off saw has been used to cut lengths of steel to the correct size. The grinder type blade makes short work of steel beams, angles, tube, etc. This has made preparing steel for the house a quick and easy job. We use the compound mitre saw in a similar manner to the cut-off saw, but for lengths of wood. The compound mitre saw can be adjusted and set to make cuts of different angles. This is very useful for corners where you want an angled cut. We can also use this saw for cutting aluminium; all it needs is a blade change. We cannot use this machine for steel as the blade spins too fast for steel. As it is not designed to cut steel, the machine would also be damaged by the flying sparks from cutting steel. Cut-off saw on the left. Compound mitre saw on the right Lock Mortise Attachment for a Drill New doors do not arrive with the section cut out where the lock is to fit. If you’re fitting one door, it’s okay to create the cavity with a hammer and a set of chisels. If you’re fitting several doors, this contraption makes light work of fitting locks. A drill fits into the lock mortise attachment, which is then bolted to the door. The drill quickly hollows out the cavity for the door lock and handle set, saving us much time and energy. Of course, there are always more tools that could be purchased and used (see our post on our concrete mixer). We wouldn’t have to think too hard to put together a wish list of other tools that we don’t have that would be very useful to have around! PS: Despite appearances, this is not a sponsored post, but here is Bosch’s website, should you wish to see their other tools on the market....
- Fitting a Close Coupled Toilet (Guest Bathroom)
  23rd Sep 2020InteriorKevin says that plumbing is a thankless job. If you do it correctly, it’ll all be covered up and no one will ever appreciate your flawless joins and straight pipes. He’s right. Plumbing is one of those things you don’t want to think about it. Thinking about it usually means there’s a problem such as a water leak. But despite this, Kevin and Louis have been hard at work on the plumbing for the guest bathroom including fitting a close coupled toilet. This particular toilet is new, as we don’t currently have access to another second hand one. We decided to get a standard close coupled toilet. (I drew the line at one of those toilet systems with a plastic cistern). The cistern on this one is thankfully manufactured with ceramic and although the handle is quite cheap and made from plastic, we can always replace it at some stage, giving it a bit of an upgrade. So, I’m quite happy with the purchase. (We bought the strangely named “Neon” toilet from Build It) Installing the Close Coupled Toilet Of course, building with containers means its not so easy to hide plumbing pipes behind the concrete and tiles. Our installation was similar to the concealed cistern toilet installation, but this time, at least, we didn’t have to worry about the weight of the toilet hanging on the brackets. So, the toilet does not require much for installation all. We hereby announce that this toilet is working! Kevin decided to build a wall out on which to mount the toilet. All the plumbing pipes can hide behind this wall, and will provide some access should anything go wrong. It’s going to add to the design and style of the bathroom too. The plan is to continue this step out, in the wall, along where the basin will be mounted, which will create a little shelf for things like hand soap. Making this step was easy. Kevin welded in some angle iron on which we mounted fibre cement board. We will then tile the fibre cement boards. This way of mounting the toilet has been a great idea. We are easily able to hide all the water pipes to and from geysers, basins, showers, baths, etc. It’s going to be quite busy behind there, but it’ll all be in one area before branching off to various fittings. We have also put in a water valve which we will be able to access from under the basin. If we do spring a leak, it’ll be easy to close off the water in just this section for repairs, rather than the whole house at the main water supply. Behind the toilet The Plan for Flooring I may have mentioned that the original flooring in this particular container is quite beautiful hardwood, so we are going to sand it smooth and finish it, likely with resin, for our bathroom floor. I’m extremely excited about this as I just know it is going to look stunning. (You might want to sign up for our newsletter so you don’t miss out on that blog post!) That does mean, however, that we’ll have to cast concrete for the shower floors. In preparation for this, Kevin has cut out a sections of the boards for this next step. We haven’t seen this patch of ground for a while! Cutting out the shipping container floor also gave us an opportunity to see how damp the ground was under the containers. It’s dry, despite all the rain! The bathroom is far from finished, but our newly installed toilet is actually usable, which is awesome. I am very much looking forward to progress on our guest bathroom. The space has turned out to have such a warm and welcoming vibe to it, even as it is, with all the dust and cobwebs....
- Cladding Gaps Between The Shipping Containers
  16th Sep 2020Main Structure and RoofMost of our weekends lately have been wet. Therefore, cladding on the North side of the container house project has been a bit slow. It’s not safe to be standing on “slippery when wet” scaffolding while moving weighty and fragile boards into place. The wet weather did give us some time to consider another problem; cladding gaps between the shipping containers. The Problem The north side of the container house is the side we have a double storey. This top section will eventually be our guest rooms, but chances are that Kevin and I will move into one of the rooms while we await our east wing to be completed. When we started cladding this side we encountered a problem. The containers sit atop each other on the corner castings, leaving quite a bit gap between them. There is nothing for us to attach the fibre-cement cladding boards to! Our problem area The Solution For Cladding Gaps In the end, our solution was quite simple. The cladding boards above and below this strip are securely attached to the container. Therefore, we could attach the problem boards to those above and below, instead of to the shipping container. To begin, we skipped a board This is how we did it. After sticking the foil insulation into place, we carefully measured the gap so we could skip a board and attach the next one up (PS: Our new favourite foil insulation brand is this one by the BMI Group, previously known as Monier Coverland)For extra security we used paintable silicon on the overlap before holding it in placeThen with short screws, we secured this board to the other two boards, both top and bottom Paintable silicon just in case We used more hardware than we did on the other boards, because we want to be doubly sure that it is not going to fall out. We can currently see some of the hardware, whereas you normally wouldn’t as it would be hidden under the overlap. However, this is not a problem because it is quite high up and people don’t usually look up, and also because it’ll all be hidden under paint. With the cladding gaps problem solved, we could finish a full section of cladding on this side of our house. And Another Window is Installed Which also leads me to announce that we have our first window installed in our top container. We are one step closer to being able to invite guests to stay over (in comfort). Progress!...
- Cleaning a Second Hand Bath
  9th Sep 2020Interior / Prep WorkI wanted to call this article “a restoration of an old bath”, but decided that was false advertising. In the end, we just gave it a really good scrub. It’s amazing what just cleaning a second hand bath can do for it! As mentioned in our post on our plans for our retro guest bathroom, we have a few old second hand baths in our yard. We got them from a DIY Aquaponics kit that Small Scale Engineering dismantled on behalf of a customer. We are planning on setting up the set for our own vegetable garden, but cannot do so yet as it requires moving a shed and building a fish pond. So, for the last year, we stored the baths, stacked up out in the sun, while they gathered dust and rain water. They take up too much space for us to store them anywhere indoors. Lots of dirt to be found in the various baths! Actually, storing them outside was to our advantage because we could use some of that not-intentionally stored rain water to cast concrete at our social distancing concrete party. Win! These baths had previously been used to hold stones and plants, so they were quite damaged. Were any of them in a good enough condition to be used in a bathroom once again? Checking for Damage The first thing we did was look for the bath in the best condition. We had a few to choose from. Many had quite severe cracks in the fibreglass due to the fact that they were 1) second hand to begin with before 2) stones were thrown in for the growing of plants. The bath we really wanted to use, was sadly cracked. It had the nicest backrest and had a corrugated section on the bottom of the bath making it a bit safer to use. But we did find one that had a few scratches but no cracks! We took out the drain fittings to make sure it wasn’t cracked around there and are very happy to report that it was in surprisingly good condition. Could we get it clean? Cleaning Out A Second Hand Bath We were not sure if we would be able to get all the marks out of the bath. Obviously, as it had been used in an outdoor environment for quite some time, the marks were quite severe and orange in colour around the edges, where the water level had been sitting. A bit of time spent scrubbing out with Handy Andy, and it is looking much better! Much more acceptable! Kevin has also spent some time polishing the bath with a buffing machine and some good quality car polish. However, there are still a few scratches that cannot be removed. We could not get out all the stains and there are a few light ones left. I am sure we would eventually get the stains out if the bath is used. The last step; buffing Should We Use The Bath – What Do You Think? We would be very happy to be able to use this bath in our retro bathroom. We would have once again reached our goal of using something second-hand. However, some deeper scratches remain, so we are in two minds. What do you think? Do you think we should use this bath as a bath? Or should we put it back with the Aquaponics kit and find something else? Only problem; it’s impossible to take photos of the scratches so we can’t show you the extent of the damage. They are easier to feel than to see....

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DIY: Perfect Silicone Beading

TCL Inverter 12000BTU Air Con Review

Mounting The Wall Hung Toilet