how to fill external holes?

[ALovelyBunchOfCoconuts]

we have had new wastes for the sink and washer put in leaving holes where the old ones were. how can we fill these in? worried about mice.

Yes, use a piece of matchiung brick and cement it in or just squirt the hole with expanding foam, it will expand and come out, let it harden over night then trim off the excess, I am sure You tube will have avideo or ask in a friendly local small DIY type shop and they will tell you how

sand and cement would be a more workmanlike solution. Fill the outside as best you can for a neat effect. The depth of fill should be greater than the width of the hole, and you should press on it to consolidate it. You may need to provide support on the inside to press against, or apply in several layers.

Once this hardened (allow several days until you can no longer scratch it with a fingernail) you can stuff the rest of the hole from inside, using mineral wool or expanding foam. Cut it back from the internal surface and use plaster or filler over, to match the internal wall finish.

you can get cement dyes, but it is very unlikely you will be able to get a colour match.

expanding foam degrades and crumbles if exposed to sunlight.

thanks both

can you buy ready mixed cement pigletjohn? dh and i are total diy novices but dint want to call in a professional for such a small and, what should be a, simple task. we don't have a cement mixers to make any from scratch.

my dad i used that metal wool stuff to fill in before using cement. expanding foam filler really does have a life of it's own and i have vowed never to use it again

you can buy bags of mixed sand and cement but they are expensive and it doesn't make sense. As soon as you open a bag of cement the air starts to get at it. You can buy it in plastic sacks or small bags and fold the top tight over, if it's indoors (not a damp shed) it can last a year or more. A bag of sand is very cheap and is unaffected by damp.

Cement is OK to use as long as it is free of lumps that cannot be easily broken in the fingers. Wear gloves as it is very alkine and will dry the skin badly.

You can mix a small amount in a plastic bucket or paint tub. Keep your emulsion tubs in the shed for this kind of job..

For a little job like that a metal filling knife will do.

You may make the mistake of mixing it too sloshy, stiffish like a cake mix is correct.

Small bags of cement are easy to carry. Sand is usually in heavy bags. You want "building sand" for filling holes.

search.wickes.co.uk/search#?p=Q&lbc=wickes&uid=97774063&ts=ajax&w=cement&af=cat1:cementaggregates&isort=price&method=and&view=grid&cnt=30

You won't need a cement mixer! For a couple of sink/washer waste holes you'll need an ice cream tub! Maybe a bucket if you want to be sure, but if you do it in two or three goes as PigletJohn suggests, an ice cream tub will be fine. The bigger problem will be avoiding buying a whole bag of cement and another of sand (though you'll get a whole bag of each far far far cheaper than a builder will charge for such a tiny job).

Even if you're complete DIY novices, I promise you can do this job. The worst that'll happen is your mix will be too soft and will gradually fall out and give you back your holes or it'll be too hard and won't let your bricks breathe and the front will crack off your bricks. Won't happen unless you're in a v old property though.

Oops, cross post with the expert!

i meant can you buy it ready mixed as in mixed mixed??

quite annoyed the guy who left the holes in the first place hasn't fixed them. xx

what does mixed mixed mean?

you can buy a bag of dry sand mixed with dry cement, but you have to tip out the whole bag and mix it again because it separates.

If you add water to the mix and put it in a bag it will turn to concrete in a few hours, so you can't buy that.

You can have several tons of readimix delivered to your house and tipped out of the mixing truck.

can the op not use external filler? wickes do a ready mixed tub that is easy to use

at me wanting to buy it mixed up ready... i didn't think about it turning to cement!

yes yes to external filler... sounds better!