GRcade

I weeded my terrible looking garden. That was something new.

I can't DIY for gooseberry fool.

Well this may turn out to be a handily timed thread! We're getting the keys for our first house on Friday and it needs a little decorating. Nothing too frightening, there's a wall in the living room with some wallpaper that needs to go, and a paint job in the spare bedroom wouldn't go a miss either. A couple of other little bits too but they're not urgent things. Once I'm in and have a clearer idea of what's in front of me I'll probably be back for advice.

Try and find the studs in platerboard partition walls as those platerboard fixings on the last page are pretty poor especially if you have to take them out for any reason , if you need to fix something with a bit of weight you'll find ancher fixing a better bet.
http://www.screwfix.com/search?search=anchor+fixings#_=p

Also for domestic stuff you won't need to go mad on a drill , something that has a hammer action for bricks/concrete a good masonary drill bit will do most of the work.
http://www.diy.com/departments/bosch-cordless-18v-15ah-li-ion-combi-drill-3-batteries-gsb18-2li/1267516_BQ.prd?ecamp=Aff-47868&awc=483_1493238264_c2054367542d6b848a2be9aa365638dc

As for screwdriver the Wera ones Bid0 put are good but as they are insulated not required for DIY , i do use similar Wera ones for work.

Squinty wrote:I weeded my terrible looking garden. That was something new.

I can't DIY for gooseberry fool.

Weeds in the grass or non grass areas?

Death's Head wrote:

Squinty wrote:I weeded my terrible looking garden. That was something new.

I can't DIY for gooseberry fool.

Weeds in the grass or non grass areas?

Both. I've a medium sized lawn, and a little bit at the side that is just filled with soil.

Some of the roots were mighty deep in the lawn. Seemed to be predominantly filled with Dandelion and Prickly lettuce. A wee bit crabweed here and there.

Oooh great thread!

I built a massive shed with my Dad a couple years ago, some pics in my badly updated thread: http://www.306oc.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?tid=33625

One day I'll finish writing that

Most of my DIY is car related usually though, but need to put up a rail and curtains today.

Outside diy isnt for me. But im learning so never say never. Im currently working out where i can and cant drill and the realisation all my tools are gooseberry fool.

I hate trying to find studs in walls I've got one of those sonar stud finders things but it seems to either go off constantly or inconsistently. Anyone got any tips?

Dual wrote:A cordless drill is never going to go through concrete. You need to borrow an SDS drill for this application. If this is a job you can see coming up a lot it would be worth purchasing a corded (more power) Makita SDS.

Those Makita ones are pretty steep - is there a a lesser brand that would do the same job, for occasional use? I have a few jobs coming up for which I need to drill into brick (shelves in garage, washing line out the back) and I know my cheap rechargeable drill has got nee chance whatsoever.

My better half picked up a decent corded drill in Aldi/Lidl, i cant remember which, for me. I only need it for the odd job like putting up the post box, hanging baskets etc and its done the job so far. It was pretty cheap from what I remember so its something to keep an eye out for if you only need it for very occasional work.

The end of my pen broke so I threw it in the bin. But then I thought "quite a bit of ink left" so I went all DIY bad-ass on it and glued that mother back together.

Poser wrote:

Dual wrote:A cordless drill is never going to go through concrete. You need to borrow an SDS drill for this application. If this is a job you can see coming up a lot it would be worth purchasing a corded (more power) Makita SDS.

Those Makita ones are pretty steep - is there a a lesser brand that would do the same job, for occasional use? I have a few jobs coming up for which I need to drill into brick (shelves in garage, washing line out the back) and I know my cheap rechargeable drill has got nee chance whatsoever.

http://www.diy.com/departments/bosch-68 ... 0woduyIF4Q

This is my hammer drill. I needed to buy one as we have an end of terrace so all my walls are brick, jobs suddenly became so much easier! I use my battery Bosch mostly as it's really light and convenient (up a ladder for instance), but some jobs are impossible without DER HAMMAR POWAR. That measurer thing on the side is invaluable. It's so loud as well

I haven't used an SDS drill, but if you're just going through brick a hammer drill should do you.

Always drill a pilot hole with the smallest suitable drill bit you can and expand it out. They're cheaper to replace than the big ones so you can more easily afford to blunt or snap them if you mess something up.

Poser wrote:

Dual wrote:A cordless drill is never going to go through concrete. You need to borrow an SDS drill for this application. If this is a job you can see coming up a lot it would be worth purchasing a corded (more power) Makita SDS.

Those Makita ones are pretty steep - is there a a lesser brand that would do the same job, for occasional use? I have a few jobs coming up for which I need to drill into brick (shelves in garage, washing line out the back) and I know my cheap rechargeable drill has got nee chance whatsoever.

You don't need an SDS to drill into brick. If you're on a tight budget, corded may be the way to go; decent cordless drills are going to be £100 and up. Make sure you invest in a decent bit when drilling masonry (when drilling anything, for that matter), it can make all the difference. These are good: http://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-extreme-2-masonry-drill-bit-6-x-100mm/3495r

The drill i put in my post near the top of this page will do any DIY work fine as i said a decent drill bit will do most of the work.

darksideby182 wrote:The drill i put in my post near the top of this page will do any DIY work fine as i said a decent drill bit will do most of the work.

I've got one of those and it's done pretty much every job around my house including drilling stone mosaic tiles. It'll probably not do concrete but brick/masonry with a proper bit is fine.

Rex Kramer wrote:

darksideby182 wrote:The drill i put in my post near the top of this page will do any DIY work fine as i said a decent drill bit will do most of the work.

I've got one of those and it's done pretty much every job around my house including drilling stone mosaic tiles. It'll probably not do concrete but brick/masonry with a proper bit is fine.

I use a similar one for work and it's ok for the odd bit of concrete when I haven't got my sds on me but it's ideal for DIY. I know I've said it already but a good drill bit will do a lot of the work.

Painting, decorating and putting up shelves/curtain rails is about the limit of my abilities.

Never buy a cheap Cordless drill. I have an old metal Skill wired driver that melts through steel, but no reverse. I'd go for dewalt or makita but makita's recharging system kills batteries at the moment.

Wera bits won't strip screws.

I'm hacking some ikea furniture at the moment, I'll share sometime.

I'm pretty good at making good and decorating as it was my job, but I've never been able to afford decent tools to do bigger things. I only recently got a jigsaw but before you know it you need a table saw as the cuts are awful if you're doing anything like cabinets or skirting.

Recently fixed a total gooseberry fool show at my mum's that actually looks decent now. banana splits put up drywall without even countersinking a single screw and had to fill and sand and paper and paint all of it. I even had to sheer off some strawberry floating retarded jammed errant screw heads with a dremel. They smashed a hole in a wall for a doorway and didn't even finish the frame. Oh and instead of terminating an ac outlet they relocated it above the door right at your head. and broke the AC coverplate.

That's what you get for housing stoners who do diy in lieu of rent.

I know everything about hanging frames.

Craziest thing I had to do was hang a 50 kg lightbox on concrete.

Got myself a ratchet screwdriver set Been to wickes this afternoon, as well as a decent measuring tape. strawberry floating gooseberry fool poundland one i had before

My two favourite shops are screw fix and wickes now

A fold down work bench is a good addition as well.