DIY Tips, Home Improvements, Power Tools, Garden Tools

Living with Tools

2009-06-12T08:58:00.000-07:00

For several years now my wife and I have been unsatisfied with the size of our kitchen. When we first bought our house we were won over by the beautiful views over the cliffs and out towards the sea so we overlooked the size and shape of the interior of the house. Now we have lived in therefore a few years the walls have started to close in and we are overcome with a need for more space. With two teenage daughters, two cats and a dog the house is often a very busy place and when the girls have friends over for dinner (which seems to be almost every night) the kitchen is inevitably the busiest room.

We have managed to fit some lovely features into the kitchen despite the size but I can’t help feeling that the blue Smeg fridge and the lovely Aga would be better displayed in more majestic surroundings.

Considering the current market I have come to the decision that it would be unwise to move house and also regrettable to lose the fantastic view. We have therefore decided on the compromise of a conservatory. I have purchased the relevant power tools to make a start on the foundations myself (as I used to build as a trade many years ago) and I have got an architect from a well known conservatory company to design something suitable for my home. Only thing left to do now is apply for the planning permission and away we go! Time to recycle the rubbish.

A building tools graveyard is what you could call my Grandpas garage. I have never ever before seen anyone with as much stuff as there is in my grandpa’s garage. He is one of those people who never ever throws anything away, ever. You will see him at Christmas or on his birthday carefully peeling off tape from cheap wrapping paper before carefully folding it into a neat square and popping it into a paper bag to store ‘in case we ever need it.’

I don’t think he has an obsessive hoarding disorder or anything; it just may seem like that to me because we live in a generation of ‘throwaway’ culture. My grandpa came from an era of rations and war, a time before mass plastic and polystyrene. The days when milk came in glass bottles that were collected and disposed to be cleaned and used again has almost become extinct.

My grandparents have just put their house in Yorkshire on the market so that they can come down to Cornwall and be closer to us in case they get to old or to ill to look after themselves. At the moment they are still reasonably fit and healthy for their age but after we finish packing the contents of their grandpa stocked house, I am not so sure that they will be quite as bouncy.

I went for a quick tour round the well stocked car shed to asses the time it was going to take and I am not joking, he has everything from flattened cereal boxes to a Hammer Drill in that place. I even found a five year old Jigsaw amongst the well organised debris.

I deduced that it was going to take a while…

How to make your own outdoor living room

2009-05-27T04:20:00.000-07:00

Sometimes the weather is just too nice to sit inside. So what to do? Sit in an outdoor living room instead. An outdoor living room fits easily anywhere from a garden nook to the deck or patio. It's an affordable fun option that can add style value and cheer to any home.

It isn't rocket science either with just a few simple steps you can learn how to build an outdoor living room ambiance!

There are only a couple things you need for a perfect outdoor living room, chairs, a table, and a place for them to go!

Location is the first step in any home improvement plan. If you already have a screened in patio or deck, great! This makes a perfect location. All you will need is a couple pieces of outdoor furniture. A couple chaise loungers a couple deck chairs and a table or two and you have the perfect place to sit outside and enjoy.

Perhaps you're looking for something tucked away in a secluded garden nook though. Once again you have plenty of choices. A build it yourself gazebo package is a great way to start. It gives you a decorative yard accent piece plus shelter from any bad weather or bugs! All you have to do is prep the foundation, have the pieces delivered and assemble.

If you're more budget conscious though, how about building a basic pergola? All you need are a couple pieces of lumber, lattice, a saw, a cordless drill, a post hole digger and some nails. Check out classifieds to save even more money.

Grab the post hole digger and dig four holes in your favorite location. Drop posts into the holes. Nail cross beams at the top and nail in a piece of wood lattice as a roof and you're done in only a couple of hours.

Just put in a table with an umbrella and a couple lawn chairs and you have a great place to enjoy a cup of coffee and bird watch on weekend mornings.

If the umbrella idea isn't your taste then there is always the option of a sunshade.

With an outdoor living room this nice though you'll probably want to spend more time there than just mornings and evenings. To ensure your comfort all day and avoid damaging your skin in the hot summer sun how about putting up a sunshade on the pergola.

Sunshades cut up to 70% of the sun's harmful rays. Not only is this safer for your skin but it keeps you cooler too.

Once again it's simple. Grab a roll of sunshade from the hardware store. Cut it to the size of the latticework and staple it up to the pergola. Now you have an outdoor living room you can sit in all day long.

Click here to find more info about power tools and garden tools.

Find more articles by the author here. Picture resource (and many more ideas): http://www.ecospacestudios.com/html/ecocube.html

Power tool saves boy

2009-05-22T02:25:00.000-07:00

There's nothing like a hole in the head to keep you on your toes, and when Nicholas Rossi of Melbourne injured his skull falling off his bike, a hole was precisely what he needed to stay alive. Enter the Dewalt 18 volt XRP drill. With hammer action working over three speeds up to 2,000 revolutions per minute, 56 Newton meters of sustained torque and 22 positions for anything from a slow cranial excavation to an emergency action deep skull puncture, this is a surgical tool in disguise.

Read about the article using the link above. Our French readers can learn about chirugerie à la perceuse sans fil on this page here.

Cautionary note:
This is perhaps the one thing for DIY enthusiasts not to try at home by the way: the brain is covered in a protective but highly sensitive sac, so drilling in to relieve pressure should only be undertaken by a specialist doctor, otherwise you may risk loss of motor functions, cause visual cortex damage or even death. No harm in keeping the battery in the fast charger though, just in case...

How Home Insurance Complacency Can Cost You £££s

2009-05-12T08:37:00.000-07:00

As the recession continues to take its toll, it's more important than ever to ensure you're not paying over the odds for cover. Recent findings show that British householders are overpaying on their home insurance by £1.3 billion per year*, and that almost 58 per cent of UK homeowners have not reviewed their policies in the last three years.**

No reward for home insurance loyalty

While it may be tempting to automatically renew your policy with the same provider year after year, this kind of complacency makes little financial sense. Insurers know most customers will do so without looking at what else is on offer, so tend not to pull out all the stops in a bid to keep your business. Instead, they concentrate on offering the most competitive prices to new customers.

Shop around for a better home cover deal

As insurance premiums can vary considerably, the golden rule is to spend time shopping around; you may be surprised at just how much you can save in a pretty short space of time. When doing your research, don't forget to look at the level of cover as well as price, as the cheapest deal may not necessarily be the most comprehensive.

Top tips to cut the cost of home cover

Shop around using an insurance comparison site to see if you can bring down the price of your premium. Just a few minutes tapping away on your PC could result in savings of over £180.***
Don't jump at the home insurance policy offered by your mortgage provider without checking whether you can get a better deal elsewhere, and don’t assume you have to take buildings and contents cover with the same provider. Search for the cheapest individual buildings policy and then for the cheapest contents policy.
Further savings can be made by paying the whole year's premium annually rather than monthly, and by increasing the voluntary excess.
Be aware that while under-estimating the value of your contents may have the attraction of cutting the cost of your policy, it could be disastrous if you have to claim.
Also ensure that you've got your ‘rebuild cost’ right. Many people think that rebuild cost is the same as the market value when it is really a lot less. A rebuild calculator will work this out for you automatically.
Security improvements: a few additions to your home can also help you cut costs, such as installing a good alarm system, putting five-level mortice deadlocks on external doors, and adding key-operated locks to all accessible windows.
Safety improvements: for a relatively small expense you can also fit smoke alarms and fire extinguishers - all of which can significantly reduce the price you pay.

Help with getting through the quote process

Finally, make sure you have your old insurance documents to hand when going through the quote process as this paperwork can be used for reference - and will save you from running around the house when asked what type of locks you have on the doors.

*Assumptions used - 44 per cent (source Mintel) of 16 million homeowners who have not reviewed their home insurance in the UK multiplied by the average home insurance saving by Confused.com customers in 2008 of £185.25.

**Mintel Home Insurance report 2008 and Mintel Aggregator report 2008.

***24% of customers who received a home insurance quote between 1^st January and 31^st March 2009 and provided a best alternative price saved over £180.74.

Looking after Your swimming pool

2009-05-01T08:12:00.000-07:00

During the typical winter months most of you will notice that your pool water tends to stay clear with very little help. Generally the green algae will never appear and I hardly ever see a pool turn green. Any algae growth that does occur is extremely slow.

If you do find your pool turning green the most effective way to get rid of any unwanted algae is the occasional dose of chlorine and making sure you switch you pool pump on at least once a week. You will also need to vacuum your pool around once every three to four week; there is no need to vacuum the pool any more than that. As long as you make sure you have a good swimming pool cover that will last you a few years and at the end of the day it is completely up to the person who owns the pool.

After all of the freak snowfall, rainfall and freezing ice, your swimming pool can very easily start costing you a lot and lot of your hard earned money if you don't keep an eye on it and stay on top of things. The biggest problem that happens to home pools at times like this is cracking pipes and algae.

I have already covered the annoying algae problem so I'm now going to explain what to do about the cracked pipes. With all of the standing water / melting snow around your pool is bound to fill up a bit. If it fills back to the skimmer level the water will get back into your pipes. The water is then likely to freeze in these temperatures. This can cause your pipe work to bust. This can very expensive to replace.

The second point is that the water running into your swimming pool will probably upset your chemicals so please ensure you check the chlorine / bromine levels and perhaps top up with some more algaecide.

Now that summer is just around the corner and it’s time everybody is starting to thinking about your pool again! Here is something that you all might want to have checked out this year is your phosphate level in your pool. Last year was an extremely bad year for phosphate and you will to be advised on how to prevent high levels in your pool this year! Phosphate in your water is food for the algae to feed off of, which in turn can cause algae in your pool. There are products that will help to lower the phosphate level in your pool if it is high and it is best to start treating it when you first open your pool.

If your pool if your pool heater is not working, Try checking if your pool safety feature is engaged, this could be causing your pool to stay cool and parts of your equipment to stop working properly. If you aren’t sure where to look then ask a pool care professional to take a look.

Monty Python Architect Sketch

2008-10-23T08:23:00.000-07:00

Here, in case you were thinking of getting in an architect to look at your home improvements, is a piece of cautionary comedy...

The best DIY home improvement TV show

2008-09-23T04:13:00.000-07:00

Home Improvement (203 episodes, 1991-1999)

What a great show! Even Pamela Anderson had a guest appearance. Starring Tim Allen as the useless show host Tim Taylor and his macho sidekick Al Borland (Richard Karn).

Al: I think one of these days, you're going to run out of flannel jokes.

Tim: I don't think so, Al. Not with my "Complete Flannel Joke Book".

[Tim pulls out a heavy dictionary-sized hardcover book labelled "The Complete Flannel Joke
Book" from behind a prop and opens it]

Tim: "Why did the flannel cross the road? 'Cause Al was over there!" "Oh waiter, there's a fly in
my flannel!" "Please... take my flannel!"

[Al snatches the book from Tim]

Tim: Then there's your handy wallet-sized version!

[Tim pulls a tiny hardcover book of the same color out of his pocket]

Tim: "How do you keep an idiot wearing flannel in suspense?"

[Al snatches the second book]

Tim: See you tomorrow!

The first 3 years where the most funny, after that lot's of hard-core Home Improvement fans complaint that the quality of the writing suffered. Anyway.. it's a great show for anyone with a bit of DIY in his (and her) blood.

More Home Improvement info

The Construction Centre

2008-08-22T01:51:00.000-07:00

If you're thinking of getting into DIY more seriously, you need the proper tools. Here you are getting away from DIY into professional construction work, and for that you'll need the proper tools. Professional tools are more ruggered and work harder than DIY tools, but will often need proper training to use safely. The Construction Centre is a handy resource if you are looking to compare products and services for the construction centre, for example it shows company profiles such as Dewalt, and its range of construction tools.

The ethical gardeners tips to keep your garden climate friendly

2008-08-06T07:35:00.001-07:00

· It is much easier and more energy efficient to mow your lawn regularly rather than let it become overgrown and cut it in a marathon afternoon session. This way your Lawnmower is also less likely to suffer damage or corrosion (naturally or due to your own frustrations!) Your mower will last much longer without it succumbing to the rubbish pile in favour of a new one!

PS: if it’s diesel then try running it on waste vegetable oil. (But don’t blame it on me if it all goes wrong).

· Don’t use plastic pots because they are the gardener’s version of plastic bags! If you absolutely must use plastic pots then make sure you use, re-use and then recycle them. Many people do reuse their pots for their cuttings and seeds but thousands are also slung away every year, killing the very plants we are so enthusiastic about cultivating.

· Use cordless equipment. This way you are not using the amount of energy that is coming from your plug socket but just what you need to operate your tool until the battery runs out and you can re-charge it.

· Even better than using a lawnmower, buy a sheep or some rabbits to eat the grass. That way you will never have to ruin a nice sunny half hour at the weekend. Just make sure you build yourself a nice secure wooden fence to go around your garden so the blighters don’t try to escape.

Essential camping equipment

2008-08-06T03:09:00.000-07:00

· TORCH

Obviously a torch should go without saying. No fool would go camping without this essential smidgeon of equipment. A tube with batteries and a bulb, what genius! Torches are extremely handy for late night trips to the toilet/bushes and fumbling around in your tent for wet wipes or a spare jumper. In fact, I could dedicate a whole subsection of this article on different types of torch and the different situations that they come in useful. This brings me to my next point.

· WET WIPES

Another camper’s essential, wet wipes come in handy not just for cleaning yourself but for wiping off muddy wellies, sticky torches and grubby tent porches.

· A TENT

Yes dear reader, I know what you are thinking but believe me, people have done it before and they will do it again. It usually involves being very tired when packing the night before or forgetting that you broke your tent at the last festival you went to, leaving yourself with a sorry looking half-tent. We have all been in that situation before; the one where we desperately need to open the entrance to our tent to escape the morning heat/bulging bladder/searing thirst/person lying next to us, but for the life of us, can’t figure out which way to pull the layers of Alcatraz like zips that bar our escape.

· A PORTABLE BARBEQUE

Excellent form of functionality and entertainment, the portable barbeque comes in many different sizes and is available from most supermarkets and petrol garages. Just remember to make sure that you are allowed to use them in the campsite that you are staying in, or if you are in the wilderness do remember to clean up your mess and make yourself a nice , flat, safe little cooking area. Along with a barbeque, other essentials such as knives and forks, plates, napkins, food and tomato ketchup should not be forgotten and thus rendering the barbeque useless.

· FOLD AWAY CHAIRS

Fold away chair if there is only yourself. These nifty little things are a great way to prevent backache or repetitive strain injury on the thighs. Versatile and can be used on both sand and grass. I myself prefer the roomy chairs with cup holders in the arms and a back rather than those of the scoop seat golfer style variety.

· A REALLY GOOD SLEEPING BAG

If you are going camping in a hot country I always find it is better to take a sleeping bag that you can unzip completely to make it into a duvet. This way if it is hot you can sleep on it or escape out of it easily without finding you have sweated to the inside to be parted nevermore. If you are going somewhere colder then go with one of those North Face sock type get ups that have no zip. Similarly if your partner always insists on sleeping curled up together and then steals all the quilts.

Simple tips on how to improve your garden

2008-08-01T05:39:00.001-07:00

Build your own pergola

Pergolas are best made out of treated sawn timber from a builders’ merchant.

Here is how to build a simple ‘goalposts and crossbar’ pergola.

· Slot together the wood by cutting square grooves into the supporting beams to make sturdy joints.

· When you have done this, mark out the four holes that you want your pergola to sit in and dig out the soil. Use metal spikes to set the pergola into the ground as even wood that had been treated can rot easily in damp soil. Set the spikes with a spirit level. Then slot the cross bars into the supporting beams of wood.

· Adding screws will further stabilise the structure and is recommended.

· Make sure you dig sturdy foundations and add a little concrete around the metal spikes once you are happy with the positions of the supporting bars. You can add as many additional bars to the top as you see fit and accessorise with flowers, benches or even a swing seat.

Materials

· 8 posts of 50mm X100mm sawn treated timber

· A hand held or electric saw

· 4 metal spikes

· Cement mixer

· Chisel and small hammer, or electric chisel-hammer combination

· 3 friends to help you assemble the pergola.

Keeping up with the Jones’s when it comes to gardening

2008-08-01T05:34:00.001-07:00

It’s always at this time of year when you catch yourself looking over the proverbial neighbour’s garden wall that you start hearing frequent sounds of activity. On doing so you find that he has gone on some kind of plant cultivating mission, with vegetable patches and tomato vines interspersed with Gladeoli and Roses. You look back at your own poor offering of vegetation and sigh with a feeling of inadequacy.

You have never been one for planting and weeding. The rest of the world and his mum may be going green, but it’s something that your fingers are rebelling against furiously. You only so much as have to see a gardening glove to feel threatened.

There are of course plenty of things that you can do with your garden that does not involve weeding or planting. If you feel more comfortable in the house than out of it then why not do something different in your garden. You don’t need to have a traditional English country garden to have a beautiful country garden.

Patios, pergolas, decking and rockeries are just a few of the things that you could incorporate into your garden to make it just as impressive as your neighbours. After all it’s not as if English summers stretch on forever, you need to make the best of every moment. No one wants to do that in a tangled fug of stinging nettles and spiky lawn grass.

First Post

2008-07-22T09:19:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys,

Just my first post on the blog to say hi, I'm a DIY enthusiast living in the south west of the UK - Cornwall!

I love my power tools and often buy things from Black and Decker amongst other various DIY brands!