Category Archives: Handyman says…

The danger of a hidden push fit waste.

Posted by on September 8, 2015 Comments Off on The danger of a hidden push fit waste.
Sometimes waste from a basin, shower or bath can disappear beneath floorboards enroute to exiting the property.
If at some point this pipe is insufficiently inclined to keep a good downhill flow, the pipe will silt up with general gunk created by soap residues, hair, spat out toothpaste and everything just about everything else that goes down the plug hole.
Eventually, as a result of this lethargic flow there may be a blockage and the usual method of clearance will involve a plunger of some kind to force water down the pipe and force the build-up of crap along.
However, if unseen, there could easily be push-fit fitting employed at joins or angles along this waste pipe.
Pressurising the water inside this pipe, which unlike air cannot compress, can easily force any push-fit joints apart …so beware!
Screen Shot 2015-09-08 at 22.00.51

Wallpapering — some tips from experience.

Posted by on April 18, 2015 Comments Off on Wallpapering — some tips from experience.

Wallpaper comes and goes in fashion.
Currently, it is common to find people wanting just a ‘feature wall’ papered usually in a dramatic pattern.
Bear in mind:
Traditional papers expand when pasted.
This means that any small bubbles or wrinkles will disappear as the paper dries and shrinks. But it can also mean that each length shrinks away from its neighbour leaving a tiny gap allowing the underlying wall to show. If the colour is dramatic and dark then these gaps will stand out like a sore thumb because the underlying wall is likely to be light in contrast.
Paste-the-wall papers are becoming popular for bold feature wall designs and can help in this regard because the lengths have no time to expand as they are offered onto the pasted wall. But these papers can remain quite stiff to work around intricate corners or detail so they are really only suited to plain feature walls in case you thought of doing a whole room.
Another draw back with paste-the-wall paper is papering onto a lining paper since the moisture content of the paste will cause the lining paper to bubble as the wall is pasted ..although the lining paper should dry back.

How to make a bad situation worse

Posted by on October 6, 2014 Comments Off on How to make a bad situation worse
I am a great believer in the expression ‘the customer is king’ and have found that if you hack off a customer they almost immediately become an ex-customer.
Also when you do something good a customer might tell three other people but when you do something bad they will tell at least ten people.
Bathstore were recently placed in a position to rescue an error on their part but in my opinion have singularly failed to respond appropriately making a bad situation worse and leading me to feel the need to write about it here.
Having sold my customer a basin and a pedestal that were completely incompatible and which did not fit together the customer was inconvenienced by:
1) Having to return the parts
2) Having to buy an alternative more expensive replacement basin
3) Having to wait for delivery of the replacement parts
4) Having to have me back incurring extra cost to fit the basin since I couldn’t fit the one they had on the day I was there to also fit a shower enclosure.
5) They had to be without a basin provision for 4 days.
6) The new basin was an inch taller necessitating changes to the waste connection.
The compensation Bathstore have given for all this inconvenience and additional cost is ZERO.
My client’s email to Bathstore reads:
Thank you for your email concerning the problem we have had with our order. I knew our fitter had emailed you as he was extremely amazed when he came to install the basin and found out that it was entirely incompatible with the pedestal.I immediately contacted the store in Sutton Coldfield where purchased and was told the two items were shown as compatible on their computer. This basin was also on show in the showroom with the same pedestal but it has now been established they were not actually put together properly. The pedestal was just pushed underneath the basin which was actually attached to the wall.We have been put to a lot of extra expense and inconvenience due to this error : the replacement items are more expensive and the basin smaller, (although that is not too much of a problem), our plumber could not finish the work in our shower room, we are without a basin in the room, we had to return the incorrect items ourselves and are having to stay in today for delivery of the, hopefully, correct items. Despite being told we would be informed whether the delivery would be am or pm, we have not and so either my husband or myself have to be here.In light of the above comments, we would think twice before using Bathstore again or recommending the company.

______________________

I don’t have to think twice and will strongly suggest future clients shop anywhere but Bathstore

 

Not fit for purpose?

Posted by on August 28, 2014 1 comment

Dulux Paint mixing is a great idea in principle because almost every shade imaginable can be created to order by taking a base paint and adding pigments. A bit of shaking and hey-presto a whole tin of paint to your exact requirements.
In practice though the system is badly flawed.
With regular painting work, I always insist my clients buy a good brand of paint but after the latest escapade I shall also insist they do NOT buy mixed-to-order paint but instead buy a stock colour.
Here’s why:
1) If the paint has stood any length of time or maybe the can inverted (even briefly) the virgin tin is likely to have formed a skin in places (possibly against the lid as in the last picture below) and this will not mix staying gloopy and white.
2) The pigments added should be thoroughly liquid but in reality often contain lumpier bits that do not mix and are then introduced onto the painted surface.
3) A full tin has no room for the liquid paint to slosh about when skaken which hampers adequate mixing.
4) The method is too imprecise to render two tins mixed to the same colour to be exactly the same so unwise on large jobs needing more than one tin.
In fact, I have christened this paint system NTSC (like the USA’s colour TV system) and it stands for ‘Never The Same Colour.’
Shown below are some pictures from a recent job which illustrates perfectly the short-comings. It was a nightmare to produce a good finish because every tray full of paint was a very slightly different colour no matter how hard I tried to mix it and undissolved grains of three different pigments (black, pink and ochre) were constantly appearing.
However, apart from boycotting mixed paints altogether here are some other options:
1) Only use in establishments for the blind or visually impaired.
2) Use only for painting out dungeons, caves or cellars.
3) Rename your decorating company ‘Mr Blobby does painting’

IMG_0557 IMG_0556 IMG_0555
Note: I am inviting Dulux to comment

Mr Sandman

Posted by on June 16, 2014 Comments Off on Mr Sandman

Some wallpapers, especially shiny ones like this Laura Ashley design, will show up every tiny imperfection in a wall:

SANDMAN

and even when the wall is painstakingly prepared odd tiny grains or specs of debris about the size of a molecules seem to somehow become trapped. These can be flicked out at the time of paper hanging of course but if you miss one or two try this technique for smoothing them by gently tapping with a hammer kept flat to the wall:

http://youtu.be/q-D-dQtp7xQ

Bad workmen always blame their tools.

Posted by on June 5, 2014 Comments Off on Bad workmen always blame their tools.

To some extent I agree with this old expression but it supposes that good workmen always have good tools since any workman, good or bad, could not hope to do good work with blunt chisels for example.
It also supposes that good workmen have the right tools for a given job since nobody could cut neat mortice using a screwdriver as a chisel for example.
But since almost all tools will wear as they are used they will need to be replaced or maintained periodically.
Handymen are multi-skilled so they will need to carry a large number of different tools, many more than say a plasterer who needs very few.
Also because the work of a handyman is extremely varied his tools can sometimes have to be pressed into service in unusual ways which can damage them.

How long should tools last?
This will depend on the tool and also whether is has been used correctly.
Hardly anybody sharpens saws these days so a new one will usually be purchased when the old one gets blunt. And even a brand new saw can be blunted instantly by accidentally encountering a rogue nail as you cut half an inch from the bottom of a door that needs to clear new carpets.
I probably buy half a dozen saws per year but my smoothing plane is still the same one I had when I was sixteen—40 years ago. The plane has been regularly sharpened and had a couple of new irons (blades) but it still works perfectly and is used often when an electric plane is not suited to the work.
Likewise, my chisels have been re-ground and sharpened many, many times and still serve me well.
Bladed screwdrivers (for slotted screws) can be serviced if they get blunt (i.e. rounded) but there is little you can do with a Pozidrive or Phillips screwdriver once it has become worn—other than replace it.

Things to avoid:
Allowing cement, tile adhesive, filler, plaster, etc to dry onto trowels, spades, filling knives, etc.
Ill-advised usage like opening a tin of paint with a chisel or banging a nail in with a spirit level.
Water—many metal things rust and rust isn’t good for saws, planes, pliers, etc.
Don’t hit a chisel with a hammer—use a mallet.
Avoid using the wrong cross-head screwdriver Pozidrive or Phillips they are different (albeit slightly).

Look after your tools and the work you do with them will be better.

Use fresh ingredients

Posted by on March 19, 2014 Comments Off on Use fresh ingredients

No, not a cooking recipe but a recipe for avoiding stress and wasted time.
Many DIY products have a shelf life and more than that they are better used fresh.
Probably the most extreme example is plaster which is best consumed as soon as possible after it pops off  the production line. The main reason being that as it ages it gets a shorter working time meaning it goes off (i.e. sets) faster after mixing.
For things like floor tile adhesive and some other cement-based products the reverse is true. So if you mix up old floor tile adhesive particularly where the bag has been opened a while you can find that instead of it being ‘rapid set’ as stated on the bag it can take ages to go hard in some cases 24 hours. Grout is less susceptible in my experience.
Paint of course is never much good when it has been stored. Either it will skin over (less likely these days with water-based paints), it might go lumpy (especially if any skin is stirred in) or the constituent colours will separate out into layers. The best thing to do with old paint is throw it away because it will be a false economy to spent ages fishing out the bits or painting out the lumps.
Decorators caulk (flexible filler) also suffers if it is stored where frost can get to it. I’ve had some in my van that I thought would be okay and it had turned into a near solid by the cold.
If you have left over wallpaper paste this can be bottled up (say in an old milk container) but it will go too liquid and not at all sticky after a fairly short period of three to four weeks.

Value your loft

Posted by on February 10, 2014 Comments Off on Value your loft

By this I don’t mean treasure the space, I mean literally put a price on what the storage space is worth to you. If it were a rented storage unit you would think about what took up valuable space. As a consequence, you would be less likely to store ‘crap’ that really you should just throw away.
Having boarded many lofts it amazes me nobody puts a price on the value of the space and they see it as free storage (which it is in reality). So all manner of junk gets put up there causing problems to access the stuff you really need from time to time or to get at wiring, header tanks, etc.
In my opinion:
GOOD STUFF = Things like suitcases, Christmas decorations, the other season’s duvet
BAD STUFF = Things like packaging (i.e. old boxes), remnants of leftover carpet, old curtains/bedding.
Here’s a thought: Say the space is worth £1 per square foot per month (not unreasonable) then ask yourself “Is the thing I am wanting to store worth more than the space it will occupy for the stored length of time?” If the answer is no, then chuck it away instead.

LED GU10s might NOT always be energy saving.

Posted by on February 3, 2014 Comments Off on LED GU10s might NOT always be energy saving.

How can this be since a typical GU10 would be around 3 or 4W compared with 35 or 50W for an equivalent tungsten bulb?
In answer, look at the design of the bulb (pictured below) and you will see that many have fluted sides which end with a circle of holes around the face of the bulb.
I can only imagine these are for cooling which seems strange because one important feature of these LED bulbs is that they do not get hot, in fact they scarcely even get warm.
But the down side of these flutes is they funnel cold air from the roof or floor void into the room below if these are fitted within downlights. In addition, they allow warm air to escape into the void which is unlikely to be lagged around the downlight since this WAS a precaution to stop the older tungsten bulbs from getting too hot and/or reducing the fire risk.
So be aware when you think you are saving energy you might have swapped to a low-wattage but draughty alternative.
600lgu106wwbel

Why no hot fill anymore?

Posted by on January 2, 2014 Comments Off on Why no hot fill anymore?

As I handyman I get to plumb in quite a few washing machines often as a replacement for one that has reached the end of its life or fatally broken down.

While many of the discarded old ones have both a hot and cold fill, most (if not all) new washing machines have just a cold fill.

You could argue “Well having just a cold fill is much simpler in terms of both washing machine manufacture and the required supply plumbing” and I would have to agree.

But most washes don’t involve cold water so if your wash says 40° or 60° there is only one way that water is going to get warmed up …and that is using electricity.

As a means of heating water, electricity is about as inefficient as it gets if you consider the process as a whole.

Regardless of your bill and what heating the water actually costs you I’m talking about what it costs the planet.

This is because the losses along the way are HUGE.

Compared with the energy content locked in the original fossil fuel (as gas or a lump or coal) you will have lost around 98% of this energy by the time the fuel is first burned the make steam, to drive a turbine, to generate electricity which is transformed to high tension, squirted along miles of copper cable where resistance erodes if further. Then it gets transformed again into the domestic supply voltage level with more losses incurred and finally stuck inefficiently into a heating element to heat the water in your washing machine.

However, take the gas (or coal) straight to your boiler and whether you store the resulting hot water in your airing cupboard cylinder for a while or use it straight away with a combi-boiler the efficiency is vastly better.

The moral? If everyone wanted a hot fill then the washing machine makers would have to supply what people wanted and maybe the Earth’s scarce resources would last a bit longer.