Home DIY

Excellent, I think I have some of those in a box in the shed. Somewhere.

I thought I HAD to use hollow wall anchors.

The cat must go

..or the shower!

Centrifugal fans all the way. Since I had mine fitted, my bathroom damp problem is fixed. Went from condensation dripping off the ceiling to nothing. Costs more, is worth it.

Now... looking for nice kitchen tiles in the sales. Fired Earth look nice for starters - anywhere else I ought to nose around?

On the topic of plasterboard fixings, I have some shelves to put up (which will be loaded with books/records). The wall is double thickness plasterboard then a small void (I think it's 10-20mm deep but not totally sure) then Victorian brick.

I've tried to use spring toggles before but the gap behind the board wasn't big enough for the wings to clear and spread. Will self tapping plasterboard fixings be ok for heavy shelves? Or would I be better to drill in to the brick and use long screws and a rawl plug going in to the brick?

Something like the Gripit don't need much space behind the plasterboard to expand.
http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/products/8697826/?grossPrice=Y&cm_mmc=UK-PLA-_-google-_-PLA_UK_EN_Fasteners_And_Fixings-_-Screws_And_Bolts&mkwid=stOChiv0N_dc|pcrid|88057041963|pkw||pmt||prd|8697826&gclid=CjwKEAiAqJjDBRCG5KK6hq_juDwSJABRm03hlMmgAX49BP5NiZtNuWeQytifd47n8dthxxKlWeICphoCMLXw_wcB

I'm sure someone will say drilling in to the brick is best, although I'm not sure any kind of floating shelf will be able to support a number of records.

The problem with those is that I have 2 layers of board so I don't think the wings will be able to pivot out.

I'm using 15 or 18mm ply and these ikea brackets. 3 brackets along 1.8m is the current plan.

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/storage-furniture/wall-shelves/ekby-lerberg-bracket-white-art-30168724/

Using a squeegee on tiles after shower has made a big difference to how damp our bathroom feels

If you're putting heavy things on a shelf tied into plasterboard, it's gonna be at risk of falling off no matter what you do. Either the plugs will come out or the plasterboard will break, won't it?

If I really have to make something heavy hang of plasterboard (and in my job I get a some insane requests). I'll cut a hole large enough to slide in a longish piece of 2x1 or similar, tighten it to the back of the plasterboard using screws from the front then fill the hole and fix whatever's required to the wood through the plasterboard. Sometimes it's the only way.

There's a product by a company called Toggler I saw demoed recently which is quite good, they have 4 products for different applications. They look like the things you already have or have used/seen but close up they have a few little improvements.

I'm no electrician. It's all black magic to me

You could electrocute the cat

Ebay can have some good stock - you'll need to rummage though :)

I want to put up two bike racks same as this but it's a stud wall, though there is a brick wall behind it.

What are my options?

Something like this should work:

http://www.screwfix.com/p/rawlplug-hollow-wall-anchors-m5-x-37mm-20-pack/99201?kpid=KINASEKPID&cm_mmc=GoogleLocal-_-Datafeed-_-Screws%2C%20Nails%20and%20Fixings&cm_mmc=Google-_-Product%20Listing%20Ads-_-Sales%20Tracking-_-sales%20tracking%20url&gclid=CPLE1uSrntECFYccGwod3jcJiw

You can get some from screwfix / homebase etc that are rated to 30 or 40 kg per fixing.

Are they like for radiators? That's what I had thought but wanted to check people with a better knowledge of these things!

Not sure about radiators but I used them in my last flat to hang some pretty heavy cupboards which didn't budge in the three years we lived there.

Assuming you run two or three down the vertical of each bike hanger, you'll have no issues.

I have a printers draw full of nic-nacs that I want to hang on a plasterboard wall. Same thing would work right?

Any ideas how I could do it without drilling through the back of the draw? Also, I need to stop stuff falling out: should I just put a bit of baton along the bottom at the back to tilt it backwards slightly?

Dudes, stripping wallpaper sucks balls when it's on plasterboard.
What would be wrong with thin plywood, over the shitty plasterboard wall and then painting?

Also, what's the deal with all the little bits left. What would unibond do?

I can't even begin to imagine how that would work. Set it on fire and then overboard it?

I dunno, 5 mins with internet between a beer.

Is there a problem with overboarding? If that means wacking plywood over plasterboard.

Overboarding generally means just shoving a layer of plasterboard over the existing surface, whether attached directly or build on a stud frame.

I don't think I want that.