Home DIY

Just edited that typo.

But it's still a reasonable draw given it's only rated for 30 W on the 12 V side (with a max current of 2.5 A)

2.5amps at 12v, I see that now. That's a bit more like it!

I need to appeal to the hivemind.

At least 10 years ago, I bought an SDS plus drill, (drill, hammer drill, chisel functions), from Homebase, for £49.99, as I had a couple of diy jobs to do that I knew were beyond my ancient Black'n'Decker corded hammer drill. (I seem to remember finally properly fixing some brackets for curtains into lintels).

http://www.toolstation.com/shop/p17425?table=no looks very similar.

More recently it has helped drill the holes needed to affix the brackets for large screen tvs, that were beyond the pro/consumer drills of friends.
Most recently, I was replacing the Storm Doris damaged fencing for friends
Find the block of concrete around the snapped wooden fence post, drill some 6mm holes, enlarge these to 10, 12, 16mm then use the chisel function to (hopefully), split the concrete.

Today this sds plus drill burnt out!
Bit of an odour, fumes/smoke coming out of the casing as the motor slowed down after use, finally no rotation when depressing the switch.

Still need to remove the front of this lump of concrete.
I had been perusing a Bosch stockists catalogue, but £++.

Toolstation also lists
https://www.toolstation.com/shop/p59008?table=no
with a claim of 25J per impact for £107!*
(Typically hammer drills, even sds plus hammer drills are 2-3J for =/-£100).

Note this is only a breaker, there is no rotation function,
(I checked this with Draper customer services).

Duly bought, and I estimate that what took 2+hours with the dead sds plus drill,
was completed inside 30 minutes.
Now the lump of concrete had been weakened by the 16mm guide holes,
but the concrete essentially surrendered.

All well & good, but when a friend needs a tv bracket fitted I have no (hammer) drill for large diameter holes.

What to buy?
One-for-one replacement of the dead sds plus drill, (first link above),
£50 for 10 years use = bargain,
Wait till Aldi/Lidl have their own brand sds plus drill,
3 year no quibble guarantee, (pre-Brexit anyway),
or step up to a pro-Bosch sds plus, say,
https://www.orbitalfasteners.co.uk/en/products/bosch-gbh2-26f-sds-rotary-hammer-drill-with-quick-change-chuck-110v
for £142 with 3-year warranty?

A range of sds plus drill bits, both diameter and length, suggests I stay with sds plus.

Anybody got an sds plus drill they swear by,
or,
are they all out of the same few (Chinese?) factories?

[* special prompt for the csa in Toolstation for these breakers.
No return for credit card credit or cash refund!
Replacement breaker offered in first week, (maybe month cannot remember),
then back to Draper for service. Too many people had been using Toolstation as an unwitting toolhire depot. Buy this breaker, use it for a couple of days then return it saying it was faulty,
simple to detach an internal wire I guess, for a 100% refund].

Milwaukee if you've got the cash to splash. However my Bosch Blue is still going strong for household tasks.

Azada - http://www.get-digging.co.uk/tools.htm

Like a mattock but lighter and sharper.

Anyone else ever been frustrated with the Bosch nomenclature for their drills?
I presume this is documented on the Bosch website somewhere,
but this:
https://www.facebook.com/notes/estore-singapore/bosch-power-tool-insider-guide-decoding-bosch-power-tools-namesmodel/604791649531553/

explains all.

You have your own priest hole.

Hide and seek win.

Going to take my kitchen cabinets apart next weekend. I don't want to replace the internals, but they're looking a bit shabby. Any recommendations of what to paint them with? Will just ordinary gloss be alright? My gut feeling is that it wouldn't wear very well.

Prob wouldn't dry all too well either - are you going to need it within the next two weeks? I remember glossing a windowsill and putting a couple of books on it a couple of days later. What a mistake that was...

True, I'd want to re-install as soon as I've got the new flooring down ideally, probably about a week gap in all.

something like this with a primer underneath and a quick sand before might help it stick?

https://www.dulux.co.uk/en/decorating-tips-and-advice/how-to-paint-kitchen-cabinets

if anyone is after some shovels, then Amazon currently have Spear & Jackson all metal shovels for £7.50 each, have to select Amazon as the seller on the right, but that is a very good price for these...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002GPC938/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0044TRWL8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

@ChainBreaker

Cheers my friend

Already bought.

Oh, I might need some help getting some cupboard doors up my stairs. I was wondering if i could borrow you for about 20 minutes? If I cant get them up myself? I need someone whos got some strength as they are fucking heavy.

Then why are you asking me (haven't seen a gym in over 6 months)?!

I can come over Saturday morning most likely, is that too far away? Whatsapp me.

So I want to install a bath sized shower tray / wet room base, then make some hardwood slatted duck-boards to go on top. When I realise in two years that we need a bath, can I just plonk a free standing bath on top?

If I use a high volume waste and make sure the tray is very well supported underneath, I can't see why it wouldn't work... maybe have to restrict the plug hole of the bath a bit to give the waste time to catch up.

Not DIY, more of a rant.

They've been doing electricity work in our neighbourhood over the last few months and a few weeks ago someone came with a shovel and dug a hole in our garden to connect two cables together. After a few weeks with an exposed high voltage cable in our garden (with two kids running around) I had enough and called the council. They sent someone to fill the hole, but instead of our hole he somehow mistook it for the hole in our neighbours garden, that had already been filled, as in there is no hole, just the sign of a hole... that he tried to fill again and thereby created a small hill instead.

So, I call the council up again and they apologise and promise to send the guy out again. This morning he arrives, not with a shovel but with a big fucking tractor. Then he fills the already full hole for the 3rd time! It's now a slightly higher, but much bigger hill.

I'm lost for words.

The guy with the tractor must be fucking fuming by now. "What do you mean, I already filled it! Fill it again?!?! Fine!" If a crane shows up tomorrow, don't be overly surprised.

Make a trail of really obvious but patronising signs pointing the way to the hole.

I really want to know how big the neighbours hill gets.

But also that the actual hole gets filled.

That's what I'm thinking too. He must think we're complete idiots. Which, on the other hand, is what we think of him...

Nope... didnt need you. Muscled it up myself.

BEEFCAAKE!