Home DIY

I like this channel, in particular the house build series they put out every couple of days. I think about him every time I use my "jointer". In a commercial setting with ear defenders on the way it happened to him really is easily done.

Screws are normally described by the fatness (3/4/6/8 etc) x length. i.e. 8 x 50mm should get you what you want.

Have ended up buying from here https://www.lathamtimber.co.uk/ which have a place in Motherwell

18mm birch ply B/BB was £81.6 a sheet
19mm birch ply with oak veneer on both sides was £92.85 a sheet
3.6mm birch ply with oak veneer on both sides was £34.60 a sheet
4mm birch ply BB/BB was £18.6 a sheet

I compared the price with a couple of places online, some sheets slightly more expensive and others a lot cheaper, being able to get everything from the one place saved on delivery too

Never heard of them but its near my mums and dads. What did you order?

4 sheets of the 3.6mm ply with oak and 2 sheets of the others. Definitely not enough to get a discount!

Cheers, the trouble I'm having is 8mm screws seem rare and only really in 200mm plus lengths. Not sure if it's just something you don't really get.

There's videos out there showing just how much weight a 6mm plug will hold, with 8mm regarded as overkill. What are you hanging with 10mm plugs?

We hung a 2m tall radiator with 10mm plugs and I'm guessing from your comment that this is completely overkill!

260mm deep floating shelves in a kitchen. Going to have an assortment of jars and cookbooks on them.

I did originally plan to go with 8mm plugs but then saw that 10mm were twice as strong so thought, why not ...

I'm not even an internet expert and would no doubt use overkill screws myself too, but this (excellent) channel has a video on it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Lx7uaboPdw

'Any idiot can build a bridge that won't fall down, but it takes an engineer to build a bridge that almost falls down'

Lots of designs are available but here's one type :-

https://www.ironmongerydirect.co.uk/product/spax-washer-head-wirox-screw-80x200mm-pack-50-776456

200 is a long pretty long screw so they will often have a star/allen or alternative head on to avoid caming out.

Cheers. I'm looking for 60-70mm or so but that doesn't really seem to be an option.

where are you putting the screws? Are they hidden or do you need flush? You could use something like these

I 'fell' into electrical work as well.

Started off as a Stage Manager / Monitor Engineer. Worked at Bradford and Hull University as Event Technician.

Went to Brighton Centre where they put me on a 3 Year Sparks course.

Moved to Leeds and worked at the Arena.

Called Mick Hucknall a Cunt online (not really, just his crew), got sacked.

Got a job at a Facilities Management company that does NHS contracts. Got early C19 jab.

Hate housebashing, too much hassle. Do industrial and/or commercial.

Our sparky has put some armoured cable behind a new wall.

Why is the sparks using armoured cable? Is this inside the house?

You need to protect cable runs with metal or RCCB's under Regs. Using armoured cable for lighting circuits is well over the top.

Armoured cable is for high impact industrial areas or buried cable outside.

Thanks, they may work. Looks like that's just on the cusp of the size that would still allow the shelves to sit snugly against the wall.

I'll probably order the 8mm and 10mm and then decide. I'm sure I'll use the other for something at some point.

Hate housebashing, too much hassle. Do industrial and/or commercial.

It’s funny, there are some aspects I’m quite enjoying about domestic work but there’s a mounting list of reasons why I’m not keen to do it forever. It’s either fucking filthy work in a house being renovated, or it’s a nightmare of trying to not make a mess of a finished house. Then there’s all the horror stories of clients not paying etc.
I was planning to try and complete my NVQ then do the AM2 so I can get a gold card and join a competent person scheme.
Is that a reasonable path or should I just try and get straight in with somewhere commercial/industrial? Seemed to me like there was fuck all going unless you have gold card/AM2.

Called Mick Hucknall a Cunt online (not really, just his crew), got sacked.

This seems very unjust.

Domestic clients only pay for the last 2%.
Commercial/Industrial are happy with the first 98%.

As told to me by my Electrician father.

Called Mick Hucknall a Cunt online (not really, just his crew), got sacked.

Should have been content with calling him a 'poor Charlie Drake tribute act'.

Have a look for FM employment.

That's the route I went 4 years ago. You need to be a Jack of All Trades but be a specialist in one.

Hate plumbing with a passion but have learnt enough now to deal with it. Work sent me on Air Con, Electrical Testing, IPAF and PASMA Training.

They will look for a team of Electrical, Gas and Air Conditioning specialists. Tick one of the jobs and be prepared to learn some of the rest.

Daft thing was it was on a Private FB group that was purely for entertainment engineers. And everybody called people cunts.

But 'copy' still worked and I'd made the mistake of not fully locking down my FB security settings and saying who I actually worked for.

Meh. Lesson learnt.

You seem to have got over it.

This is what, frankly, boils my piss with Part P.

I work with 3 Phase, 400V electrical systems routinely. Install them, test and inspect at work as part of the job.

Change a bathroom system at home. Have to have a Part P electrician sign it off because I'm not in the 'club'.

I am Zen now.

And Hucknall is really a ugly red head cunt. It wasn't the first time I'd worked for him over a 20 year career. Well known for being a twat.

At some point he'll be in a 'Me Too' situation.