Great idea Geoff just as I was thinking which way for me to go you beat me to the thread . Rats great idea though I have also worked with friends on building projects renovations plumbing Labrador for a sparkie roofing top to bottom done it all

Kanga

Hi Geoff,

I've been having a read. Love the idea for the 2 cans of stuff for a flat tyre, but I had to ask my husband what a speed shop is. 😨

Also I can't hammer a nail in straight. Makes me very very cross. I try so hard but it always goes crooked. 😤😤

Just thought you'd like to know I'm married to a retired carpenter. He hammers screws in!!! I refuse to do that. But we have worked out a few good systems.

He tells me how to fix something & I do it.

OR

I read the instruction book & do what it says - not what he says.

So far I've put up a holland blind back-to-front - it still works though! I put a new lock into a security screen door - upside down! It locks though.

I carefully measured two sliding windows to stick privacy contact onto. I worked out the pattern match as my mum taught me when I was learning to sew. Stuck all the pieces on - & there were gaps everywhere!! I have no idea how that happened. I was so careful!!!!!!!

So I'll be reading along with interest Geoff,

With thanks, Lyn.

Hey Geoff,

This is the funniest thread yet!

You poor thing you are going to need all the help you can get!

Did you find any humour whilst building?

Dory

Thanks heaps for your help Geoff in regards to our dining room table. Appreciate it..... I will try the non gel toothpaste mixed with bi carb that you suggested as we do not have turps at the moment. I will see how that goes. I will keep you updated if you like.

thanks again Geoff.....

Shell

hi LH, I used to do furniture up, and when a table had a stain I used to sand the top down with a belt sander. Geoff.

hi Randomx, the expensive weather strip that goes under the door may mean the door has to be trimmed at the bottom, but make sure that any door that gets all the weather need to be painted under the bottom of the door, a must. Geoff.

hi Lyn, a speed shop will be any good service station, SuperCheap, K-Mart.
If your blind loses it's spring, in other words, it doesn't go up and down quickly, then pull it down halfway, take it out of the brackets and then manually wind up the blind by hand, then put it back in the brackets, if it's still slow in going up, then repeat the process, then your blind will go and down quickly.
Not quite sure what you mean 'about gaps everywhere', so are you able to get back to me, just remember a good way for a burglar to get into your house is by lift up any sliding window and then push it out of the tracks, so maybe you could drill some holes through the window as well as the track, not too high up on the window otherwise you'll crack the glass, then put a clip or nail through it, to stop it being lifted up, the same applies to sliding doors.
Make sure that the burglar can't reach around and pull the nail out. Geoff.

hi Shell, you could also use an orbital sander if the belt sander scares you. Geoff.

Hey Geoff,

we have renovated a few houses,and we always have do do the hard labor,

I am stuck on what to do as we have a brick house with windows that go to the floor,

My question is have you ever seen someone close in a window or maybe a external door?

we are going to gut the kitchen,dinning,and lounge room and start again,

Thanks

Dory

hi Dory, absolutely, I have done it many times and the house we bought there were doors that had to be closed in because the room had to be alerted and then make another opening for a door a few (feet) cms away, because the wall had to be moved.
I have a tendency to use feet only because people know what I'm talking about, however I can talk about mm or cms if that suits you.
The same applies to windows where they had to be closed and/or moved, it sounds so interesting what you are up to.
I'm about to log off but if you have renovated houses you know about the supporting beams, and to answer your query again the answer is yes.
Will contact you tomorrow, but ask whatever you want to Geoff.

Gday again Geoff.

my trailers pretty old , all steel , great trailer though, few little rust holes in the floor.

Might not be your area but what could l bog the holes up with ?

l was thinking of just a good quality no gaps or something.

It's a thick floor , plenty strong, so l'm thinking of just cleaning it all up bogging the holes and respraying the old girl.

Hi random. Geoff has logged off I think so I'll give it a go.

any llarge hardware will have marine ply say 12mm thick. The rust holes will just get bigger and plugging them up wont last long.

Cut the ply to fit across the trailer and use round head bolts to secure it to the strong part of the floor..

Youll get many more years out of it. Drill holes in the corners for drainage.

Tony WK

ha , well that's an idea , thanks Tony , l really don't wanna go cutting the whole floor out and replacing it , lotta work on this trailer and it's still strong anyway, so that could work out well.

Cheers

I agree with plugging the holes could lead to failure. If you chose to go the marine ply path, then make sure you use some waterproof coating on the marine ply - especially on the underneath, because the damp will creep in under there. You can buy bitumen paint (I think the brand is Betta) which will do the job. It’s water based and can be over painted with something else. That should see you right :)

hi Randomx, marine ply will work only if you're moving furniture, however if you want to cart sand, screenings, rubbish, then the ply will only get damaged by shovels, rakes and still doesn't like a load of sand sitting in it for a long time, however if you don't or won't be doing this then ply will be fine.
What I would do is take the trailer to a metal shop and get them to cut out a new floor and then weld it in, it may have to be in two pieces, but this depends on how good they are, you can paint it but it will get scratched.
You're not sure what other people might use the trailer for if you lend it out, and remember a shovel will always get caught in a bolt. Geoff.

Hey Geoff

No hurry on this inquiry. Since I am handy as a rubber shovel.....seriously....I just wanted to ask about demolition hammers.....Bunnings want silly high prices for Bosch (made in China) which I cant afford so I have 2 alternatives....with all the bells and whistles without the brand name (even though the units are identical)

My retaining walls need new uprights...... will a 1600 Watt unit for $200 do the job or would you go for a 2400 Watt at $340 ? (the 2400 Watt hammer has a 3 year guarantee)

I will be hammering 3" concrete at the worst and maybe clay and rock fragments to re do the sleeper uprights and maybe some tiling in my home just for your information

Only when you get the time Geoff

Paul

hi Paul, good question, the brands without the name tag on maybe good for about 2 or 3 hits, but normally the handle breaks, they may look the same but in actual fact it's not the same timber.
I wouldn't go and buy a screwdriver set from K-Mart or at a $2 shop, they are cheap, but useless, the tips don't hold their shape, they break at the handle, and especially if a screw is screwed in so tight they will do more damage than Mandrake, so you are wasting your money.
If you are going to use that area as a BBQ with a table and chairs then I would use the 2400 Watt, especially as it's got a 3 year warranty, however if it's just to highlight your work then save electricity and use the 1600 Watts.
A long crowbar or digging bar which is long and made out of steel will come in handy also to break up concrete rocks, you can hire these.
You can also hire a 'jack-hammer' for half a day, if you feel it will quicker and less energy, but having a sledge hammer may come in handy another time.
Digging through clay is b*****y hard work, but you can always leave a tap dripping where you want to dig, it will be softer but messy, there is also a post hole digger, manual or petrol operated.
Before you want to dig a hole in hard soil leave the tap on, just dripping, it will also soften the soil.
Use 'rapid set' concrete when the holes have been dug, the concrete 'goes off' much quicker.
Good luck but hard work. Geoff.

Hi Paul,

Have a look on Gumtree,there are always all sorts of different tools for sale, also apparently on fb.

Geoff I will come back later and give you more info on what I am going.

Dory

Tips

Painting and you want to take a break? Wrap your brush in gladwrap instead of rinsing it in water or turps.

Drill bits- generally the smaller the bit the faster the speed to use with your power drill. Many vheap power drills wont have a sliw enough speed for larger bits. This forces you to having high speed with large drill bits and that damages the bit (too hot). So when choosing a power drill make sure it has a variable speed switch with very low speed for large drill bits.

Thanks for that Geoff but ahh , that job might have to wait then l think , too many other more important fish to fry right now haha. She could get anything thrown into it from rocks to building stuff to scrap metal . Fantastic old girl though , best trailer l've ever had actually , she cold use some love though .

Ah hu WK , so that's how l always stuff the bigger drill bits , they always end up ruined. l know ya can't run them too fast but l probably still run them a bit too quick.

l often try a smaller pilot hole first but then that still seems to ware out the outer edge of the bigger bit , does get through quicker though---- what not to do haha.

Tony has made a good point about the brushes, another idea especially if you're painting with enamel (turps based) just pop the brush in a glass of water if you're going to use it later on or the next day, then give a good shake, and away you go.

With a roller and brush in acrylic and going to have lunch roll the roller around in the paint putting a heavy coating on it, same with the brush, it will be fine while you eat your lunch, just roll it around on tray when you want to start again, getting rid of the heavy load.

Randomx, if rocks, scraps and metal are going to be thrown into your trailer you would be best to get a new metal bottom installed, ply won't last that long with all of this be thrown in it, but it's a good suggestion by Tony.

If you're drilling metal, start with a smaller drill bit then work up to the size you want, but give it a rest for a few moments, otherwise you will burn it out and then it won't even drill butter.
If the door bit turns red, it's useless, throw it away.
Drilling a hole in a door for a new one, also take out the round circular bit, give it a rest, but by doing this it removes all the chips from the cut, otherwise you will be trying to drill through the door plus the chips created from the cut.
Let the drill do the work, pushing it as hard as you can will be worthless, you're putting too much pressure on the drill and the drill bit, and to buy any drill bits from a cheap store won't do anything except waste your money. Geoff.

Thankyou Geoff & Dory for your help with my enquiry

Thats helped me out a lot. I forgot to mentioned that I have approx 60 'uprights' for retaining walls to do. They have rotted and all need to be redone. I have clay and rock fragments to dig through

I originally dug out for the uprights 26 years ago using a crow bar.....ugh!

Have a great day everybody :-)

Go Ford! (Bathurst)

Hi All,

This is an excellent thread! Just want to congratulate Geoff and Tony and Everyone who contributes here.

Now I know where to go with any handyman questions I might have.

Cheers from Dools

hi All, just wondering if anyone has a hole in the wall that needs to be repaired, fire away. Geoff.

Geoff,

My local ATM works fine...

Hi Geoff,

We recently had one of those. My Dad was a builder all his life so he fixed it for us. It was very interesting to see how he repaired it.

One time Dad fixed a "huge" hole in the garage wall, as I hit the accelerator instead of the brake and drove part of the car through the back of the garage! Now that was one heck of a hole to fix!

Thanks Geoff , but man my trailers could have anything thrown in yeah, guess so. Although the last one was a flat bed and l only had treated pine 6x1 boards for a floor but man , the work that little trailer did, it even had v8's onit , a few times, and strangely enough the boards were still pretty good when l sold it ., 10yrs or so later.. Couldn't believe how they stood up.

Anyway yeah right with the drilling . l get real impatient drilling metal my bits are always blunt or ruined haha, and l strangle the poor drills. Everything you say not to do . Cheers mate.

Hi Geoff,

I am away for a couple of days, will post when I get back,

awsome thread

Dory

hi I was actually referring to holes in the wall caused by furniture knocks, even someone who lost their temper and punched a hole in the plaster, this can easily happen, but if you own properties to rent out then make sure you get 'Landlord's Insurance', this will cover damage done by tenants, such as carpets, lino, windows etc, plus loss of rent, well worth the money. Geoff.

Hi Geoff

I need your advice regarding my heavy duty market umbrella stand if I may

Its huge and old....Its been bolted into my paving since 1997....and its rusting through the paint. It holds a serious umbrella. How can I leave it bolted in the ground and get rid of the rust?

I know how to repaint it but do I need an angle grinder or something? Or do I have to take it out of the paving?

Any help would be great..Paul