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Beyond Blue Home Improvement Thread

geoff
Champion Alumni
Champion Alumni
Hi everyone. I'm Geoff and have been a dedicated Volunteer on the forums for 13 years. I am proud to have stopped some of the stigmas that are associated with mental health as well as doing my best to help others too

Before my health went south I was a builder in all aspects of home construction and renovation. If you don't have a handyman around I hope I can offer you some tips that may be of help. I have had many years of experience in home renovation and will do my best to help you out if you are stuck and need some advice

I hope my experience may be of help to the people on Beyond Blue and make their life a little bit better. Even if you need help with the most basic painting job or putting up a shelf I can help there too with some tips

I will do my best to get back to anyone that has a question when I can as this is social yet important thread

Geoff
1,301 Replies 1,301

hi Ladyhawke, you can buy a cheap cordless drill from a store, they are very easy to use, if you go to a hardware store they will show you, although the drill won't be charged up, there are drills that don't need a key to tighten up the particular size drill, so easy to use, and you won't be trying to find the key.
You can also get screws that are self-drilling by using your drill with a phillips drive bit, although once again if the timber is too hard you will still have to drill a smaller hole than the nail, but when drilling let the drill do the work DON'T FORCE it or you'll break the drill bit.
If you take this email down to your hardware store they you show you. Geoff.

hi Sez, wear some gloves and a mask when filling any holes or cracks because this is where the sheeting has been broken and disturbed the fibres, it will be OK though, just protect yourself.
If you have to undercoat get the paint shop to tint the undercoat in the same colour as your top coat, then it won't be as bad as you think when applying the top coat. Geoff.

hi Randomx, the bearers sit on the stumps and the joists sit on top of the bearers but in the opposite direction, so if these were brand new then there's a chance they will shrink and fix the problem on its own, so just to make sure what I'm saying, have you made this into another deck or room?
A weather shield fitted to your door might help, that is when you open your door the w/shield that's attached to the front bottom on the outside of your door will stop water getting.
These shields can be adjusted by moving the little round ball with one hole in it, about the size of 5c piece, which is screwed into the door jamb and when you close the door the w/shield will hit this 5c piece and close the door so nothing can get under it, wind included.
There are expensive door seals so google 'Buy Raven Seals online', but a handyman or cartpenter may have to install these if you don't feel confident because you will have to take the door off to fit it.
There is another way but it's arduous and depending on the room under the house whether it's easy to crawl under is to take a handsaw, chisel with you and maybe a milk crate, where you sit this crate or anything else to fit snuggly under the joist, then cut with the saw in an upward direction of 15 ml on the joist, either side of the bearer, and then chisel it out, maybe another job for a handyman, I've done it before, plus I built a decking for my SIL that fitted exactly the same level as the house boards, because her daughter was in a wheelchair, but the bearers and joist shrunk only about 15 ml.
Have a look at these options and let me know. Geoff.

hi Shelley anne, try and get rid of the stains by doing this, sometimes it works sometimes just half, anyway try turps first, if not then mix equal parts of non-gel toothpaste and baking soda making it into a paste then cover the stains with this and leave alone, but when rubbing off, GO WITH THE GRAIN ALWAYS.
By sanding it, especially if it's well ingrained, you will have to do the whole table otherwise you'll end up with a pocket where all liquids will flow into.
Do you have a belt sander or can you borrow one, but make sure you practice on something else first, again GO WITH THE GRAIN, never against it because you will see the scratch marks when it's finished.
You can coat it with beeswax maybe cheaper than other alternatives, but you have to keep putting the wax on the table, another way is to get a short haired roller, rub it done so there aren't any loose hairs on it and then apply some estapol onto it, and if need be finish off lightly with a brush going in the same direction as the grain, just to get any bubbles out of it.
If you feel comfortable using a can to spray then try that, making sure that you have reapply within a certain time limit, otherwise you will have to wait a few days.
There is a little spray gun you can buy from the hardware which is great if you know how to use one. Geoff.

CMF
Blue Voices Member
Blue Voices Member

Hey LH, I found a good drill for $18 at Kmart. Does not require a key Yu put the drill bits in. I love it, use it all the time.

(sorry Geoff for hijacking 🙂)

geoff
Champion Alumni
Champion Alumni
hi CMF, no worries I was a bit frightened to mention any stores, but yes you are correct, for $18 you can't go wrong. Geoff.

white knight
Community Champion
Community Champion

Tip

Many items have rechargeable batteries.

I use cheap 24hr timers.

My battery drill goes to charge one hour per day so its ready when I want it.

Same with my trickle charger on my battery of my ride on mower.

My air compressor has a timer that I turn the timer around when using it. That means its on for one hour then goes off. That way it doesnt start up in the middle of the night.

I also use one for my soldering iron.

Tony WK

Ladyhawke
Blue Voices Member
Blue Voices Member

Hi Geoff,

Thank you SO much for the detailed, yet easy-to-understand information. I'm quite sure I can do as you've instructed. I'm so very glad this site operates on anonymity!

Regards, LH

Ladyhawke
Blue Voices Member
Blue Voices Member

Hi CMF,

Very much appreciate the details on the drill. If I found myself in a hardware store, I'm so clueless I'd end up buying whatever the salesperson suggested.

This is such a terrific site.

LH

Thanks very much Geoff. Sorry about my explaining ,think l took the long way round with that one. .

But yeah , turned the old room into a deck.

Anyway that's an idea , that strip should keep the wet out , cheers for that. But nope not enough room to get under it unfortunately and l nailed on the new deck floor pretty good too so no getting them off to do it from above either, not without wrecking them.

Anyway thanks again , l'll shop around for a good strip and try that.

Cheers