Beyond Blue Home Improvement Thread

[geoff]

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

[Guest_1584]

Hey j.

Yeah most fruits and veggies are that way , so much come through from the stem so the longer they're still on the plant the better. The other thing about shop stuff in Australia is that it's been sprayed with god knows what and will be from gm seeds unless you buy organic. So when they crap on about their so called quality here , forget it. You get much fresher straight off the farms or seas and better real quality in all kinds of food and at a fraction of what we're gauged to pay here in poorer and simpler countries.

Damn shame. rx

[Andre_P]

Hey Geoff, I used to do paving manufacturing and have had experience in laying as well. Anyone want to makes any pavers haha.

Been ocd also meant been meticulous in my work haha.

They were made of limestone, very cool on the feet on a hot day.

Hope everyone is doing well 👊🙂

[geoff]

Hi All, great to hear from you all, can I please do it first thing in the morning, was going to check the thread earlier and should have, my apologies.

My Best.

Geoff.

[geoff]

Hi RX, a very good question.

The amount of chemicals put into treated pine fencing is to stop insects and vastly reduce any rot, if what comes off the fencing, (that is minimal) should not affect any veggies growing in front of it, well we touch the treated pine fencing when it's erected and no one has passed away from doing so, if this was to ever happen then you couldn't buy treat pine fencing, it would be banned.

We have veggie gardens made out of galvanised sheeting and never worry about the rust affecting us, if the soil doesn't suit growing plants and/or veggies they simply won't grow.

I understand the hesitation, but the veggies are in the soil are for a short time and people always grow plants when a new fence is installed, treated or not.

You are safe.

Hope this helps but please any concerns ask me.

Take care.

Geoff.

[geoff]

Hi J*, great for you to join the thread and no, none of us knows where the big supermarkets buy their veggies from and what they do with them in storage, we just guess they are looking out for the customer and not themselves wouldn't that be nice.

Hello Grandy, cement sheeting (cs) is waterproof and has replaced masonite in wet areas because this can rot away if it's continually wettened and can also warp, whereas cs lays flat, can be easily cut and no amount of moisture will damage it.

It's 100% safe and if you want tiles on a wooden floor then cs needs to be placed on top of the floors and under the tiles.

If you place tiles on top of the wooden floor without cs, then the tiles will crack one by one, you can use masonite but I'd prefer cs.

It can be cut quite easily with a special tool or you do so with a circular saw, if the latter is used you can turn the blade around as that the teeth of the saw don't actually cut the sheeting, but the tool to cut it is much easier (I find).

You can also glue the sheeting down but you still need to nail the sheeting to the wooden floor.

Hi Andre, great work being tile pacer and manufacturer it's not easy work, especially coping with OCD, it only makes your job twice as hard.

Take good care.

Geoff.

[Guest_1584]

Thanks Geoff .

Yeah l se veggies growing in all kinds of set ups.

Hey, l'll probably killem before l ever get to eat any anyway. Gf not here to look after them atm and l grow great trees but l'm pretty good at killing veggies.

rx

[Guest_1643]

hey geoff - how are u??

I may move soon and start looking at properties, - I just wanted to ask - how do u know if a place is well insulated. In Winter I used to touch the walls - freezing walls meant bad insulation. If I see a property - are there questions to ask or things to check out to see how a place will keep during the winter?
Are newer apartments better insulated that old ones of vice versa? would love to hear your thoughts thank you so much

[geoff]

Hi RX, do you like pumpkin, they take over the back yard with very little help, RX wit the largest grown at home, I've planted small cherry tomatoes and always have an abundance of them and they come up by themselves.

Hi Sleepy, all new homes/self contained apartments/flats must have insulation installed in the roof 20cms or thicker.

You need to ask if there is a current pest inspection report so there are no termites before you purchase, but if however, you want to rent, you should be safe, that's the landowner or real estates problem.

If you want to see whether or not there is insulation in the walls maybe you can tell from a hole outside but if it's an old place, probably not, sorry I'm not feeling well.

Geoff.

[Guest_1643]

thanks Geoff totally understand all good hope you are okay and can feel better soon!!

[Guest_1584]

Hey geoff , and thanks as always.

l'm new at the veggie stuff , my ex always grew and gf now has the last 2 yrs but l'm just holding the fort while she's up home, Yeah l love pumpkin plants too she put in a lot last yr and they're going ok so far this yr. love the way they grow out over the yard. These tomatoes she put in are seeds she took out of some organic tomatoes we had awhile back so l'd love them to survive bc they're the real stuff and were bloody delicious . l'll have to give the cherry tomatoes a go then too, sounds like they might survive even me .

Hope you traveling ok mate. All the best . rx