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

[blondguy]

Hey Geoff

I keep forgetting to mention that treated pine sleepers/posts are infused with Copper Chrome Arsenic and are not recommended to build patios...domestic decking...handrails...garden furniture....exterior seating or picnic tables

I only found out yesterday that Bunnings staff are not permitted to handle CCA treated timber without gloves as the CCA can cause a severe skin reaction not to mention the possible carcinogenic properties

I have had a bad skin reaction from handling this product.....and its not nice

Thanks Geoff for your help too when I was stuck with re plastering my wall after the old 1991 Vulcan wall furnace was removed.....Your advice resulted in a straight and level wall 🙂

you were right...I could do it 🙂

Paul

[Guest_1584]

Gday Geoff how are ya.

Just wondering , l like reno shows and a lot of them are American. Have you ever used one their hammers , are they better ?

Actually my hammer was made in the US but it's the same style as ours , but on their reno shows they use a lot of those longer handled hammers with a pretty well a straight head rather than curved. Not sure what they use in Europe but the American hammers are funny looking things, wonder if they're any better ?.

[blondguy]

Hey RX...How are you going?

Thats an excellent and well phrased question that you posted above....(I wish I knew the answer) Geoff will be around in the wee hours and I am looking forward to his answer

My Best RX!

Paul

[geoff]

Hi RX, interesting question, I had an Eastwing hammer which is made in USA, founded by Swedish immigrant Ernest O. Estwing in 1923, I didn't like it that much, it had a different balance to it, rather than the Stanley hammers.

I loved using the blue fibreglass Stanley hammer and there are other types.

I also had a small tac hammer with a magnetic head as well as a 'nail starter' used for small work such as attaching a cloth to a piece of timber, this also had a straight head 'pulling' bar at the back.

Some hammers were made by Stanley tools, where I worked in the statistical office, this was my first full time job just before I got married.

I also had a 'ball-pein' hammer used for metal work and welding work.

I think I used to use a straight head hammer a long time ago, but I didn't like the balance of it and maybe the manufactures of the hammer you are talking about could be a part of the sponsors?

Stanley hammers were made in USA and England, but this company has been so diverse where their products were made and have probably changed hands a few times, so that makes it confusing.

A hammer has to have the balance that suits you, so once you pick it up you can tell straight away.

The cheap 'look alike' you buy from various stores are worthless, 2 or 3 hits and the head comes off, same as screwdrivers, OK for loose screws but terrible for hard work, so they are a waste of money, especially from the $2 shop, please don't buy them.

You need to buy the good material it will last so much longer, mind you I learnt this when I was very young.

A strange reply to your query, sorry RX.

Geoff.

[Guest_1584]

Gday Paul , thanks mate ncie to see you about hope your doin ok.

Gday Geoff and same to you mate and thanks for that.

Their long handled hammers are about around 100 - 150 longer handled and with this weird horizontal type head like the one you talked about.

So hear you on tool quality , at ;east l hav a quality hammer , sadly made in the US haha , all steel with rubber handle suppose to be guaranteed for life. Not much can go wrong with it except teh rubber handle comes off or something. Good hammer just the standard style had it 10 yrs so far.

Shame l just can't seem to get into the habit of quality in the power tools even for work, l dunno l always find the cheapies irresistible but of course a year or two later if not sooner l'm out buying another one. It's a vice of mine haha.

l saw on one show someone using a hammer with cross lines all across the hitting part of the head.Always wondered why all hammers don't have that the way they're usually smooth and shiny it's a wonder you can even hit a damn nail without them slippin off and lots of swollen thumbs .

[geoff]

Hi RX, I know the hammer you are talking about and the funny grid on the face of it is so the hammer won't slip off the nail.

Many nails are bent because the hammer head slips off the nail, especially if you slightly take your eyes off the nail.

The longer handle makes the hammer more powerful, so perhaps I should explain, imagine trying to undo a bolt on a tractor and you use a normal size spanner, then that's hard work trying to loosen it, but if you can extend the handle making it longer, then the leverage to undo it is much easier.

The long handle hammer they use for framing, one nail, 2 hits and the nail is in, whereas a short handle you have to hit it, then again and again, it's slower.

Nails are nowhere are strong as they used to be, so if you bend them, you have to buy more.

I also had a Stanely hammer where the rubber kept coming off the handle, that doesn't happen very often at all.

Buying cheap tools is what people do so you're not out on your own, how irresistible is a brand new hammer, set of screwdrivers, spanners or a $39 cordless drill from a store selling them, and yes I have bought a $39 cordless drill for my ex and myself, plus the cheap screwdrivers are only good for light work, but impossible to remove a screw on a door where the hinges have been painted over, and painted over for years.

Big specials on at Xmas for all sorts of cheap tools, interesting do you h**g them up on a board in the garage with their shape painted, that used to be fun.

Best wishes.

Geoff.

[Guest_1584]

Gday Geoff and thanks as always mate.

Yeah l wonder why all hammers don't have that grid thing on the head. Mine is so smooth and shiny it seems ridiculous when it's made for hitting damn nails with a tiny head. The grid makes much more sense.

But ahh , so that's what those long handled hammers are,sounds like an idea.

Nope my tools and garage don't have anything as fancy as some of those tool boards but eh, if l had those then l'd have to put my tools back all neat all the time wouldn't l, l'd never find anything !! Funny , my garage has about 10 uses , it's my workshop for work, keeps the car warm when l can squeeze it in there haha, l often unload wood in the garage because the wood dries out really well on the concrete floor, lotta parts for work in there, lotta car parts in there, lotta junk in there, chainsaws and axes and pretty well anything. And as l work outside the garage on jobs , tools come and go and get dropped or put down or thrown pretty well anywhere among all the other garage uses as l come and go, bench is usually too full of more junk to even work on let alone throw so tools on there somewhere as well. But somehow l always know exactly where a tool landed or what it's under which could be anything from a log to a car wheel or a box of some crap or pile of this or that.

l always envision a really nice neat and organized garage /workshop, l can see it in my head, but somehow it just never happens.

l'll have to keep my eye out for Christmas specials , l do need 2 new drills and a battery saw. Third battery saw in a few years , because l can't resist the cheapies. Think l'm a lost cause eh , had've l just bought an Hitachi , Makita or something the first time, l'd probably still have it in 15yrs time.

Thanks mate hope your well , all the best.

[Guest_1584]

BTW Geoff , is there some knack to getting old doors off when the screws are so caked in like that?

Couple of doors here needed some trimming or this or that done but l couldn't get the damn things off or even the hinge pins out.

All the best

rx

[Guest_1584]

ps

don't get me wrong , l can't say what l do but l do have a tool trolley l wheel around the job and that's where tools mostly reside , quite neatly too actually at the start of jobs anyway, But through the job they usually start traveling and that's when they can start ending up anywhere .

Next job l tidy up and it starts over .

But it's weird these days too l'm sure there must be many more tools available nowa days and you end up with that much stuff dpn't you , a gadget for everything.

rx

[geoff]

Hi RX, yes I used to do the same, until one day I eventually have to clean it up because there could be wood shavings everywhere, the floors a mess, so I have to clean it all up, good for half an hour.

The same with my van where I can't find anything, but it doesn't take long before it's a mess again.

To get those caked on hinges off, I would get a screwdriver and put it on any slot of the screw if you can see it, then hit it with a hammer, the paint should break off.

If there is any paint stuck in the slot (which undoes the screw) then use the screwdriver and hit it using the corner of the driver until the slot is clean enough to try and undo.

You can also take the door off, not meant to be a pun, with the hinges still on door jamb by hitting the pin out of the hinge.

That holds the hinge on the door and the hinge on the door jamb together.

You can use a nail or a nail punch to get the pin moving and once you can hold the top of the pin with a pair of pliers then hit it with the hammer.

Hope this helps you if you can find the screwdriver.

Geoff.