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

[geoff]

Hi MF, what can happen is that the sharp plaster screws to drill a hole first can slip and then scratch the colourbond, you can put some bluetac down so the screw won't slip or put some tape down or use a pop rivet size drill bit to go through the colourbond.

You can buy a double headed pop rivet drill bit, alternatively, you can practice using a plaster screw on a spare bit of c/bond so you know what can happen.

If you're not sure whether the screws are stainless steel go and ask another attendant at Bunnings or you could put one of the screws in a glass or jar to see if it starts to rust.

My best.

Geoff.

[Music_Freak]

Hi again Geoff,

A bit of a random what's a good all round, can be used for anything electric or cordless/battery pack drill for a DIY beginner?

I have a cheap handsaw from kmart to do the garden bed bases with and cuts are a little wonky (still OK, since I'm using connectors), but doing it by hand blows especially when I'm not sure what I'm doing!

I want powered all the way! 🙂

[geoff]

Hi MF, a handsaw for the garden beds can be hard work, plus the cut will not be even, the saw will cut at an angle, not that you want it to, but it will go its own way or wonky.

I think cordless is going to take over in the future, I've got a cordless vacuum and wouldn't have anything else, no cords that always need to be straightened, too short or tangled up, but a cheap cheap tool will only do so much and it won't stay charged for very long.

Plus it all depends on what you're cutting or needing it for, such as, cutting sleepers you will need an electric saw.

A welder will always need to be electric at the moment.

What sort of timber are you cutting and also what other jobs do you have in mind.

My best.

Geoff.

[Music_Freak]

Yes a handsaw is hard work, I worked up a sweat making less than a dozen small-ish cuts for one of the beds! The wonkiness doesn't bother me too much because I have styrofoam to fill in gaps.

Is there anything I could use on the gaps in the timber and colorbond, like no more gaps etc? I'm not sure I'll have enough styrofoam for everywhere.

I'm not sure about other jobs I'm planning as yet, other than maybe timber from an old bed base for garden edging...I guess I just need something powered to replace the handsaw? Sorry if that's not much help for suggestions.

[Guest_1584]

Hi mf, Heoff will give you the real stuff but yeah l screw through thin stuff like colour bond all the time instead of messing round with drill bits. The bit will probly be fine but eh the screws even easier.

Just try putting one of the stainless screws straight through it actually first , it's only thin stuff, if no go try the plaster ones to get a bit of a hole it then just swap to a stainless . lf by some chance they won;t just go through it then yep you'll have to use the bit but they probably will.

[Guest_1584]

Oops , sorry mf my puter went to the pages before this last one, old news haha , so l answered a post on the other page probly long sorted, sorry bout that.

Anyway , what went through your colour bond. l just did my back fence, stuff was so thin screws went straight through mine.

rx

[Music_Freak]

No worries rx 🙂

I'm still putting the timber frame together on the first garden bed...it's slow going when I have to quit to get uni work done. Hopefully everything will work out (one way or another) and I'll have one completely finished by this weekend

[geoff]

Hi MF, gap fillers for colourbond come in tubes the same as a gap filler, and you can buy them in different respective colours, but they aren't cheap.

There are different types of foam which come in a can, they expand once you press the nozzle, let it dry and then you can cut it to the shape you want and paint it if you want to.

Rain is coming RX and MF so be careful.

Geoff.

[Guest_1584]

Hey Geoff n mf.

Yeah it absolutely hammered down here all yesterday and last night Geoff .

[Music_Freak]

It was pouring here yesterday, not so bad today, thankfully. I moved everything inside a while ago...so making a huge mess.

I bought some expanding foam and it says to paint it when using outdoors because of UV deterioration. I'm assuming I would with garden beds and just use some (1-2 coats) exterior paint. I'm not sure, so please correct me if I'm wrong.

Also, how would I go about cutting and sanding it if I need to.

I'm not sure I'll even need to use it, it all depends how the colorbond sits on the bottom of the timber frame. I just thought I'd get all the asking out the way.

Thanks as always Geoff. You're always a huge help