Man (I feel like a, erm, man) - The Bear and Badger

davyK

Jaco wrote:

davyK wrote:

Re studded walls - these are supposed to be brilliant. Young lad inventor is a millionaire now. http://www.gripitfixings.co.uk/

Ooh! That's a clever little thing. Looks like it quite nicely distributes load. Only downside I can see is the larger-than-usual holes it leaves...

Yeah - that's what put me off. Would have to get an appropriate fixing for my drill too.

[Deleted User]

Since moving in to my flat I have assembled furniture, painted a railing, shouted at dickheads, removed a snapped key from front door lock barrel, fitted a mixer tap and replaced the pump in the tumble dryer.

Of course the real sign of a man is how many chunks of flesh you took out of your hands doing it.
If you use a plaster it resets, must use kitchen roll and sellotape.

Jaco

Liveinadive wrote:

If you use a plaster it resets, must use kitchen roll and sellotape.

Masking tape, dude.

[Deleted User]

Either is fine. In fact whatever tape is to hand. I have used electrical tape before.

Unlikely

Sandpaper and a nail gun.

davyK

Me and nail gun would not be a good mix. Would only be a brief period of time before I'd end up with nail embedded in some part of me.

I have started a drill up with the chuck key in more times than I can count.

Jaco

Once drilled into a live wire. It was not fun.

Unlikely

An enraged tiger.

AJ

I'm often surprised at the DIY tasks that people can't do which I was doing as a child. Replacing plugs, hanging shelves, cleaning u-bends, that kind of thing. I haven't decided who's to blame yet.

cockbeard

AJ wrote:

I'm often surprised at the DIY tasks that people can't do which I was doing as a child. Replacing plugs, hanging shelves, cleaning u-bends, that kind of thing. I haven't decided who's to blame yet.

Immigrants who do it for us are to blame, they made us soft

AJ

Haha. We are getting disgustingly soft in the wrong ways, tbh.

Jaco

It is odd that blokes seem to be becoming increasingly useless at general DIY/tinkering. Not sure why really. I remember when everyone did their own work at home, on their car, in the garden. Now very few of my mates do any form of DIY, preferring to hire someone. Maybe the increased pressure for long work hours is to blame?

Unlikely

I'm just lazy.

AJ

I'm actually leaning toward parents not teaching their kids things any more.

Lord_Griff

People used to do all this shit themselves, exceptionally poorly.

"That'll do"
"But dear it doesn't look qui.."
"THAT... ULL... DOO"

cockbeard

Never thought of it like that but could well be true

I always thought my dad worked long hours but now I think about it, he left the house at 0615, and normally got home around 1620, but he worked at Fawley and lived in Bournemouth, so that's an hour each way. I'm in the office most days around 0700 and rarely leave before 1800, I guess we really do work longer than our parents

I reckon pride might be a big part of it as well. While so many of us rent privately we don't want to perform home improvements as we won't get any benefit from them as landlords could bin us off at any point. Often that extends even to simple stuff like light switches, showers etc

AJ

I have a rule that I wont spend over £20 on a job in a rented property but, otherwise, will do whatever's needed to keep things in good nick. So, in the current flat, I fixed the broken toilet (replaced handle and diaphragm) but made the landlord get someone out to replace the bath tap.

Previous place I actually replaced a light switch which I believe is, technically, illegal as I don't have the right certificate.

Lord_Griff wrote:

People used to do all this shit themselves, exceptionally poorly. "That'll do" "But dear it doesn't look qui.." "THAT... ULL... DOO"

Yeah, doing something you don't know you can do to at least a reasonable standard is dumb. Landlord at my last place used to do all maintenance himself and it caused all kinds of problems.

JonB

Renting in the UK can be a bit weird, the way they won't let you change anything.

Last place we were in we asked them to put in some bookshelves, and rather than just letting us sort it out, the landlord travelled down (they lived quite far away) himself to assemble this Billy bookcase while we sat around.

Jaco

Our landlord won't let us even paint.

PAINT.

Bonkers.

JonB

Paint? You're dreaming. Lucky if they let you put in a nail to hang a picture.

Diluted Dante

Most landlords are like that.

Mine doesn't give a shit, his only instruction has been don't drill into any wiring.

Jaco

I just stopped asking and did stuff anyway... Some filler, a bucket of magnolia and a couple of days work will put it all back to original condition before I leave.

superflyninja

Since moving into my house I have :
Wired up new lights. Many, many new lights.
Incorrectly wired a light resulting in a blown fuse thing.
While cooking pasta set it on fire. On actual fire.
I've painted rooms.
Assembled countless furniture items.
Broken a key in the lock of the front door.
Changed coils in two different cars.
Disassembled and reassembled the door of a car.
Lots of drilling and hanging too.

[Deleted User]

I can take an axe to wood like a proper redneck. Learnt on Arran out of necessity and now I really enjoy it. It's a proper workout and the boy looks on in awe. AWE. Apart from that I'm utterly shite at general butch Dad stuff.

AJ

Jaco wrote:

Our landlord won't let us even paint. PAINT. Bonkers.

JonB wrote:

Paint? You're dreaming. Lucky if they let you put in a nail to hang a picture.

Having seen the mess some people make of even those things, I think it's quite reasonable not to allow that on short-term leases.

[Deleted User]

I think you can replace a light switch without certification but wiring in an entirely new switch or socket will need a proper electrician.
Sparkly will know for sure.

Jaco

SpaceGazelle wrote:

I can take an axe to wood like a proper redneck.

I would happily chop wood for a living. Had a log fire when we lived in Cumbria and chopping logs was just the best.

[Deleted User]

superflyninja wrote:

Since moving into my house
Disassembled and reassembled the door of a car.

That can be a right dick of a job, especially if it is anything to do with the door lock cables or the window.

JonB

The front door handle broke off in my hand once, which already seemed quite manly. But then I went and bought a new one and fixed it with my bare hands (and a screwdriver).

Anything bigger though and we generally call the neighbour. He's got a proper tool shed (I only have a screwdriver).

Diluted Dante

Is it sonic?

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