The D I Y Thread - Making a house a Home.. - The Bear and Badger

Moto70

My missus was moaning about the amount of tools I have, and in particular the amount of power tools, to friends the other day. She didn't seem to understand that even if it has been used only once it has still been used, likewise even if I haven't used it but lent it to a mate to use it stills counts as being needed, the tools that I have yet to use will be used at some stage so they too are needed so with this in mind (and to cheer myself up after her moaning) yesterday I bought myself a Bosch PMF190 (a multi-use thingy). It was Mod's picture above that made me mention this as it would cut through them pipes lovely!!!

Carbon_Altered

I've now built my own workbench out of some old Ikea furniture and some sheets of mdf/plywood. Have asked for a large workbench clamp for Xmas which I'm looking forward to installing.

Also got a biscuit joiner for my bday which I'm looking forward to playing with the next couple of days.

Project one: magazine rack for missus

Project two: finishing the arcade cabinet I started building a couple of years ago.

Moto70

Carbon_Altered wrote:

Also got a biscuit joiner for my bday which I'm looking forward to playing with the next couple of days.

Sweet!

Which one did you get?

I nearly bought a dovetail jig a while back but I haven't got much space here (hence my missus moaning) so I showed restraint, the minute I have the space for a bench though one will be getting boughted!

Mod74

Carbon_Altered wrote:

Have asked for a large workbench clamp for Xmas which I'm looking forward to installing.

You mean a vice?

Mod74

I needed a router for that kitchen job. Probably should have rented one but instead bought a Â£35 effort from Screwfix. Good God it was shite. I mean properly shite. It did the job I suppose, so it wasn't exactly Â£35 thrown down the drain, but looking at it now it might as well have been.

Moto70

I used to do that!

I'm thankful that I don't have much space as I do like having a 'selection'! Screwfix is the blokes bible...

[Deleted User]

My Mum got my dad a belt sander for christmas. i've never seen a man be so happy with a present.
He spent 15 minutes listing jobs he could use it for and another 10 minutes making belt sander noises while pretending to use the thing on various parts of the dining room doing a lunging/sanding motion.

Moto70

haha!

Top bloke!

yourfavouriteuncle

If I knew how to post photos on here I'd love to show you all my current DIY project. It's properly brilliant and, well, I'd just like to show off a little.

Tempy

1. Go to imgur.com
2. set up account in 10 seconds
3. get app for your phone and sign in
4. take photos and upload to app
5. click 'get embed codes' and copy tagged code to forum post
6. submit

yourfavouriteuncle

I'll do it this afternoon. Cheers

yourfavouriteuncle

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yourfavouriteuncle

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yourfavouriteuncle

Last ones now, to show where we're at. Â Sorry if all the pics have slowed down the forum!

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[Deleted User]

Uncle wins

GooberTheHat

But is it DIY? If it is then well done uncle, that is brilliant.

If not that is still a great job. Â Your house looks fantastic.

yourfavouriteuncle

Everything bar the scaffolding was done by me.

I've had friends help with the concreting etc but yeah, it's DIY but writ large.

Moto70

What's your normal job out of interest?

If that build falls under DIY then I think that normal DIY needs reclassifying. I would be able to help with that build but there's no way I'd be able to do all of it without some professional help. If you did do it all yourself and you don't work in the building trade then I'd seriously think about changing careers, unless of course you're already in an overpaid job!

Other than that I bet you had a cracking time doing it...

Paul the sparky

You did the building work, roofing, glazing, wiring, joinery and plastering yourself?

Who the fuck are you?

yourfavouriteuncle

At the moment the extension is a shell. The existing house is properly grim. The wiring will be done by a sparky, walls plastered by plasterers, new boiler by plumbers but basically everything you see on the pics has been done by me and two of the guys who work for me.

It's all pretty simple really so far. Blocks go on concrete, floors and roof go on blocks, tiles go on roof, render and wood go on walls, paint and oil goes on render and wood...

I do design and build fancy gardens for a living though so I'm sort of 'in the trade' but I ain't ever tried building a house before. It's fun!

yourfavouriteuncle

It's also taken a full 12 months to even get this far...

Paul the sparky

How did your lass cope with it? Got some DIY in store for the new year and I'm worried that the mess will drive her nuts.

Moto70

yourfavouriteuncle wrote:

I do design and build fancy gardens for a living though so I'm sort of 'in the trade' but I ain't ever tried building a house before. It's fun!

I'd love to get into the whole property/garden developing but it would be good to have the money to start with so that projects weren't done 'purely' to to make a lot of profit. In an ideal world eh?

yourfavouriteuncle

Paul the sparky wrote:

How did your lass cope with it? Got some DIY in store for the new year and I'm worried that the mess will drive her nuts.

She's pretty good with it all. Â It's all for the long term greater good I guess and I'd say due to the scale of it, we have very quickly become accustomed to the mess. I think the little proper diy jobs you think you'll get done on a Saturday afternoon that then drag on into Sunday and beyond are probably harder to deal with. We also haven't borrowed to do it, so if I have a lean month and we can't afford materials then we don't do it. I think perhaps the stress comes when you give yourself a self imposed deadline that isn't met. We know we're living in a building site (more or less) but sort of take a bit of pride in seeing the humour and horror in it all.

yourfavouriteuncle

Moto70 wrote:

yourfavouriteuncle wrote:

I do design and build fancy gardens for a living though so I'm sort of 'in the trade' but I ain't ever tried building a house before. It's fun!

I'd love to get into the whole property/garden developing but it would be good to have the money to start with so that projects weren't done 'purely' to to make a lot of profit. In an ideal world eh?

Ha! Â This is half my problem running my business. My gardens are always more expensive than my competitors but my profit percentage is much lower and we aren't as quick as most. I sometimes like the idea of 'bang - in and out in a week' and a quick couple of grand profit but the reality is I get very fucking hung up on the tiny details and things then take longer and my materials more expensive. The clients appreciate it though but it can be a hard thing to sell to them when they think all gardens are the same and can just be thrown down. Â It usually only takes them a visit to a previous or ongoing project to show them why our things cost more though. Plus, professional pride counts for a lot to me I guess.

Moto70

Just reading that would mean that I'd pick you over any competitor any day of the week. I have never seen 'money-saving' as much as I have in my current job and it sickens me, to think that somebody would willingly cut corners (or not supply the best they possibly could) simply to earn a bit more. Unfortunately some businesses only see the final figure and not what the final look would have been had they decided to try something different.

I have been told to use foamex board rather than ACM (aluminium composite) but I told them it's no good and would break. When I took delivery of the ACM they said I was told to order foamex, I told them that I'd already told them it would break so there is no way I'm ordering it.

I talk about the lottery from time to time and this is why I would like to win it, and not a small one but a big euro job, so that I could employ a good group of people where our business running costs and wages are covered by the interest from whatever capital I invested and the work undertaken could be decided on by a job-by-job basis, hell to get good stuff out there I'd make a loss on some jobs if it meant I could get some creative stuff out there and show them what is possible...

isanbard

Construction generally seems to being blown by the number of suicide bids going in in the current market. Never been ultimately worried about saving a ultimately daft small percentage if someone can show stuff like you mention (happy punters, current builds etc) Uncle. More than happy to pay for a decent job once than 3 bodges to fix the discount numpty beforeâ€¦Garage extension looks choice already. Add it to the portfolio.. heh.

Carbon_Altered

Moto70 wrote:

Carbon_Altered wrote:

Also got a biscuit joiner for my bday which I'm looking forward to playing with the next couple of days.

Sweet! Which one did you get? I nearly bought a dovetail jig a while back but I haven't got much space here (hence my missus moaning) so I showed restraint, the minute I have the space for a bench though one will be getting boughted!

Just a silverline jobby, but it works a treat, makes life so much easier!

Carbon_Altered

Mod74 wrote:

Carbon_Altered wrote:

Have asked for a large workbench clamp for Xmas which I'm looking forward to installing.

You mean a vice?

You are quite correct. And now I am in possession of it, it is a thing of beauty - the larger of these bad boys:

Got to make a front jaw for it now (the rear will sit flush with the side of the bench). Then I'll cut in some holes for bench dogs and I'll be able to cut/router/join pretty much any size piece of wood.

Carbon_Altered

Just while I'm thinking about it, here are a couple of pics of the workbench I built out of an old Ikea TV cabinet and some scrap wood scrounged out of my dad's garage

I know the legs are a bit thin, but that reflected the materials to hand. Plus it can comfortably take my weight standing on top!

The ruler you can see on top is 60cm, so it is a big bench. Gonna add the vice next.

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