Robin & Roger visit Toolfair and in this first episode Robin talks to HiKOKI and looks at some new products. The HiKOKI NR1890DCZ J6 90mm 18V LI-ION first fix brushless cordless framing nailer impresses Robin.
Find out more about Toolfair – https://toolfair.info
Learn How to Plaster in a Day – Beginners Course with Roger and Ben with useful plastering cheats.
Do you want to learn how to plaster walls quickly? You’re in luck because Roger shows you how in this 1 hour tutorial with his friend Ben who manages to turn out a very decent result with just one day of tutoring.
Learn how to plaster a wall quickly with Skill Builder. Plastering walls for beginners starts right here!
Products used in this video:
• British Gypsum Thistle Bonding Coat Plaster
• Tap Water
• OX Tools Speedskim
• Plasterers Self-adhesive Fibreglass Scrim Tape
• Refina Fine Orange Sponge Float
• Milwaukee M18 RADIUS Site Light/Charger
• Nela PlasticFLEX Trowel
• Nela Nelaflex Stainless Steel Trowel
More on plastering from Skill Builder.
Isolation valves are a wonderful thing and Roger loves fitting them wherever he can. You might recognise this boiler room, it’s the fourth episode we’ve shot in here. This job takes a while so you’ll also get a bit of Roger’s insight, some gripes, plumbing history and general musings from a man that has much to share with the audience that he loves.
Isolation valves or service valves are a life and time saver. We’ll show you how to fit an isolation valve to copper water pipes so that your appliances can be disconnected from the main water supply quickly and easily.
We prefer an isolating valve with a handle and the one used in our video is an Intaball Lever Ball Valve with red handle from Altecnic Plumbing and Heating Supplies.
#plumbing #boiler #DIY
Roger Bisby takes a closer look at Milwaukee’s Surge Power Impact driver which has been designed to reduce the noise at source rather than relying on PPE.
The impact driver has become most tradesman’s go to tool for fixings. Not only is it small and light it punches well above its weight.
Unlike a drill driver there is also no kickback so, no matter how much torque you are applying, you aren’t at risk of having your wrist wrenched around when the fixing reaches the end of its travel.
There is, however, one drawback which is all too apparent on any building site and that is the noise. If you are working in a tiled room with hard surfaces with a couple of impact drivers on the go it can actually become quite painful and that level of noise can also cause permanent damage to your ear drums.
It would be easy enough to wear ear plugs but if you aren’t the one using the tool you might not even have prior warning.
Milwaukee’s Surge Power Impact driver has been designed to reduce the noise at source rather than relying on PPE.
It uses hydraulic force rather than the old style hammer on an anvil. Instead of anvils being tapped around by spinning weights, as happens with conventional impact drivers, the Surge power forces hydraulic fluid through a port hole and it is this that hits the driver mechanism like a rapid succession of mini tsunamis, each one taking the rotor round a 1/4 of a revolution.
The impact is not only quieter it is more sustained being more of a push than a tap and it happens in two places at once. The oil, as all physics students know, is non compressible so any force applied at one end is delivered to the other with no measurable loss. That is the basis of all hydraulics and it has proven reliability.
The reduction in noise is at the top end of the scale so it has a disproportional benefit because, at that decibel level, a reduction of 10% halves the damage to the ear drums. There is some suggestion that in future many sites might even outlaw the older style impact drivers but that is down the line. By that time old noisy drivers may be a lot less common.
After an extensive 18-month bedding in period, Roger Bisby reviews his Vauxhall Vivaro 2900 1.6CDTI BiTurbo 125PS Sportive 2.9 H1 Double Cab.
Capabilities
Payload up to 1280kg. Cubic capacity up to 8.6 cubic metres. Low loading-height of 552mm. Width between wheel arches 1268mm. Can accommodate 8 x 4 ply and three
Euro-pallets
Fuel economy. When it comes to economy, Vivaro boasts a competitive combined fuel consumption of 47.0mpg and 155g/km CO2.
Despite the tragedy of the Grenfell fire in London last summer, an online poll has revealed that 50% of tradespeople don’t feel confident in advising customers on fire door safety.
Despite extensive media coverage about the dangers of inadequate fire protection in offices and homes since the disaster, less than 20% of tradespeople polled have seen an increase in demand for fire safety products or parts such as replacement intumescent strips for fire doors.
The results are published in support of Fire Door Safety Week (24 September – 30 September) which aims to raise awareness of the importance of fire doors in saving lives.
The poll followed a national survey of 2,000 adults across the country, carried out by online trade supplier IronmongeryDirect and supported by the Fire Industry Association. The results illustrate an alarming lack of general public awareness of the life-saving role of fire doors which are a legal requirement in all commercial, public and multi-occupancy buildings.
A particularly disturbing outcome was that 70% of respondents would not know who to contact if they noticed a problem with a fire door. In addition, almost one in two people surveyed admitted that they do not know how to identify a fire door.
Ian Moore, CEO at the Fire Industry Association, said: “Fire doors are one of many essential elements to keeping safe from fire. In all cases, a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment should be carried out by the responsible person – usually the building owner.
A fire risk assessment should determine, through thorough inspection, any potential risks or hazards so that they may be resolved. If you are worried about hazards and risks from fire, you can always contact us, the Fire Industry Association, for free and impartial information and we will be able to direct you to an expert on the subject.”
This research highlights the need for tradespeople and the wider public to be more aware of the essential role that fire doors play in keeping them safe. Fire doors are specifically designed to withstand fire for between 30 and 240 minutes and, when used correctly, they can make a significant difference in saving lives and protecting buildings.
In addition, 34% of people nationally said they would prop a fire door open to let in fresh air or give easier access, among other reasons.
According to the British Woodworking Federation, the organisation behind Fire Door Safety Week, three million fire doors are installed each year. However, they remain a significant area of neglect and should be regularly checked and maintained by those responsible for the upkeep of the building.
Managing Director of IronmongeryDirect, Wayne Lysaght-Mason, commented: “We are now over a year on from the Grenfell Tower fire and it is disturbing that a significant proportion of the general public appear to lack basic fire door knowledge.”
The safety campaign says that fire doors are often the first line of defence in a fire and their correct specification, maintenance and management can be the difference between life and death for building occupants.
Visit www.ironmongerydirect.co.uk for their 5-Point Fire Door guide.
See more about fire safety on Skill Builder
Roger tries out the MFE 40 diamond chaser from Metabo, a machine designed to take the hard work and dust out of cutting chases. But does it do that?
Having owned a diamond chaser and dust extractor for the past 15 years I am still slightly taken aback by how many trades still seem to do things the hard way.
By that, I mean using a small angle grinder with no dust extraction and a small SDS hammer. Not only is it a lot more dusty and unhealthy it is also slower and very often the impact damage causes minor cracks in the walls.
There are quite a lot of wall chasers out there but this MFE 40 from Metabo is sold as a kit with their dust extractor which means it is optimised.
It also couples up with no need for adaptors and it handles the dust created by the chaser with ease. It also has a low friction non-kink hose that is 4 metres long which means you can get the chaser close to the ceiling and still have some play on the hose.
Having owned a diamond chaser and dust extractor for the past 15 years I am still slightly taken aback by how many trades still seem to do things the hard way
The chaser is well thought out in most respects with plenty of power coming from a 1700watt motor 110 or 1900 240v.
You may think this is overkill but it is turning two or even three grooves at the same time and will cut up to 40mm deep.
It can also give you a totally cleaned chase so the motor has to be capable of removing a lot of material. Of course in dense concrete on a single deep pass the motor could still be struggling and for that reason, there is an LED light on either side to warn you of overload. If you see the light come on slow down.
Where this chaser really stands out from the competition is in the blade change. You can make a single cut with one blade or a dual cut with two, or, by fitting the offset double for 20mm or even a triple blade for 30mm you can remove all the material and save having to break out the middle of the chase. It also saves a lot of sweeping up.
The blade change to achieve all these variations is probably the easiest of any chaser out there with no need to split the housing to remove the discs. By using the spacers I managed to get the cutter width adjusted to exactly the width of the plastic conduit which meant it hardly needed anything to hold it in the chase.
You can actually use Omega wall slot clips and just pop the conduit in but I used a bit of Soudal adhesive spotted on the back.
If you have never used a diamond chaser you need to know that there is a direction of travel. In other words, you are working into the uncut chase rather than away from it.
If you have never used a diamond chaser you need to know that there is a direction of travel. In other words, you are working into the uncut chase rather than away from it.
If you run the opposite way to the arrow dust will escape the hood through the lines you have already cut. That is all standard stuff but for me, the problem with this machine is that you are pushing it up the wall rather than down.
It is a lot harder work than simply placing it up at the top and leaning on it while it gently falls by gravity. Who would not want to make use of gravity?
It is free and (as far as I know) available worldwide. Having used Metabo wall chasers that did work from the top down I couldn’t understand why they suddenly thought it was a good idea to turn the whole thing on its head.
I checked with the manufacturer and they told me that they had researched the market and been told that users wanted to see the line they were chasing and this is easier if you are cutting upwards. Also on the horizontal, it is easier to push than pull.
I love this machine and it is a great price so if pushing up the wall is not a problem for you I can recommend it. The dust extractor which comes in the kit is a formidable M class machine.
I have used many others which are in most respects the same so I don’t know if this is a Metabo machine or simply badged up but it works and has no problem doing the job. Buying them together is the way to go but it will work with other dust extractors.
One in ten home building projects fail to please homeowners, leaving a trail of unhappy customers, according to new research from the Federation of Master Builders (FMB).
Of the homeowners who are unhappy with their building work, the top reasons cited include shoddy workmanship (49%), cost overruns (27%) and delays (23%).
However, most of these issues can be avoided if homeowners stick to the ‘Keep away from the Cowboys’ checklist that the FMB has prepared.
Master Builders have to pass an independent inspection, as well as credit and director checks before they can join the FMB.
They can also offer warranties on their work and have access to free written contracts that help protect both parties.
The FMB also offers a dispute resolution service should any problems arise.
The ‘Keep away from the Cowboys’ checklist is issued by the FMB and includes the following advice for homeowners:
Helen Patterson was one of those who felt let down by her builder: “I am absolutely distraught. My emotions are all over the place and my house is in a terrible state of disrepair.
It was supposed to be the start of building my dream home and suddenly it was in complete ruins – the man responsible, who I had trusted with my hard-earned cash, just disappeared.
This has left me in a financially difficult situation wishing I had used a builder that had been vetted by a more reliable third party to avoid this sort of thing happening.”
The ‘Keep away from the Cowboys’ checklist can be downloaded from the FMB website.
Nearly a quarter (24%) of people consider a lack of quality of build to be a major disadvantage of buying a new build home over an older property, according to a recent survey by BLP Insurance, a specialist residential warranty and commercial latent defects insurer.
People living in the north of England (29%) were more likely to view a lack of quality of construction as a major disadvantage of new build homes compared to those people living in London and the south east (21%).
Other disadvantages of new builds identified by respondents included lack of character (26%), the size of rooms (24%), and price (21%). Respondents aged 16-24 see cost (32%) as the biggest disadvantage of buying a new build home while respondents over the age of 55 think cost (18%) is the least important factor with the lack of character (30%) the principal drawback of buying a new build.
The survey also revealed that 29% of people do not believe there were any benefits in purchasing a new build home; those over 55 are especially sceptical about the advantages (41%).
Kim Vernau, CEO of BLP Insurance, said: “Poor build quality is an increasing issue in the UK housing market.
As developers attempt to meet the high levels of demand for new homes, practical design and quality is being compromised.
As more and more buyers become aware of the issues that poor quality of build gives rise to, all parties involved in the construction of new homes will have to respond, taking greater responsibility and ensuring quality of the build process going forward.”
Roger discusses an issue that is common in new builds in this recent video:
Roger Bisby takes a look at Snickers brand new Workwear 6241 Stretch Trousers with Holster Pockets which are available from September 2018.
Workwear goes street smart in these stretchy work trousers that feature slimmer legs for a clean, technical look. Stretch Cordura at the knees combined with a 4-way stretch at the back provides great flexibility and comfort. Features include:
Klober is offering a vent tile matching and granulation service to help roofing contractors and developers achieve the highest aesthetic possible for their roofs.
The service allows customers to achieve a consistent finish across potentially conspicuous components and the roof as a whole, to deliver a top-quality look, especially on higher end developments.
Customers submit a sample of tile to a dedicated department at the company’s head office in Castle Donington, which then seeks to deliver a match in texture and colour. The department also holds a collection of popular stock tiles from a wide range of manufacturers – such as Redland – for reference purposes. Ideally, the custom vents will be provided within five days.
Most granulation is on Klober’s Plain Tile Vents, which are kept in stock, with the Uni-Plain Tile Vent with brown granulation being the most common. All other vents are refinished to order. The service is incredibly popular with over 23,000 vents being matched and/ or granulated last year.
Half of the UK’s 18-24 year olds feel pressure to go to university.
This problem has become more pronounced, with this age group having been four times more likely to experience pressure to study for a degree than +55 year olds, according to new research by the Federation of Master Builders (FMB).
Key results from the FMB’s research into people’s attitudes about university include:
• Half of 18-24 year olds felt pressurised by parents, teachers, friends, and/or society in general, to go to university
• The younger the generation, the more likely they were to have felt pressurised into attending university
• 12% of +55 year olds felt pressure to go to university
• 23% of 45-54 year olds felt pressured to go to university
• 30% of 35-44 year olds felt pressured to go to university
• 40% of 25-34 year olds felt pressured to go to university
• 50% of 18-24 year olds felt pressured to go to university
Commenting on the research, Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB, said: “It is deeply concerning that half of the nation’s young people felt pressurised into going to university.
Indeed, this new research shows a pattern: the younger the generation, the more likely they were to feel pressurised into studying for a degree.
In the past, academic education was often favoured over vocational studies but this view was always questionable and is now outdated.
recent research showed that the average university graduate in England earns £32,000 a year whereas your average bricklayer or roofer is earning £42,000 a year
“With GCSE results having just been published, we are urging students to give other career paths such as vocational training and apprenticeships serious consideration. A construction apprenticeship can lead to a fulfilling and rewarding career. Our recent research showed that the average university graduate in England earns £32,000 a year whereas your average bricklayer or roofer is earning £42,000 a year.”
Berry concluded: “The construction industry is facing a severe skills shortage and it’s therefore of utmost importance that more young people join the sector. We are calling on all parents and teachers to encourage those who are finding out their GCSE results today to consider a career in construction. We know that nearly all of the key trades have become harder to recruit in the second quarter of this year compared to the previous three months.
But construction isn’t just mud and boots, there are careers of all kinds up for grabs including engineering and quantity surveying. The only way we can guarantee enough skilled construction workers in the future is by attracting more young people into the sector and training them to a high standard.”
Skill Builder’s ‘Day in the life’ feature takes a look at a typical day in the life of different tradespeople. In this installment, we talk to Plumber/Carpenter and married father of three Stuart Roache, the winner of Screwfix’s Top Tradesperson 2018.
After deciding on a career change at the age of 30 Stuart trained at night college for six-years before becoming qualified in both joinery and plumbing. He is now devoted to supporting adult learners and plans to recruit and train them so they are equipped with the skills and knowledge they need to also succeed.
Name: Stuart Roache
Trade: Plumber/Carpenter
Company: Abington Home Maintenance
What time does your day start?
I’m normally up by 7am to put the kettle on and usually out the door by 8am.
What gets you out of bed in the morning?
My customers! Business is very busy for me and I have jobs booked in and deadlines to meet, so the loyalty to my customers to be on time is key to me.
What does a typical day entail for you?
I don’t really have a typical day as such, yes I have jobs booked in but that could all change very quickly as I could get a call for an emergency job that needs doing straight away so my day can change at the drop of a hat, but normally I would get up in the morning and check e-mails and take names and numbers of people that I need to ring during the day, whilst I am out I will collect materials for jobs and re-stock my van with parts, I would then go to the 1st job and work through the day on jobs booked in, when I eventually get home I would spend an hour or so doing quotes for jobs I’ve looked at previously.
When I do bigger jobs like re-furbs I project manage a team of tradespeople that I use and trust and organize all the materials needed and a schedule of works to complete the job on time but also balance all of my other workload as well.
What’s the best thing about your job?
That every day is different, I like to challenge myself with different jobs and how to approach things differently, I’m proud of what I have been able to achieve after re-training at night college for 6 years after wanting a career change at the age of 30.
What’s the worst thing about your job?
Paperwork and lots of it …. Oh and a disorganized van!
What qualifications do you have?
NVQ level 3 plumbing
NVQ level 3 carpentry
Are you a member of any professional alliances/associations?
Currently I am not a member of any professional alliance but I am looking to join APHC in the near future.
What tool couldn’t you live without?
My grips, I use them nearly on every job!
What do you drive?
For work I drive a VW Transporter it’s a proper work horse and is so reliable
For pleasure I have a VW Golf but this will change at some point as I have a new Mitsubishi
Warrior that will be arriving soon which was the top prize for winning Screwfix Tradesperson of the year 2018!
What do you do to unwind?
Being members of the National Trust allows days away with my wife Lise. Walks with my dog
Aston and throwing Bbqs for family and friends when the weathers good!
What piece of advice would you give to an up and coming apprentice?
Knuckle down, get on with your work and take in as much knowledge as possible because when you’re on your own doing a job in the real world there’s nobody there to show you how to get out of a sticky situation, and that’s when you have to think on your feet.
A disgruntled builder has destroyed a £2.5 million row of newly built cottages in a dispute over pay.
Pics. @EHertsRrlPolice
Neighbours are said to have seen the man laughing and taking photos while he began demolishing the buildings.
According to the sun neighbours confronted the builder, concerned their homes would be next but the builder said he was only damaging properties on which he was owed money.
The houses were reportedly due to be occupied in weeks but now some of them may now need to be pulled down.
According to Hertfordshire police the offender is in custody while enquiries continue.
Roundup weedkiller could be pulled from British shelves after a $289m US lawsuit finds a link to cancer.
Homebase and B&Q are reviewing weedkiller products after a terminal cancer sufferer was awarded £226m compensation in the US.
This has prompted Roger Bisby to look at the products that he uses every day in building work to see if there’s anything he should be worried about.
The latest clothing styles from Snickers Workwear promise to make working in cooler weather easier and more comfortable.
Each style incorporates the latest in market-leading designs and stretch fabric technology.
There’s 37.5 high-tech undergarments, plus jackets, trousers and accessories added to the RUFFWork, FLEXIWork and ALLROUND clothing families for both professional craftsmen and women as well as the hi-vis garment collection for maximum safety and wellbeing.
They’re all working clothes that are said to deliver superb functionality, comfort, protection, and are equipped for any task at hand.
Complemented by Snickers’ Profiling and Embroidery services and an extensive range of garment sizes, Snickers’ Workwear System delivers the ultimate solution to make every man and woman’s workday easier and safer.
For more information, visit www.snickersworkwear.co.uk alternatively, call the Snickers Helpline on 01484 854788.
Roger visits a £500,000 newbuild to solve a leaking shower issue that is so common it’s almost a national epidemic.
It’s a familiar scenario. A homeowner finds a wet patch on the ceiling of the room below a tiled bath or shower room so, assuming there is a leak under the shower or bath, they have a go at solving the problem themselves with some silicone sealant. This solves the problem temporarily but signs of the leak under shower keep returning.
More often than not the problem is that what’s behind the tiles – plasterboard – simply isn’t up to the job.
Modern housebuilders often lay tiles on to plasterboard because it’s the cheapest material available and it looks fine initially but at some point, it is more than likely to let the homeowner down when the grouting starts to fail and water seeps in through the cracks.
Plasterboard is like paper and once the water finds its way in it will swell and degrade and give way to leaks and sometimes rot can even set in before there are any outward signs of the problem.
It’s much better to lay onto a decent board designed for tiles or to use a system such as the Elements board from Abacus Bathrooms demonstrated by Roger in this video.
It’s unfortunately not uncommon for people to replace plasterboard with more plasterboard so the whole sorry cycle is destined to be repeated.
See the modern solution to a waterproof bathroom with Abacus.
The Hultafors Group which owns Snickers Workwear, Solid Gear Safety Footwear and Hultafors Tools has acquired Hellberg Safety.
Hellberg Safety is a specialised supplier of PPE Equipment which includes highly advanced hearing protection products, face protection and communication solutions for personal protection.
David Clark, managing director of the Hultafors Group UK says, “We are delighted with this acquisition given that Hellberg PPE products complement the Snickers Workwear and Solid Gear Safety Footwear product portfolios perfectly – in particular the recently extended Snickers Workwear Hi-Vis working clothes range “.
“We will now be able to offer the UK market an even more extensive range of top quality premium brand products, ideally suited to protect the personal wellbeing and safety of the discerning professional tradesman and woman”.
Getting information on the new Hellberg Safety product range is easy – call the Snickers Workwear Helpline on 01484 854788 or checkout the website
Warmer weather brings with it a need for tradespeople to be cool and dry – to maintain well being and working efficiency.
That’s why Snickers’ new working clothes for the summer uses 37.5 fabric technology which is really good at ‘wicking’ moisture away from the body and keeping you dry.
In the Snickers Workwear FLEXIWork, LITEWork and RUFFWork product families, there’s NEW Shirts, Shorts and Work Trousers that are super-light and quick-drying with advanced ventilation to keep you cool in the heat.
They’ve all got superb, body-mapping designs for an amazing fit, outstanding functionality and long-lasting comfort – all day, every day.
A Manchester-based property developer has been sentenced after the roof and part of the rear wall collapsed at one of his properties during demolition works.
Manchester Crown Court heard how Riaz Ahmad appointed a group of workers, who had no experience in construction, to carry out demolition work at a property in Oldham. On 11 August 2017, after receiving a call from Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council’s building control department, a HSE inspector visited the site and found almost all the internal walls and supports of the roof had been taken out. A Prohibition Notice was served preventing any further work and a major road running past the building was closed.
Riaz Ahmad appointed a group of workers, who had no experience in construction, to carry out demolition work at a property in Oldham
A day later, it was agreed that there was no safe way of accessing the building and Oldham MBC obtained an order to demolish the building. It was soon after this that the roof and wall collapsed. This triggered an emergency response involving Greater Manchester Police and the Fire Service, during which properties were evacuated and the area cordoned off. Oldham Borough Council arranged for an emergency demolition of the remainder of building to take place later that day. Local businesses faced significant disruption as the site was made safe.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), found the collapse could have been prevented had a principal contractor been appointed and a suitable risk assessment been carried out. These steps could have ensured the stability of the building during the demolition with regards to temporary works and control measures such as scaffolding. Mr Ahmad did not suitably plan the work as he employed unskilled workers, neglected the risks from working at height and stability of the building, failed to provide them with basic welfare facilities and did not consider several health hazards.
Riaz Ahmad, of Dickenson Road, Manchester, was found guilty of breaching Section 2 (1) and Section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and Regulation 19 (1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. He was sentenced to eight months imprisonment for each offence (to run concurrently) and was order to pay prosecution costs of £65,000.
In his sentencing of Mr Ahmad, the Judge remarked that: “This was a very serious case indeed. It was nothing short of a miracle that only one person was injured. A clear statement has to be made to those who undertake significant projects such as this, namely that health and safety legislation has to be adhered to for good reason, and those who ignore its basic tenets will receive punishment.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector David Argument said: “The incident could so easily have been avoided by simply carrying out correct control measures and safe working practices.
“Duty holders should be aware that HSE will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action against those that fall below the required standards”.
