Skill Builder’s Roger Bisby tries out the latest offering from Faulks the Gorilla brooms range. Gorilla tubs, you’ve heard of them I’m sure, well these brushes and brooms come out of the same Faulks stable, except of course, you don’t keep Gorillas in a stable. The approach with the brooms is exactly the same as the tubs, find a problem and …
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Skill Builder takes a closer look at two products from Youngman; their GPR steps and the Stair-scaffold. Youngman is arguably the most famous name in ladders and their range seems to be growing particlularly as it includes Boss towers. The latest product we have been sent to evaluate is their GRP steps. If you see a pair of GRP steps …
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Skill builder takes one small step for man as we try out a new footwear product from Base. It seems to me that every time I try out a new pair of work boots or shoes they blow my socks off. I am talking metaphorically of course but the innovation that now goes into protective footwear means that we are …
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Deciding between a green roof and photovoltaics (PV) has been a question faced by many over recent years when designing a flat roof; however these two technologies are no longer mutually exclusive with the introduction of Bauder BioSOLAR, which will be officially launched at this year’s Ecobuild. A biosolar roof is the successful combination of biodiverse and extensive green roofs …
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Roger Bisby takes a walk across some Isosonic Dekfloor 30 from Thermal Economics as it is being installed in a refurbishment project. Sound insulation can be a tricky business, things that work well in the laboratory may fair less well on site. There are so many things that can undo all that design work, a nail, a screw or a …
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Husqvarna has introduced the VARI-CUTTM blade, a cost efficient premium diamond blade designed to cut almost anything a general contractor comes across on a workday including pipe, steel rebar, bricks, blocks and concrete slabs. No need to switch blades The versatile, fast and durable diamond blade is launched as a universal blade, combining a wide application window with fast cutting speed …
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National risk management expert Lucion Services is offering a free online training course aimed at helping busy construction industry workers refresh their knowledge of the hazards and risks posed by asbestos-containing materials (ACMs). The online course takes just 45-60 minutes to complete and provides a quick and efficient refresher for those who need to be compliant with regulation 10 of …
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“The extreme winter weather, having ruined Christmas for tens of thousands and likely to cost the country up to £1.5bn, serves to remind those concerned with building design, construction and management of the important role PVC-U building products can play in adding flood resistant and resilience to homes actually and potentially threatened with disaster”, says Chris Coxon, Head of Marketing …
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Most people have some idea what an infra red thermometer does and also what a thermal imaging camera does but this tool sits somewhere between the two, explains Roger Bisby of the Bosch GIS 1000 C. I don’t mind admitting that it took me a while to work out exactly what the Bosch GIS 1000 does for a living. I …
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Roger Bisby tests the Hitachi DH25 DAL cordless SDS hammer drill. Hitachi is a power tool manufacturer that often gets overlooked for hammer drills. I see their saws out on site and they do well with the cordless combis but from that evidence alone they don’t seem to have the same share of the hammer market. When you compare the …
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The ICS Diamond Chainsaw cuts through both skins of a cavity wall which is something you can’t achieve with a cut-off saw or angle grinder.
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Ernie Cook, the master bricklayer, who I had the pleasure of working for in my teens used to say “The worst thing that has happened to the building industry is cement”. It was a bit of an exaggeration but we spent a lot of time travelling around London and the South East putting right the work of bricklayers who were …
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Roger talks about ladder safety after a recent tragedy on a site he was working at. In this episode we see Roger using the Youngman Fibreglass Stepladder and the versatile Hunter Ladder from Ladder Safety Devices, we also see his neat ladder seat which sadly isn’t available anymore, so you’ll have to borrow Roger’s. “A few weeks ago I was …
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Roger shows you just how easy it is to cut and fit coving using SuperCove. SuperCove lightweight coving is available from many good builders merchants and DIY stores throughout the UK and Ireland, in various length options up to 4 metres. With super-light SuperCove, you can fix coving quickly and easily – adding value to your home with the minimum …
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Regulars will know I'm underwhelmed by government’s Green Deal and the way the RHI favours companies willing to cut the red tape required to become an approved contractor.
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It never ceases to amaze me how many politicians never seem to see beyond their next move. They certainly aren’t chess players. Yet again we see another politician blundering into a trap as obvious as any fools mate. His eye is firmly fixed on the immediate prize and he seems to be blind to the dangers. If only he could …
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The British government has been working on ‘The Green Deal’ for several years now. It was originally the brainchild of the previous Labour government but the coalition took the idea on and brought it to fruition. I say ‘fruition’ but that is hardly an accurate description because it has failed to even blossom let alone bear fruit. There are currently …
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I came across this building up at Snape Maltings on the Suffolk coast. The original building was almost gone and the new owners could have taken it apart bit by bit and rebuilt it with lime mortar importing used bricks to make up the considerable deficiency. …there’s a touch of Antony Gormley’s Angel of The North in letting the metal …
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