Roger Bisby takes a look at the Wale Tale (sic), a device designed to minimise the spread of dust when mixing construction powders. Dust and the related health issues are a ticking time bomb in the building industry. Everyone knows about asbestos and most intelligent people do everything they can to avoid exposure to it but dust doesn’t begin and …
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UKATA explains what to do when the best laid plans fail. In the light of several cases where asbestos has been incorrectly removed, or improperly disposed of, the UK Asbestos Training Association (UKATA) is reminding everyone of best practice on how to handle asbestos and while all steps should be taken to avoid accidents, what needs to be done in …
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The partial collapse of a school wall in Scotland has led to the closure of 17 other schools in Scotland while urgent checks are carried out. Thankfully nobody was killed or injured in this incident but it does raise some interesting points; first about the design of these 10 year old buildings and also about the inspection during the build. A …
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Dunlop has launched a brand new rapid-drying filler as an addition to its Pro Décor range. Now available at builders and decorators merchants across the country, Rapid Rescue Repair Filler, with Hydroloc is suitable for quick fix or emergency repairs. Available in 1kg bags, the rapid-drying filler helps decorators sort out the multitude of problems often faced before applying paint or …
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Every diamond blade manufacturer claims to have a blade that cuts everything but we all know that no blade can be optomised for best performance in all materials. If it performs well on one material it will perform less well on another. Usually the division is between hard and soft and Husqvarna has acknowledged that fact in giving you the …
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After 25 years of Stihl, Roger gets to grips with his first chainsaw from Makita, the Makita DCS5121 18″ 50cc. The chainsaw features Easy Start, Spring-Assisted Starter for Quick Starting with Less Force and a number of other unique features. Watch the product test to see Roger’s verdict. Features of the Makita DCS5121 18″ 50cc include: – Compact design with less …
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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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There are two kinds of product tests that I carry out for Skill Builder, explains Roger Bisby. The first is to take a brand new tool out of the box and give my immediate impressions by taking it out on site and hopefully letting a few of my fellow workers give it a go to get their opinions. This has …
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In this ten minute video, Roger shows us how to solder copper pipework and achieve leak-free plumbing that will last. “The first thing is cleaning the pipe. If you got a bit of tarnished pipe like some of this which I have just taken out of the shed, it really is no good, even with self-cleaning fluxes. That won’t polish …
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The recent incident of The Apollo Theatre ceiling collapsing on the audience thankfully resulted in no deaths, though it appears there are some very serious injuries. No doubt even many of those lucky enough to have escaped unscathed will have nightmares and may hesitate to enter old buildings for a while. At the very least they will become habitual ceiling …
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It’s raining again and it looks set to carry on for days. My daughter phoned to say that the problem of damp around one of her windows has returned. She lives on top of a hill and the gable end of her house catches everything that nature can chuck at it. We have had all summer to fix the problem …
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The golden rule that I have followed through years of fault finding is ‘never assume and never jump to conclusions’. OK that is two golden rules but the basic message is never say you know something until you prove it. This has stood me in good stead where other tradesmen have come and gone from a job missing one small …
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Skill Builder Guides & reviews for building and construction
