Handyman's tips and tricks

Handyman tips

If you feel like a handyman yourself, here are a few tips you might find useful.

  • Use the correct fixings for solid and hollow walls or use Fisher universal fixings
  • Hold a piece of paper against the wall and under the drill bit while drilling a hole in the wall to collect the dust and make less mess.
  • I prefer using a screwdriver bit set with a handle to the usual screwdriver set. The tips, especially of cross-headed screwdrivers, don't last long - why replace the whole screwdriver when you can replace just the bit? Furthermore, with a bit set you will always have the correct bit for the screw at hand, which makes life a lot easier.
  • To fasten a screw in its old worn out hole you can take it out, knock in a suitably sized wood splinter and then put the screw back in. If the hole is badly worn, dril it to the suitable size and insert a dowel in it with some wood glue. Then drill a pilot hole and put your screw in. /Dowels are the wooden pins used commonly when assembling flat packed furniture./
  • The easiest way to make a straight cut in a plasterboard sheet is by using a stanley knife and a level. Put the level where you want the cut and press down on it so it doesn't move while you are cutting with the knife along it. You should go 1/3 to 1/2 of the thickness of the sheet. Next hold the sheet vertical and tap with the handle of the knife on the other side of the board, opposite the cut. The plaster will snap along the cut, and then you just have to cut the paper which is still holding it along the formed crease.
  • Finally, nowadays for almost every job there is a specifically designed material and/or tool - before you improvise a solution, google the job to see if you can get it done better, faster and easier.