Monday 10 November 2014

Perspex V.S. Polycarbonate (Cut-To-Size)

The other day I received what will become my shed window, and though not what I initially set out to use, I am extremely happy with my purchase. As you may know, I am a fan of Perspex. Always have been (since August). But after carrying out a bit or research I found something that would suit my purposes that little bit more.

This time around I have chosen to go with polycarbonate, which is one of those things that I know I have heard about before but have no idea where, when or how I ever would have. I admit that I feel like a bit of a Judas for so readily betraying my beloved Perspex, but in the words of 4 lovely 90's singers 'Cest la Vie'.
I still have this album somewhere
I doubt I have earned my place inside the mouth of the giant serpent in the bottom, icy level of Dante's hell however, as I did remain loyal to my plastic providers (look below), which must surly count for something. Anyway, I ordered my Polycarbonate cut to size so that I would have to do as little work as possible and once the three of them arrived, on Thursday morning, I had them up and running straight away, on Sunday afternoon.
Polycarbonate against glass (& my hand...& my naked bush)

Probably should have cleaned 

Let me know what you think of my handiwork; you're gonna be jealous (don't be, it's the cut to size polycarbonate that makes it look good not my amateurish fumblings. In fact you can get your very own right here).  

My shed with new windows in & old windows out

Oh! and in case you were wondering, Call Of Duty is going very well, and I have no doubt it will keep me occupied until the new Assassins Creed(s) comes out on Friday! I have 0 idea which I am going to play first.....probably AC: Rogue as though AC: Unity is set in a cool time period, Rogue sounds like it has an awesome storyline. I shall let you know.




Monday 3 November 2014

Winter DIY

Apologies for the lack of blogging recently, I have been rather fortunate in that I have not had to do any DIY for like 3 month; but it would seem the well from which my good fortune sprang from has run dry,

Yes indeed, I have been tasked with completing various DIY orientated tasks in preparation for what is apparently going to be coldest winter in over 100 years, or so we hear from reputable source such as:

The Express,

The Bristol Post,
and various other news outletts that seem to enjoy riling people up and being constantly pesimistic.

Anyway, I have been 'encouraged' to ready our various garden fixtures for the inevidable ice age that's coming our way. It could be worse though I have to admit, I have been waiting for an excuse to use some more plastic ever since I attached those Perspex sheets to my stair case back in August, and as I shall be putting in some new shed windows I think I may just have to turn to my new glass-like plastic friend.

I intend to do this over the next couple of days, as I have a bit of time off work, so pictures of my glorious new plastic shed windows will follow soon (but not too soon as I am about to head to Game to pick up my copy of Call Of Duty Advanced Warfare).     

Thursday 28 August 2014

Rainy Day DIY

So I got hold of my aluminium angles! Hurrah!!!! They certainly are shiny and metallic, and they got here super-quick, so what more could I ask for? I have yet to drill them or anything mind, but you guys have seen what the weather has been like of late, and there is no way I am going out to do work in that; I might catch a cold.

One of my rather fetching Aluminium Angles

<sarcasm>Fortunately for me there is always work to be done indoors</sarcasm> and I whilst I would rather spend my weekends watching TV, having a drink with some buddies, messing around on the PC or -heaven forbid - relaxing with my wife. Alas, my wife prefers to relax sans my company, which I'm pretty sure is why she has conceived all of these DIY projects for me to accomplish.

She isn't all bad mind, as she does give me a choice of which of her DIY projects I would prefer to accomplish; so at least I do have some say in the matter. True to my nature, I decided to go for something that would also benefit me, and as my little ones and I enjoy a bit of corridor football, I decided to fabricate a guard for the upstairs landing / stairway.

Basically, our landing and stairwell are made for grown-up who cannot (and have no desire or inclination to) slip in between the slats and go tumbling down the stairs. Sadly meine frau thinks that one day the kids may fancy doing just that; which is why I have fix it.....

I thought to myself "Self, no matter what you do, this is not gonna look great; so lets try to minimise its eye-cathyness", this was quite the brain wave, as it really focused my mind on what I would need - something transparent. Glass would obviously have been a poor choice (what with corridor football and all), so I scoped out some Plexiglass (AKA Perspex or clear acrylic sheeting - who knew?).

Plastic is not normally the kind of thing I would go for, but I have to say I would happily divorce my wife and marry this stuff if I were able. She will have to remain as "my beard" sadly, as lets be honest people still complain that two guys / gals can marry; they'd probably explode if some dude tried to wed a clear acrylic Perspex sheet.

Anywho, I found a pretty neat guide on how to drill acrylic sheets, from the website that I ordered my cut to size acrylic sheets from (they were a handy bunch, I will probably use them again); so once the lovably easy-to-use sheets arrived, I followed the easy-to-follow drilling instructions, attached them to the bannister, and was done is less than an hour.

My Glorious Handy Work
I. Am. Awesome.

Monday 18 August 2014

Wooden Planters & My Aluminium Solution

Well here it is, my first actual post on DIY. It’s only going to be a short one because, frankly, it was only a short project (even for me!)

We’ve had a revamp of our garden lately (not by me, I must add) by some very professional and hard-working guys and it looks fantastic. There’s plenty of space for friends and family when the sun is out, a lovely patio and some great raised planters which my wife has been keen on for ages.

And while they are great, we’ve noticed a bit of a problem at the corners which I decided to fix myself. They are constructed from wood, so when the corners come together there are some unfinished edges which can be a problem when you’re working on the plants or the kids are around. We’ve both received a few splinters over the past few weeks and I’ve had to tell the kids not to go near them.

Anyway, I was considering getting the gardeners back to have a look, but then I visited a friend who had smaller, individual planters that were similar, only they were freestanding. His pots had strips of aluminium round the side, adding a nice finish and making them look more attractive too. So I decided to do a bit of research on it and it seems the best thing to use for me was aluminium angle.

I’d seen a few pieces of info on it online, and obviously anyone with a basic knowledge of aluminium will know it’s a good choice. The main benefit to me in this instance is that it’s rust-proof, but it can also be painted which is great if we change our mind in future and want a different look.

Anyway, I bought the right bits of aluminium angle online and they were all cut to the right size, so I didn’t need to go out and hire any tools. Once they arrived, I just drilled a hole through, got my screws ready and secured them to the flowerbeds. To be honest, I thought it was going to be much more difficult than that, but it was pretty easy! So I’d recommend trying it, even if you don’t think you know what you’re doing.

*Hopefully pictures coming soon!

Thursday 14 August 2014

Welcome To My Blog - Expect DIY Tips, Tricks & Hints

Hey there!

Welcome to my blog, the incredibly cleverly named, imDIYing (get it? i'm DIY-ing / i'm dying; it really is very clever). In case the name of my blog didn't make it very clear, I am not a fan of doing it myself. As a matter of fact I would much rather to pay some nice gentleman (or lady) to come over to my house and do it for me; but alas they tend to be expensive and I would rather spend what little money I am able to keep to myself on comics, lego and other things that my wife insists ought to belong to our son. 

Frankly I think she is being unfair, I mean our daughter may enjoy comics and lego too; girls can like that kinna stuff too, just like some boys enjoy tap dancing (Michael Flatley in the 1994 Eurovision song contest; just wow). I have told her to keep her rampant sexism in check, but she insists on being all "men do these things, women do these things, memememmememememe". 

This is actually part of the reason why I have decided to start blogging (something I promised myself I would never do), because you see, as a result of the aforementioned rampant sexism I have been - and still am being - practically forced into carrying out all sorts of DIY shenanigans. So please, consider this my place to vent and your place to laugh hysterically at my misfortune and the occasional mediocre witticism.

But no, I do intend to impart some actual knowledge on here, including DIY materials I have used, where I sourced them from, what I made (or tried to make) with them, and all sorts of other general DIY tips. Now i am sure that some people reading this will suddenly think to themselves "por qué?"! And its a good question, considering how much I A) dislike and B) suck at DIY why would I do a blog about DIY.

Well basically the reason why I would do this is because I am a real swell guy and I don't want others to suffer in the same way I have too....Also I have a tremendously sized ego and seek constant approval for even the smallest, most insignificant thing I achieve; and this seems like as good a way as any! I may also set up a DIY Pinterest board to further my reach, I really have not decided yet.

Anyway I have set this up at a good time as it will soon by DIY season at the Kord household, so please stay tuned and thanks for swinging by!