Ian's kitchens, Bathrooms, Renovations

15/02/2020

Because I have just fitted a kitchen for a friend, I thought I would post this tip to save time and improve the accuracy of fitting door handles. The template in the first photo that I used can be bought from Castorama for under €5. This template can then be used to make sure all the handles are in the same position and once you are set you can mark out the other handle positions in seconds. I always put a small amount of masking tape on the holes I want to use for marking out labeling it for left or right, as if the handle is say 5 holes from the top for a R/H door when you flip the template over for the L/H door this could be a different position. Also, don't forget to clamp a piece of wood to the back of the door when drilling, this way it helps prevent the hole from shattering when you breakthrough.

09/02/2020

I saw this little idea a few minutes ago and thought for somethings it could come in very handy. Using a photocopy machine to make a simple drilling template.

07/02/2020

Today I am recommending what I think is a very handy app for my telephone. As I have got older, I find I need to make more and more lists for stuff, such as items I need to buy from Leroy Merlin, or the sizes of the discs on my van.

I discovered this handy app for my phone called ColorNote.
https://www.colornote.com/feature-overview/

With This app I can start new lists or add to old lists easily, such as Leroy Merlin, I am sure most of us don't want to make a special trip for something, so I have it as a list on this app, then every time I think of something I need to buy from Leroy Merlins I add it to the list, simple. This works well for me as like a lot of people I seem to carry my phone everywhere, so hence all the little lists I make are always to hand.

Taking it one step further, whilst working to remember dimensions I used to just write them on any piece of scrap that was to hand, or on a good day put masking tape on the side of my tape and write the dimension on the side of the tape, now I just create a new note on colornote. Or having written the dimensions on maybe an immovable object take a photo of the dimensions.

One last little thing on making notes, an old engineering trick is if you are having a problem with a job, walk away from it and sleep on it. The solution often comes to you whilst you are sleeping, I then keep a notebook and paper by the side of the bed and write the solution down there and then, job sorted and I sleep well as I have written the solution down and it is off my mind.

03/02/2020

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I fit kitchens and Bathrooms covering all aspects from design to construction. Including helping the

01/02/2020

30/01/2020

Today’s tip may be a bit more obscure. When I cut tiles for sockets light switches etc. I like to use diamond hole saws, they can be bought relatively cheap on eBay. For instance the one in the photo cost £6.49 Inc. delivery.
I have modified and old drill press to do this job but you can do it with just a piece hardboard. First off, if you do it with hardboard, cut a hole in a piece of hardboard using the hole saw. Then place the hardboard over the area you have marked out for cutting and then grip it in place. This will stop the hole saw skidding around whilst cutting a hole. Then personally I like to cut the holes wet, this makes the core drill last longer. You can do this by simply pouring water onto the tile as you cut or use the simple method that I use.
My method is to get an old plastic bottle with a cap and drill a small hole in it maybe half way down the side 2 or 3mm diameter, the size is not that important. Whilst covering the hole with a finger fill the container with water, when full put the top on the container. If the top is a good fit water will not come out. Then to get water out unscrew the top a little, water will then come out of the hole and as you can see by my video very little water is used. Whilst a cut a hole in the tile look at the top of the bottle and see how little the water goes down.

30/01/2020

If you want to use a core drill or holesaw, here are a few tips that may help you. I will just refer to holesaw from here on in but the tips generally work for both.

• Firstly after marking out wherever you want your hole, drill a pilot hole using the pilot drill that comes with your core holesaw set. Do this before putting the hole saw onto the arbour, this way you have a guide for the holesaw, also a lot of the times you cannot see where you marked the hole once the holesaw is on the arbour as the hole saw covers your markings.
• Set your drill on the screw setting (if you have it) and set the number at a point you can cope with. If you set it at the midpoint to start with, if the clutch kicks in and the hole saw is not cutting you can increase it to a higher setting. I suggest this because if you use the holesaw with your drill set to drilling, a lot of the times the holesaw will stop but the drill itself will then rotate, this can hurt your wrist or worse.
• If struggling to drill a core drill hole in wood, start drilling the hole so that it at least scores the surface then you can drill relief holes just inside the score marks. This will reduce the pressure required to drill and help remove the dust.
• If you have drilled the wrong size hole. I can offer three options to get around this. First, drill a hole in a piece of ply to the new size that you want, then cover the old hole with this piece of ply and use the ply as a guide clamping it down if possible. Secondly, wrap masking tape around the plug that came out of your first hole until it is a snug fit, then push the plug into the hole (if you have time you can just glue this plug in) and then use the larger holesaw along with the pilot hole as a guide to drill the new hole. The third option is to put your new larger holesaw onto the arbour then screw the smaller holesaw onto the arbour and use the smaller holesaw as a guide for the bigger holesaw.
• If however you have drilled the hole in the wrong position or have an existing hole, mark where you want your new hole, then drill a hole in a piece of ply, place this over where you have marked where you want the new hole. Again if possible clamp the ply down. With this method, you do not need the pilot drill.
• To stop breakthrough, this is when you drill a hole with the holesaw and instead of a neat hole when the holesaw comes out the other side, a lot of the back falls off giving an unsightly hole. This is very easy, all you need do is dill your pilot hole first so that it comes out the other side of the piece of wood that you want a hole in. Then you drill one side with the holesaw for maybe 3-6mm then flip the job over and drill from the other side.
• Final tip, if you want to drill a hole with a holesaw that is deeper than the holesaw can manage, you can either apply the above technique of drilling one side then flipping it over and drilling from the other side, or drill as deep as you can then remove the plug from the hole saw and then drill again in the same hole.

When I made the video I showed another option but I would suggest you only do it this way if you are really confident.

11/02/2019

I have not got around to building this FB page yet, however you can see my work here.

I fit kitchens and Bathrooms covering all aspects from design to construction. Including helping the