Best buys for DIY

[AndyT]

I've not been doing any woodwork recently, as I have been rather distracted by needing to redecorate our hall and stairs. Lots of preparation, lots of painting. A long job and Very Dull.

But before I started I splashed out £22.99 at Screwfix and bought one of these LED work lights

It's brilliant! Very bright, very portable, no excess heat like you'd get with a halogen lamp. It means I can go at my own slow pace, so it doesn't matter if I'm just getting into my stride as the daylight fails. It really is one of those things where I think "why did I ever try and decorate without one?" I expect it's old hat to those who have had similar things for years, but I had always muddled through by just putting a brighter bulb in and I didn't think that my occasional need justified a bulky and expensive site light.

So what else have you bought for DIY and wished you'd bought years ago? :idea:

 

[Beau]

Tool belt

Built our house some years back and only bought the belt near the end when doing electrics up a ladder. So useful and would have saved days maybe weeks of fetching pencils, nails hammers etc.

 

[Austinisgreat]

Andy,

Wish I'd got one of those! Instead I got the one with 2 x 1000W halogens and in the loft conversion we did last year it was boiling hot, esp after the celotex was up!

LED is the way to go.

Cheers

Andrew

 

[SteveF]

I always thought a tool belt was a bit geeky
i do own one and have to say not used much
but priceless when up \ down ladder

Steve

 

[skipdiver]

I have a small rechargeable LED worklight and it's great. Just bought 2 LED spots for my garden too but not got them connected yet, so not sure about performance.

Another thing i was given that i wished i'd got earlier is a folding ladder, which also doubles as a work platform or stepladder. I now have 2 sets of normal ladders and 2 sets of stepladders that get very little use since i acquired the fold up jobby.

 

[Bm101]

A plant spray bottle. Various teaspoons purloined not bought, for different handle/ bead angles/sizes. Some water, a bit of Fairy liquid and masticing is a stolen skill. Gun in your mastic to a good bead at the right size. Spray with diluted fairy. Run your teaspoon handle into the joint pushing into the joint but pulling the excess off. Wipe the excess off your teaspoon handle and restart the joint behind the last bit. Rinse and repeat till finished. When you're done respray the mastic to prevent dust spoiling your finish. You're now a master mastic guru. If you haven't tried it it really is that simple.
Also painting your house with Radiator Rollers. Nevermind your average size roller. They're for chumps! Use a radiator roller. You will immediately feel that you have a much bigger house than you do and feel that you must therefore be fairly rich and affluent. You can cut in with badger sable artists brushes with the same results. Win-Win.

 

[AndyT]

Skipdiver, that's good to know about the folding steps. I bought one of the little folding aluminium work platforms and that's been another thing I wish I had earlier. Much easier and safer than steps for painting, papering etc.

BM101, I used to use a wet finger but didn't know about fairy liquid and teaspoons to complete the kit. But I have recently spent a few quid on a Fugi tool. I would have recommended them really widely if I could remember the silly name. It's just a piece of slippery plastic with the corners cut off. You squeeze on more mastic than you need, then wipe it off with the tool. It leaves a perfect finish with no mess. No need for water, masking tape or sprays. Have a look on YouTube if you don't believe me.

 

[Rorschach]

Fugi style tools are awesome.

 

[skipdiver]

It's something like this that i have, though not that particular make, just to give you an idea.

https://www.midlandladders.com/index.ph ... Aj8w8P8HAQ

 

[MattRoberts]

+1 for the fugi. After trying the soapy finger (get your mind out of the gutter) method, as well as using masking tape, the fugi wins hands down

 

[DiscoStu]

I have the same light as the OP. Only bought it earlier this week. Great bit of kit. Been working on the car a night and it's like daylight. Might get another as it's so cheap.


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[bugbear]

I have the same light as the OP. Only bought it earlier this week. Great bit of kit. Been working on the car a night and it's like daylight. Might get another as it's so cheap.

Multiple lights GREATLY reduce shadows. The best cost/benefit is two lights.

BugBear

 

[Bm101]

I'll store that Fugi reference up. :wink: but i reckon it's the same thing tbh. (Just googled fugi and I can see how the variety of sizes could be handy.) Wicks etc do a similar bit of kit from memory. I'd still use the squeezy bottle though. Having the soap solution on the tiles etc is what allows you to lift off the excess with nowt sticking where it shouldn't, can't see it would hurt using the fugi style tool either. It just gets rid of all tackiness of the mastic. Window fitters (we're talking modern office building type windows here, half inch joins masticed up from a cradle. Think 15x'5 windows on a 20 storey new build) use the same method. I've cursed enough of the bad fitters doing building cleans to know. *scrape, scrape, swear, scrape, only 18 more floors to go, scrape, scrape. B*******S!*
The good ones leave no trace.

 

[rafezetter]

AndyT - whats the overall range of that light - could it be used as an overhead light to give spot lighting over a workbench position? I've got general lighting but would like some extra when doing more fiddly stuff with marking lines etc.

 

[AndyT]

AndyT - whats the overall range of that light - could it be used as an overhead light to give spot lighting over a workbench position? I've got general lighting but would like some extra when doing more fiddly stuff with marking lines etc.

I think it would be ideal for that and when I have finished the decorating, that's where it will go, now that you have suggested it! I might even do as BB suggests and get a second one.

I don't know how to describe the range very well. For painting the walls by the stairs it's ok if stood at the top or the bottom and one would be enough in an ordinary size room. If you were putting a pair by a bench I expect the smaller version would be plenty.

 

[hammer n nails]

Are the worklights expensive to run ? I would like one over my bench to as this time of year don't get much sun in my shed

 

[AndyT]

Are the worklights expensive to run ? I would like one over my bench to as this time of year don't get much sun in my shed

The one I bought is rated at 24 watts, so very cheap to run, especially compared to the old halogen lights. There is plenty of choice - Screwfix do a similar one at 11W. There are also units with rechargeable batteries. I didn't want more batteries to look after but they might be good if you don't have power in the shed.

I believe there are loads more on eBay direct from China for even less, but I was happy with the price and quick delivery.

 

[DiscoStu]

Ah I bought the rechargeable one. I thought this was the same. I did test it and you can run it from the mains as well. I am planning on having it in the workshop as additional lighting.


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[Eric The Viking]

Had a Fugi set for years - wonderful. Pay for themselves quickly, as they're very economical with the mastic.

I had a couple of 200W incandescent bulbs for decorating - brilliant things! The big advantage was that you got bright light from the same direction as the proper light fitting, and when the radiator was off the wall, they kept the room a bit warmer, if you didn't mind the rotting fish smell of scorching Bakelite.

Unfortunately I was clumsy packing away last time so now have one good bulb and one show & tell, coiled-coil filament :-( Zero chance of replacement now, sadly.

Andy, the Screwfix one looks good - do you notice any strobing with it, and do colours look natural? Those are the things that put me off LEDs, so if it's good enough it goes on the Christmas list, definitely.

 

[Rorschach]

Had a Fugi set for years - wonderful. Pay for themselves quickly, as they're very economical with the mastic.

That's funny, I think I waste a lot more silicone now I have the fugi set. I don't reallt worry about it though because the finish is so much better but I would bet at least a quarter of the tube ends up in the bin.