diy Top @Kew Drive

[Ks Toh 74]

I find one of my best investments was my Bosch electric drill. I have used it for more than 10 years and it is still working perfectly fine. I would highly recommend all of you new home owners to buy one of these things that can last for a long time. I don't think those rechargeable types are a good idea, not for drills.

A rechargeable screwdriver is very useful, though not absolutely necessary. It will save you a lot of time and many sore fingers, especially if, like me, you like to buy lots of Ikea furniture and fix them yourself. Once you have it, you will not want to be without it.

[Ks Toh 74]

Ok, back to the topic ...

DIY DRILLING AND FIXING OBJECT

STEP 1

Open the box and see what you have got. There may be installation instructions to follow. Make sure you have all the proper tools (see above posts).

In this particular case, no screws or wall plugs were supplied. Often, screws will be supplied with some white, grey or beige colour plugs.

Edited December 6, 2013 by kstoh

[Ks Toh 74]

STEP 2

Determine the appropriate screws, wall plugs and drill bit.

You can use the screws and wall plugs supplied (if any) but I always prefer to use my own screws and wall plugs. The three types of wall plugs I keep are white, red and green. These determine the type of drill bit and screw size that you can use. 95% of the time, I use No 6 to 8 screws (not sure how you call the screws but basically i use a slightly bigger screw), white wall plugs with a 5 mm masonry drill bit. Sometimes if the object is heavier, I use a bigger screw, which means I need to use bigger drill bits and red or green wall plugs.

In this particular case, I am going to use a 5 mm drill bit, white wall plug and a No. 8 screw. I like to use white plugs because it is the colour of most of my walls.

My practice is to use masking tape to tape the screw to the length of the wall plug. This helps me to determine when to stop drilling. Screws come in various lengths. Buy one that is longer than your screw by just enough to hang your object. I think usually I buy 1 1/2 inch screws. Flat tip is best for most uses. Buy stainless steel screws if possible.

Edited December 6, 2013 by kstoh

[Ks Toh 74]

STEP 3

Determine and use a pencil to mark the desired drilling location on the wall.

Choose the location most carefully. Avoid hidden electricity cables, water & gas pipes or other cables e.g alarm. If there is a power point or switch, note that electric cables are normally laid vertical from the top down to the point (although some workers are lazy and do not follow this practice). Water pipes are normally laid upwards to the tap or outlet. If you look at the texture of the wall, sometimes you can tell clearly that the portion of the wall is not original meaning something has been laid underneath it.

This is why for those who lay hidden cables and pipes, it is often a good idea to take photographs. Ideally there should be layout plans, but in practice, I have not been given such detailed drawings.

Before you start drilling, it is best that you hold the object, bring it to the point you have marked and ask your wife to confirm that is the location she wants. Sometimes, my wife changes her mind. At least, it is not too late if I have not started drilling.

Edited December 6, 2013 by kstoh

[Ks Toh 74]

STEP 4

The amount of dust created by just one drill hole can drive you crazy. If you just let the dust fly all over the room, it is going to be very difficult to clean up.

One method is to turn on the vacuum cleaner and hold it below the drill hole. Make sure you turn on the vacuum cleaner! This (forgot to turn on vacuum cleaner) happened to me many times. I normally just use the vacuum stick (do you call it pipe) without the end part that attaches to it, and hold it very very near the drill hole.

However, from experience, I think somehow an envelope stuck just below the drill hole does a better job.

With steady hands, go ahead and drill until you reach the masking tape marking.

When starting, the drill should be switched to "drill" mode. Make sure also that the drill is turning in the correct direction i.e. clockwise. Drill slowly at first by pressing the power button lightly, increasing speed only when you have already "entered" the concrete. You can use the "hammer" mode subsequently if you have difficulties drilling through.

Once the hole is done, you can use a hammer to lightly push the wall plug in. The wall plug should be flush with the wall. If the end sticks out, likely you did not drill deep enough. You can use a pair of pliers to pull out the plug, and drill again deeper. Or you can be lazy and just use a penknife and cut away the protruding end. Use a damp cloth or tissue to clean away any dust stuck around the hole.

Edited December 6, 2013 by kstoh

[Ks Toh 74]

STEP 5

The final step is just to screw in the screw and hang up the object!

Edited December 6, 2013 by kstoh

[Gavien 1]

STEP 5

The final step is just to screw in the screw and hang up the object!

Hi,

Is your mosquito spray be too near to your Koi pond??

[Ks Toh 74]

Hi,

Is your mosquito spray be too near to your Koi pond??

I have no idea, but I have another one that is mounted just above the inside pond (Refer to pictures on page 1) and so far my fishes are fine. According to the literature, very little of this spray is released.

Mortein’s automatic indoor insect control system now kills BOTH FLYING AND CRAWLING* insects!

It is easy to use. Just Set and Forget!

• The Naturgard Automatic System kills flying and crawling* insects in your home with a plant based active ingredient**, pyrethrins
• The Advanced Micro Diffusion System releases small bursts of mist every 13minutes for continuous protection of your home
• Over 24 hours, the system disperses no more than a single 3-4 seconds spray of regular fly spray
• Stylish, mountable unit, quiet in operation
• Use with confidence around the home
• The diffuser unit can be switched on or off, allowing you to control your usage
• Each refill lasts for up to 27 days when used continuously.

Edited November 18, 2013 by kstoh

[Ks Toh 74]

DIY DRILLING TILES (MARBLE, CERAMIC ETC)

I read in one of the blogs that the contractor accidentally cracked one of the tiles while drilling. Although accidents are unavoidable, I would like to say that often the contractors do not take sufficient care in drilling tiles). I have drilled through countless tiles (marble, ceramic etc) without any problems, always creating a very neat, clean puncture hole in the tile.

But often the hole drilled by contractors is not neat. There are cracks around it. You cannot see it because often the article you are installing (holder, rack etc) covers the hole. Once you remove the article, you can see the ugly drill hole. It is only in cases where the cracks are larger than the part of the article covering the hole that you see the ugly job.

The steps for drilling tiles are the same as for drilling concrete except for the few additional steps below.

STEP 1

For tiles, I always tape the drilling location with a masking tape and mark the point over it. For ceramic tiles where there is a large gap between tiles, I often try to drill in the grout lines between the tiles. My thinking is that should I need to change the location of the fixture in the future, I can just cover up the hole there and it is not too obvious.

STEP 2

Using a wall nail (or screw) and a hammer, I will knock a small hole at the drilling point. This is to allow the drill bit to sit properly and not move about.

STEP 3

I always use the normal masonry drill bit but you must use a new drill bit which is still sharp. As a rule, I will use a new drill bit to drill marble for about 6 to 8 holes before i "retire" it for use to drill concrete. When drilling marble, once I pass the marble and reach the concrete, I will change the drill bit to the "retired" drill bits. The problem with contractors is that they will use the same drill bit for many, many drill jobs. They cannot be changing drill bits for you every few holes. But that is why the holes are not neat, and sometimes they crack the tiles.

STEP 4

When drilling tiles, you must use drill mode (not hammer) at low speed. It is only after you have passed the tile and reached the concrete that you can use hammer mode at high speed. I find that when drilling tiles, applying water to the drill bit (or hole) helps the process.

This is the end result:

Many of the racks in the toilets were installed by me.

Edited December 6, 2013 by kstoh

[Ks Toh 74]

I took some time to install the "Vivacious" wall art from Artisan House in my living room above the sofa. It is rather big and came in two pieces. It was unclear how they were to be connected and orientated.

Fortunately, my wife had taken a photograph of the piece when it was hung up at the shop. So, I used that as a guide to join the two pieces, lay the joined piece on the floor and orientated it. I used a big piece of cardboard to mark out the location of the hanging locations. Then I transferred the cardboard to the wall and marked out the drilling locations. There were about 8 of them, but I decided that it should be sufficient to install 4 screws to hang up the entire piece. The result was not too bad.

Until I realised that it seems that the shop had hung the piece upside down, and I had followed suit! I came to this conclusion after I saw the hanging hooks were upside down. Instead of the piece hanging from the hook (which is the case for all my other pieces), it was now sitting on the hook. I had to secure the piece to all the screws as I was afraid the entire piece would drop off. And I was too lazy to re-do everything, as I had already drilled holes.

But when I checked the internet, it seems that this is also the orientation everybody uses. So, I am not sure if this is correct or wrong. As orientated, it looks like the island of Singapore. So, I am quite content to let it be.

Edited November 22, 2013 by kstoh

[Ks Toh 74]

I did not make any mistakes for my other pieces. But I guess for these, the orientation was clear.

"Summer Orchard" for my study.

"Alpine II" for my master bedroom.

[Ks Toh 74]

My son bought a number of strange prints from the National Geographic store when it was closing down. My wife only allowed him to choose one to hang in his room and he chose this "Woman with Birdcage, Afghanistan" prints. I put the print in a Ikea picture frame. The Ikea frame was rather flimsy, so I had it reinforced with wires criss-crossing many, many times.

Then I mounted it, and I almost immediately realised that I had made a horrible mistake. Most people do not realise it and my son was quite alright to let the mistake remain. And I am too lazy to re-do everything again. (See if you can spot the mistake)

I made no mistake for this "Betty Boop (Pop Art) Poster" print for my daughter's room.

[snowblind 1]

Thanks for the advice on the drilling. The pic has the wire showing under the pic. And as for using hp apps as leveler, need to make sure the hp cover is flat and the leveler is accurate. I drilled my tv slanted in my room as I trusted the app and not my own judgement.

[Ks Toh 74]

LOL. You actually used the phone leveler.

Always follow your instinct. You are often right. The last time, the electrician used a laser device to drill into the false ceiling to mount my hanging lights. I thought it looked off centre but he insisted it cannot be. Turned out his laser device was not working properly!

[Ks Toh 74]

The mistake I made for the birdcage print was to forget to remove the glass protective film, which was somehow on the inside of this glass.

Edited December 1, 2013 by kstoh