As part of our guide to good DIY we start with ...
DIY DISASTERS!
The perils of the unprepared, their toolbox and that little job
they've decided to do…
DIY-ers risk wealth, health and happiness every time they grab a
tool and decide to 'save money' doing it for themselves. Take
'Kevin' (names changed to protect the terminally unlucky) who
happily drilled a three inch screw through a radiator feed pipe
while fitting a wardrobe.
Kevin didn't notice his mistake until 'drip drip drip'
interrupted the family's enjoyment of the 'X Factor'. Ironic that,
as the pro's x-factor was the one thing missing from Kevin's tool
box.
Fortunately, DU.IT 's Steve has it in spades. Kevin got
him round and he'd drained the system, pulled up floorboards, fixed
the pipe and had the whole place spick'n'span quicker than Simon
Cowell can destroy a wannabes' self-esteem. Funny that; Kevin
looked just like one of Cowell's victims when Steve mentioned DU.IT
could've done the whole wardrobe installation for less than the
repair bill alone.
Kevin suffered a wounded ego and a couple of nights in the spare
room. 'John' wasn't as lucky. Offered a few quid to roof a mate's
shed with felt, he pocketed the £50 and went straight to work.
Merrily whistling his way up to the shed roof, John immediately
slipped and fell when he got there. His descent was less merry,
much faster and extremely painful thanks to his newly mangled foot.
Still, he'd been paid him up front, so with gritted teeth he
soldiered on and did the job.
Once home, his eagle-eyed wife saw John's limp and ordered his
shoe off. A bruised, swollen mess where his foot should be had them
hopping to A&E. The result? Three broken toes. Then his mate
called. He wanted to know why John had put the felt on the wrong
way up. "Fix it in the morning, it's going to rain in the
afternoon", demanded his mate.
Could've been worse. In 'Pete's' case it was. He tried to remove
a 25mm auger from his cordless holding the bit instead of the
chuck. 'Click' went the trigger. 'Splat!' went pieces of palm, his
palm, as it redecorated Pete's garage. The horror show made him
sick, faint and fall over, knocking himself unconscious.
That was rather serious and not a laughing matter, so let's
laugh at 'Rick's mishap instead! Rick was answering nature's
loudest call in his home's smallest room. Mid movement, so to
speak, he noticed a leak where the pipe enters the cistern and,
handily enough, a tube of sealant ideal for fixing leaky cistern
pipes. The inevitable ensued. And a good job he made of it too. Who
says men can't multitask?
Both jobbies done, Rick got some toilet roll. It soon became
abundantly clear the sealant was no ordinary stuff. It was the
mother of all sealants, the kind of thing nature would use should
sub atomic particles start leaking from another dimension into
ours. And he'd one hand covered in it.
One hand quickly became two and a toilet roll covered in it.
I'll go no further. Thankfully neither did Rick. Sealing up the
tradesmen's' entrance with super-sealant doesn't bear thinking
about, unless you wish to become the proud owner of the world's
only uni-buttock.
So a word to the wise: next time you want to save money, impress
your partner or just want a hobby, join a golf club and call DU.IT
on 0800 612 9593, or visit www.DUIT.co.uk, and let us do your home
improvements instead.