Basic DIY - Week Two

Despite feeling singularly rubbish I was determined to make this week's session because well, you know, I've never been one to skip my coursework! So I wandered over and found no one there - or so it seemed - and suffered a brief moment of discombobulation. But then, luckily, our teacher appeared from an inner office and we got to chat about DIY until everyone else arrived; or almost everyone. Even at this early stage we have a couple of drop-outs.

So this week we got onto screws, drills, wall-fixings and everything in-between. This is quite handy as while I've drilled my fair share of holes they have all been fairly middle of the road - I haven't ventured into the arcane arts of hollow walls, tiles and suchlike. Hence there was enough for me to learn this evening! First though we went over the history of screws, how they've evolved and what you can do with them. So we have slots, cross-heads, Phillips and, of course, the Pozidriv; who'd have thought that they all have specific pros and cons that govern what you can do with them? Mostly I just reach for the nearest screwdriver and a screw of roughly the right dimensions!

You've got to love these restrained Victorian adverts!

After this we wanted to find a use for these screws and how better than to drill a few holes in wood or brick? Well you don't need to drill into wood, of course, because the screw will do all of the work (especially if it's of the TurboUltra variety - these babies go through timber like it's warm butter). Otherwise you're looking at employing some sort of wall plug (or matchsticks if you're old school) and what was new to me is just how secure the hollow-wall plugs are; whack some of these in for your batten, or even a telly, and they'll be as good as gold!

The neat thing about covering all of this stuff on a course is that you can bash away to your heart's content and make lots of mistakes - just to see what happens - before doing things the right way. For example this evening I learnt that while you can quite happily attach things to the studs in your hollow wall you shouldn't actually drill into the stud itself - since it's wood and the screw will dig right in without a plug - but that if you do you can always pack out the hole with bamboo skewers. The job's a good 'un! Also if you're drilling into tiles then your very first task is to buy a new drill-bit and plenty of masking tape; otherwise you're just asking for trouble! I almost can't wait to get the drill out for real now but first I just need a few tools.....