Pre- Decking Using Malaysian Faux Teak - Rant

I'm beginning to think that there is some kind of conspiracy against me, considering that I'm someone who is not overly fussed by DIY and yet I often seem to end up doing some. Perhaps I should simply accept my fate and become some sort of DIY-practising monk and spend my day lamenting the many possible DIY opportunities available for me to undertake in my no doubt ramshackle temple.

I don't think it would be unfair of me to blame my wife for my contemplating this rather drastic paradigm shift. You see she is actually enthusiastic about DIY, but only the results of it; not the actual doing it part. Anyway once the greenhouse saga was concluded, she decided that the space between the house and the greenhouse looked a little too like nature, so she started looking at decking materials and how-to guides. My heart sank.

Last month I believed that my luck was changing, the weather was temperamental, which I used as an excuse to put it off, and then Lillian, my wife, went to visit her friend in Bahrain for a week; which meant one week of football and no DIY (although before she left I was kindly asked to paint the lounge door which has been unpainted now since 2011).

   ...Still nope

After this frankly blissful week (I'm terribly fond of her but it's nice to have your own space for a bit) she returned and presently renewed my torment. You see whilst at her friend's house inspiration struck! She found exactly what she wanted, in fact she said, and I quote “IT WAS EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED!”; I got the hint, but was considerably less jubilant.

On the Left hand side you can see a close up of the lovely wooden flooring and a bit of my wife's shoe, and on the right an enviably-sized room that is apparently never used. How wonderful.

As if being forced to perform an in-depth study of these two photos was not fascinating enough I was also urged to read through the woods auto-biography, which whilst short, I urge you to skip:

'Yellow Balau, also known as Bangkirai, is a Malaysian timber and one of the most popular choices for wooden decking in the UK due to its sturdy structure and resistance to damage, even against termites. If properly treated and looked after, Yellow Balau's lifespan will easily exceed 50 years, but a true testament to its durability is that even when left untreated, its above ground life is still greater than 15 years!

Bangkirai is a hardwood, and its characteristics are indicative of this. It is incredibly heavy, has an impressive tensile strength and offers a level of firmness and shock resistance that is exemplary; even amongst other hardwoods'

As you can imagine, by this point I was truly enraptured....

There are a lot of companies that provide this wood for decking throughout the UK, and it certainly is very popular, which I am told is due to its similarities to Teak. I thought I'd see if I could find some cut-to-size teak online, as surely this would be just as easy to use as decking; and I would not need to pay the price of the wood and its travel from Malaysia.

As it turns out Teak is God's most favoured wood, and its price reflects this; but at least now I know why so many people use a wood that bears a striking resemblance to teak rather than the real thing. Thanks for enduring this wee rant. We have ordered our decking wood now and once my wife and nature have finished reached agreeable turns, the weather will turn against and the sun shall shine gloriously for days, creating the ideal conditions for a spot of DIY Decking.

The pictures and how to will follow....but hopefully not too soon.

OH! For those of you who are wondering, the wood we have ordered is 'planed all round' as there was no way I was going to plane the wood, as well as create the decking, which will no doubt be the most mediocre decking you ever did see. I had no idea what planed all round timber was before the other day, but I have to say it is wonderful, especially considering the hellish alternative. If you too would like the knowledge of what planed all round timber is, then may I suggest clicking riiiiiight...'here'!

That is all I am able to give away i'm afraid, as sadly I have been requested not to share our decking supplier, as “we don't need more people with the same decking”. Sorry guys.

Replacing Greenhouse Panels With Polycarbonate

Hi All, I’m back again with my second post on my attempts at DIY. This post is going to be a bit more chatty and informal, but I hope you find it of use. We’re staying outside in the garden, but this time I’m going to focus on my greenhouse.

I’ve had a greenhouse for a couple of years now, growing some vegetables and keeping a few plants in there. It’s mainly my wife who enjoys that aspect, but I’ve become more and more interested as things have started to grow. Unfortunately, like most people, my greenhouse took a bit of a battering this winter and some of the panels got destroyed, as well as ruining many of my plants.

Therefore, it was a bit of a write off and we decided to let the weather calm down before bothering to repair it. Seen as the weather has been quite good for the past few weeks and we had a bank holiday, we decided to see if we could repair it ourselves. After visiting the local garden centre and speaking to a couple of friends, we decided not to replace the panels with glass, but plastic.

We’d been told that plastics such as acrylic or polycarbonate, which we weren’t too familiar with, would be a good alternative as they’re less susceptible to breaking – so off we went in search of something suitable. We searched around on the internet and discovered there is plenty available but in the end we decided to go with simple polycarbonate greenhouse panels that were cut exactly to the size we required.

For those who aren’t sure (like we were!), polycarbonate is a form of plastic that is around 200 times stronger than glass but lighter – making it perfect for greenhouses. It also lets the light through and keeps the heat in, and because it was cut to the size we required, all we needed to do was fit it.

It’s only been a short amount of time so far, but they seem to be holding up incredibly well and the greenhouse is maintaining its heat level. So on that basis, I would recommend it to anyone who is in a similar situation.

Wire Mesh Fencing - It's Not That Difficult!

They may not be as beautiful or idyllic as a nice picket fence, but wire mesh fences are considerably more functional and much harder to get over or around, making them ideal for closing off private areas in work environments, or even protecting your garden from wild animals.

The types of wire mesh you can use come in many different shapes and sizes, making them incredibly versatile and suitable for a wide range of uses. No matter which you happen to go for though, they are consistently strong and sturdy, not to mention incredibly durable; which further adds to their appeal.

Installing a wire mesh fence may seem like a bit of a drag, but the process is actually very simple, all you need is the right tools, the right material and the right attitude, and you can get it done in no time. The tools that these kinds of job calls for aren’t specialist in any way, and can be bought from the average hardware store, assuming you do not already have one lying around at home. The only exception to this is if you decide you want to use a heavy duty staple gun to fasten your mesh to their posts; but we shall come to that later, and you can always use standard ties or fixings if you want to.

Regarding the materials you will need to actually construct your fence, all you will need are:

• Fence posts
• Wire mesh
• Ties, fixings or the aforementioned staple gun

The type of post that you choose to go with is entirely your call, but most often the choice comes down to choosing between the more slender metallic post, or the more robust wooden option. The wooden posts are admittedly more attractive to the eye, but they are also more difficult to fix into the ground than the metal ones, and you may need to use concrete to help hold them firmly in place.

The wire mesh you choose to go for is also completely up to you. There are many varieties, with all sorts of different spacings and patterns; all you need to do is find the one that you like and that will suit your purposes. There are multiple ways to get your hands on some wire mesh; however I would recommend buying it online, as there are companies who you can order from that will supply you with a cut-to-size wire mesh, which will meet your specific requirements.  

How To Install Your Fence

1. To start with you are going to want to meticulously mark out where you want your fence to be and how often you are going to plant a post. Skipping this step and simply winging it will likely not turn out very well
   
2. Insert the posts into the ground at the designated intervals. Ensuring that you have gotten each post down to a good depth will greatly improve its stability and make it considerably more firm.
   
3. Taking your mesh, line it up with your posts and pull it as tight as you can, so it is dead flat against the posts.
   
4. By now you will have hopefully chosen your preferred method of fixing the mesh to the posts. You will want to apply as many of these as you can, as the more there are holding the mesh onto the posts, the more secure it will be. At the very least you will want to have three per post; one at the top, one in the middle and one at the bottom.

That is it. Told you it wouldn't take long to get your new fence safely and securely installed. All you will need to do now is periodically check up on the condition of your fence to make sure none of your fastenings have come loose or been removed. If this does happen then simply reapply or replace the fastening. Should it become a regular occurrence then you should think about applying more fastenings to the post, to help spread the load and make it more secure.

The First Post

Hi everyone, and welcome to my new blog. As the name suggests, I'm someone who does DIY, but not at all enthusiastically. So you might be asking yourself, why's he writing a blog about it?

Well the reason is this: I think there are so many people out there like me. I mean seriously, how many people actually enjoy DIY? I know there are some, and I salute you for that, but for many of us mere mortals the idea fills us with dread.

So I thought I would start a blog in the hope that some of those who dread DIY as much as me can see that they're not alone!