Basic tools you'll need for DIY

Anyone doing DIY will need some basic tools to hand when doing repairs around the house, but what should you have in your basic tool kit?

DIY Tools are often offered in complete sets at bargain prices, but they tend to be of a lower quality. The best way is to build up a good quality DIY tool kit over time and spread the cost.

Let's get down to business and work out a basic DIY Tool Kit...

Screwdriver

Yep. One of the most basic tools for doing anything from screwing in screws to opening tins of paint! Screwdrivers with a flat slotted bit in three sizes (small, medium, large) and two of each type of cross-headed drivers (small, large) are all you need for your basic tool kit.

An electrician's screwdriver with a voltage tester would be a useful addition as well.

Tape Measure

A good tape measure is an esential tool for measuring up before you buy.

Spirit Level

Essential for most jobs that require levels. A long and a short one would be ideal.

Hammer

A claw hammer is great for knocking in nails and good for pulling them out if you bend them!

Pliers

A pair of pliers or Lineman's pliers to be correct, are good for gripping, cutting and stripping wire and generally squeezing things together.

Mole Grips

Locking pliers sometimes called vice grips. Great for applying real pressure and gripping things.

Spanners

A few combination spanners are best with both open and round ends. A selection from 6mm to 12 mm. Invest in reasonable quality where possible.

Adjustable Spanner

A useful tool but beware of cheap ones which might make a mess of your nut.

Stepladder

A good step ladder is a useful tool to have. Storage may be an issue, if so, go for one that folds up neatly.

That should be enough for starters, and of course a nice tool bag would be useful to keep them all in.

Protect your hands with a pair of high-quality gloves

It's not nice getting your hands dirty while doing DIY, your loved one might get extremely irritated with mucky hand prints all over the house!

So, for a quiet life, keep your hands clean and soft with some high quality protective gloves for working with paints, resins, chemicals and other possible irritants.

Impervious on the handling side and a cloth back to allow hands to breathe. Far more comfortable than plastic gloves and with these gloves offer excellent grip and your fingers can move in them easily.

Tough skin, tear resistant and so good for multiple uses. Protect your hands today! This is a pair of 2 gloves.

What can I do with them?

• Work with resins
• Painting
• Decorating
• Clean brushes
• Use spirit / solvent
• Gardening
• Cleaning
• Chemical work
• Repair potholes
• Pretty much any job where you might get your hands dirty!
  

How do I use them

1. Offer up one hand whilst holding a glove in the other
   
2. Shove it on and get on with it!

Get me some High Quality Protective Gloves

Get rid of damp from your cellar or basement!

Simply brush this slurry on to damp walls in 2 or 3 coats allowing just 20 minutes in between and you have a fully damp-proofed cellar or basement in no time. Use Remmers Aida Kiesol as the primer.

Surely the only way to make your damp room dry?

A very clever cement based powder in a bag. Mix with water into a brushable slurry and brush onto damp walls which have been primed with Aida Kiesol. Super fast drying - you can waterproof your cellar or basement in a day!

The bond to the wall or floor is so strong that even high pressure water cannot get through.

Check out the cellar waterproofing brochure, this truly is the only sensible way to make your basement or cellar dry. Uncomplicated, fast and so easy to do! Use only on mineral surfaces such as stone, brick, rubble, concrete and such like.

What can I do with it...

• Waterproof cellar walls
• Damp-proof brick walls
• Waterproof stone and rubble walls
• Waterproof concrete walls
• Waterproof floors
• Waterproof underneath floor finishes
• Waterproof tanks and bunds
• Stop water getting in or out

How do I use it?

1. Make sure the walls are free of anything which will stop the slurry sticking, such as paint, varnish, oils or other finishes. Remove these either by grinding or paint stripping.
2. Prime the walls and floor with Remmers Aida Kiesol.
3. Open the bag of slurry and mix the powder with water using a drill and whisk.
4. Brush onto the surfaces.
5. After 20 minutes to 1 hour you should apply a second coat of freshly mixed material.

Homebase Enfield and Aintree to be sold

"We can confirm that, in common with most other bulky goods retailers, we have been approached by Best Buy to discuss the potential acquisition of two current Homebase stores – Enfield and Aintree." a Homebase spokesperson said.

"Discussions are at an advanced stage and a deal, subject to appropriate planning consent, is likely to be confirmed this week. The Enfield store is currently trading and store colleagues have been briefed about the proposed deal. The Aintree store is currently not trading and no colleagues will be impacted by the closure."

Best Buy Europe are a joint venture between US electricals giant Best Buy and Carphone Warehouse and plan to launch its first diy stores in the UK this spring.

Get DIY shopping now!

Get rid of condensation on walls!

Remmers Restoration Redner is an antique white 'base coat' plaster which allows a whole lot of moisture and condensation to be stored inside since it is almost 50% air void.

Restoration Render is perfect for re-plastering after damp-proofing works it absorbs vapour and condensation and stops salts coming through. Lightweight and easy to use.

Fibre reinforced one layer restoration render/plaster suitable for the repair, renovation and restoration of damp wall surfaces.

Really easy to use in a single layer up to 30mm thick!

Makes a great general purpose render and plastering material. The huge amount of air voids in the applied material mean that condensation will become a thing of the past.

Use inside and out. Overcoat with other plaster or just paint – no problem!

Antique White colour.

What can I do with it?

• Replastering after DPC works
• Plaster onto waterproofing
• Render onto waterproofing
• Textured finish render
• Textured finish plaster
• External render
• Insulating render
• Salt storing render
• Stop condensation on walls

How do I use it?

1. Just mix with water
2. Best to read the data sheet first

Grab yourself some Damp-proofing Plaster – Remmers Restoration Render

Range of Use

Remmers Restoration Render Rapid can be used for fast repair, renovation and restoration of
damp wall surfaces, even with salt loads such as:

• Internal wall surfaces in cellars and old buildings
• For facades, historical buildings and monuments
• Also for high salt loads when used in combination with Remmers Undercoat Render
• For the Pros: It can be used on all mineral wall building materials suitable for the application of render such as masonry brick, also with pores, sandlime brick, concrete according to DIN 1045, aerated concrete, masonry work with natural building materials suitable for render, building materials with carbonate and hydraulic setting binders according to DIN 1164 and DIN 1060.

Damp-proofing Render benefits

• Binds water fast and can be worked over quickly
• Coatings or finishing render can be applied after just 24 hours
• The render sets and develops its hydrophobic properties even in > 60% humidity
• Easy to apply and work the surface in one layer up to 30 mm!
• Can be worked by machine
• High stability
• Fibre and texture reinforced; sets and dries crack-free
• Promotes drying, resistant to salt and sulphates with large active pore space volume (> 50%)
• Prevents the loss of heat through the penetration of moisture ▪ Condensation does not
  form on the surface
• Water, weather and frost resistant
• Component in a fast, internal waterproofing system

Grab yourself some Damp-proofing Plaster – Remmers Restoration Render

Protect and leave your wood looking beautiful

Hard Wax Wood Oils are a great way to protect your wooden floor, furniture, counter tops etc without having a huge amount of work to do. A bit of simple preparation by sanding followed by brushing or ragging on. Simple!

Aidol HW Oil from Remmers enhances and protects wooden floors, stairs and other wooden surfaces with a clear blend of natural maintenance oils which penetrate deeply and show off the wood grain to beautiful effect.

Great for wood and cork floors as well as wooden furniture that takes a beating.

Really easy to use and very tough once dry. A natural look with great long term protection from stains, damage and marking.

Aidol HW Oil is clear and suitable for indoor areas on practically all types of wood. It penetrates deeply into the wood emphasising the natural grain.

What can I use it for?

• Wooden floor hard wax wood oil
• Parquet floor hard wax wood oil
• Wooden stairs hard wax wood oil
• Unvarnished hard wax wood oil
  
• Solid furniture hard wax wood oil
  
• Wooden kitchen counter top wood oil
  
• Wooden panel oil
  
• Wooden mouldings oil
  
• Cork surface wood oil
  

How do I use it?

1. Apply straight from the can by brush or rag onto finely sanded surfaces (100-180 grit) paper
2. Apply one or sometimes two coats
3. Allow to soak in and dry. Easy!

Get me some Hard Wax Oil for Floors Aidol HW Oil

What might I use it instead of?

• Treatex hardwax oil alternative
  
• Os colour hardwax oil alternative
  
• Osmo colour hardwax oil alternative
  
• Fiddes hard wax oil alternative
  
• Osmo hardwax oil alternative
  
• Os hardwax oil alternative
  
• Eukula hardwax oil alternative
  

Get me some Hard Wax Oil for Floors Aidol HW Oil

Super quick waterproof plugs in 15-20 seconds

If you need to plug up mortar or concrete quickly the Remmers Aida Water Stop is ideal.

Aida Water Stop is a ready to use powder. Applied by a gloved hand as a dry 'bung' into a wet hole it reacts with water instantly and sets hard. For rapid sealing of leaks, seepage of water, flowing water on concrete, masonry work and render in cellars, water tanks, tunnels and such like.

Aida Water Stop reacts immediately with water and in the space of 15-20 seconds at room temperatures. It sets hard to a 'plug' of mortar which dries without shrinking and therefore stops further leakage. Aida Water Stop is is fine for concrete and masonry work. It is water impermeable and frost resistant after thorough drying and hardening. Does not rot or shrink.

For leaks in a floor or wall, just press a small amount of this Water Stop in a gloved hand into the weeping crack, hole or leak. Water Stop then sets to a hard plug which will resist water leaks for many hours and days. This is long enough to apply a permanent waterproof slurry over the top.

Using it on its own it is a temporary plug, designed to be overcoated with a permanent tanking layer.

Aida Water Stop is essential stuff for fixing wet basements!

Quick, I've got a weeping hole to plug! Get Water Stop Fast Setting Cement now!

Can you fix it? Yes you can!

Well you did ask! So you've got a nice looking red tarmac drive... Great! ...but you've got a pothole too? Not so great. ...until now!

We had a conflab with our friends at Ultracrete about these trendy red tarmac drives get rather unsightly potholes, and quite frankly, they were shocked and of course made available not only their finest Ultracrete Instant Road Repair in Red, but a can of Ultracrete SCJ to go with it.

Now problem solved for those owners of the superlative covering of that piece of hard ground that sits in front of your house.

So, all you need is a tub of Ultracrete Instant Road Repair RED Tarmac Pothole Repair Kit (IRR) 6mm grade which comes with Ultracrete SCJ sealer, two components to make a professional pothole repair.

Choose this bundle if you want to repair RED tarmac potholes like the professionals, or maybe you are a professional and just don't want to buy a dozen cans of SCJ!

What can I use it for?

• Red tarmac driveway pothole repair
• Red tarmac drive repair
• Red garden path repair

What can I do with this and get paid?

• Red tarmac footway repair
• Red tarmac cycle track repair
• Red tarmac road repair
• Red tarmac car park repair

Can't be bothered to read the full instructions? Read on...

1. Brush out any debris from the pothole
2. Spray the sides with SCJ
3. Fill in the pothole with Permanent Road Repair
4. Smack down with spade or tamper
5. Ready for immediate use

It really is that simple!

How big are the bits?

• 6mm RED for paths, drive, cycle tracks, pavements, driveways

What size pothole can I fill?

• 1m² at 15mm when compacted.

Waterproofing Admixture for Sand and Cement Render, Screeds and Mortar

The original waterproofing additive for cement based mixes of concrete, render and screed. A real trade classic waterproofer. Unchanged over 100 years!

Sika 1 is an aqueous solution containing complex collodial silicates. In the presence of water these swell and block the capillaries and pores in the applied sand/cement renders, screeds and mortar to provide an effective barrier against the transmission of liquid water.

...¿Qué?

Oh sorry! Dilute with water and dose to the mix. Works by allowing a small amount of water to penetrate and cause swelling of the silicate molecules which, as they grow, block the pores and thus resist water under pressure.

Time tested and well known in the trade!

What's good about it?

• Proven for more than 100 years.
• Great for brick, concrete and stone substrates.
• Can be applied against live water infiltration.
• Wall render and screed application.
• Can be used internally and externally.
• Excellent resistance to backwater pressure.
• Excellent vapour resistance.
• Complies with Water Quality Regulations.
• Certified by the British Board of Agrément.
• Complies with Building regulations (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland).
• Suitable for contact with potable water.

How do I use this stuff?

1. Dilute with water.
2. Dose to the mix.

Get some Sika 1 Waterproofer now!

A man stole two power tools from a Worcester DIY store due to long queue

What an excuse! Amazing and true! The man could not be bothered to queue up and pay, a court was told. Stephen Kearney, of Warndon, Worcester, went into Homebase at Elgar Retail Park on Sunday, December 20, with two large hessian carrier bags.

Lisa Mayne, prosecuting at Worcester Magistrates Court, said a sales manager noticed Kearney heading towards the till area with the two bags which looked full. The 31-year-old then bypassed the tills and went out through the exit.

Ms Mayne said: "The defendant was asked to stop but he just kept walking away. He then turned around and said, ‘Do you know who you are talking to?’"

Unfortunately the reply was not reported but was probably something like "Yes. A shoplifter".

Kearney eloquently swore at the store worker, "%@*(&%@$!!!!", before getting into a car and driving off. The police were called and CCTV footage was checked which showed the two power tools being taken off the shelf and put into the bags.

Kearney was arrested and interviewed at Worcester police station on Wednesday, December 30.
He told officers he had gone into the store to buy Christmas decorations and said he had £500 cash on him to pay for them.

Ms Mayne said: "He saw the tools then concealed them in the two bags. He said there was a large queue and couldn’t be bothered to wait and pay for the items."

The court was told how Kearney was given a two-year conditional discharge in January last year for two similar shoplifting offences.

In October 2008 he stole perfume worth £32 from Debenhams in High Street, Worcester, and in November 2008 he stole two pints of milk and three legs of lamb worth £38 from Tesco in Warndon, both we assume with long queues too, but not reported.

He then pleaded guilty to the theft from Homebase and also admitted breaching his conditional discharge. He was sentenced to a six-month community order with six months of supervision.
Kearney was also given a four-month curfew order from 7am to 7pm and has to pay £79 compensation to Homebase and £85 in costs.

Chairman of the magistrates Elaine Bell said: "We really don’t want to see you back in court and I’m sure you don’t want to go to prison."

Apparently the access to the court was relativeley unfettered by long queues, so no one is holding their breath.

Worcester News was the only member of the media at this hearing and thanks to them for reporting on this gem!

Get yourselves some DIY tools and pay for them.

Sorry no queues!

Never worry about bathroom splashes again!

Sounds great doesn't it! Liquid Foil is an amazingly stretchy paint as a backing for tiles and Bob's your uncle, no wet gets through. So easy to do, you'll wonder why you haven't thought of it before. This stuff is as used by Wet Room contractors across Europe.

An easy to use rubbery paint that is used in damp and Wet Rooms under tiles. It is crack bridging, even for cracks which open up to approxiamately 1mm in width - when Liquid Foil is applied 2mm thick.

For best results, prime walls and floors with Deep Primer W (available here of course!) and then put a heavy coat of Liquid Foil onto the surfaces. There is an easy to use joint bandage available for awkward angles and joints - this is simply embedded into the paint.

What can I do with Liquid Foil?

• Create a Wet Room
• Waterproof a damp room
• Waterproof backing for tiles
• Waterproof walls
• Waterproof floors
• Waterproof baths
• Waterproof showers
• Waterproof kitchens

How do I use it?

1. Prime walls and floors with Deep Primer W
   
2. Put a heavy coat of Liquid Foil onto the surfaces
3. Use joint bandage for awkward angles and joints

Get making your Wet Room with Liquid Foil

James Bond had one and now you can have one!

Well, he would have done if he needed to know the colour of Dr No's wall coverings!

This is the X-Rite RM110 which comes pre-loaded with a whole load of colour charts. Boxed with software and all the gubbins. Just click onto the surface and it tells you what the colour is – easy!

What colour charts do I get?

• All Remmers Coating ranges - flooring and facade
• RAL
• NCS
• ...plus a few others

An electronic fan-deck at your fingertips without the hassle and bulkiness – X-Rite's MatchStik is an innovative handheld colour matching tool that is much quicker and more durable than paper-based fandeck colour systems.

What's so good about it?

• MatchStik enables you to measure colour from virtually any surface and find a fan-deck match.
• With allowances for either matte or glossy finish, MatchStik provides an accurate colour read in 2 seconds and stores up to 20 colour readings.

Technical Specifications

• Measurement time: 2 seconds
• Power supply: 4 AAA alkaline batteries (6Vdc)
• LED life in normal use: product life
• Weight (without batteries): 5.69 oz. (162.5 g)
• Width: 1.94" in (49.3 mm)
• Length: 6.75" in (171.5 mm)
• Height: 1.09" in (27.7 mm)
• Controls: 4 buttons
• Display: 2 lines, 16 characters LCD
• Operating Temp: 50° to 104°F (10° to 40°C)
• Storage Temp: -4° to 122°F (-20° to 50°C)
• Humidity Range: 20 - 85% RH (non condensing)
• Usage: Standard compliant for indoor use only
• Altitude: 2,000m
• Pollution Degree: 2
• Transient Overvoltage: Category II

I want one of those!

Tough paint that lasts 25 years

That's right, this paint is for you only want to get your brushes out in 2035! Seems like a long time away and is.

With Remmers Rofalin Acrylic you need only paint your house or building just once every 25 years with this durable weatherproof paint.

It's available in any colour and you can paint just about any part of a building apart from floors! Rofalin Acrylic is available in silk matt finish.

Use Rofalin Acrylic indoors and outdoors, use it on old and new wood and pretty much any other surface when you don't want to paint again for a very long time.

The tough acrylic polymer is state of the art paint technology!

What can I use it for?

• Render paint
• Pebbledash paint
• Paint over painted surfaces
• Concrete paint
  
• Brick paint
• Stone paint
• Wood paint of any sort
• Mixed timber facade paint
• Wattle and daub paint
• Lime paint
• Metal paint
• Galvanised metal paint
• Door paint
• Window paint
• Gate paint
• Fence paint etc etc
  

It also provides weather protection and is particularly suitable for renovating already coated surfaces. The product is easy to work with, protects the substrate for many years and does not peel even under extreme weather conditions. A wide number of colours are also available on request.

View the RAL colour chart.

These colours are for reference only and are an approximation of the true colours. The quality, type and settings of the output device used to display this page will also affect the visible colour.

How to Step-by-Step...

1. Just like an emulsion paint - by brush, roller or spray gun
2. So easy to use - covers excellently in each coat
3. Normally 2 coats for the best result.