Muppets doing jobs they are to dumb to do.

[MCKDAVID]

"Plaster and I just don't get on...."

I'm with you, I'm still not convinced it's not magic, they kid us on when they're mixing it up, that its a bucket and not a cauldron. Magic is the only way I can see how the damm stuff stays up....


just never managed it, I can just about do ames taping, at a real push, but a whole wall or heaven forbid a ceiling, not going to happen !!

 

[dazza]

Forums like this have helped me tackle some big jobs on both my cars but if you don't have the correct tools and somewhere to work safely don't bother.

 

[garethp]

A friends Ford failed the MOT on a failed drop link arm. See the attached image. Simple to change, remove wheel, undo 2 x M10 (17mm spanner) and remove.

Some people get encouraged to have a go when faced with stupid prices - I had exactly the same problem at MOT time and the garage which I'd previously considered to be 'friendly' and reasonably priced quoted me £115 to change the link, I politley told him it was a £10 part and I'd change it myself in 15 mins...

Needless to say I've never used that garage again

 

[Migmac]

Got rid of the Landy, now run jap crap!

Agreed, the standard Land Rover jack supplied with a 90/110 Defender (certainly the 200tdi) is a liability. Jacking up the body to change a wheel with the relatively huge amounts of axle travel, means the body is way, way high before the wheel leaves the ground. Certainly wouldn't want to do that on a motorway hard shoulder.
Chuck it and use a Range Rover/Discovery jack with a saddle and jack the axle up instead. The Mercedes Sprinter jack is another better alternative.

 

[dazza]

I got quoted €800 to change the cam belt in my golf.

 

[the snooper]

I got quoted €800 to change the cam belt in my golf.

Some Garage prices are getting ridiculous

 

[KemppiFrog]

Few years back, the German shipping co that I used to front for, bought one of the first 300TD estates. I wizzed up to Lisbon to pick up the boss and his lady + friends and drive them back to the Algarve. They fancied the scenic route via the hills and we ended up on a rough track in the very back of beyond with a stone stuck between a rear disc and the caliper. Had to jack it up and take the wheel off to free it. The supplied jack stripped as I started letting it down. No tears, but a bit of distrust in M-B engineering.

Just down the road from me at the same time, a bloke was fixing his car and the jack collapsed. By the time his wife noticed he was late, it was too late. I knew him, nice guy.

AXLE STANDS, come to mind.

 

[Robotstar5]

I've never trusted supplied jacks, I always throw the spare wheel under the sill as soon as the car's high enough then swap it for the flat tyre 'til I'm ready to lower the jack, so if a jack ever failed the car wouldn't drop to the ground.

 

[Kent]

The more you know about a subject the less you trust what you see on u- tube

The good advice is the minority but to be fair it's the same all over the net ( forums Inc)

 

[pedrobedro]

I've learnt lots from Youtube. I've fixed a few tablets and iPhones with the video showing on a laptop while I did the job. One fail was the Xbox 360 with the red ring syndrome though. I only ever use the car supplied jack in emergencies, I have a few trolley jacks and axle stands on standby at home. I will have a go at anything just to see if I can do it, apart from skydiving. As they say, if at first you don't succeed, skydiving probably wasn't a good idea.

 

[wookie]

Agreed, the standard Land Rover jack supplied with a 90/110 Defender (certainly the 200tdi) is a liability. Jacking up the body to change a wheel with the relatively huge amounts of axle travel, means the body is way, way high before the wheel leaves the ground.

It's just a case of using the correct tool for the job, in other words throw the standard Landrover jack in the skip and then use a bottle jack under the axle close to the wheel you wish to remove. Also chock both sides of at least one of the wheels because the handbrake only locks the propshaft there is a fair bit of gear backlash that adds up to a fair amount of rock forwards/backwards in the vehicle. Yup I used to have a landy and I wouldn't use a landy jack if you paid me.

 

[gerrymoore]

When I first moved to live in Spain I had a small plastering job to do..and I'm not very good anyway.

So I go to the builders merchants and ask for a bag of plaster...he says to me NorMal (emphasis on the M) or Rapido?? I said oh definitely norMal...it went off as I was mixing it...God knows how you use rapido!!!

 

[MCKDAVID]

some suppliers can take the p, I went to pick up the plaster for the plasterer, 8 bags, took them home, and he said they were all out of date no use to him. I didn't know that plaster had a use by date, but there you go. He reckoned they were just getting rid of old stock to the general public...

I just took them back, said it was for the guy, oh sorry wrong stock etc.... ah more BS..

 

[julianthegypsy]

some suppliers can take the p, I went to pick up the plaster for the plasterer, 8 bags, took them home, and he said they were all out of date no use to him. I didn't know that plaster had a use by date, but there you go. He reckoned they were just getting rid of old stock to the general public...

I just took them back, said it was for the guy, oh sorry wrong stock etc.... ah more BS..

Yes it does go out of date and is pretty much useless pretty quickly after that. As far as I remember from helping a plasterer years ago, when its out of date it goes off quicker than you can lay it. That might have been gerrymoore's problem in Spain too. The general public isn't generally aware of this and dodgy merchants will unload it where they can.

 

[skotl]

My mate recently replastered his whole downstairs, thought he would give it a go as he has watched me do several repairs at his place...

Now i am not the best plasterer in the world but know how to get it straight and smooth. When i went over to see him a couple of weeks after it was done he proudly showed me his plastering... I have seen smoother artexing... His missus was sat there fuming at the state of it all, then she burst his bubble by asking me to sort it all out... Took me 3 times as long as it should have if he had just rung me in the first place.

 

[Kent]

I don't get this about plastering being super hard. It's hard to do it at the rate a pro does and ceilings are too hard as you can't stop and need to be fast.
Std walls though, kitchen back splashes. Window reveals etc? Never found it am issue and I have a good longstanding mate who is the man on this and he just takes the proverbial about how long it takes me

There is a massive amount of work around in the building trade at present I am finding it hard to get stuff subbed out. Still if I have a paying customer I tend not to do more than the basic on " outside my area" stuff

Plastering rates normally in the nw are approx £ 130 - 150 a day ( it's not worth being self employed for less). That said if you want someone now and can't wait you might need to double that

I recon on vertical walls without curves or complex bits I can work at only half the rate of coverage so I am paying myself £ 65- £ 75 a day. So it's worth paying a pro and getting on with my own thing. It's just sometimes needs must or you hold up a load of other jobs.

For patches and bits don't bother with plaster get some easy fill and sand it after

 

[skotl]

I'm like some of the other guys - I can't plaster (or even polyfilla) to save my life.

 

[pedrobedro]

I do a bit of plastering on occasions and am pretty good at patching. I have done whole walls and ceilings but the stretching and bending gets to me. I remember doing a bit of patching for a neighbour who said he had some plaster in the shed and we could finish that off. For small jobs I mix in an old saucepan with a potato masher, just because I like to see faces when I get the tackle out I mixed a bit of his plaster and then turned round to get my float and trowel and by the time I picked up the mix it had gone off . Why did he bother to save it for so long when a bag of Thistle is only about £6 ?

 

[Screwdriver]

Just popped in to see if my name turned up yet.

OK. Carry on...

 

[bill_gj]

I think the problem is that people don't know their limitations.