Sunday's are sometimes for screwing right? Well, mine was today, and I embraced my manly duties with vigour and enthusiasm.
The screwing task
Shelving - My mother in-law needed some shelving erected in her laundry-room and who better to drill and screw than I? My better half, Faith selected the shelving which made me a little nervous as she tends to apply the aesthetics first policy rather than the right thing for the job policy in the selection process. At least she has learned not to unpack the item now so wrongly-purchased items can be returned for the right ones.
The equipment
The shelving units are quite elementary difficult to install, requiring an extremely manly-man and some specialist tools. You can see some of them here. A drill, drill bit in 6.5mm, philips-head drive bit, ruler, pencil, level and tape measure was about all I needed.
The fixings
Because the shelving units were going into Gyprock walls, (possibly called plasterboard in places) rather than masonry I used the white screw-in wall plugs you can see in the image above - No not those skinny ones, the large type at the edge of the box with the wide thread. They are plastic and the wide thread on them bites deeply into the wall panel. The screws that holds the shelving bracket then has something in which to gain firm purchase - They are screwed into the centre of the plug. Below you can see thre e of them screwed into the wall.
The process
I began with some manly-measuring. I measured the shelves, retaining/mounting bracket, wash basin and wall to find the optimum and central location for the shelves. I also had to make sure the shelves would be reachable for my mother in-law.
I had to determine if there were wall-studs in the location the screw holes would go...There was in places. No worries though mate, some manly-thinking and rustling through a box of assorted fixings I have and I located the correct screws to bite into the timber - No wall plugs required. A stud works around the stud! Manly. Once the measuring and marking was done it was time to drill, in a manly-fashion of course.
The screws here have been inserted into the pre-screwed wall plugs
Guide-holes drilled and wall plugs in it was time to fit the bracket, in a manly-manner of course. Once done the shelves were slid onto the bracket, the long tubular bars you see, and two retaining screws fitted to hold the shelves in place in the bracket. Job done.
Bracket secured, level and centrally-mounted. Legit! Yes, I know this doesn't look level, but that's just the way I took the photo.
One of the completed shelves. I installed two, one above the other over the laundry basin and one longer one over the bench/washing machine area. (pictured)
Clean up and dress up
My wife does this part...not that cleaning and dress up is not manly of course, it is, but she's better at it...And I was busy quenching my manly-thirst with a Pepsi Max. Screwing is thirsty work.
You can see the end result here. Of course these shelves will be more utilitarian in everyday use, rather than decorative, however having boxes of washing powder and clothes pegs on there wouldn't have worked for my photos now would they? You can see the longer shelf to the right of shot.
After I cleaned up and packed my gear I was hungry which my mum in-law catered for with a manly-meal of home made pumpkin soup and toasted olive bread. Legit for real!
You can see the steem steam rising from my manly-soup. I didn't wait for it to cool...I'm manly. (Actually I did - It was so damned hot!)
I'm the handyman in my household...The only man in the household so there's no choice. I also take care of a lot of general handyman type tasks for my mother in-law and others who don't have the ability or equipment. I can't do every task but I've got some skills, mainly acquired through failing at previous attempts and learning the hard way.
I like it to be honest. helping out, and whilst it is a challenge at times it allows me to use my creative and logical side and I get a lot of satisfaction from completing a job; Seeing my efforts rewarded, and the appreciation of the recipient of my manly-man-skills.. I also use it as an opportunity to build my tool collection up because I don't always have the right tool for the job. I head down to the hardware store often and buy what I don't have on a job specific basis. A trip to the hardware store is not always costly however it's rarely cheap! Always enjoyable though and Faith and I like going there to poke around and see what we can see...Many a-time I've had to go on solo recons as I don't want her to know what I'm buying. My recent impact driver purchase was one of those occasions. Shh!
So today was a pretty nice day, not too hectic. After lunch we sat around and chatted about our upcoming overseas trip, watched Battle Bots on TV (I know, dumb, but somewhat entertaining), and checked out some of the crafty things my mother in-law is working on. She's lost a lot of feeling in her hands through the cancer treatment she has undergone (chemotherapy) so keeping her hands moving is theraputic and important. I'll post about her latest efforts this week.
I hope y'all have had a great weekend so far and it continues that way. I'll be watching the Monza F1 Grand Prix live tonight which should be good and then it's back to the salt mines working week for Monday. Oh well, that's the way life goes.
Stay frosty y'all...And manly...Unless you're a girl...In that case don't be manly, although some are. But don't.
Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default