Home features

Welcome to the home features section of the garden and home directory. This section is being developed so that every month there will be quick ideas, a project, article or other feature of interest.

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Quick Tips

for screwing/nailing/drilling into plaster/wood/concrete

If you find that hammering nails into your walls causes cracks or holes in the plaster, try heating the nail up first. Boil it, or hold it over a flame with a pair of pliers. You will find that hot nails go into plaster much easier and without causing damage.
If you are having difficulty driving in a screw, use paraffin wax (candle wax) or soap on the thread of wood screws to make it easier. Dipping the tip of the screw in soap also helps prevent wood splitting.
To help ensure a screw is secured firmly, tip it with pva, nail varnish or oil based paint before fixing.
If you are having problems removing a seized screw and you need a little extra power, tighten an adjustable wrench to the base of the screw driver. Pulling this at the same time will give you extra power behind your driver.
Another method for removing tight screws is to apply paint remover to the screw head, then soak the area with vinegar and wait an hour. Place a good fitting screwdriver in the slot and strike.
If a screw is rusted in position, treat it with a few drops of cola and try again. Alternatively treat the head of the screw with a few drops of hydrogen peroxide, allow a few moments for it to penetrate and the screw should undo easily.
When drilling holes, mark the wall with a cross-hair not a dot for more accurate positioning.
If you are fixing a wooden batten to concrete (for example if fixing a wooden trellis to concrete fence posts)and you want to mark the screw holes on the concrete, try putting masking tape over the area to be drilled into, then use the inside of a biro (which is thin enough to go through most holes) to mark through the wood onto the masking tape. Drill the hole then remove the tape.
Masking tape is also useful for marking on the drill bit how far you need to drill to.
If your plaster is a bit dodgy and you find that the hole you've drilled is too big to hold a rawlplug securely, hammer in bits of used matchsticks round the edge to make it firmer.
If you run out of rawlplugs and the shops are shut, try using short lengths of plastic clothes line, or rolled cardboard.