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Anyone who has been to Mike’s presentations about plastering will know that he has been trying to track down the meaning of the word ‘hawk’, in relation to the tool a plasterer uses to hold his plaster while he puts it on the wall.

We have finally found an answer that he is happy with and, as he promised, the person providing the answer gets a free hawk.

The meaning comes from the latin for hawk being “accipeter” (used during medieval times) and accipeter coming from the latin verb “caper” which means “to seize”. This working accipeter developed into the word assistant which we use today for working birds, mammals, and tools alike, so the modern (last 100 years or so) direct translation of “hawk” is “working assistant”.

I am very excited to be able to help and am looking forward to using my hawk to fix the plaster in my kitchen which decided to fall off the wall not long after we moved in (a week before xmas). Thank you also for the hints and tips, they will be invaluable during our renovations this year.

‘Rachael from Coventry’

We also had replies that suggested it was:

• linked to the boards used by street-hawkers, or street-sellers, and while they may come from similar sources, we could not find any link from the street hawkers to the plasterers board
• named after a falconers hawk because the plasterer holds it on his arm like a hawk
• was from a German term for seize or grasp

In any case whatever you believe you need a hawk and a trowel if you want to have a go at plastering. Make sure you buy a light hawk, whether you chose plastic or aluminium because it will get very heavy after a couple of hours of plastering so don’t make your job harder by skimping on the quality for your tools.

Aluminium hawk – one of several available form our online shop – click to see price and availability

We have projects on how to plaster on our main website, and there are video instructions on Skim Plastering on our You Tube Channel.

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A quick guide to problems with radiators and how to resolve common heating issues

Source

We get lots of questions about radiators, and why they aren’t working like they should, so we thought we would give you a quick run down of the most common problems and the cure for them.

We have lots more useful information on heating and plumbing on our main site, so either follow the links in this blog post, or click onto our main site, go to Projects and search for whatever you are having problems with.

The Top of My Radiator is Cold but the Bottom is Hot
When air gets into the heating system it bubbles through the pipes into the top of the radiator. It needs ‘bleeding’, which is a simple job. Click here to find out how to bleed a radiator in our Projects section.

The Top of My Radiator is Hot but the Bottom is Cold
Over time rust, scale and other impurities can build up in the bottom of the radiator preventing the water from properly conducting heat. This is a slightly bigger job than bleeding radiators, but it is still a job that can be tackled quite easily. Go to our Project on Removing a Radiator for instructions. You will need to know about Draining Down the system. Once you have drained down the system then you can remove the radiator and flush it out. When you refill the system you can add in a proprietary scale inhibitor, to help prevent this happening again.

This problem can also cause this next symptom

None of my radiators are getting very warm
See the top of the radiator is hot above. You will need to remove each radiator in turn and flush the system before refilling using a scale inhibitor.

The Radiators are Hot Downstairs but Cold Upstairs
This can show that the feed and expansion tank in your loft has run dry. The most likely cause is the valve in the feed and expansion tank (1), and needs to be sorted out quickly to prevent damage to the system. Changing the valve is within the capability of most Home Improvers.

For an explanation and diagram of a central heating system which includes a feed and expansion tank click on this image.

The Radiators are Cold Downstairs but Hot Upstairs
The most likely cause of this is a faulty central heating pump, which can be easily checked by a heating engineer.

My radiators are hot in some rooms and not in others
Check to see if it is the radiators nearest the boiler that are the hottest, if so your system needs balancing. For information on how to do this go to How to Balance your Central Heating System.

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Tell us your 12 favourite DIY tasks for a chance to win a full toolkit
(Tradesmen also get 12 months free advertising on DIY Doctor)

We have some mixed news for you this morning

The sad news is Auntie Mavis and Uncle Jim have passed away in a freak accident on their tandem.
The good news is you inherited their house
The bad news is it is overgrown, dilapidated and in a very poor condition throughout.
The good news is you could win a complete tool kit and a years free advertising (if you are a builder or tradesperson.)

We want to know what your reaction would be if this fictitious situation was real? Hopefully you would you be up for doing at least some of the renovating and repairing?

OK so here we go

The terms of the will state that you have to pick twelve tasks to tackle yourself.

Please tell Mavis and Jim’s ‘solicitors’ which ones you would do. Click here to use our two-question survey to rank the tasks in order of “Work I would be most likely to tackle” down to “Work I would be least likely to tackle”. (It should only take 6 minutes.)

Prize wining and other information

At close of play we will work out the two most popular DIY tasks from all the entries.

Each entrant with these two tasks on their list will go into a safety helmet. One lucky winner will be pulled out and receive a full tool kit for each of the trades. If the winner is a tradesman, they will also get 6 months free advertising on DIY Doctor.

We use the information you give us to make sure our website content is relevant (you know it is free so it might as well be interesting and excellent too!).

If you win we would like to promote the story on our website and social media sites and use a promotional picture of you – you can of course, opt out of this.

Good Luck!

The DIY Doctor Team

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Would you be prepared to send us your DIY disasters?

So many people own smartphones these days that videos are becoming the easiest way of telling a story.

DIY Doctor is reacting to this trend by supplying more and more video versions of our How To guides and Product Review videos, to help you with your Home Improvement tasks and when making choices on which equipment to use for your building projects.

We used to get emails from you telling us what was going wrong, and we still get posts on our forum that highlight common problems, but we are looking for something a bit more graphic.

Now we would like your videos showing the challenges you meet when carrying out building, renovating or repairing jobs at home.

Send us your videos and we will advise you

If you have a project that is going horribly wrong, or you have started a project and found a job that you simply can’t tackle, please make a short video and send us a link. We will then use it to answer your questions.

You can tell us whether we can use it on the site, to share your problem with other users, which could help them if they find themselves in similar scrapes. If you say you want it kept private then we will, of course, respect your wishes.

How do I send videos?

Take your video on your phone or video camera and then upload it to your choice of video service.

Three good video sites that offer a free uploading and sharing system are

Drop Shots

You Tube

Vimeo

There are probably others available – use whichever you prefer.

If you like you can set your video as ‘private’ on any of these three sites, this means they are not available online, but they can be shared by invitation. Otherwise you might want them to be freely available – they might go ‘viral’ and make you famous!

We will view it and comment and, if you allow us to, we will publish it on the DIY Doctor website.

You have been framed?

Now those of you who have a more evil sense of humour may want to send in videos of your friend/spouse/workmate doing something stupid and funny, while carrying out building work and Home Improvement tasks. We would be lying if we said we don’t want these.

Who doesn’t want a laugh?

So if you spot some idiot tiptoeing on a bucket to reach the last bit of painting on a soffit and you just know they are going to fall off covering themselves in paint, or they are about to drive a digger into a foundation trench, or they are carrying too many bricks and are about to trip over the dog or step in a bucket of plaster, then by all means set the camera rolling.

Send in the results – name and shame the victim!

Email us your Video

Send your video link, your name and contact details to office@diydoctor.org.uk. Don’t forget to tell us whether you want to remain anonymous or not.

In the mean time you might want to watch DIY Doctor’s Mike Edwards on stage at the ideal home show, talking about DIY Disasters.

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How do you decide which tools to buy when you are embarking on a Home Improvement project?

DIY Doctor was set up thirteen years ago after founder Mike Edwards spotted a need for DIY and Home Improvement customers to be given professional advice on how to complete basic building projects at home. This included advice on what tools and equipment to purchase, depending on the jobs they are doing.

In 2000 the internet was a relatively new resource, but it has now become the way that most people find out about, well, anything really. The term ‘Google it’ has entered our everyday language and most people are now happy to make online purchases, rather than buy in a shop.

Let us know what you need to know from us, to help you with your purchase

Are you one of those ‘early adopters’ who buys the latest gadget and has a tool for every job you ever completed? If so do you actively look to see what is new on the market or do you react to seeing an advert, television show or magazine write up?

Do you search for tools after making a decision to do a job? In which case are you likely to rush out and buy the first thing you can get your hands on that will do the job? The danger with this type of buying is that you might buy something that is not the best solution for the work you are doing. Would you be prepared to wait a day or two to get the product that will make the job easier for you by being ideally suited to what you are doing.

Perhaps you like to kit yourself out for many eventualities and then choose what to buy? Do you have some tools that multi-task for you, tools that you have had for a long time, and you consider the market very carefully before investing in something new? If so what would you find to be the most useful type of advice when you need to add to your collection?

Most of us like to get a good deal don’t we?

There are several ways to decide which tool to buy: You can set yourself a budget and then find out what you can get for the money; you can decide what features you need and then look for the best deal; or you can have a wishlist of features and look around for the best mix of features and price you can find.

How important to you is the knowledge of sales staff, whether that is in person or online. Would you be satisfied with online information and third party reviews, or would you want to have the opportunity to talk to someone about your choices before you purchase.

Do you like to see video reviews of the products you want to buy and if so do you prefer them to concentrate on one tool or to compare two or more tools?

Sometimes the best deal can mean spending more on a really good, professional grade tool, that will last for years rather than buying the cheapest tool, which may not last very long. Would you be more likely to buy a better grade of tool if you could see it ‘in the flesh’ or if it was recommended to you by someone you trust? Do you shop around in DIY stores but ultimately buy online after shopping around on price?

If you have a big job or project, are you more likely to hire a power tool or buy one? Would you consider buying reconditioned or secondhand tools?

DIY Doctor video reviews are available on our You Tube channel.

Help us make DIY Doctor better for you

If you would like to get involved with our fact-finding mission then please leave a comment on this post (click on the link at the top of this page), or you can contact us via social media.

On Twitter @diydoctor or Facebook at facebook.com/diydoctor

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