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Kitchen Fitter Plumber Carpenter Electrician Handyman Eastbourne

One of the things I'm doing this week is fitting a kitchen.
It's from B&Q. Bits are either missing or damaged.
Kitchen fitting demands a large range of skills from carpentry and plumbing to electrics and tiling, and can often include plastering and decorating.
There's nothing particularly difficult about fitting a kitchen, but only having some of the parts does make it far more interesting to fit. A sink without a strainer. The same sink without the blanking plug. Worktop damaged (under the label!!!!!). Worktop jointing bolts, but no compound. Drawer fronts damaged (but not a mark on the packaging). To be fair, it doesn't matter where the kitchen comes from, there will almost always be one or two hiccups.
The reason I prefer to use a trade supplier is that when things do go wrong (as they will) I've always found they are put right immediately. My preference is whenever possible to use Howdens Joinery Ltd in Eastbourne. They are super friendly, bend over backwards to help, and always have good deals.

Some shelves please

I had a call last week to put up some shelves in an alcove.
I've done work for the customers before and always enjoy going back.
They wanted storage space for all sorts of things.
Once we'd had a look at the alcove I made a couple of suggestions and together we came up with a neat solution to house piles of stuff that didn't need to be on display.

This was the end result.

As always click on the image to enlarge.

If you'd like something similar,

call Jim on 07930 335 937

Hanging doors

I love hanging doors.
I've said it before and I'll no doubt say it again.
I just love it.
Today I had five of them to do.
If you'd like to do it yourself there is a video on VIDEOJUG that will give you a method to follow. To watch it Follow this link.
Personally I don't follow that routine, but it will give you a good basic idea of how to do it.
Door hanging is not for the faint hearted or uninitiated. If you need it done properly give me a call on 07930 335 937.
Now back to the job...
I have a lot of fabulous customers all over Eastbourne and surrounds, which means I have drunk a lot of tea in a lot of houses!!!! But I have to say that today I have been spoilt rotten.
Biscuits, cake, chocolate bars, sandwiches, and sausage rolls. I must have put on 5 lbs.
Add to that pots and pots of tea , and I know I have single handedly helped increase the share prices of PG Tips and Typhoo by several points.
My customers are delighted with the finished result - which is (they say) why they called me in.
Now what's the web address for weight watchers?

Reka Dom

Trish was down in Devon on business last week and stayed at what she called a wonderful B&B in Topsham (on the outskirts of Exeter). To call it a B&B conveys a slightly distorted picture. It is in fact a very large 17th century house, with several superior self contained apartments. Since she got back Trish hasn't stopped telling everyone how lovely it all was. Take a look at the photos above and follow this link to see their website. The accommodation is of a very high standard, the food is divine, and the hostess both charming and elegant. That's Trish's opinion and her recommendation.

Burlington Bell Cistern

Had to refurbish and refit an old burlington cistern this morning.
Solid cast iron, 80 years old, and still working.
How long does a modern cistern last?
Not that long, that's for definite.
If you're curious as to how they work follow this link


And here's the matching pan!
They don't make them like this any more!

Hailsham and the Eastbourne Handyman

In a previous life - about 20 long years ago,

I was living in Germany, driving European Road Trains
(which make UK trucks look like Dinky toys)
from Germany to Morocco, Denmark to Tunisia, Sweden to Portugal, or any other combination of European and North African countries you might care to think about.

I used to drive thousands of miles a week.

I'd be at home for two, possibly three days a month, and I loved it.

I used to love to travel to new destinations.
It was like being on holiday, and getting well paid for it!

I had huge amount of fun.

But everything has a price tag.

It only cost me a good marriage and a lifetime of guilt!

Why am I telling you this?

Nowadays I virtually never work outside of Eastbourne!

Two main reasons

1. Absolutely no need

There is lots of work available on the doorstep in Eastbourne

2. Absolutely no desire

I can't think of one good reason to travel any sort of distance.

Having said all that, I now find myself going up to Hailsham (that's a huge journey of about 7-8 miles - ONE WAY!!!) on a regular basis.

It started when I got a phone call from a lady who had read this blog.

"I need some work done, can you help?" she asked.

"The answer's 'Yes, what's the address" I replied.

When she said "South Street" I already had a mental image of a road in Eastbourne.

"Hailsham" she said.

I was about to say "I don't operate outside of Eastbourne" (my normal reply), when she said "I've read your blog and I think it's great!"

What a sucker punch!

I'm no different to anybody else - I love having my vanity stroked!

I swear, any other reason would have failed - miserably.
But because I was flattered, I now find myself going up to Hailsham every week to do carpentry, plumbing, and electrics. The lady and her family are fabulous to work with, and I really enjoy going up there. They want a lot of work done, so expect a few posts from Hailsham over the coming months.

Whoever said flattery doesn't work is a fool!

Washing Line "Designer" ware

I was asked to put up a new washing line by a customer the other day.

Rotary dryer
When I first saw it, I was impressed.
It's nicely packaged.
The concept is, at first glance, great.
It has a neat appearance
The quality appears to be good
I would imagine that for anybody who has only a small amount of space available to dry clothes on it would seem ideal.

Here are a few things that came to mind as I was fitting it.
1. Fitting is simple but unnecessarily fiddly.
2. Most outside walls I've come across are rough - in a moderate breeze anything larger than a set of ladies undies are likely to be scraping against the wall. A man's shirt, or a ladies dress would almost certainly be slapping against the wall. The maximum distance from wall to end of dryer is 6' (pic 1).
3. It folds away to a small size (pic 2). The rain cover is held on by two press studs (pic 3). I wonder how many fingers are going to be scraped on the wall getting the cover on and off.
4. The release mechanism (pic 4) to close it up will at some point snare a finger or two.
5. My understanding of a rotary dryer is that it spins - this dryer doesn't, so I don't understand why it's termed a ROTARY dryer.


"Powder and paint, makes the thing what it ain't" is a phrase my father used to use to describe a lot of things. I wonder if he would have used it in this case.

Another deck in Eastbourne

Click on any of the pictures to see them full size.

If you need a handyman call me on 07930 335 937 or email me I'll be happy to help

Being a handyman in Eastbourne!

Variety!
That's one of the main reasons I love being a handyman in Eastbourne.
No two days are the same
Take yesterday.
In the morning I worked for one of my favourite clients building bookcases.
In the afternoon I went to several different clients and fixed two toilet ball valves, a bath-waste leak, an inoperative pop-up basin waste, renewed an outside tap, connected a washing machine and dishwasher, disconnected four light fittings, repaired a wonky window, and finished the day by rescuing a customer's personal data files from a computer Hard Drive that had given up the ghost.

I love what I do, and I'm told that what I do I do well.

Under stairs storage cupboard

I've been building video storage units for a customer today. Over the past month I've constructed several units in different locations around the house. In fact apart from the stair well itself, there are video storage units everywhere. He has thousands upon thousnds of videos, and despite my best efforts, we still don't have enough storage. We've now commandeered the under-stairs broom cupboard to accomodate some more. He tells me that we have only racked and stacked less than half his total collection! I find other people's lives fascinating! Here are some more pictures of various units...