Apparently my local B & Q is closing on 23rd Jan.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.5686583,-0.0295944,3a,75y,321.47h,91.1t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sNeCo4AbO5b8509pTelNGCg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
Wonder if they;ll have anything on sale that's worth it.
If previous experience is any guide, some great deals on choc-block connectors & insulation tape, but sweet FA beyond that.
I doubt it. Anything worthwhile they'll simply move to another branch.
My local one closed on 8th Jan. Once the "closing down" signs went up they wouldn't take Tradepoint cards because apparently the stock didn't belong to a B&Q anymore, but to an independent company who had bought the lot and were selling it off.
The only bargain I got when ours closed were 900 Rawlplug UNO plugs.
People were clearing out paint, wall paper, mowers, strimmers etc.
Even at 'final reduction' prices the stuff I looked at wasn't any cheaper than TS or SF.
They did have a big pile of 18mm combination spanners at £1. :-)
Apparently DIY is out of favour these days. People (esp the younger ones,) want to walk into a perfect house these days with no work attached. Most people I see in the local B&Q seem to be older.
That why the Australians think they can make a go of Homebase.
They will be if you go on Wednesdays.
That's not realy what happens. you aren't normmaly allowed to make changes to the places you're renting, and if can you're unlikely to have the money to do it.
Simialr with cars I hardly see anyone under one tinkering like I used to, there were 3 or 4 people per road doing stuff with their cars when I was at school, now most can;t even change their own front headlamp bulb you need to take it in.
That's because they young have little use for the products in B&Q and even if they did they'd get them cheaper on-line. The only reason I use B&Q is because it's so close and I can carry most things even a kitchen work surface which two of us carried.
Have you ooked at how difficult it is to change a headlamp bulb in modern cars? It ofen means working from underneath the front wing with the wheel temoved (perhaps that is why I see so many one eyed monsters (cars with only one working headlamp) these days).
I have built a kit car in the late 60s (Ginetta G15) and done my own servicing (the last major job which I did was to replace front discs on a Vectra Estate about 15 years ago) Two factors Anno Domini and the increasing complexity of modern cars has forced me to have the car examined/serviced by a garage. The first car which I owned (a Mk 1 Mini) was easy to work on but I would not like to use a modern 'MinI' as a starter for learnin DIY mechanics
Malcolm
Given most youngsters spend all their time on their phone or computer, I'd guess they've not acquired the basic skills needed for DIY on home or car. They think everything cam be done by a software tweak.
Those brought up with Meccano realise nuts and bolts are needed first.
The young can't afford to buy, they have to rent until they're maybe
35-40 when they can then, maybe, scrape a deposit together. You don't do DIY on a rented house/flat. A whole generation of would-have-been DIYers has been lost; priced out of the housing market.
In some ways its much easier than it ever was with the OBD2 system telling you which sensor has failed so you can just change that.
In the past the first step on the housing ladder was often a decrepit flat or terrace house with ample opportunity for doing it up.
Although they still exist, they're now targeted by buy-to-let landlord deve lopers, and FTBers get directed towards 'starter homes' i.e. newly built ra bbit hutches, which come with washing machines, freezers, etc which in the past FTBers would have saved up for (or built their own if they were keen r eaders of Camm's Comics)
Owain
I rented a flat before buying this house and did a lot of DIY to it. With the permission and blessing of the landlord.
By migrants. And priced out of jobs.
What else could they own ?. Can you remmeber what you did as a kid here.
Maybe they ahhve more useful skills for them.
Quite a bit cane did you miss the VW polution scandle I doubt any nuts bots or anything else needed turning to fool you.
and tehy were teh ones fooled by VW, most other arent; suprisred that this can be done I'm suprised it took this long, as this sort of fiddling has been going on for years.
All your expertise in nuts and bolts are pretty useless when it comes to things like this you'll be fooled everytime.
f*ck all landlords would be that to do that now
You'd have to be really stupid to let the average school lever or even univ ersity grad to do your gas & electric or much else as if something even goe s slightly wrong then you'll be in court. Years ago no one cared anymore th an they did about 6 year-olds working in mines.
So if you were in that position today as you were when you rented your flat can you show us what sort of place you'd choose today if you were in the sa me situation, I have a friend in a simialr situation but he can;t even affo rd a decent room let alone to do it up even if allowed.
Not quite sure of your logic there. Are you saying that no relative youngsters owned these cars - and if they did, they'd all have spotted the problem?
And where did I say my expertise was limited to nuts and bolts?
I'd guess I know more about fuel injection than most - having assembled my own ECU, installed and tuned it.
Who said anything about gas or electricity?
DIY usually starts with decorating. But you'd be surprised how many can't even manage that.
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