Silver Saints prides itself on been able to solve almost any problem around homes of offices. Often the most important ingredients are experienced handymen and a flexible approach. But some problems also require a bit of research to get right.
We were asked by one of our commercial customers to repair a two large holes in their suspended ceiling having had two air conditioning units removed.
It might have looked like a simple job to them. But suspended ceilings come in a wide variety of styles which are not compatible with each other.
We sent a handyman to site armed with a catalogue showing all the possible varieties of grids and tiles. He has able to match the exact system they had and we ordered the parts we needed.
Once the parts arrived, we were able to completely restore the suspended ceiling in a matter of hours.
Wednesday, 6 August 2008
Tuesday, 22 July 2008
London Handyman - Experience Counts
One of the messages we try to get across to all of our customers is the fact that we don't just take on general handyman jobs like other handyman services, but a wide range of specialist tasks as well.
One of the most obvious benefits of employing the most experienced Handymen in London is the knowledge they all bring with them and are able to pass on to the rest of the team. This means that Silver Saints can take on almost any home or office repair that comes our way.
The more specialist jobs we take on include:
Installing LCD TV's
Unblocking Toilets, Sinks and Urinals
Replacing Sash Cords and Sash Spiral Balances
Electric Showers Repairs
Grout Cleaning
Garbage Disposal Repairs
Mouse Proofing
PAT Testing
In fact there aren't many jobs our multi-skilled London Handymen cannot take on.
One of the most obvious benefits of employing the most experienced Handymen in London is the knowledge they all bring with them and are able to pass on to the rest of the team. This means that Silver Saints can take on almost any home or office repair that comes our way.
The more specialist jobs we take on include:
Installing LCD TV's
Unblocking Toilets, Sinks and Urinals
Replacing Sash Cords and Sash Spiral Balances
Electric Showers Repairs
Grout Cleaning
Garbage Disposal Repairs
Mouse Proofing
PAT Testing
In fact there aren't many jobs our multi-skilled London Handymen cannot take on.
Monday, 21 July 2008
The Rat Zapper
There is an 'urban stat' that has spread like wild fire amongst Londoners. I don't know where it came from or how they worked it out, but it is said that in London you are never more than 5 meters away from a rodent.
Been a very houseproud person, I was horrified to have discovered that I had a mouse living behind my kitchen cabinets and at once took measures to exterminate it. A quick web search for mouse trap revealed a wide range of the latest technology in rodent death apparatus. I settled on the 'Rat Zapper'. This is a battery powered execution chamber, that zaps the unfortunate vermin with a large current of electricity as soon as it enters the chamber. Killing it instantly, without the usual blood and gore of the old school mechanical traps.
I followed the advice on the quite comical instruction booklet to the word. It said that a small piece of bait should be placed at the entrance of the trap with the trap turned off for the first night. On the second night the trap should be rebated and this time the bait pushed a little further into the trap. On the third night, the bait should be placed at the back of the trap and the unit turned on. According to the instructions, rodents are suspicious of changes to their surroundings and need to get used to taking food from the chamber before they will enter into it completely.
Having baited the trap on evenings one and two with a small cap full of peanut butter. I wasn't sure whether the mouse had been taking any bites. On the third evening I added a bit of cheese to the bait and turned the trap on. Sure enough the next morning a red light on the trap was flashing, indicating a successful kill!
I've left the zapper baited and ready for another few nights, the hunt is on.
Been a very houseproud person, I was horrified to have discovered that I had a mouse living behind my kitchen cabinets and at once took measures to exterminate it. A quick web search for mouse trap revealed a wide range of the latest technology in rodent death apparatus. I settled on the 'Rat Zapper'. This is a battery powered execution chamber, that zaps the unfortunate vermin with a large current of electricity as soon as it enters the chamber. Killing it instantly, without the usual blood and gore of the old school mechanical traps.
I followed the advice on the quite comical instruction booklet to the word. It said that a small piece of bait should be placed at the entrance of the trap with the trap turned off for the first night. On the second night the trap should be rebated and this time the bait pushed a little further into the trap. On the third night, the bait should be placed at the back of the trap and the unit turned on. According to the instructions, rodents are suspicious of changes to their surroundings and need to get used to taking food from the chamber before they will enter into it completely.
Having baited the trap on evenings one and two with a small cap full of peanut butter. I wasn't sure whether the mouse had been taking any bites. On the third evening I added a bit of cheese to the bait and turned the trap on. Sure enough the next morning a red light on the trap was flashing, indicating a successful kill!
I've left the zapper baited and ready for another few nights, the hunt is on.
Thursday, 17 July 2008
Office Maintenance - London Handy man
About 45% of the work we do is for offices. The most common jobs we do for commercial customers include:
- Repairing Toilets
- Unblocking Toilets, Urinals & Sinks
- Changing Light Bulbs
- Hanging Whiteboards and Pictures
- Repairing Office Furniture
- Fixing Dripping Taps
- Repairing Door Handles
- Hanging LCD TV's
Although most London offices will have a maintenance contract for larger works through the buildings management, they often battle to get smaller repairs and odd jobs done. That is why companies love Silver Saints London Handyman Service. We provide a multi-skilled handyman who can take care of all the general jobs listed above as well as many more specialist tasks.
- Repairing Toilets
- Unblocking Toilets, Urinals & Sinks
- Changing Light Bulbs
- Hanging Whiteboards and Pictures
- Repairing Office Furniture
- Fixing Dripping Taps
- Repairing Door Handles
- Hanging LCD TV's
Although most London offices will have a maintenance contract for larger works through the buildings management, they often battle to get smaller repairs and odd jobs done. That is why companies love Silver Saints London Handyman Service. We provide a multi-skilled handyman who can take care of all the general jobs listed above as well as many more specialist tasks.
Monday, 14 July 2008
Really Really Old Sash Windows
One of the most requested jobs Silver Saints Handyman Service undertakes is the repair of broken sash window cords and spiral sash balances. But our London handy men also get requests to repair sash windows that just aren't in balance and won't stay open. I'm sure we've all experienced the problem, you open a sash window and as soon as you let go of it, it slides closed.
The reason is that the counter weights on either side of the window are not heavy enough to keep the window up. The answer is to add an extra lead weight, called a make weight, to the current window weights.
Our handy man Don, undertook just this job for a media company in Covent Garden last week. The interesting part of this job was that they had a dozen windows which seemed to be over a hundred years old, which still had the original Victorian 2mm thick glass in them. As a result Don had to be extremely careful in the way he handled the windows.
It was amazing to see young creatives sitting at ikea desks with multiple flat screens using the latest the Apple software to edit films and documentaries while starring out a window that is 150 years old.
The reason is that the counter weights on either side of the window are not heavy enough to keep the window up. The answer is to add an extra lead weight, called a make weight, to the current window weights.
Our handy man Don, undertook just this job for a media company in Covent Garden last week. The interesting part of this job was that they had a dozen windows which seemed to be over a hundred years old, which still had the original Victorian 2mm thick glass in them. As a result Don had to be extremely careful in the way he handled the windows.
It was amazing to see young creatives sitting at ikea desks with multiple flat screens using the latest the Apple software to edit films and documentaries while starring out a window that is 150 years old.
Friday, 11 July 2008
Intercom Madness
One of the jobs that makes even experienced electricians nervous is fault finding on an intercom system.
We attended a job for a commercial customer based in Covent Garden this week. The complaint was that one of the twenty intercom handsets installed on the system was not opening the main door when the door release button was pressed.
Armed with the wiring diagrams for this particular system we set out to test for a faulty handset or loose connections. After about an hour of testing it became clear that the handset was fine and the problem with the wiring from the handset (on the 2nd floor) down to the buildings main door.
In the end it took us four hours to repair the problem, but I'm happy to report that both Don and I are now experts at fault diagnosis of intercom systems having run through every possible fault and tested every connection in the system.
We attended a job for a commercial customer based in Covent Garden this week. The complaint was that one of the twenty intercom handsets installed on the system was not opening the main door when the door release button was pressed.
Armed with the wiring diagrams for this particular system we set out to test for a faulty handset or loose connections. After about an hour of testing it became clear that the handset was fine and the problem with the wiring from the handset (on the 2nd floor) down to the buildings main door.
In the end it took us four hours to repair the problem, but I'm happy to report that both Don and I are now experts at fault diagnosis of intercom systems having run through every possible fault and tested every connection in the system.
Tuesday, 8 July 2008
Wobbly Washing Machines
A landlord asked us to attend one of his properties last week. The tenants had reported that their newly installed under counter washing machine was vibrating violently when it reached the spin cycle. The shaking was so violent that the downstairs neighbours had complained that a picture had fallen off their wall as a result.
New washing machines almost all arrive with long bolts, called transit brackets, which secure the drum in place during transit and delivery. They normally have big orange or yellow arrows pointing at them telling the installer to remove them when fitting the machine. You'll be surprised how many experienced installers forget this vital step. The result of not removing the transit brackets is obvious when you try and run the machine for the first time. The machine attempts to shake the transit brackets loose itself by bouncing across the room.
So when the landlord described the problem, we thought we knew the answer straight away. The installer (not Silver Saints) had left the transit brackets in. But alas, when our handyman arrived and inspected the machine he found that the transit brackets had been removed and the violent shaking was as a result of something else.
On further investigation it became clear that the problem was been caused by the fact that the washing machine was resting on top of floorboards which were not level or very stiff. This meant that the washing machine was constantly fighting against the eccentric forces caused by the weight of the spinning load of washing. The reasons a washing machine should be level are the same reasons your car wheels need to be balanced. Out of balance centrifugal forces cause vibrations. (Read more about cetrifugal forces)
The cure to this particular problem was to fit a piece of 18mm ply wood across the floorboards as a stable surface for the washing machine to sit on. The handyman then spent some time adjusting the feet of the machine to make sure it was perfectly level. He then attached the feet of the machine to the ply wood with screws drilled through each foot of the machine (this particular machine did have pre-drilled holes in each foot for this purpose, however I'm not sure if all machines have these)
The end result spoke for itself. Amazed tenants watched on as the machine smoothly went through it's spin cycle. A very satisfying job all round.
New washing machines almost all arrive with long bolts, called transit brackets, which secure the drum in place during transit and delivery. They normally have big orange or yellow arrows pointing at them telling the installer to remove them when fitting the machine. You'll be surprised how many experienced installers forget this vital step. The result of not removing the transit brackets is obvious when you try and run the machine for the first time. The machine attempts to shake the transit brackets loose itself by bouncing across the room.
So when the landlord described the problem, we thought we knew the answer straight away. The installer (not Silver Saints) had left the transit brackets in. But alas, when our handyman arrived and inspected the machine he found that the transit brackets had been removed and the violent shaking was as a result of something else.
On further investigation it became clear that the problem was been caused by the fact that the washing machine was resting on top of floorboards which were not level or very stiff. This meant that the washing machine was constantly fighting against the eccentric forces caused by the weight of the spinning load of washing. The reasons a washing machine should be level are the same reasons your car wheels need to be balanced. Out of balance centrifugal forces cause vibrations. (Read more about cetrifugal forces)
The cure to this particular problem was to fit a piece of 18mm ply wood across the floorboards as a stable surface for the washing machine to sit on. The handyman then spent some time adjusting the feet of the machine to make sure it was perfectly level. He then attached the feet of the machine to the ply wood with screws drilled through each foot of the machine (this particular machine did have pre-drilled holes in each foot for this purpose, however I'm not sure if all machines have these)
The end result spoke for itself. Amazed tenants watched on as the machine smoothly went through it's spin cycle. A very satisfying job all round.
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