General Hardware

General Hardware

Building and maintenance materials sold in bag sizes that suit a repair rather than a build. Pack size is the first thing to get right, because a 25kg bag is the standard trade size for a wall or a floor while 3kg and 5kg handi packs exist for a single patch, a fence post or a cracked step, and buying the large bag for a small job leaves most of it to go off in the shed. Mix type follows the job precisely. General purpose sand and cement is for laying, bedding and pointing. Rapid set cement goes hard in minutes rather than hours, which is what you want for a post or a fixing that cannot be propped, and it is unforgiving of slow work. Bonding is the undercoat plaster for uneven blockwork, and patching plaster is the finish coat for small repairs, so the two are used in sequence rather than as alternatives. Cold bagged tar and pothole filler need no heating and no mixing, going straight into a hole and being compacted down, which makes them the practical answer for a driveway or yard. On the salts, de-icing rock salt is a coarse granular grade for spreading on ice and is not the same product as water softener salt, which is a high purity grade for a softener unit, and substituting one for the other damages the machine. Galvanised banding is a perforated strip for strapping and fixing pipework.

The range is largely own-brand and trade supply. Bagged cement comes as Mannok cement in 25kg, Kilsaran KPRO Crete 3 in 1 general purpose sand and cement in 25kg, a 5kg handi pack sand and cement mix and a 5kg rapid set handy pack, with Everbuild supplying Jetcem rapid set cement in 3kg and handi packs covering 3kg bonding and 3kg patching plaster. Colmac makes a 25kg cold bagged tar tarmac and pothole repair, alongside a 25kg tarmac pothole repair filler. Salts cover Meinsalz natural granular type A de-icing rock salt in 25kg and Broxo 6-15 water treatment softener salt in 25kg. Eurometals supplies galvoband rolls in 13mm, 19mm and 25mm widths at 10 metre lengths, and Timco an SDS Plus half inch chuck adaptor. For fillers and adhesives see Sealants & Adhesives and Hand Tools.