Screwing

It's not far off thirty years since we moved into this house, of which the first five years were spent renovating and improving the place from the 1930's and 50's technology which we found in place.

Since then we (or rather I) have done very little to improve things further, as we managed to make our home comfortable and livable; most changes since our children were born have been done by professionals rather than by my enthusiastic DIY bodgery.

This weekend, after five or so years of subtle and no-so-subtle nagging, I finally got around to repairing Moonface's allotment shed. It took me two full days in the sun to replace a door, fix another door in place of lots of crumbling tongue-and-groove cladding, then to treat and replace the bitumen on the roof. But I did it, and I feel pleasantly burned and sore after doing so.

Needing to fix the doors into place, I bought new screws to do so, and noted how the technology has again improved over time. When we moved into our home we had problems removing old screws from the walls and fittings because pre-60's screws had narrow, V -shaped slots which our newer screwdrivers wouldn't fit: they had squarer sectioned slots like an inverted ∏. At the same time, the old Phillips-headed cross-headed screws were being superseded by Posidriv and similar models. Now, another twenty-five years on, the design of the screw shaft itself has changed. The screws I bought were by Spax, with thinner central bodies but deeper, sharper, more steeply-inclined threads; more like self-tappers than old-fashioned woodscrews. They are all cross-headed, too, much more positive and easier to use than slotted screws. The finish is better, with some form of golden anodising which I assume is more corrosion-resistant than the old bright steel finish which used to rust away in damp wood.

The job is done. The shed is ready for use once more, and I hope that it doesn't leak now.

:o)

Life moves on, technology changes, even at this seemingly very simple level