How much do you 'DIY' around the house vs calling a professional?

[rsaeon]

@rsaeon

So I got one of these a few days ago to put up some electrical conduit, bypassing the internal wiring:

DPCR Manual Steel Nail Gun Tool| Nail Wall Fixing Tool| Household Woodworking Accessorie| Portable Mini Nail Shooting Machine| Concrete Nail Gun With 15 Nail (NAIL GUN) : Amazon.in: Beauty

It’s a gunpowder powered nail gun, it didn’t come with instructions so I watched a couple of short videos and tried it out. Seemed easy enough: point, press and boom, you’ve put a nail in the wall in less than a second.

Except it was a literal boom.

Three days later, I’m still deaf in one ear the other one has high pitched ringing. I’ve had tinnitus since covid but this is far more amplified. I get a little relief by rubbing zandu balm in my ear, it’s soothing.

Be sure to use ear protection if you’re tempted to try this out. Or just do it the old-fashioned way, with a hammer drill.

Some safety tips:

@rsaeon

There’s a lot of safety issues to consider with the gunpowder nail gun. You’re literally exploding gunpowder, it’s possible the entire nozzle of the gun can blast open. So you need safety glasses, earplugs and gloves. Without gloves, tiny shrapnel will find its way into your hands. Always point the gun directly away from your body, do not be next to it, only behind. And never put your hand beyond the hand grip, use both hands to trigger the gun. You’d be tempted to have one hand on the wall and other on the gun, don’t do that if you want to keep both hands.