Hodgewatch

For years, DIY has been growing in popularity in the UK. While the majority of people who do DIY projects are safety conscious, a large number of accidents resulting in injuries occur every year as a result of carelessness. Here are some useful and simple safety tips to remember when you undertake a DIY project:

Ensure your work area is well ventilated and wear a mask to avoid breathing in toxic fumes when handling paint and other chemicals.

Store your tools and materials away from children. Fit a padlock if necessary.

Plan every job carefully, give yourself plenty of time, and don’t rush.

Use ladders only according to the manufacturer’s instructions, and always make sure the ladder is completely stable before ascending.

Turn off the mains power when doing any wiring or other electrical work. Keep liquids away from any electrical equipment.

Wear gloves, dust masks, and safety goggles. These are designed to help you work safely. Do not ignore them.

Have a fire blanket and extinguisher ready in case of emergency. Make sure all smoke detectors have been tested and are in working order before beginning your project.

Always cut away from yourself when cutting wood and other materials. Make sure you wear goggles to protect yourself from any splinters or dust that might fly out; wear gloves at all times.

Wear overalls to keep your clothes clean, and take off any jewellery before starting work. Keep long hair tied up and away from any equipment.

Make sure that your tools are in good working condition. This includes hired equipment, which should be checked at the hire shop before paying the rental fee.

Handle toxic chemicals carefully, and consult your local council if you encounter asbestos. A specialist may be needed to remove it.

Cutting round switches and sockets

When you get to a switch or socket, make sure that the power supply to that unit is off. Mark the four corners and cut diagonally across to leave an opening slightly smaller than the face plate of the socket or switch. Cut off most of the four flaps and leave enough to tuck behind the socket or switch. You must then unscrew the face plate from the wall a little and wiggle it through the cut paper, pressing the paper against the wall. Tighten the faceplate back to the wall and turn the power back on, after giving the paste ample time to dry.

Wallpapering arches

Firstly, you should paper up to, and over the arch. Then trim round the shape of the arch allowing a 25 -40mm overhang. You should then cut small triangles out of the overhang, forming a series of wedges, or tabs that will allow you to allow you to fold it back under the arch. Do not just cut slits in the paper because the paper will almost certainly crease and possibly tear. When all tabs are folded in a strip of paper, just less than the width of the arch is stuck up under the arch and down the sides.

Papering behind radiators

Wherever it is possible, you should take the radiator off the wall after draining down the system. This make for a much better job. If this is not possible, you should just cut the paper to the required shape to drop down over the radiator brackets, it should be then smoothed out using a radiator paint roller.

picture courtesy of tkmrabbits

The key to professional wallpapering within your own home is using the right tools. It is important to get the best tools you can afford to save you a lot of time and money in the long run.

Before you start, you should make sure that the surface of your wall is free from flaking paint or grease. You should never paper over existing wallpaper. If you attempt to wallpaper over old paper, the paste on the new wallpaper will soak through to any existing paper, and will dissolve it. This will result in both wall coverings peeling from the wall.

If the wall you are preparing to wallpaper is already painted, it’s a great idea to paint a line on the wall where it meets the ceiling or skirting. The line should be as close to the colour of the new wallpaper as possible so if your cuts are not as neat as you would like them, the lines do not stand out.

Most wallpapers come is a standard size of 53cm wide and 105cm long. Woodchip paper and lining paper come in longer or differing width rolls. You should measure around the room and try to sensibly calculate how many rolls you will need. When buying the wallpaper, you should check that all the rolls have the same batch number on them. Do not be tempted to try and “stretch” the quantity you need. If there are windows and doors in the room do not deduct rolls for them. There will most definitely be wastage and if you run out of paper it can be extremely hard to get another roll with exactly the same colour match.

Before you start to measure and cut, you should check the pattern on the paper (you can always look at the label for the whole image). Some papers have a random pattern so it does not matter where you join the lengths. However, some have specific distances so having cut your first length it does not necessarily follow that the next length will follow automatically. This type of wallpaper will automatically have more wastage and is often more suited on a ‘feature wall’ rather than a whole room.

You should always wallpaper round the room in a clockwise direction in a room with no focal point, e.g a fireplace. However, if the room does have a prominent point then it is suggested that you begin there.

Now you are ready to start! Cut some lengths of wallpaper and lay them face down on the pasting table. You can prevent the ends from curling up, by tying a piece of string, across the table, to the legs.

You should mix the paste in the bucket and follow the instructions exactly. Apply the paste to the paper by working from the middle of each length to the outside. Some papers need to let the paste soak for a while before applying to the wall, so check the instructions on the label. The paste is applied more efficiently with a roller, so it may be wise transfer the paste into a roller tray.

Take the first sheet of paper and place the edge against the line on the wall. Unfold the paper gently onto the wall using your hanging brush to brush down the middle and out towards both edges. This brushing method makes sure that the paper makes contact with the wall as well as brushes out any air bubbles which may have got trapped under the paper.

Brush the paper up to the crease between ceiling and wall and also the crease between skirting board and wall.

Picture courtesy of tkmrabbits

These days everyone is going modern in their homes. We are seeing more and more houses and apartments being interior designed to modern standards in both contemporary designed and more traditional homes.

The desire for modern homes is the minimalistic style, the clean lines and simplicity of the design. But you always need a little bit of colour. There is no better way to decorate your windows than with blinds in a modern home. Vertical blinds, Venetian blinds or roller blinds will keep in with the modern and sophisticated style.

Versatility

When it comes to blinds, they are available in a wide choice of materials, colours and designs, so you are guaranteed to find something to compliment your room with ease. Thanks to the versatility of blinds, they can be made to order or, if you order online, you can modify them easily to fit the window space, keeping the lines clean and crisp.

Anyone choosing a white kitchen, white appliances and white counter tops will need to add a splash of colour somewhere. Otherwise, its feel is too clinical and does not look like a home. While it is understandable that you want your home to look like a showpiece, it is still your home.

Add colour to any space

Lime green or red are wonderful colours to use in a white room, they add that splash of colour you so desperately need when choosing all white for a modern design. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve chosen a roller blind or a venetian blind for the white kitchen; you will find them in every conceivable hue, making it easy to add the colour you want to the space.

Modern homes also tend to have lots of vast window space, allowing an easy indoor-outdoor flow, but you may want to cover these areas in the evenings or when the sun is at its brightest, and blinds are the best way to do this.

DIY underfloor heating can be installed by most home owners. It does not require an experienced carpenter for underfloor heating to be installed in a home. However, there are some DIY underfloor heating systems that are more complicated than others.

Electric heating mats are probably the simplest method of DIY underfloor heating. These mats come in sizes that are likely to suit most rooms. They are simply placed under stone or tile flooring. A mortar mixture, which comes with mixing instructions, holds the mats in place.

The one complication with electric mats is the wiring. It may require a professional electrician to get the wiring correct. However, these mats are very popular for their general ease of installation.

Hot water systems are a bit more challenging. Whereas the electric heating mats are very thin and fit easily under most floors, the hot water systems require a pipe that does not fit as easily under existing flooring. Often, the pipes for a hot water system need to be installed within a concrete slab or under a wood subfloor system. If there is no wood subfloor system, a liquid compound similar to concrete must be used. However, this compound requires several steps to mix and use correctly and can be quite challenging.

Electrical wiring can also be an obstacle when it comes to DIY underfloor heating. Specialised knowledge about wiring is often required, and this aspect of the project may have to be outsourced to a professional. A mistake in the wiring can result in insufficient heating or even a catastrophic electrical fire.

When a kitchen appliance breaks, we are faced with an unexpected expense, but if you are willing to put in a little time, effort, and research, you can fix your appliance without being out of pocket.

Fix a Freezer

If a freezer fan breaks, it may be time to order a replacement, but that does not mean you need to contact a professional for a repair or refit, especially when the Internet is brimming with useful tips. Remove the access panel of the freezer fan and refit.

Dishwasher Repair

It may not be the dishwasher in need of repair if the dishwater is struggling to empty, but a clogged drain may be the underlying problem. In this case, unscrew the drain cover and check for any obstructions.

Fitting Flooring

A convenient way to fit flooring is to use snap joint laminate. This could save around £1800 in fitting. However, it will require precision and a steady hand as cutting the planks will be time consuming. You will require a sharp blade and measuring device.

Fixing a Computer

Computers are not meant to last, but a computer may only require a new internal hard drive. If you have all of your data backed up on an external hard drive, this may take only twenty minutes to install, although the transfer of data may take several hours. A slow computer may have insufficient memory, but a memory card can be purchased and fitted, which may fix the problem.

Fitting Taps

Clean the underneath of the sink, unpack the new taps, and lay each part on the counter. Switch off the water supply; unscrew the nuts and hoses securing the taps in place and pull away from the sink. Read the installation instructions given and fit yourself, which could save an hour of labour costs.

Painting and Decorating

If you need to remove wallpaper, hire or buy a steam cleaner. This will give the walls a smooth finish. Thicker wallpaper will cover uneven surfaces after stripping. Darker paint may require two or three coats of paint, and cut in around the edges and the ceiling with a professional brush to avoid paint splashes.

Repair a Printer

Printers are often essential for self-employed people, and they may prove costly if they require diagnostics and a fix. However, your printer may require a part and fitting. There are many free website offering the solution for printer problems. It may take time to discover the problem, but it will improve your DIY skills.

Repair of Washer/Dryer

Visit a local water/dryer parts store, explain the problem, and let the salesperson recommend a solution. If the problem is a faulty thermostat or broken fill switch, both are simple repairs and require removing the access panel to locate and replace each part.

DIY is simple, easy, and can save you money. With the wealth of information on the internet, there is always a solution to a problem arising in the home.

Guest post provided by UK Bathrooms