DIY Newbie

Archive for the ‘Exterior DIY’ Category

Buying a home and decorating it in the best way possible are the two things that every individual would ever dream of. But, everyone does not have the required money to purchase their own home. Thus, they need to take out a mortgage loan. Before taking out a home loan, it is important on your part to know how much can I borrow for a mortgage so that you may be able to pay off the loan amount within your affordability. In this way, you will be able to fulfill your long awaited dream of purchasing your dream house. With your creative skills, you will also be able to decorate your precious home beautifully.

Few home improvement tips

You need to know the home improvement tips in order to decorate your home artistically. Have a look at some of them.

Decorate the windows in the best way – While you are in the process of making your home attractive, you should also keep in mind to decorate the windows of your home in the best way possible. You may put new curtains on your home’s window. This will give the windows a new look and protect the windows from the hot rays of the sun. You can also change the glass panes and put colorful panes to make them look more eye-catching.

Use attractive carpets on the floor – Decorating the floors of your home is equally important just like it is important to decorate the other parts of your home. As such, you should choose attractive carpets for the floors of your home. Most people cannot afford to purchase floor tiles due to tight budget since they are very expensive. Thus, the carpets are considered to be a good option to decorate your home’s floor. Moreover, carpets are cheap in cost and can be cleaned easily when compared with the floor tiles.

Paint the walls with eye-catching colors – The color on the walls of your home may have got faded with time. Thus, while improving your home, try to paint the walls with eye-catching colors. This may change the ambience of your home. You may also put attractive wallpapers on the walls to give them a different look. In this way, you will be able to decorate the walls of your home beautifully.

Improve the floors with a new look – You can improve the floors of your beautiful home by choosing either laminating flooring or vinyl flooring. This will give the floors of your home a pleasing look and will also help you save good amount of your hard earned dollars. By choosing these types of floor decorations, you can beautify the floors of your home at a cheap rate instead of buying the costly tiles and carpets.

Having good ideas in your mind and the desire to fulfill them are the two important factors that needs to be taken into consideration while improving your valuable home. At the same time, you should also have sufficient cash in your pocket to decorate your home. Thus, by following the above home improvement tips, you will be able to give your precious home a new look.

Don’t wait until the mercury heads below zero before winter-proofing your home. Planning ahead could make all the difference in making sure your home is prepared for all the cold weather has to throw at it.

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During the winter, many of us rarely venture into our gardens, unless it’s to build a snowman. For this reason, we rarely get chance to have a look at our guttering during this part of the year, especially if we leave and return to our homes in darkness.

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An old door can really date and cheapen the look of a room, but by hanging a new door you can transform a room from tired to timeless and it couldn’t be easier, quicker or cheaper to do if you follow these simple instructions!

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It’s impossible, especially with children, to use a house to it’s full potential without the odd knock and bang here and there. Annoyingly lots of these bumps make small indentations that we all to often leave ‘until we’ve got time’.

Now, with these simple to follow instructions, and a spare twenty minutes your home can be blemish free.

What tools you’ll need for fixing plaster damage

This list of what you’ll need couldn’t be simpler, just grab: a plastering trowel, a paint brush, some fine sandpaper, a screwdriver or hammer and chisel and some plaster filler (this can either be bought ready made or in a raw form which will need mixing as per manufacturers’ instructions).

Preparing the wall

The key to this job, as with many DIY tasks, is in the preparation. Using the hammer and chisel or screwdriver break off any loose plaster and removing all debris and dust away. Use the paintbrush to lightly dampen the hole and the surrounding area – this will provide a gripping surface – vital for the filler to set properly. Do not to skip this small job as older plaster will be bone dry, simply sucking any moisture from the filler meaning it does not set and grip the wall properly

Get filling

It’s time to get filling. If you’ve bought filler in a raw form it will need to be prepared as per manufacturers’ instructions. Otherwise, it’s a lot easier to be buy ready made. Simply fill the hole and the smooth over using the plastering trowel. If you’re a filling a deeper hole (say greater than 1cm) it is advised not to fill to the wall. Instead leave a small indentation and scratch the surface with your trowel – this will provide a griping surface. Then add a final coat an hour or two later.

Give a neat finish

The job isn’t worth doing unless you finish it properly. Use the trowel to make sure the filler lies as flush to the wall as possible. Don’t worry if there is a slight overlap. Once you are satisfied that it is completely dry use some fine sandpaper to sand over the filler ensuring a smooth finish and a clean join between filler and wall. A bit of touch up paint can now be used at the stage if you’re filler is a different colour to the wall. Diluting the paint with a small amount of water or using a damp sponge to apply will ensure that it blends in as naturally as possible.

And there you go, too easy – fault free walls in no time!