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.

From quick fixes to major work, there’s numerous things you can do to batten down the hatches with Jack Frost on the way – starting with your utilities.

Many of the things you can do to prepare you home involve many things you rarely look at in your day to day life – such as boilers and pipes. But when it comes to keeping your home ticking over during the winter, your heating system will play a central role.

For this reason, it’s essential you have an annual boiler service from a Gas Safe-registered technician. Getting your equipment looked at is not only essential in terms of checking its efficiency, it could also save your life. Carbon monoxide is a killer – and failing to get a leaky old boiler look at can be fatal. If your boiler is more than 15 years old, you should be looking at buying a replacement. Although the initial outlay may seem a little steep, a modern, efficient boiler will pay for itself within a few years.

When winter-proofing your home, think of how you can run your heating more efficiently. This can include resisting the temptation to dry clothes on radiators – this forces the boiler to work harder –and using draught excluders to keep the warm in.  You could even decide to invest in some loft insulation and lagging for your pipes to improve the efficiency of your home. Once again, you will need to consider the cost of the outlay, but the benefits will continue for years to come – a well insulated home needs to be heated less frequently and at a lower temperature.

There are smaller things you can do to boost your home’s efficiency. Keeping internal doors closed is essential during the winter, while curtains can also have an effect on the warmth of your home. Open them during the day to let the sunlight naturally heat your home, but close them as soon as it goes dark to help to keep the heat in.

Before switching the heat on or moving the thermostat up, consider whether an extra layer of clothes could be a more energy efficient option and think about investing in a thicker duvet for the coldest months of you.

With a little investment and smart thinking you’ll be able to protect your home from the cold – and you finances from a hefty utility bill.

However, out of sight should never mean out of mind when it comes to your drainage system – and in fact they may need the most attention at this time of the year. Clogged gutters can cause water to backup in the house, leading to problems with damp or even wall and ceiling damage.

For this reason, it’s a good idea to set aside some time aside one weekend as winter sets in to give your guttering a going-over to ensure you don’t encourage any drainage disasters.

Autumn and winter brings more wet and cold weather – and plenty of leaves and other debris which can block guttering. Therefore, you should get in a routine of regularly going up to check that water can drain through the pipes.

This starts with getting out a ladder and climbing up to look at the outer part of your guttering. Make sure you’re wearing thick workman’s gloves, as you’ll need to manually remove anything which could block the pipes by hand. It’s a good idea to have your garden waste bin set up next to the ladder, where you can drop in any leaves or sludge as you go along. A stiff brush and trowel will come in useful for removing excess dirt.

To ensure the guttering is as clean and debris-free as possible, finish up by giving the pipes a good spray with the hosepipe, ensuring that the nozzle is set to the highest pressure possible for the best cleaning results.

If you think there’s a blockage downpipe, you may need to invest in some DIY tools to get the job done. One option is to use a wire coat hanger, which can fed into the pipe to loosen any trapped articles.

Some could decide that installing a gutter guard is the best way forward – this is a piece of wire mesh metal that can reduce the amount of debris that collects in your guttering. It’s important to note, however, that putting this onto your gutters won’t mean you never have to clean them again – it may just reduce how often you need to carry out this job.

If you fail to carry out these simple jobs, you can be left gutted if your Christmas money ends up being spent on putting a drainage disaster right – so make sure it’s pencilled into your DIY diary this winter.

Out with the old

To remove the old door, first put some wedges underneath for support. Remove the screws from the top hinge (you may need to be firm with some screws or scrape off excess paint covering screws before they can be taken out). Next remove the screws from the bottom hinge and gently ease the door away from the frame.

In with the new

Place the new door into the frame to check the fit. Generally you should expect a gap of 2mm all the way around the door and a gap of between 5-10mm at the bottom of the door depending on your flooring. If you have a thick carpet you will need a bigger gap!

To remove more than 6mm off the door it is worth using a saw and sanding the rough edges away afterwards. Any less than 6mm and you should be able to use a hand plane to remove the excess, again, you may need to sand away any rough edges afterwards.

Check and re-check that the door is the correct size, adjusting further with a hand plane and sandpaper as necessary.

Fitting Door Hinges

Fit the new hinges to the door frame. You may be lucky and find that the new hinges are the same size as the old hinges so the recesses do not need adjusting. If this isn’t the case place the new hinges over the existing recesses and draw around them in pencil. Use a chisel and mallet to remove the excess wood from the frame. Check the size of the recess and continue to adjust the size as necessary.

Line up the hinge so the pivots protrude slightly from the edge of the door frame. Open up the hinge and attach to the frame with a single screw. Using wedges for support, prop the new door in the door frame (make sure you have the correct gap all around the door, especially the bottom). Using a pencil or chalk mark the top and the bottom of each hinge on the door.

Preparing the door for hanging

Unscrew the hinges from the door frame and place them on the edge of the door in line with the pencil marks you have just created, mark around the hinge on the edge of the door.

Take a chisel and tap around the outline of the hinges. Make a series of cuts to the wood inside the outline at 4-5 mm intervals, trying to keep the cuts about the same depth. Using your chisel remove the wood chips to reveal a recess in the door for the hinge. Once you are happy the hinges will fit flush with the door, secure the hinge to the door using one screw only, (using one screw will allow you to make adjustments to the door more easily).

Prop the door up on wedges at right angles to the frame, attach the hinges to the door frame using one screw per hinge. When you are satisfied that the door will open and close smoothly you can fix the door securely using the remaining screws.

Now all that’s left to do is shut the door on the outside world and enjoy your new room!

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!