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Posts Tagged ‘attach<’
Posted in Handyman Services on Feb 20
It’s surprising how many enquiries we receive about attaching things to walls. While this is the perfect job for a Handyman, it’s quite simple to do yourself. That’s provided you have the right equipment and safety gear. Should you decide to have a go, then these are the seven main things to watch out for.
Safety Tip
 A London Handyman will always have a strong ladder, an assistant and a modern electric drill to help him do his work. If you don’t have the same, please don’t even try to do the job.
- Always use a sharp masonry drill bit that’s slightly undersized for the wall plug you’re installing. You can always make it larger afterwards, but you cannot make it smaller.
- Before you drill, consider what might lurk inside the wall. Never drill directly opposite an electric box, or in line with a water pipe. Remember to check outside the house too.
- Re-check your measurements carefully before you drill. If the item you are fitting has more than one attaching point, fit a single one initially. Then you can level it and mark the other points.
- Make sure the drill is at right angles to the wall before you press the switch. Are you wearing safety goggles? Drill bits occasionally do snap.
 Have a friend hold a vacuum cleaner extension pipe in position to suck the dust up before it covers everything.
- Drill through the plaster on the standard setting before you switch to impact. Never force an electric tool. Use it in ten second bursts and do not let it overheat.
- When you are finished, lay the drill down somewhere safe, and unplug it from the wall.
Do you think that you could do the job yourself and avoid the cost of Handyman Quotes? Many people do.
Many others prefer to Find a Handyman on Mr-Skill instead, and get on with other more important things in their lives.
Tags: accessory, assistant, attach, bit, brick, careful, check, drill, dust, electric, equipment, find a handyman, glasses, goggle, handyman quotes, impact, ladder, level, london handyman, masonry, pipe, plaster, plug, right angle, safety, shelf, switch, television, vacuum, wall
Posted in Handyman Services | Comments Off
Gutters are important. They keep the rainwater away from windows and foundations, and generally protect our homes. A well-laid line of guttering makes a design statement too. All the more reason to follow these simple steps, and keep our gutters in good shape:
 Keep Them Clean. Remove accumulated leaves from your gutters at the beginning of every rainy season to prevent moss developing that leads to stoppages. While you’re up there, give them a wipe-down too. If you don’t have a ladder long enough, you can Find a Roofer right here.
- Check the Downpipes. An overflowing gutter is the sign of a blocked downpipe. Sometimes you can clear it by pushing down a garden hose turned on full blast. If not, you will need a length of stout wire to work around the bend.
- Straighten Sagging Gutters. Gutters are supported by a line of brackets that are set to the correct slope. When a gutter sags, it may either need clipping back into the bracket, or the bracket may need to be re-attached.
 Waterproof Leaking Joints. If a gutter joint starts leaking it’s often simpler to re-seal the joint, than to take the whole run down. Clean the affected area scrupulously, before attaching a piece of membrane with a water-proofing medium across the joint.
Is this the first time that you visited Mr-Skill? If so then welcome to our website! Our service extends to introducing tradespeople of all kinds to customers, from London Roofers to Carpenters in Scotland. Oh, and by the way it’s absolutely free to all our customers too. How’s that for a brilliant idea.
Tags: attach, bend, bracket, care, clean, clip, dizzy, downpipe, find a roofer, foundation, gutter, Guttering, height, hose, infirm, joint, ladder, leak, leaves, london roofers, maintain, membrane, moss, overflow, rainwater, remove, roofing quote, safe, safety, sag, seal, slope, stoppage, straight, waterproof, wipe, wire
Posted in Roofing, Gutters & Drainage | Comments Off
Theoretically, a door is a rectangular piece of wood sitting inside a perfectly rectangular, slightly oversize frame, and attached to it with hinges. The owners of a well-built home should never need to Find a Door Fitter unless they want to make some changes. However the world is seldom such a perfect place. If your  doors start sticking, this is what you might need to do.
• Begin by examining the gap between the door and frame, to determine where it is catching, and why. Reasons could include a door that’s swelling in humidity, and a frame worked loose through slamming.
• If the frame is coming loose, your first step is to re-attach it to the opening in the wall with some solid screws and plugs. Make sure it remains exactly square, or you could be worsening the problem!
• If the frame is firmly in position, and square too, examine where the door is catching. If this is on the handle side at the top corner, either the top hinge must move in, or the bottom hinge must come out. The converse applies if the door is catching at the bottom.
•  If the door is sticking on the handle side from top to bottom, then both hinges need adjustment. This is not a difficult task, providing you understand what to do. If not, and you live in the City, then you need to consult with London Door Fitters to play safe.
• To move a door towards the handle side, loosen off the offending hinge and insert a shim between hinge and frame. To move it away from a sticking point, loosen off the hinge and chisel out a little wood to recess it more.
If his does not solve the problem or the door is sticking at the top or bottom, then the answer is to remove the door and plane it down to size. This is a more complex job. Perhaps you should play safe and get Door Fitting Quotes on Mr-Skill instead?
Tags: adjust, attach, bottom, catch, chisel, complex, door, door fitting quote(s), down, examine, find a door fitter, frame, handle, hinge, home, humid, in, london door fitters, loose, move, out, plug, rectangular, screw, shim, slam, square, stick, swell, top, up
Posted in Window & Door Fitting | Comments Off
Posted in Electrical Work on Oct 25
Although they may appear complex, electric stoves are actually very basic apparatuses concealed in fancy metal cabinetry. Suppliers build them to last a lifetime safely – if they give problems, the cause is almost inevitably a switch or element that has failed. A householder may legally replace components like these, provided the stove is wired via a safety breaker to the switchboard.
 If your stove does not have a breaker switch on the kitchen wall do not follow these instructions. Find an Electrician instead.
• Obtain the correct replacement switch from an authorised dealer. Do not be tempted to buy a pirate part.
• Turn off the breaker switch and make sure that the stove is isolated. Tape over the switch so that it cannot be inadvertently turned on again.
• Electric switches on modern stoves are mounted on a panel below the cooking surface. Lever off the control knob and remove this panel which is held in place with screws.
• Remove the screws attaching the offending switch to the panel on the inside, and draw it away. Make a drawing of how the different coloured wires are connected.
•  Transfer these wires one by one from the old switch to the new one. Electricians in London like to call this monkey see – monkey do. When done, compare the result with the drawing to make double sure.
• Attach the new switch inside the control panel. Replace the panel after making sure that everything behind it is perfectly connected, and that no wire is in contact with the metal casing. Refit the control knob.
• Make sure all the stove switches are turned off. Turn on the breaker switch on the kitchen wall. Test all the other stove circuits first, and then the switch that you replaced. Everything should be perfect. If not, then there is another problem. You urgently need to get a Professional Electrical Quote.
If at any time you notice anything untoward inside your stove, stop immediately and Find an Electrician on Mr-Skill. Do not take chances with electricity! Electricity has the power to kill.
Tags: attach, breaker, check, colour, cooker, drawing, electric, electrical quote, element, find an electrician, isolate, kitchen, knob, london electricians, panel, pirate, problem, remove, replacement, safe, screw, stove, switch, test, wall, wire
Posted in Electrical Work | Comments Off
The kitchen truly is at the heart of every home, and if you think about it the sink tap is at its core. First thing in the morning we use it to fill the kettle. Last thing at night we rinse the dirty dishes. Cook uses it at least a dozen times a day. The family gathers around it to do the washing up.
 There are some really handsome kitchen taps around these days. Why not Find a Plumber and spoil yourself with a new one. If you are thinking of doing it yourself, then here’s what’s involved.
1. Isolate the hot and cold water supply, making sure the flow stops completely. Position a bucket beneath the tap under the sink.
2. Loosen off the nut that holds the tap in place. London Plumbers always travel with a basin wrench – if the nut is hard to get at, you’ll know why.
3. Disconnect the flexible water lines connecting the tap to the water supply at the lower end. Be careful not to strain the piping. As you remove the couplings a little water will flow out. Make sure the bucket is in place before you do!
4. Remove the old tap complete with the flexible pipes attached. Clean the sink surface thoroughly where the old tap rested. Take your time to do this properly. Apply a  generous bead of plumbers putty around the hole in the surface of the sink, and gently bed the rubber gasket into it.
5. Insert the new tap assembly through the hole including the flexible water lines. Locate the fixing nut, position the tap, and tighten the nut firmly. Attach the pipes to the water supply remembering to be generous with plumber’s tape.
6. Re-tighten the nut that secures the tap as it will have bedded down. Remove the surplus putty that squeezed out and clean the sink top thoroughly. Turn on the water and test the tap. No leaks? You’ve earned a cup of tea and a biscuit too!
Sound’s easy, doesn’t it? But there are various things that could go wrong, resulting in water leaks that could ruin expensive kitchen cabinetry. Why not get a Plumber’s Quote on Mr-Skill instead? You’ll save pounds off normal rates, and could still enjoy that cup of tea and biscuit.
Tags: attach, basin, bucket, change, clean, cold, flexibly, flow, gasket, heart, home, hot, insert, isolate, kitchen, leak, line, loose, nit, pipe, putty, rubber, save pounds, sink, supply, surplus, tap, tape, test, tight, water, wrench
Posted in Plumbing, Heating & Gas | Comments Off
Wouldn’t it be nice to have the dining room opening directly into the garden on a balmy summer’s day? What a good idea except you only have a window, and climbing in and out through it is hardly everybody’s idea of fun. Well then, why not convert the window to a set of french doors instead? After all, Door Fitters in London do this sort of thing every day.
o Call in a supplier to measure up, quote and make up a new set of doors for you, and do nothing else yourself, until these arrive and have been checked for size. They should be exactly the same width as the existing window, unless that  is you are looking for a whole lot more work to do.
o Empty the room completely. Remove one opening window pane so you can climb in and out through the opening. Secure the inter-leading door and mask around it. Also mask around the doors of any cupboards and protect anything else appropriate from dust.
o Remove the window and its frame completely, being extra careful not to disturb any plaster. If you notice any cracks in the wall above the opening immediately prop it, and seek expert advice. Changing windows into doors is a job only for the brave. That’s why so many British homeowners get Door Fitting Quotes on Mr-Skill instead.
o Mark perpendicular lines from the left and right bottom sides of the existing opening down to floor level, on both sides of the wall. Check and double-check these carefully. Cut through these lines with an angle grinder, working alternatively from the inside and the outside, until you can see light shine right through. Do your best to cut square with the wall, because this will make the rest of your task far easier.
o Break out the wall using a large hammer. The masonry will be resting on the damp course and may even come out in a single piece, so take care it does not fall on precious children, tools and dogs.  Remove the rubble. Tidy up the opening. Clean up the room. The dirty work is done.
o Remove the french doors from the window frame (if pre-fitted) and offer the frame up to the opening. It should be a close fit, but not a tight one. Wedge it in position and check that it is vertical, plumb, level and square. Use more wedges to adjust it until everything is perfect. Get this wrong, and the doors won’t close properly.
o Attach the frame permanently to the wall with plugs and screws. Remember to drive them in the last few turns by hand, in case they need to come out later to make a change. Then hang your doors, making tiny adjustments as you go along until everything is perfect. Install the locks and handles. Your home is secure again, and you didn’t need to Find a Door Fitter either (although you could have on Mr-Skill). You can even open up the inter-leading door again to receive a well-deserved cup of tea.
All that’s left to do is to tidy up the inside rendering, touch up with paint and seal around the frame outside with silicone. It’s nice when a job like this comes together relatively easily. Won’t the neighbours be surprised…
Tags: angle grinder, attach, brick, check, child, clean, crack, cupboard, cut, dirty, dog, door fitters in london, door fitting quote, dust, empty, exact, find a door fitter, frame, french door, Garden, hammer, handle, hang, horizontal, idea, level, line, lock, mask, masonry, measure, open, paint, pane, perpendicular, plaster, prop, quote, remove, render, room, rubble, screw, secure, side, silicone, size, square, summer, supplier, tool, true, vertical, window
Posted in Window & Door Fitting | Comments Off
Posted in Handyman Services on Apr 26
Bathroom accessories are sometimes rip-offs where cowboy tile shops make up their profits. The ones illustrated here are not like that at all. In fact, they are the kind you should  consider specifying when getting a Bath Fitting Quote. Here are some tips to avoid being caught by cheap swindles unlike these.
o Never buy bath fittings in a box that a shop assistant refuses to open, on the basis that nobody else would be prepared to buy them afterwards. Reputable suppliers provide consignment samples so customers can inspect them properly.
o In fact, never buy boxed sets at all, especially those on special offer. While they may display attractively, in reality they are likely to be tawdry and will include a few pieces you may never need.
o Find out what the underlying material consists of. Brass and copper are unnecessarily expensive, while alloy castings break easily. The ones made of artificial mouldings are far more practical.
o Particularly if you live near the coast, ask about the surface coating too. Look for a 3-year guarantee against flaking, chipping and rusting – if this is not provided, expect to replace your bathroom fittings after two years or more.
o A Bath Fitter London with experience may insist in being part of your final decision. While most of us are mesmerised by style, professionals also think about methods of attachment, and how well these work in practice.
Now that you know the background to bathroom accessories the next step is to buy and fit them. Are you afraid of cracking a precious wall tile? Speak to Mr-Skill and let them help you Find a Bathroom Fitter to make your life a little easier instead.
Tags: accessory, attach, bath, bath fitter london, bath fitter quote, bath fitting london, bath fitting quote, bathroom, bathroom fitter london, bathroom fitter quote, bathroom fitting london, bathroom fitting quote, box, brass, chip, coast, coating, copper, corrode, find a bath fitter, find a bathroom fitter, fit, fitting, flake, material, method, mould, rust, sample, surface, tile
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Posted in Carpentry & Joinery on Apr 25
Replacing a wooden outside or a wooden inside door is equally straightforward if you keep your head on straight and are reasonably handy. If neither of these requirements matches up to you though, then perhaps you need to Find a Handyman on Mr-Skill? Otherwise, this is how you go about it.
o Observe the old door carefully. Does it fit neatly? Or, on the other hand, do you need to alter the gap on one side or the other, or at the top or bottom? If so, measure up and make notes.
o Prop the old door fully open and wedge it underneath. Turn the hinge screws in the doorframe halfway out, budge the hinges loose, remove the screws completely and then remove the door to your workshop, or somewhere dry outside.
o Remove all the ironmongery from the old door. Lay it on top of the new door allowing the same spacing from left to right and from top to bottom. Trace a profile, make any adjustments you noted, and re-size the new door with a suitable saw. When done, sand down and mark where the hinges and lockset go.
o  With an assistant at the far side of the opening (to push the door open if it sticks) fit the new door loosely in the doorframe and make sure that everything lines up nicely. If the fit is good, then cut out for, and fit the lockset, and attach the hinges. If not, re-adjust the door first.
o With an assistant on the far side of the door, wedge it upright and half-open too. Attach the hinges to the doorframe. After you insert the lockset and fit the handles, you have a brand new door that should close perfectly.
The Carpenters at London based firm Excelsior Doors make it a matter of pride that each new door fits perfectly every time, or else the unfortunate carpenter must pay a round of drinks down at the local Pub. If you get it right yourself, then I reckon the very least that you deserve is a cup of tea and perhaps a biscuit.
Tags: adjust, attach, budge, carpenter quote, carpenters london, door, find a carpenter, find a joiner, fit, gap, handle, hinge, inside, internal, joiner london, joiner quote, lock, lockset, loose, mark, observe, outside, perfect, profile, prop, screw, space, wedge, wood
Posted in Carpentry & Joinery | Comments Off
Take Care of Your Roof
A roof is almost like a second skin. It protects us from the rain, the heat, the snow and sleet. When it fails though, we have just our own skin left, and that can be a miserable business on a cold, wet rainy night. The moral of my story is that you need to look after your roof.  The easiest way is to get a few Roofers Quotes from a convenient place like Mr-Skill and choose the roof specialists that appeal to you. When they arrive, remember to discuss the following ponts in detail.
o Is the roof covering intact and well attached? Tiles, sheets, thatch and all other roofing materials need firm fixing. If not, you will have leaks, and worse still a gust of wind might even carry a section of roof away.
o Are the ridges still in good condition? Roofs settle over time and ridges sag. They are not just decorative either – lose a ridge and your roof opens up to the sky.
o What about the fascias at gable ends? These are not simply decorative. They also protect the timbers at the roof ends from wind and rain.
o  My old friend who still does the occasional Roofing Job in London reckons that hips and valleys are the areas to watch out for most. Hips are secondary ridges. Valleys carry double water and need thorough flashing too.
o Points where chimneys and vent pipes penetrate a roof can be problematic as well, especially on the upper side if flashing fails. Remember, water going through a roof is moistening timbers and will eventually pass through your ceiling down into your home.
Do not wait until your roof starts leaking unexpectedly on a cold, wet winter’s night. Get Roofing Quotes from Mr-Skill. Get peace of mind too. Sleep well at night. A well-built roof is like a faithful spouse or partner. Look after both, as well as you possibly can.
Tags: attach, chimney, covering, fascia, find a roofer, flashing, gable, heat, hop, intact, leak, loose, ridge, roof, roofer(s) quote(s), roofers London, roofing job london, roofing quote(s), sag, sheet, skin.rain, sky, sleet, snow, speciaslist, thatch, tile, timber, valley, vent, wind
Posted in Roofing, Gutters & Drainage | Comments Off
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