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Posts Tagged ‘bathroom<’
Posted in Electrical Work on Apr 02
Children and teenagers are tomorrow’s people. It is with their safety in mind that we present some straightforward safety tips in your bathroom and kitchen.
Caution: If you have any faulty electrical equipment or appliances, rather find an electrician to check for problems. Fiddling with gadgets ourselves is all fine and dandy, but just think about the consequences of getting it wrong. Electricians take several years to qualify, and there’s a good reason for this – they have to learn a lot, and then put their knowledge into practice throughout their working lives.
Child Safety
Be sure to dry your children thoroughly after bathing or showering, and before they approach anything electrical in the house. Water and electricity are a lethal combination. Teach your kids to keep drinks far away from any electrical appliances. It’s also a good habit to teach your youngsters to switch off appliances at the wall socket, whenever they are not in use.
Keep electrical appliance cords out of the reach of your children too, particularly for hot gadgets such as kettles, irons and hair dryers. And, never keep a charger plugged in without connecting to the actual appliance – kids love to explore and may regard a dangling cable as a tasty item to put in their mouths!
Kitchen Safety 
One recipe never to be followed is water and electricity…this combination will prove stunning, and may even turn out fatal. When you plan your new kitchen, ensure that sockets and switches are located a safe distance from water sources such as the sink. If you are thinking of a quote for electrical work, make sure the drawings include safe distances between water outlets and plugs or switches.
One of our London Electricians suggests you make sure your heavy-duty appliances such as washing machines or dishwashers connect through a fusible-link switch. This should be above the worktop surface, so that you can switch on or off quickly in emergencies.
Some Definite No-Goes
- Never use any electrical equipment or switch with wet hands.
- Don’t wrap power cables around an iron or a kettle while still warm or hot
- Always unplug an appliance from the wall socket when cleaning it.
- Unplug irons and kettles when filling them with water.
- If bread sticks in your toaster, don’t stick metal objects inside the toasting compartment to dislodge the bread. Switch off all kitchen appliances when not in use.
Tags: appliance, bathroom, children, cord, dishwahers, electrical safety, electricity, equipment, find an electrician, hot, kettle, kitchen, lethal, london electricians, power cable, quote for electrical work, safety, sink, switch, washing machines, water, wet
Posted in Electrical Work | Comments Off
I find it surprising how so many people put so little thought into the subject of their taps, when they do a bathroom upgrade. After all, these are essential user-interface points, and they must feel right. I’ve heard that some London Bathroom Fitting Firms insist their clients choose their taps themselves, and then design the rest around them.
While this does sound a bit bizarre, it also makes a lot of sense. Many bathroom fitters don’t specify the  taps included in their Bath Fitting Quotes, and could be tempted to dumb designs down if they run over budget. The first thing is to check your relative water pressure – any plumber could do this for you – after which you’re ready to go out shopping.
- Old-fashioned Pillar Taps add a retro feel, and are perfect for twiddling in the bath with toes.
- Mixer Taps are simpler because there is a single outlet and you can feel whether the temperature adjustment is right
- If your cold and hot water pressure is unbalanced go for Dual Flow Mixer Taps instead.
- Monoblocks take things a stage further because now you only have a single leaver you can pre-set.
- If you have an in-bath shower, buy a Shower Mixer that allows you to divert the water up or down.
 The next step is to choose the design itself, which is largely a matter of personal taste. Brass-effect taps provide an invitingly warm effect reminiscent of graceful days. Shiny Chrome is hard to keep looking clean. Matt or satin finishes are all in vogue, and appear likely to remain that way.
Once you’ve made your decision – but don’t buy just yet, you never know – you can Find a Bathroom Fitter on Mr-Skill you can engage in comfort. Don’t take a chance by hiring a possible cowboy off the street. Shop with confidence on Our Website.
Tags: bath fitting quote, bathroom, brass, budget, choose, chrome, design, dual flow, feel, find a bathroom fitter, finish, london bathroom fitting firm, matt, mixer, monobloc, monoblock, pillar, pressure, satin, shower, specify, tap, water
Posted in Other Craftsman Services | Comments Off
Posted in Handyman Services on Jan 12
I’ve noticed a tendency these days for estate agents to describe run-down properties as handyman delights. Perhaps the implication is that there are a few fun-things to attend to over several leisurely weekends? Some properties I’ve viewed recently reveal that they require considerably more attention than just that.
If you’re in the same position then you’re certainly not alone. The following are jobs currently posted on Mr-Skill and  awaiting Handyman Quotes:
- Fixing Garden Panels Securely. The fences we put up around our yards are often cheap and nasty, and the poles are seldom properly concreted in. This one’s perfect for a handyman – you don’t need more advanced skills here.
- Letter Box Replacement. This one’s straightforward too and I’m sure that Mr-Skill will Find a Handyman to do it pretty soon. It seems the front flap’s snapped off. Pretty urgent I would have thought. After all we’re in the middle of winter in case you hadn’t noticed.
- Attach Bathroom Fittings. I find it remarkable that developers no longer supply even a basic toilet roll-holder and simple soap dish. How mean is that?
 They make a fortune, and the comment “we thought we’d let you choose” cuts no ice with me at all. Their show houses certainly have bathroom fittings in abundance.
- Sand Down a Wooden Floor. This is a fairly easy task when you have the right tools. In fact I know a London Handyman who makes his living that way in older houses. I wouldn’t bother with a carpenter here – an experienced handyman is quite capable of the job.
- Remove a Fallen Tree. This one seems displaced to me, and perhaps belongs better under gardening and landscaping? I doubt the average handyman has the required power saws, or a trailer to remove the cuttings for that matter either.
When you think about it, there are an amazing number of jobs a Handyman could do around the house. The problem is that some so-called handymen are downright awful. That’s where the Website Mr-Skill makes such a difference. Our handymen are rated by their customers, so you can see what you are getting before you buy.
Tags: bathroom, cheap, concrete, cutting, fence, find a handyman, fitting, flap, floor, Garden, handyman, handyman quotes, holder, job, letter box, london handyman, replace, run down, sand, saw, soap, toilet roll, trailer, wood
Posted in Handyman Services | Comments Off
One of life’s more unpleasant moments is flushing the loo and watching the pan fill up almost to overflowing on a Sunday morning. Fortunately it never does though, and that’s because bowls and tanks come in matched sets.  And then there’s the small matter of having to Find a Plumber to come out over a weekend, and what to do without a bathroom while you wait for them to arrive.
This is why many of us like to keep a plunger in the garage “just in case”. These simple tools cost far less than a plumber’s call-out fee, and are just the job when you need them most.
- Lift up the toilet seat, and insert the plunger rubber-end down trying to trap as much floating matter as you can. While London Plumbers are pretty used to unpleasant jobs like this, even they still wear rubber gloves, and mouth and eye protection.
 With the plunger pressed down firmly and covering the toilet outlet completely, pump the handle up and down a few times.
- HINT As you do so bear in mind that the aim is to get water inside the plunger rubber and then force it out again to clear the stoppage.
This should do the job. If it doesn’t please don’t try to clear the outlet with rods that could crack the porcelain. Rather ask Mr-Skill for a Plumbing Quote from a reputable tradesperson working in your area.
Remember, it costs absolutely nothing to use our services and the plumbers’ rates are fair!
Tags: bathroom, block, bowl, clear, eye protection, fill up, find a plumber, firm, force, glove, insert, london plumbers, loo, matter, mouth protection, outlet, pan, plumbing quote, plunger, press, pump, push, rubber, stoppage, tank, toilet, trap, weekend
Posted in Plumbing, Heating & Gas | Comments Off
Posted in Tiling & Flooring on Dec 14
For some peculiar reason that I don’t quite understand, bathrooms in UK homes are seldom fully tiled. Personally I think developers are being mean. How much can it cost to Find a Tiler to extend a run of wall tiles once the levels have been set?
Here’s a neat way to integrate a mirror on a painted wall with tiles elsewhere in the room.  Let your imagination loose here. The choices are endless!
- Buy the mirror and install it plumb and level with concealed mounts. Obtain sufficient wall tiles of a suitable finish and have them cut to size. If need be, you could get a Tiling Quote to have the cutting done.
- Mark out the area around the mirror where the tiles will go, and mask it off for at least the width of the tiles. Mask the frame of the mirror carefully too.
- Apply a layer of tile-keying liquid between the two runs of masking tape. Attach a batten to the wall to support the bottom run of tiles.
- Glue on the bottom run of tiles using pre-mix tile cement. Allow this to dry for twenty-four hours.
 Return the next day to complete the job, making sure the tiling spacers keep the joints between the tiles neat.
TIP A London Tiler I know well uses epoxy to secure the tiles. This may add a little to the cost, but at least he can complete the tiling on a single day, and get the money back that way.
- After waiting another day for the glue to dry properly, remove the batten and the masking tape, grout the tiles and tidy up the wall.
Little details like this can make all the difference, and add DIY pleasure to a weekend. Aren’t you glad you found a handy website like this? What’s more, you can Find Tradesmen for all larger jobs right here. And it will not cost you a single penny more!
Tags: bathroom, batten, cement, cut, dry, eopxy, extend, find a tiler, frame, key, level, london tiler, mark, mask, masking tape, mirror, mount, plumb, pre mix, quote, set, spacer, tile, tiled, tiling quote, wall, width
Posted in Tiling & Flooring | Comments Off
I never cease to be amazed at the variety of bathroom accessories available at hardware stores across the UK these days. Every one of these has at least one fixing hole – if I got that contract I doubt I’d ever look back. Many folk are nervous about drilling through ceramic tiles though, because the consequences of cracking one can be quite expensive.
And so they try alternatives like two-sided tape and contact glue. Unfortunately these never work properly because ceramic tiles are highly glazed. Worse still, the accessories come loose, and chip even more expensive fittings when they come crashing down. If you are handy you don’t need to Find a Bathroom Fitter – you just need the right tools and your brain switched on.
• When working above a drainage point like a washbasin or a toilet, insert the plug or lower the seat. Lay down a dust-sheet to make cleaning up afterwards easier too.
HINT – Ceramic tile and masonry dust can permanently stain moist grout, so make sure your work area is dry.
• Gently tap the tile where you intend to drill the hole with something metallic that’s also light. If you hear a hollow sound there’s airspace between the glue. London Bathroom  Fitting Firms train their staff to look for another fixing point when they find this, because tiles break easily over hollows.
• Make a clear mark on the tile where the hole must go with a laundry marker. Make a cross over it with transparent tape that does not have a shiny finish. Tap the tape gently and repeatedly with a new centre punch, until you have scored the ceramic finish beneath it.
• Drill through the hole using a specialist drill bit and an electric drill set off-hammer. Once you are through the glaze you can drill into the tile and wall more quickly. Tidy up the mess, wipe things clean, and you’re good to go!
Mr-Skill is a virtual market place where customers and skilled tradespeople meet. It’s free to the general public, and bids can be up to 30% below general market rates. Click on this link – get Cheap Bathroom Fitting Quotes for your postcode right now!
Tags: accesory, accessories, bathroom, bathroom fitting quotes, bit, break, ceramic, chip, clean, crack, drain, drill, dry, dust, find a bathroom fitter, fix, gently, glaze, glue, harware, hole, london bathroom fitting, mark, masonry, punch, sheet, tap, tape, tile, tool, wall, wipe
Posted in Handyman Services, Kitchen Fitting, Painting & Decorating | Comments Off
The last components that are fitted when assembling modern baths are the front panels themselves. These clip easily into place, and clip out easily too in order to provide access to drains and pipes. Because bath sizes are standardised these days, it follows that it is equally easy to replace an existing panel on a modern bath.
 This represents a superbly simple way to add new panache and style and colour to existing bathrooms for a fraction of the cost of refits, and you don’t necessarily require Bathroom Fitting Quotes before you start. In fact, the biggest task is often selecting the right bath panel from the range of options.
We recommend that you resist the urge to install anything that is capable of absorbing water, whether this spills over the bath-rim, or is present in the form of humidity or steam. This puts paid to romantic ideas of natural wood unfortunately. Speak to any London Bathroom Fitter and you should always receive the same consistent message – stick to fibreglass or plastic, or there is no guarantee.
Fortunately these modern materials come in all kinds of finishes and colours, and being mouldable are available in different profiles too. You will have to shop around if buying directly from the manufacturers though.  Moulds are expensive meaning that each factory offers a strictly limited range.
As you shop around you are bound to be impressed by the huge variety of designs available, especially if searching on the internet. Mr-Skill’s advice is to keep things simple unless you have a farmhouse bathroom. Light colours and less intrusive designs work best in smaller spaces.
Although is possible to replace a bath panel yourself, you may prefer to Find a Bathroom Fitter on Mr-Skill instead. That’s because you could find it difficult working on your knees in cramped spaces, and you could also end up damaging the material as well. If you choose your panel wisely though, then you should inevitably be enthralled by the stunningly refreshed effect. Isn’t it nice to know that some home improvement projects are so easy?
Tags: absorb, access, bath, bathroom, bathroom fitting quotes, clip, colour, component, cost, cramp, damage, design, drain, fibreglass, find a bathroom fitter, finish, fit, guarantee, humidity, install, intrusive, light, london bathroom fitter, material, mould, option, panel, pipe, plastic, refit, replace, simple, size, spill, steam, style, variety, water, wood
Posted in Painting & Decorating | Comments Off
Its amazing how many homes there are across the length and breadth of the United Kingdom where the beauty of their bathrooms are spoilt by a grotty run of silicone sealer around the edges of the bath. To make things worse, some cowboys even add silicone on top of silicone,  until the effect looks really dreadful.
No Bathroom Fitter in London associated with Mr-Skill (or any others located elsewhere for that matter) would dream of doing anything as unprofessional as that. If they did, we would delete them from our system with a single click of our system administrator’s mighty mouse.
Here’s how you could expect the job to be done, if you decided to Find a Bathroom Fitter Here.
o Cut away carefully behind the old silicone on both sides with a sharp Stanley knife, taking care not to scratch the surface of the bath if it’s one of those new ones that scratch so easily. Peel as much of the silicone away as you possibly can. If it is really grotty behind it, you may like to use disposable gloves to protect your skin.
o  Clean the area thoroughly with a good disinfectant soap, and dry it well with paper towel.
o Pop down to your local hardware shop and buy some proprietary silicone remover, a tube of mould resistant silicone, and a caulking gun. While you are there, study the instructions on the silicone tube, to find out how to neutralize it when its job is done, and what safety precautions to take when working with it too.
o Using the silicone remover, strip every vestige of remaining silicone around the bath, and tidy things up generally. Now’s the time to attend to any grouting that might need cleaning off and tidying up too.
o Obtain a roll of the thinnest “sellotape” that you can find, and mask off around where you want the new silicone to go. Take your time here, because this is what will make the final difference.
I’ll continue in the next blog. Meantime, anytime you need to Get Bathroom Fitters Quotes to do a complete bathroom upgrade instead, we have some really good ones listed on this website.
Tags: bath, bathroom, bathroom fitters london, bathroom fitters quotes, blade, careful, caulk, clean, cut, effect, find a bathroom fitter, glove, grout, gun, hardware, knife, mould, peel, remover, seal, sellotape, silicone, spoil, strip, surface, tidy, tube, wash
Posted in Other Craftsman Services | Comments Off
Posted in General Building on Jun 30
Bathroom design seems to go around every few years and then eventually finish off where it started, at least in terms of colours. Not so many years ago black  sanitary ware was all the rage before designers returned to white again. I was at a home decorating show last week where once again black bathroom fittings seemed back in vogue. I wonder why.
o Could it be that manufacturers are trying new tactics to get us to start all over again in our bathrooms? I’ve heard that sales are down all over Britain because of the recession. I sometimes wonder what happens to the old fittings that were once the source of so much pride and joy. Perhaps next time I get a Building Quote I should insist on a trade-in on my old bath? Knowing builders like I do, I suspect I already know the answer.
o I believe I may have already mentioned a Builder in London that I know well. His theory is that we have become restless in our materialistic world and are forever searching for new kicks. I know that car  designers tweak shapes to make last year’s model dated. Do they cause the need for change, or do we already want it, I wonder.
o My personal opinion is that if as a species we do not keep moving forward then we shall stagnate. We know this intuitively and that is why we keep reinventing things and looking up new recipes. This may be all fine and dandy, but to be honest, I am not a fan of black bathrooms. So I shall sit this round out at least, and right now have no need to Find a Builder.
Are you thinking of a new bathroom though? At Mr-Skill we list builders that we recommend in just about every United Kingdom town. Our service costs the consumer nothing and we do not mark prices up. A perfect bathroom of any colour that you choose depends upon a competent builder. Find yours here.
Tags: bath, bathroom, black, builder, builder london, building quote, change, colour, competent, date, design, fashion, find, find a builder, fitter, fitting, manufacturer, rage, recession, recommend, sale, tactic, trick, vogue, white
Posted in General Building | Comments Off
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