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Posts Tagged ‘bed<’
Posted in Bricklaying on Aug 12
Most brick walls are finished off with some or other kind of capping, which is called coping in the trades. While the main purpose of this is to prevent water seeping into the structure, coping also often provides a decorative feature too. Coping may be pitched or flat according to the tastes of the designer.  The most important thing of all though is to ensure that the coping is at least an inch wider that the finished wall, and preferably an extra inch wider in total too. This is to prevent capillary action dripping off the surface onto the wall itself.
Do you need to Find a Bricklayer on Mr-Skill to lay coping for you? Perhaps not, if you are reasonably skilful and have the right tools. But definitely, if the wall is high or if the site is dangerous in other ways.
o Span a suitable length of builders twine along the wall at a height above it equal to the coping plus the settled bed of mortal. This is a critical factor for success, so take your time. Mark the approximate position of each coping stone, to determine where to start and where to site the filler piece.
o Mix sufficient mortar, but not more than you can use in one hour. Lay a generous bed of it along the top  of the wall, starting at one end and one and half times the length of a single coping stone. Make regular slashes in it to help your work bed down nicely.
o Set the first coping stone in place remembering to obey the level of the builders twine. Immediately check your levels in both directions and adjust where necessary. Continue on the same basis without worrying too much about filling in the grouting. This is often easier the following day when the stones have settled. London Bricklayers invariably like do this the same day though, because they do not want to have to come back again.
This really is a simple job, provided you have the time and patience, and a straight eye too. If you lack one or more of these, then why not Ask Mr-Skill for Bricklaying Quotes instead. Our tradesmen are competent and pleasant enough to work with, and their rates are really keen.
Tags: bed, brick, bricklaying quotes, cap, capillary, capping, competent, coping, dangerous, decorative, filler, find a bricklayer, finish, grout, height, high, lay, level, london bricklayer, mix, mortar, patience, rate, seep, set, settle, skill, slash, straight eye, time, tool, top, twine, wall, water, wide
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Posted in Kitchen Fitting on Aug 10
In time gone past, people built large kitchens because appliances like stoves were huge, and kitchens doubled as lounges and even bedrooms. More and more London Kitchen Fitting Quotes are proving a distinctively different trend these days.  Rooms are getting smaller, and many people prefer to eat while watching television in the lounge or even on the bed.
These days some kitchens are not even destination places any more. Fast foods and convenience stores have dismissed the traditional stove in favour of the microwave, and kitchens are almost part of other spaces now.
The kitchen-in-the-cupboard is becoming increasingly popular, and you would struggle to Find a Kitchen Fitter who has not already done at least a few of these. It really is amazing what can be done with space in terms of modern compact fittings, and to make things even better you can just close the doors on dirty dishes, and all is well at least until the morning.
Another modern innovation is the circular free-standing kitchen that’s almost like a hyper store display stand.  While this may make little sense at first, it’s actually quite logical because several people can get to it at the same time.
This does not mean that it is impossible to get Kitchen Fitting Quotes for traditional kitchen installations. These are benefiting from compact kitchen technologies too, which is important because there seems to be a competition among architects for who can design the smallest Kitchen space.
The counterpoint to diminishing space is the technology behind modern appliances, that fit so well together thanks to standardized dimensions. Would Granny have traded her farmhouse kitchen with room for cats and dogs for a far smaller compact one? I wonder, but I think not. What say you?
Tags: appliance, bed, circular, compact, convenience, cooker, cupboard, dirty dish, door, fast food, find a kitchen fitter, fitting, free standing, kitchen, Kitchen Fitting, large, london kitchen fitting quotes, lounge, microwave, round, small, stove, television, tradition
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From time to time there are improvements to the design of windows that both improve their thermal qualities, and make bold aesthetic statements too. If you are living in an older home and are facing high heating bills, then it could be time to consider an upgrade. Of course it’s possible to do  the job yourself if you live downstairs, and have all the time in the world too. If not, here’s a brief description of the process that professional London Window Fitting Services like to follow.
o Measure for the replacement window carefully. Get this wrong and you could end up with an expensive contribution to the Council scrapheap.
o Make sure that the window you order is glazed from the inside for added security and ease of fitment, particularly if you will be working upstairs.
o When the new window arrives and the weather is appropriate, remove the old one carefully, taking care not to damage the surrounds in any way.
o Bed in the outer window cill, making sure that it is level, well sealed against rain and drafts, and firmly fixed.
o Secure the frame on all four sides, again making sure that everything is absolutely square, level and plumb. Fit wedges as necessary and screw firmly into place.
o  Glaze the window, and test that everything works correctly. If you get Window Fitting Quotes on Mr-Skill instead then this should hardly an issue, but insist on testing everything anyway. If you encounter a problem, loosen off the securing screws around the frame and adjust until the out-of-square problem disappears. Re-tighten everything.
o Complete the job by weatherproofing with silicone all round the frame outside.
If the thought of sealing off an upstairs window while standing on a long ladder puts you off, then why not Find a Window Fitter on our website instead. We monitor our tradespeople carefully for quality, and the competitive environment within which they work could also get you up to 30% off the going rate. How’s that for a good idea?
Tags: adjust, aesthetic, appearance, bed, careful, cill, damage, downstairs, find a window fitter, fitment, fix, frame, glaze, heating, inside, ladder, level, level.seal, london window fitting services, loose, measure, outside, plumb, process, proof, replace, screw, seal, secure, security, silicone, sill, square, surround, thermal, tight, upgrade, upstairs, weathermremove, wedge, window, window fitting quote(s)
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Posted in Handyman Services on Jun 28
There is no end to ideas for paving jobs now that summer is here and the ground has finally dried out. Why not pave over a dead spot in the garden where nothing grows, or create a  pathway to create definition and depth. When you Find a Handyman on Mr-Skill, you could be taking your first step to a new experience in your garden, and here are a few ideas to get you going.
o If you have an area in your garden that’s overshadowed by trees, then a circular patch of paving can be especially effective. You could finish it off with a feature in the centre, or lay it around a tree trunk and finish off with a circular bench.
o If your garden lacks definition or interest then why not ask us to arrange a few Handyman Quotes for you, with ideas for creating a winding pathway that draws the visitor on. An added advantage is that it encourages feet to stay out of flower beds and vegetable patches, and keeps the wheelbarrow out of trouble too.
o  Do you have an alleyway down the side of your house where walls and fences keep the sunshine out, and nothing grows? This is common in the City where Handymen in London create cobbled details and concrete statues that make alleyways almost like wandering through a second Pompeii. There are so many different things that you could do here.
A touch of paving makes a difference in just about every garden, and can be surprisingly inexpensive when you use recycled pavers with the patina of age. Other good news includes the fact that we have rated handymen at most common UK postal codes, and that the chances are good that we could find one for you too.
Well, always like the ruins of Pompeii, if you insist. But the thought was there.
Tags: alley, alleyway, bed, bench, circular, cobble, detail, feature, feet, fence, find a handyman, flower, Garden, handyman quotes, handymen london, job, path, pathway, pave, paver, paving, round, shade, shadow, spot, sun, tree, vegetable, wall, wheelbarrow
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There is really nothing quite as tastily healthy as crunching on a salad grown in one’s own garden. The gentle British summer provides the perfect climate too, and besides, it is a  perfect excuse to get outdoors instead of getting Gardener Quotes. Like most other things in DIY good preparation is the secret – here is how to go about preparing the soil for your own personal veggie garden:
o Select a site that is good for growing vegetables and suits your garden layout at the same too. You are looking for a sunny spot here, because most vegetables originally come from warm Mediterranean climes.
o Dig the soil over to a depth of six to ten inches, the deeper the best. All you really need is a pick and a shovel – if your back is not what it used to be though, might I suggest you Find a Gardener on Mr-Skill instead?
o  Mark out the area with some old wood boards you might find in a builder’s scrap bin. Spread two to four inches of weed-free organic compost across the surface of the soil (the more the merrier really), and push this into the loosened earth with a hoe or similar. This will improve the structure of the soil, provide nourishment, and allow water and air to reach the plant roots.
o Rake smooth, water well, and let the ground rest for a week, removing any weeds that may appear. Now you are ready for the fun part, which is setting out your seasonal seedlings, and watching them grow into plants.
Not quite the scope of work a Gardener in London might attempt. But still a great deal more fun than popping down to Sainsbury’s or Tesco’s, don’t you think?
Tags: air, bed, climate, compost, dig, earth, find a gardener, find a landscaper, Garden, gardener london, gardener quote, gardening london, gardening quotes, ground, grow, hoe, landscaper london, landscaper quote, landscaping london, landscaping quotes, nourish, organic, patch, pick, plant, plantling, rake, salad, seedling, shovel, soil, sun, veg, vegetable, veggie, warm, water
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Posted in Tiling & Flooring on Sep 06
Tiling a new bathroom can be quite expensive. Some builders of new homes just fit splash backs around wet areas to keep their houses affordable. Eventually somebody gets bored with half measures and opens a new job jar. There is great deal of information available on how to lay tiles on the internet. Here are few extra tips that I would like to add myself after a lifetime of DIY.
o Buy tiles in the medium size range, either rectangular or square. Big tiles are heavy and can come crashing down, small ones take longer laying. The dado trims that tile shops love to sell can cost three times as much as tiles themselves, and often end up looking overdone. Choose something affordable – London tilers often just cut strips of contrasting plain tiles, and this can work well.
o Remembering that tiles around a tub often get flooded, rotting the board behind or causing damp if the grout fails, prepare the tiling surface by sealing it with good quality bonding liquid first. You could even apply a slurry of tile cement mixed with bonding liquid – this will one hundred percent waterproof the surface, and the tiles will stick like anything too.
o Whether you decide to do the job yourself, or find a tiler to do it for you on Mr-Skill, tile spacing is important because it makes or breaks a tiling job. Take your time here – your patience will reward you.
o Bed the tiles down properly. Apply a healthy bed of tile adhesive, rake furrows in it with a tool and twist the tile slightly back-and-forth as you bed it down. Every now and then, lift a tile after you lay it and make sure lots of cement comes off with it – bad habits develop unobtrusively, and badly laid tiles have a habit of falling off a wall.
If you decide to call for tiler quotes after considering everything carefully, at least now you have an idea of what makes a good or mediocre tiling job around a tub. Thank you, Mr-Skill, for a further batch of common sense.
Tags: adhesive, bath, bathroom tiles, bathtub, bed, bed down, bonding liquid, ceramic tiles, dado, dado trim, damp, find a tiler, flooded, flooding, glue, large, london tilers, medium, new bathroom, prime, primer, rectangular, seal, slurry, small, square, stick, tile size, tile spacing, tiler quotes, tiles, tub, waterproof
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Posted in Tiling & Flooring on Sep 01
No matter how hard one tries to avoid it, eventually a tile gets cracked or broken. This is why tillers in London and other professionals always leave a few spare tiles behind after they have finished. A damaged tile is not that difficult to replace as long as you work carefully, and avoid damaging adjacent ones as well. If you are nervous or “all thumbs” though, it could be wiser to call for tiler quotes on Mr-Skill.
The following method applies to all ceramic tiles, whether on the floor or walls, or even on the ceiling:
o Wear safety glasses – tiles can shatter and the shards are sharp as glass. Protect the surrounding tiles with cardboard secured with tape.
o Carefully rake out the grout around the damaged tile using a carbide-tipped tool designed for scoring – your local tile shop should sell these. Be careful not to chip the edges of surrounding undamaged tiles. The tool you use must be narrower than the grouting.
o Using a new 6 mm masonry bit not set on impact, drill a series of holes through the tile in suitable places. Work a flat screwdriver into the holes, then lever out the pieces carefully. Do not rush the job. If you do, you will soon find out why you are wearing eye protection.
o Tidy up the place where the tile used to be, using a small hammer and a large flat screwdriver. Be very careful not to break another tile. Lay the new tile loosely in the space from time to time to make sure that it lies evenly, slightly below the level of the other tiles.
If the above scares you, rather do not attempt the job. It could be wiser to find a tiler at mr-skill.co.uk.
o Buy the smallest tub of pre-mix tile cement that you can find. This is the glue that tillers use to glue tiles underneath a lintel. Better still, ask a friendly tiler for the small amount you need.
o Apply cement, both to the tile, and to the surface where it will lay. After scoring the cement with a notched trowel, gently bed the tile. You may have to take it up to add or remove cement – the idea is to bed it firmly down and level with the other tiles. Using a piece of soft wood, adjust the tile so that the grout space is even. Barricade the tile, so that nobody can walk on it.
o The next day, mix a little matching grout and fill the gaps around the new tile that you fitted. When it is no longer tacky, wipe off the excess with a dry cloth, smooth off the grout with a wet finger, and the job is almost done. You just need to buff the tiles up a few hours later.
Tags: bed, broken, buff, cement, chioped tile, chip, chipped, cracked, cracked tile, drill, find a tiler, glue, grout, lay, pre mix, rake, replace broken tile. broken tile, tile, tiler quotes, tilers london
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