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Posts Tagged ‘break<’
Posted in Locksmith on Nov 07
There’s nothing quite as unnerving as arriving home from holiday, and finding you’ve either lost your key or the front door lock refuses to budge. This unfortunately boils down to a lack of care or just stupidity. I can say that, because I’ve been guilty of these oversights myself when I was younger.
 Lost Keys – The solution is as simple as people’s failure follow it is incredulous. Leave a spare set of keys with a good friend you trust, so they can visit your home from time to time too. That way, you may never need to Find a Locksmith at such an inconvenient hour.
Jammed Locks – It’s a funny old thing, isn’t it? We update our ant-virus databases and we even sometimes mow our garden lawns. Yet we leave our essential door and window locks to take care of themselves completely, when all you need to do is the following:
• Lubricate all your exterior door locks with a puff of graphite powder (not oil because that will attract the dirt and dust). Lock and unlock them several times to work the lubricant in. If the lock is exposed to the elements and seldom used, consider taping over the outside keyhole with a piece of weatherproof tape to keep the moisture out.
•  The advice of every London Locksmith and all others lock repairers too is to take action as soon as a lock starts giving trouble. If you can open the door or window you could change the lock yourself. At the least you could possibly avoid paying overtime rates.
• Inspect your keys monthly for signs of damage, and never, ever use worn ones. That’s because a broken piece of key can be impossible to remove, necessitating an expensive repair.
Whatever else you do please do not overlook the need to maintain your locks. Did we mention you can get Locksmith Quotes on Mr-Skill too? You’ll find the rates more than competitive and our service exemplary. Isn’t that good to know. Remember that in times of trouble we’re here for you.
Tags: break, broken, budge, care, change, damage, door, element, find a locksmith, friend, graphite, inspect, jam, key, lock, locksmith quotes, london locksmith, lose, lost, lubricate, maintain, moisture, oil, powder, rate, remove, replace, solution, spare, stuck, tape, weather, window, work
Posted in Locksmith | 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
In the good-old, bad-old days, as the older generation of London Roofers still likes to say, roofs were simple, easy going things with single pitches and only chimneys to seal around.  These days things are noticeably different – every hip, and every pitch and every valley represents a challenge for heavy rain, not to mention the mini-bali inset gables that are all the rage at present.
Waterproofing is intended to create a barrier to prevent rainwater from entering a roof and damaging the ceilings and furniture beneath. When it falls directly from above, the design of tiles and cappings is often sufficient to make sure it runs away. Problems arise though when the a gale is driving the water into every crevice, and this can get a lot worse after a cowboy roofer stomps all over your roof while cracking tiles.
It is a wise idea to Find a Roofer on Mr-Skill from time to time, and to ask them to check that everything is still in place, and that nothing needs repairing. This is especially valid in the case of tiled roofs, because tiles are heavy, timbers do settle, and cement under ridges does crack loose over time.
 If you are buying a house, and the one that you are considering has a flat roof, then my advice is to avoid regular Roofing Quotes and to buy something else with a simple pitched roof instead. This is because water inevitably collects on flat surfaces in pools, and will eventually find a way through. The only technique I know of avoiding this is to re-seal a flat roof long before the covering starts to deteriorate. In the greater order of things, flat roofs are cheaper to build, but cost more to maintain. Beware the buyer.
The most important thing of all is to be careful about who you allow to go up on your roof. Urban legend is full of stories of unscrupulous roofers who create work for themselves up where a homeowner never goes. This is where Mr-Skill comes in. Our reputation depends on the honesty and integrity of our roofers, and we intend to keep our good name intact by screening them carefully.
Tags: barrier, break, cap, capping, ceiling, check, chimney, covering, crack, crevice, direct, find a roofer, flat, gable, gale, gutter, hip, inspect, leak, london roofer, maintain, pitch, proof, quotes from roofers, rain, ridge, roof, roofer in London, roofer quotes london, roofers London, roofing quotes london, sag, seal, settle, storm, tile, valley, water, waterproof, wind
Posted in Roofing, Gutters & Drainage | Comments Off
Posted in Plastering & Drywall on Nov 03
Stone cladding was popular in the 1980’s when homeowners had a yen for new houses built in the English Village mode. Thin slices of real or artificial stone were cemented to external walls, fortunately adding no structural value in the process. Hence, stone cladding can be chipped away – this will leave an ugly mess though, and you will need to find a plasterer to make good. I included this picture to remind you how the job was originally done, and that you have to take it down, piece by piece in the same way.
 You will also need the following tools to do the job:
Strong extension ladder.
Hard hat, safety goggles and builder’s gloves
Large flat screwdriver
Hammer, flat and pointed chisels, and crowbar
Large paint scraper with wooden handle and rubber mallet
o Clean your safety gear and put it on. Position the ladder so that you can reach the cladding at roof level near a convenient place to start. If you can, secure the top of the ladder to the roof beams. If the wall is double-storey height, have scaffolding installed or call for plasterer quotes on Mr-Skill.
o You may find that the cladding is secured on both sides with metal clips or finished off with wooden trim. Remove these using the screwdriver, starting at the top and working down.
o Starting on one side of the wall, bash away at each individual piece of cladding until it cracks or splinters, and then chisel it away completely.
o Use the scraper and mallet to tidy up before proceeding to tackle the adjacent piece. If you do not, then you will have to go up the ladder a second time.
o When I was having a small job like this done myself by plasterers from London, I noticed that they were stripping the wall diagonally. This way they had the choice of two sides to work from. Believe me, this trick does help a lot.
Does this sound like hard work to you? It surely does to me. Why not hire a rated tradesmen on Mr-Skill to do the work instead?
Tags: artificial stone, bash, break, builder's gloves, chisels, cladding, clips, crack, crowbar, find a plasterer, hammer, hard hat, ladder, mallett, paint scraper, plasterer quotes, plasterers London, remove, safety goggles, screwdriver, splinter, stone cladding, wooden trim
Posted in Plastering & Drywall | Comments Off
Posted in Locksmith on Sep 15
A Yale-Type cylinder lock is popular for several reasons. These locks are hard to pick, you can open them from inside without a key, and you can deadlock them too. Unfortunately, unless you deadlock them a thief can enter if they have a key. This is why it is always best to change the cylinder in a Yale lock, if in doubt, and definitely when you move to a new home. If things go well you will not need to find a locksmith. If not, then there is always Mr-Skill.
 o Obtain a suitable replacement lock with similar markings to those on the old one that you need to change.
o First remove the lockbox inside the door – this is the piece that houses the bolt itself, the deadlock and the turning handle. Simply remove the screws attaching it to the door, and wiggle it off carefully.
o When you have done this, you will see a metal backing plate with two screws passing through it. These go through the door and hold the lock in place that you are going to change. Remove these screws. They are usually made of brass, so take care not to strip the heads.
o Push the barrel gently out through the door and catch it on the outside before it falls and chips your tiles. If you cannot release the lock, try tapping gently.
o Compare the old and new lock. If the thin wobbly metal bars are different lengths then trim the new one accordingly, by snapping it off at an appropriate groove. Re-assemble the lock using the new lock cylinder in the reverse order. Store the spare key somewhere safe.
Locksmiths in London charge an arm and leg to do a simple job like this. Are you not glad that you learned about Mr-Skill and do not need locksmith quotes?
Tags: backing plate, barrel, barrel lock, bolt, brass, break, change, compare, cylinder lock, deadlock, find a locksmith, groove, handle, lock, lockbox, locksmith quotes, locksmiths london, lost key, markings, new home, new house, plate, push out, push through, remove, replace, replacement, screws, snap, unscrew, yale, yale lock
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