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Posts Tagged ‘floor<’
Posted in Tiling & Flooring on Jul 19
It’s quite amazing how even knowing about a cracked tile in the home can have us wondering just what to do about it. One of our London tilers summed it up quite nicely when he mentioned how his colleagues seldom thought to offer the homeowner a couple of extra tiles to hold as spares for future breakages. Easy for him, we hear you say, but how difficult is repairing a tile in any case? The answer – quite simple, if you observe the following advice offered by Mr-Skill: 
Taking Stock
Throwing your arms up in frustration is not going to solve the problem, but following these simple steps is likely to have you smiling. Even so, some people are simply not motivated to make repairs like this themselves. If this describes you, rather find a tiler to do the job for you. Mr-Skill has a number of experts lined up. They have all been pre-screened, and the good news is that there are some great discounts on normal prices but you ought to move fast!
What You’ll Need
A special epoxy glue and catalyst set – buy this at any hardware store, but make sure you choose one suitable for ceramic tiles. Also have a putty knife or paint scraper available to mix and apply the resin.
Buy a small sample tin or bottle of oil-based paint to match as closely as possible the tile colour. Oh, and get yourself a small tin of clear polyurethane lacquer too, not forgetting a fine-artist’s brush. If this all sounds complicated, you could also get a tiling repair quote on Mr-Skill.
Step 1
Clean the tile and surrounding area thoroughly, and make sure the wall or floor surface is dry before you start the repair.
Step 2
Mix sufficient epoxy glue and resin together, observing the manufacturer’s instructions carefully. Now fill the crack with the mix, using the paint scraper or putty knife.
Step 3
Wipe off any surplus above the crack line and leave the repair to dry completely.
Step 4
Now you can carefully paint over the repair and leave this to dry as well. 
Finally, it is advisable to apply a coat of polyurethane lacquer over the painted area and leave it to dry. Job completed, and it’s time to pop the kettle on and make a nice cuppa to enjoy while you admire your handiwork. Don’t forget to thank Mr-Skill for this wonderful free advice.
Tags: brush, catalyst, clean, cracked tile, epoxy, find a tiling expert, fixing, floor, glue, homeowner, lacquer, london tiler, paint, paint scraper, polyurethane, putty knife, resin, tile, tiling quote, wall
Posted in Tiling & Flooring | Comments Off
Building Regulations in the UK changed markedly in 2002, and the driver of these changes was energy conservation. Moreover, these changes affected all homes from the ceiling to the floor, and new rules came into being regarding insulation materials, window and door frames, and the glass too. Now you wouldn’t want to run foul of the law would you, so rather find your window-and-door-fitter here, and know that your replacements will meet the strict new standards. 
What You Need to Know
Replacement doors and windows have improved enormously since the new regulations arrived. These days, it is possible to match virtually any type of window or door, and, more importantly, you can retain the traditional look of your home in the process. Thanks to the new Building Regulations, all replacement doors and windows must comply with high thermal qualities too. Improved security and low maintenance also form part of these new-generation replacements.
Where to Find Help
Your search for registered window fitter’s ends right here on Mr-Skill. Our members are all pre-screened, and they are ready to assist you right away. The good news is that they are offering incredible deals, with up to 30% off normal prices at the moment. Get your window-and-door-fitting quote without delay, safe in the knowledge that our members are fully compliant with latest Building Regulations, and will obtain the necessary consent for you.
Insist on Compliant Replacements 
Your new doors and windows must fully meet requirements laid down in the latest rules. Mr-Skill is aware that certain operators – and a number of DIY applications – do not meet these strict new standards. These illegal fitters will not likely be around when your property sells one day, and the solicitors request the specific certification for your new doors and windows.
Pence Sense and Pound Sound
One of our long-standing London window-and-door-fitters is very proud of the high standards now applying to replacement fittings. When you think it through, it can only benefit each household as homes become more efficient, thermally speaking. That means real cool in summer, and warm as fresh toast in winter! Plus the bills will look better too!
Tags: building regulations, ceiling, compliant, consent, door, door fitter, energy efficient, find a window and door fitter, floor, incredible deals, london window and door fitter, memebers, Mr Skill, new doors, new windows, registered fitters, standards, window, window and door fitting quote, window fitter
Posted in Window & Door Fitting | Comments Off
With the right planning and preparation, interior decorating can be great fun, and will certainly add to the value of your home too. Don’t make the mistake of under-estimating the task though – you could end up having to find a decorator, just make sure they are one of Mr-Skill’s if you do!
Light and Bright versus Dark and Heavy
A general rule with interior decorating is that strong and bright colours reflect energy. Conversely, darker richer colour choices may come across as somewhat drab and austere – although there are of course exceptions. If in doubt, rather go for an off-white, cream or beige. These form the neutral range, and help to tie together virtually any other colours present in your furniture, fittings and wall hangings.
Neutral choices have the added advantage of staying popular for much longer, as they remain the number-one choice for many people. Keep in mind that light and neutral colours create the impression of more space in your rooms, whereas a darker paint choice usually has the opposite effect.
Before You Start
You should decide on your colour schemes, in order to buy the right paint first time. As with all DIY projects, shop around, but don’t compromise too much on the quality of the paint you choose. While out shopping, remember to  stock up on brushes, rollers, trays, spackling and sandpaper too. Make sure that you have everything you need before you start the job. In fact, why not look to Mr-Skill for some decorating quotes – you may be pleasantly surprised, then you can sit back and enjoy the benefits!
Cover the floors with drop sheets, making sure that you shield skirting boards too. Drape the sheets over furniture if you cannot move and store these items elsewhere. Now, you can start preparing the wall surfaces to be painted, filling cracks and holes as you go.
Smooth off any patches when they are dry, and vacuum up any dust. That completes the prepration phase.
Ready, Steady, Go!
You should now be ready to start painting. One of our regular London Decorators advises that once you are ready to roll, try to block out all distractions. They are bound to prove irritating, and all your good planning will be for nought!
Tags: advice, brushes, chart, colours, cover, dark, decorating, decorating quotes, DIY, drop sheet, find a decorator, floor, larger, light, london decorator, paint, rollers, sandpaper, smaller, spackling
Posted in Painting & Decorating | Comments Off
Posted in General Building on Mar 26
Apart from looking very nice, a new bathroom can play a significant role when it comes to selling your home and achieving a good price. Bathrooms are not that difficult to spruce up either, so long as you plan carefully, and have all your ducks in a row.
First, decide if you need to find a general builder to do the job for you. Then, you should set a budget by listing everything that you have to buy. This should include all the sanitary ware such as new toilet and cistern, hand basin and cabinet, bath and shower cubicle, tiles, and a wall cabinet with mirror. Don’t forget tap fittings, extractor fans and a new combination light and ceiling heater. Towel rails, as well as other finishing touches can come later once everything else is finished.
Planning
- Draw up a copy of your new bathroom layout, and work out a budget too.
- Choose your new bathroom fittings from your preferred dealer. Remember to agree a delivery date before paying.
- Decide when you are going to start the job and warn the general household.
- Unless you have two bathrooms, allow for the time your bathroom will be out of commission.
Project Advice
- Make sure you have everything you need, including tools and safety gear.
- Isolate the water supply to the bathroom under renovation.
- Remove old bathroom tiles and fittings.
- Make good with any repairs needed to the subfloor and walls – fill plaster cracks for example and attend to any damp. If you discover things you did not expect, consider getting a general building quote instead.
- Prepare and repaint any wall area that you are not planning to tile, making sure the paint is suitable for bathroom use.
- You’re now ready to install your new tiles and fittings – imagine your new bathroom looking like this!
Oswald is a wild old sage – he’s one of our favourite London general builders. He has been refitting bathrooms for longer than most of us would guess, and he says that provided you are reasonably handy, renovating your bathroom yourself is possible. One word of caution though…once you have started it’s all about commitment. So plan the event carefully before starting!
Tags: add value, bath, bathroom refit, bathrrom renovation, cabinet, ceiling heater, ceiling light, damp, equipment, extractor fan, find a general builder, fittings, floor, general building quote, handbasin, London general builder, new bathroom, Plumbing, renovate bathroom, sanitary ware, shower, subfloor, tiles, toilet, tools
Posted in General Building | Comments Off
Our London Carpenter and Joinery expert tells us that he is amazed at how popular laminate floors have become in the world of renovation. He goes on to say that “Laminate flooring makes use of a tried and trusted tongue-in-groove system that allows one floor panel to lock tightly to the next.” Fitting a laminate floor is quite a simple job – provided, that is you have the right tools, material and skills.
A well-fitted laminate floor provides a high quality finish that is both pleasant to look at, and great to walk on too. Getting the flooring to meet under a doorway and flowing nicely into another room is not too difficult either, as long as you plan and work carefully. Before reading on, you may prefer to get a Carpenter Quote from one of the many professional flooring providers on Mr-Skill.
 Tools you Need
Tape measure and scissors or stanley knife
Crow bar, wooden tapping block and handsaw
Circular saw – not too coarse but certainly sharp
Jig saw and rubber mallet
Sharp, medium bladed wood chisel
Laminate flooring and appropriate underlay barrier
Method to Follow
Measure the floor area to be covered, and purchase the floor laminate of your choice – don’t forget the underlay. Remove any old floor covering such as carpets or tiles or plastic floor covering.
 Unpack the floor laminate, and lay it down to check fit and to allow it to acclimatise for several days, according to the maker’s instructions.
Lever away the existing skirting boards gently with the crow bar. Be sure to mark where each section belongs to make for easy refitting later.
Ensure that the floor surface is clean, dry and woodworm-free. Secure old wooden floorboards before fitting your new flooring. Uneven concrete floors should be levelled correctly.
You are now ready to start laying your new laminate floor. If on the other hand you decide that this sounds all too difficult, you could find carpenter and joinery specialists on Mr-Skill instead.
See Next Article ….
Tags: barrier, carpenter quote, chisel, crow bar, doorway adjustment, find a carpenter or joiner, floor, flooring, laminate, london carpenter & Joiner, material, quality finish, Renovation, rubber mallet, saw, tools, underlay, wooden block
Posted in Carpentry & Joinery, Project Advice | Comments Off
Posted in Tiling & Flooring on Jan 16
This one’s dead easy, although many people still don’t know the secret of how to do it properly. They end up balancing floor mosaics on a base of tile cement that thinks that it’s a bed of quicksand. You’ll might still Find a Tiler battling this way elsewhere too, although I should think not one from Mr-Skill.
 Lay the shower drain in place two tile thicknesses above the floor, and then construct the shower base around it using a single row of bricks laid flat. Think about the shower enclosure as you do. Your goal is to be able to position it symmetrically.
- Determine the fall you need. The simplest way is to measure up an existing shower, although I’ve always allowed a half-inch drop myself. Obtain a length of wood the thickness of the fall, by say one inch wide.
- Wrap the shower drain tightly in a piece of plastic sheet to prevent it from getting blocked. Lay pieces of the wood down flat around the inside of the shower base to create a frame. If this sounds too complicated, you could always Ask Mr-Skill to Arrange Tiling Quotes instead
- Obtain a supply of flooring screed. Combine this with cement in ratio of two-parts screed to one-part cement. Add water to create a moist but not runny mixture. Add a cup of bonding liquid too if you have some,
 so the mix will adhere really tightly to the base below and the tiles above.
- Wait fifteen minutes to allow the mixture to stiffen. Do not add more water. Trowel about half the screed you think you need into the shower base and smooth it out using a steel float and a flat piece of wood. Add more screed as needed
- Your goal is to slope the screed evenly between the strips of wood inside the shower base, and the floor slab two inches outside of the drain. Don’t panic if it isn’t perfect. You’ll be laying tiles over it after all.
- Three hours later, fidget out the strips of wood inside the shower base and fill in the gaps they leave behind with more screed. A week later, you could begin to tile!
This one of many tips I learned from London Tilers a thousand years ago when I was completing my apprenticeship. Some things never change, do they? Another consistent thing is the quality of service you’ll get from Mr-Skill.
Tags: adhere, base, bonding liquid, brick, cement, drain, drop, easy, enclosure, fall, find a tiler, float, floor, frame, gap, gradient, london tilers, mix, mixture, plastic sheet, ratio, screed, shower, shower enclosure, slab, slope, thickness, tile, tiler quotes, trowel, water, wood, wrap
Posted in Tiling & Flooring | 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
Posted in Tiling & Flooring on Dec 26
Floor tiles are often set for life, if for no reason other than that taking them up again is such a noisy, dusty business. Here are some things you need to consider carefully before you Find a Tiler on Mr-Skill. We call them rules because they can dictate how you feel about the finished job.
 Rule No.1 Colour
A lighter-coloured floor tile makes a room look spacious while it also shows the dirt and dust. Darker colours add warmth, and hide the dirt. Go for neutral colours to show accessories off best.
Rule No.2 Texture
Wet tiles are slippery and that’s almost a rule in itself. There’s only one way to make a tile suitable for outside use in wet conditions, and that’s to add a gritty finish to the surface. Best to buy yours already done, because the paint-on solutions wear away.
Rule No.3 Size and Shape
A London Tiler worth his money will always determine your overall goals before recommending tiles. Large ones create a sense of spaciousness, while smaller ones may look busy over larger areas.  Rectangular tiles make a room seem wider when laid across the width. Lay them in the length though, and you’ll get the opposite effect
Rule No. 4 Thickness
When you obtain a Floor Tiling Quote it’s a good idea to specify the thickness of the tile. This is because this makes them heavier and more difficult to cut. As a general rule, a medium thickness floor tile is adequate for domestic use, unless you are planning something different.
The 5th Rule is perhaps the most important principle of all, and that’s Choosing the Right Tiler. And that’s where Mr-Skill comes in. We’ve searched high and low for the finest tradesmen across the length and breadth of the United Kingdom, and we’ll not charge a single penny to introduce you to them.
Tags: accessory, choose, cut, dark, deep, dirt, domestic, dust, find a tiler, finish, floor, grit, heavier, length, light, london tiler, medium, neutral, quote, rectangular, rule, select, shape, size, slip, slippery, spacious, texture, thick, tile, tiling quote, warm, wet, wide, width
Posted in Tiling & Flooring | Comments Off
Posted in Carpentry & Joinery on Nov 24
While parents may still find them handy for tracking teenagers in and out at night, the truth is that a squeaking floor is an irritating thing that is literally crying out for your attention. Before you look for cost-effective Carpenters Quotes on Mr-Skill, you may like to try out these handy ideas first.
 Floor boards creak for one of three reasons, and these are some of the things you can do to fix them – possibly by yourself – once you have walked the floor and found the source:
1. They are incorrectly fitted and rubbing up against each other. Pour a little talcum powder into the crack and work it in by pressing up and down with your foot. If this works, repeat the treatment regularly.
2. The nails holding them down have worked loose. If at all possible, remove the nails completely and replace them with wood screws. If not, you may have to fit new screws separately, hammer the old nails in as best you can, and fill the nail heads with filler. Start with two screws, each towards the outer edge of the board, remembering to countersink them. Only add a middle one if necessary.
3.  The floor support is inadequate. This is a major job and you need to Find a Carpenter on Mr-Skill to do the job for you. They will remove a section of floor boards, add additional supporting battens and re-lay the floor. If done correctly by a professional there is no reason why the job will not work. Done incorrectly by a cowboy though, and it could cost you the floor.
There are Experts in London Carpentry on Mr-Skill, and specialist carpenters working in almost every other United Kingdom postcode too. When you Hire a Skilful Tradesman here, you not only get one with all the correct papers. You also get to save pounds off normal market rates.
Tags: add, batten, board, carpenters quotes, countersink, creak, fill, filler, find a carpenter, floor, floorboard, hammer, incorrect, lay, london carpentry, loose, nail, paper, powder, professional, rate, reason, relay, remove, replace, rub, save, screw, section, specialist, squeak, talcum, work
Posted in Carpentry & Joinery | Comments Off
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