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Posts Tagged ‘paper<’
Posted in Plastering & Drywall on Apr 12
Most of the internal brick surfaces in our homes these days are plaster-finished. This allows many options when it comes to choosing the final decorative touch, such as papering, tiling or even simply painting. As with any DIY task, achieving a smooth finish comes with practice. It may pay you to find a plasterer and see how they go about plastering your wall first – sort of paying for your education in a way!
The plaster mix is as important as having the right equipment. It is well worth investing in a good set of plasterer’s tools, especially if you plan to do several jobs. A good start point is always planning and preparation. Make sure the surface is clean and properly prepared to receive the plaster. Remove any loose material, and clean off dust with a damp cloth. If you are getting nervous about what lies ahead, consider getting a plaster quote from Mr-Skill instead. 
Now, you are ready to start the job. Begin by mixing the quantity of plaster-mix you will need in a plastic bucket or a basin, following the maker’s instructions carefully. Adding the plaster to the water helps prevent lumps and air pockets forming. Use a wooden spoon or paddle to mix to the right consistency. Apply clean water with a block brush to dampen the surface you are about to plaster – this assists greatly with the bonding process.
Load up your trowel and apply the mix to the wall surface, keeping the tool at an angle to spread it easily. Using a strong upward stroke, flatten the angle of the trowel to the wall as you work. After the surface has semi-dried out, apply a long ruler or straightedge to the surface to level it, beginning at the bottom and working from side to side and upwards. 
When the plaster coat has dried solid, scan for any hollows or imperfections from your first attempt, and fill them with fresh plaster before levelling off again. You may need to repeat this process several times until you get the hang of it. The final skin of plaster should be left to stiffen and almost dry before sanding smooth.
Here’s a useful tip from one of our London plasterers – always rinse your bucket thoroughly before mixing fresh batches. This will prevent lumps of old dry plaster getting into your new mix. Don’t forget to clean up nicely when finished!
Tags: basin, block brush, brush, bucket, cracks, DIY, find a plasterer, london plasterer, mix, paint, paper, plaster, plaster quote, plasterer, rule, skin, smooth, straightedge, tiles, walls, wet
Posted in Plastering & Drywall | 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
I’ve recently sanded down an old wooden table I’m rather fond of and finished it off with a high lustre polyurethane seal. I wish I could claim all the credit for the final effect – just don’t tell anybody I used ideas I gleaned from a retired London Painter living in the village not far from me.
• Work in the best light – That does not mean under blazing overhead light that shines back in your eyes.  What is does mean is natural illumination streaming softly through doors and windows at a low angle. This emphasises the grain that you must accommodate, and turns imperfections into shadows that you can easily see. If you don’t have natural light available, set a desk lamp at one end of the bench.
• Choose the right sandpaper – Sandpaper comes in different colours, although there are no industry rules. Some suppliers use colour to highlight different grit size. Others use it to indicate different types. Choose three strengths of paper designed for the job in hand, so you can work progressively from coarse to fine.
• Use sanding tools – The chances of achieving a level finish using bare hands are low, because fingers are creative things, not mechanised machines. Use a sanding block for a smaller piece of work,  and a power sander for a larger job. Bear in mind that power tools are more productive. Use finer grit paper to counteract the effect.
• Use a jig – Wrap sandpaper around a reverse shape to sand right into a tricky corner, and move your work gently up and down against it. Work carefully – the results can be quite dramatic.
• Check progress as you go along – Put a used nylon stocking over your hand and run it gently across the surface of your work to find rough spots. If you’re a guy though, perhaps you shouldn’t admit to wearing pantyhose in the workshop?
You won’t need to Find a Painter to do a hobbyist job like this. But you will need to get Painting Quotes on Mr-Skill for wooden doors and window frames. Trust me. I tried that. You don’t want to go down that road alone.
Tags: angle, bench, block, check, choose, coarse, colour, door, find a painter, fine, finish, grade, grain, grit, jig, lamp, level, light, london painter, natural, nylon, painting quote, paper, power, progress, reverse, rough, sand, sandpaper, seal, shadow, shine, size, smooth, soft, stocking, strength, table, tool, window, wood, work
Posted in Painting & Decorating | Comments Off
Posted in Plastering & Drywall on Apr 19
Drywall, sometimes also called Gypsum Board or Plasterboard consists of a sheet of Gypsum plaster pressed between two  thick paper sheets. Cheapness, ease of use and the ideal base-finish it provides has made drywall the norm for almost all interior walls and ceilings in houses and offices built in the United Kingdom these days.
While it is tempting to Find a Plasterer on Mr-Skill to apply the final finishing coat, this is also something that handy people can attempt themselves, provided they have piles of patience, and more to spare.
o Apply a suitable primer as advised by the Gypsum Board manufacturer.
o Wet the hawk (the board on a short pole used to transport the plaster to the job) and centre a reasonable blob of plaster mix on it.
o Take some plaster on your plastering float and put it on the wall with upward sweeping motions.  Concentrate on getting the material to stick. When you have the hang of it, add more plaster, smoothing out as you go along to achieve an even coat an eighth- to a sixteenth-inch thick.
o After it has dried off completely, finish with an orbital sander. Then patch-in and refinish, until you have achieved the standard you had in mind.
o Finish off with undercoat and topcoat if desired. If you got everything right, then you can stand proud with any Plasterer in London, because what you have just completed is not an easy job.
At Mr-Skill, we like to encourage homeowners to explore their potential and discover previously unknown skills. At the very least, now that you know how to plaster drywall yourself, you will be able to assess the Plastering Quotes you get from us effectively.
Tags: adhere, board, ceiling, cheap, dry, drywall, easy, find a plasterer, finish, float, gypsum, hawk, home, house, office, paper, plaster, plasterboard, plasterer london, plasterer quote, plastering job London, plastering quote, prime, sand, sander, sheet, smooth, stick, topcoat, undercoat, wall
Posted in Plastering & Drywall | Comments Off
Glitzy commercial Christmas produces mounds of extra garbage every year, and the bigger establishments and City authorities have to get additional cleaner quotes to dispose of it. Fortunately, for those with a green conscience, there are things that we can do as individuals to spare Mother Nature at least a little of her Christmas pain.
o Give eco-friendly gifts. Start with the packaging in which they come wrapped – this should come from recycled paper. If it is not, perhaps you could think again. Are the contents made from plastic, in other words from oil by-products? If so, then these could take a thousand years to decompose on a landfill site when no longer wanted, which is bad news. When you shop like this, you strike a small but significant blow for a healthier tomorrow.
o Buy an eco-friendly Christmas tree either made from recycled paper or growing in a pot. Avoid a live or decapitated pine tree at all costs, because these consume huge amounts of water for little long-term  benefit. Decorate your Christmas tree with ornaments made by local or rural communities, not in huge factories pumping out pollution in sweatshops.
o Create your own Christmas Cards from recycled ones, or buy cards sold in support of local charities. If your recipients are computer literate, then why not send e-cards instead, and donate the savings to a worthy cause. When you set your Christmas table, have a mind for our poor Planet too. Candles should be soy based (not paraffin based) and everything from the Christmas Turkey to the Peas should be organic too.
When you celebrate Christmas naturally like this, you not only give a great gift to future generations. There will also be one less need to find a cleaner the following day, and housekeepers in London can have the day off too.
Tags: candles, cardboard, cause, charity, christmas card, christmas decoration, christmas gift, christmas present, christmas table, christmas tree, cleaner quotes, cleaners london, donate, e-card, eco-friendly, find a cleaner, find a housekeeper, gift, green, housekeeper quotes, housekeepers london, packaging, paper, paraffin, peas, plastic, recycled, soy, tree, turkey
Posted in Cleaning Services, Disposals & Waste Removal, Inspirations | Comments Off
Posted in Locksmith on Dec 01
Home security is an ongoing project that is never finished, because criminals are getting smarter all the time. New technologies are always being introduced to counter these latest risks – the trick to managing security costs is to identify the most likely threats facing you, and have good insurance plan just in case the crooks break through your systems. A good way to start a security upgrade is to find a locksmith on Mr-Skill where we assess newcomers before we list them.
Here are some rules to follow:
 o Never leave anything to chance. Your home is never completely safe, especially if you are away, pottering in the garden or asleep inside. Decide on the precautions that you need to take, implement these and always be on your guard. The day that you do no not feel like setting the alarm or locking the front door is sometimes the day that burglars choose too.
o Starting from the outside, you could protect your home from entry with anti-climb paint, burglar bars and lights that turn on when there is an intrusion. A clever way to deter a crook is to have gravel strewn around your house – no burglar likes to make a noise when they approach a home.
o A burglar alarm is a good idea, particularly if you pay to have it monitored. These days home alarms come with panic, fire and medical buttons too. Make sure the firm you choose to come to your assistance will do that swiftly too, and when you need it most.
o Good quality locks on doors and windows are just as important, because the last thing you really want is a burglar inside your house setting off the alarm. In this regard, make sure that your alarm company or a trusted neighbour has a key so they could gain access to your home should this be necessary. British Insurance firms usually favour a strong front door lock of the mortice deadlock kind with a British Standard Kitemark – make sure when you get locksmith quotes that the other access points like windows and the back door will be equally well secured, because security is never better than its weakest point.
o Never render your house invisible behind high walls and gates. Crooks like to work in secluded surroundings where the neighbours cannot peep. Locksmiths London based always recommend cutting high bushes away around the house too.
o Finally, do not advertise that your house is standing empty when you are away on holiday. By this, I mean stop newspaper and milk deliveries, and ask Royal Mail to hold your post. If you have lights inside the house that you can set on timer, this will be an excellent deterrent too.
When you follow this advice, you should have less chance of burglary. Why not tell your insurance company what you have done – you could end up paying lower premiums and excesses if you got it right.
Tags: alarm, alarm monitor, avoid a break in, bars, burglar, bushes, company, crook, danger, deterrent, door, excess, find a locksmith, fire, gates, home, insurance, lock, locksmith quotes, locksmiths london, mail, medical, milk, mortice, neighbour, newspaper, panic, paper, premium, protect, response, risk, safety, secirity monitor company, security, security monitor, stop, timer, upgrade, walls, window
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Posted in Cleaning Services on Nov 22
Did you just take occupation of a house you bought, and find it filthy dirty? Well rest assured that you are not the only one to have this problem – it is often more the rule than the exception nowadays. It happened to me once too. Here are some good ideas I picked up from cleaners in London that gave me sterling service, and were surprisingly cheap too.
 o Scuffmarks on a resilient kitchen floor are common even in a well loved home. A rubbing paste made out of baking soda and a little warm water will soon work them away.
o Are the enamelled sinks and bathtubs full of dirty stains? Soak a few brown paper bags in bleach and leave them in them overnight. Next morning, prepare to be pleasantly surprised.
 o Many houses smell really awful, as if their owners put up with this for years. Combine one-teaspoon lemon juice and one of baking powder, mix this with two cupfuls of hot water, put the mixture in a trigger spray, spray it around the house, and your smelly problems will be gone.
o To clean a smelly carpet, first make up a mixture of one-cup borax, one-cup cornmeal, and half a cup of baking soda. Leave it sprinkled on the carpet overnight – when you vacuum the mixture up the next morning things will suddenly smell delightfully better.
o If the carpet is dirty, you may be able to use baking soda and vinegar to lift the stains. But, do first test for colourfastness by sprinkling a little baking soda on an inconspicuous patch. If all goes well, pour on a small amount of vinegar. When the bubbling has finished let the carpet dry before finishing off with a vacuum cleaner.
I found these ideas amazing, and they all worked too. No more expensive household cleaning materials for me these days. If you do not have the time to spend on cleaning though, you will find a cleaner easily when you search for cleaner quotes on Mr-Skill.
Tags: baking soda, bath, bleach, borax, carpet, cleaner quotes, cleaners london, cornmeal, dirty, find a cleaner, find a housekeeper, hint, house, housekeeper quotes, housekeepers london, lemon, lemonjuice, paper, scuff, scuffmark, sink, smell, spray, stain, tip, vacuum, vinegar, water
Posted in Cleaning Services | Comments Off
A decent paintbrush can cost a lot of money and is well worthwhile looking after. Buying cheap ones on a throwaway basis is false economy, and your work will show this too. I learned these things from painters in London where I had my decorating business.
HANDYMAN’S TIPS: Begin by working smart. When you dip a dry paintbrush into paint, capillary action draws the liquid all the way up to the handle where it congeals and ruins the brush. Soak if first in water, turpentine or oil, then shake it dry before you start. Use different brushes for oil and water-based paints because these media repel each other. Wear disposable gloves so you do not have to clean yourself as well.
 o First, wipe away any excess paint from the brush with paper towel or a lint free cloth (if there is a lot of it and it has not yet begun to dry, scrape this back into the paint tin first). Squeeze the bristles gently as you work the paint towards the tip where you can remove it. Be careful not to damage or distort the bristles – you want your expensive paintbrush to wear in nicely, and last for years. Wipe the surface of the paintbrush again.
o Rinse the paintbrush in turpentine or oil, or lukewarm fresh water, depending on the type of paint you have been using – the instructions on the paint tin will tell you which is right. When done, gently squeeze the brush dry inside several sheets of newspaper. Never shake a paintbrush dry, unless you want your house or garden to change colour.
o After wiping the paintbrush again with paper towel or your lint free cloth, dab the bristles gently against a piece of mild, soft bath soap (not dish-washing liquid, which is harsh). Work up a nice lather in a small clean container. Rinse and repeat until your brush is completely clean, and free of any remaining soap.
o Re-shape the brush with your fingers, and leave it to dry at room temperature. Never rest a wet paintbrush on its head. If you do, it will dry misshapen, and you could ruin it.
Do you prefer to find a painter to do your painting work for you? A good website to get rated painter quotes is Mr-Skill.
Tags: bristle, bristles, brush, clean, cloth, decorator quotes, decorators london, different, different brush, dip, dishwashing liquid, find a decorator, find a painter, lather, liquid, newspaper, oil, paint, paintbrush, painter quotes, painters london, paper, paper towel, rinse, scrape, soap, squeeze, turpentine, water, wipe
Posted in Painting & Decorating | Comments Off
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