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Posts Tagged ‘patch<’
Whether you Find a Decorator on Mr-Skill or do the job yourself, you inevitably end up with left-over pots of paint. Those with just a few scrapings in them are best thrown away. Those still at least a quarter full could be worth preserving for touch-up jobs.
 Reseal Quickly – Air is the enemy of paint because paint’s supposed to dry in its presence. Clean both lid and tin carefully where they come together. Insert a sheet of film or tinfoil. Close firmly to achieve an airtight seal without causing any distortion.
Label the Tin – Begin to clean your brush by painting a colour-patch on the tin in a way that does not cover up any important information. Use a laundry marker to note the dates when bought and used, and the colour code if the paint was specially mixed.
Store Away Sensibly – I know a London Painter who insists in storing paint tins upside down so that the paint remains above the film and not beneath it. I’ve followed his advice and found it works quite well. In any case, store the tin away from extreme heat and cold.
 Using Old Paint – Paint has a limited shelf-life and many manufacturers suggest that it should be used within a year of being purchased. Don’t be tempted to bring down the cost of a Decorating Quote by using paint that’s gone beyond its usefulness. In any case, make sure it’s strained through a fine mesh sieve or piece of muslin, and into a clean container and well stirred.
Storing paint is really only really useful when you have a plan to use it shortly. This could be when you are half-way through an upgrade, and just want to brighten up a wall. In other instances it may just be an excuse to accumulate more clutter.
Be brave. Know the difference. Why not give your old paint tins a fresh view on life instead.
Tags: air, airtight, clean, close, code, cold, colour, container, date, decorating quote, distort, film, find a decorator, foil, heat, label, left over, leftover, london painter, mark, muslin, paint, patch, pot, reseal, sample, scrap, shelf life, shelflife, sieve, store, strain, tin
Posted in Painting & Decorating | Comments Off
Posted in Tiling & Flooring on Aug 16
There’s nothing quite like the beauty of a wooden floor in good condition, especially one that’s been treated to bring out the natural colour. Moreover wooden floors are far easier to keep clean too, so no wonder they have been popular for so long. Is your wooden floor looking a bit tatty?  Perhaps you just moved into a neglected, older home? No worries. The situation is quite easily recovered, provided that the underlying state of the floor is good. Either Find a Floor Sander Here, or tackle the job yourself as follows:
o First, lay your hands on a good quality rented floor sander which should not cost more than £60 a week at most. While you’re at it, rent a floor edging sander too. You will also need a varnish applicator, a mop and bucket, a hammer, a floor pad, and, of course the varnish.
o Stay out of trouble and close the door into the rest of the house, or mask the opening off. Inspect the floor carefully for anything that could rip the paper in the sander. Patch any larger gaps with strips of wood hammered tightly in, and fill the smaller ones with papier mache tinted with water-based wood dye.
o  Sand the floor as instructed by the hire-shop clerk. There are too many different sanders to describe the process here. After you have worked through the process from coarse paper though to fine, vacuum thoroughly and wipe down with white spirit to remove every scrap of dust.
o Apply a coat of varnish, and let it dry completely. Lightly sand by hand to key the surface, wipe it down with thinners and apply a second coat. The more times you repeat the process, the more beautiful the gloss and the more durable the finish will be – which is why London Flooring Services always achieve such high quality results.
If you feel a little intimidated at the thought of sanding floors, when why not consider getting Floor Sanding Quotes from Mr-Skill instead? All our tradespeople come with personal recommendations, and you can see what other customers think about them right here too. How’s that for another good idea to make life easier?
Tags: apply, beauty, bucket, clean, coarse, coat, colour, door, dry, durable, dust, edger, find a floor sander, fine, floor, floor sanding quotes, gloss, hammer, hire, london flooring service, mask, mop, natural, neglected, pad, papier mache, patch, popular, rent, repeat, sand, sander, seal, strip, tatty, treat, vacuum, varnish, white spirit, wipe, wood
Posted in Tiling & Flooring | Comments Off
Posted in General Building on Apr 01
Asphalt driveways (some folk refer to tar) are popular with UK developers because they are quick and easy to lay down  and are relatively cheap. However if the asphalt surface becomes damaged (for example a weed pops up from underneath or a plumber digs a trench across) then you do need to Find a Builder quite urgently to repair the breach before the whole fabric begins to break up completely. This is because asphalt is not reinforced.
If you want to have a crack at the repair yourself, this is what you have to do.
o Remove any loose debris and plants. Tidy up the edges with an angle grinder to achieve a tidy patch.
o For a crack no more than half an inch in width, backfill it carefully so that it is only as deep as it is wide. Fill it with asphalt-emulsion crack filler from a caulking gun and smoothen off with a putty knife.
o  In the case of a larger repair, undercut the edges of the opening with a cold chisel and mason’s hammer so that the patch will flow underneath the existing surface. Using a spade, shovel in matching pre-mix coldpatch blacktopping slightly above the surface level, level with a metal rake and tamp it down. Finally cover the patch with a board that extends a foot beyond it on all four sides, and drive over it several times to compact it finally. The picture to the right illustrates two points – how not to choose the right pre-mix, and how to do a tidy job.
A large patch is seldom within the capabilities of the average DIY person, and we recommend that you Get Building Quotes from a reputable tradesman to do it for you instead. The motto of most Tradesmen in London is that the driveway must look right because that is what most people see first when they arrive.
Tags: angle grinder, asphalt, backfill, blacktop, blacktopping, builder london, builder quote, building job london, building quotes, caulk, chisel, cold patch, compact, crack, cut, damage, debris, emulsion, find a builder, find a tradesman, hammer, macaddam, patch, plants, premix, puttyknife, rake, repair, tamp, tar, tradesman london, tradesman quote, trim, undercut
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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
Posted in Gardening & Landscaping | Comments Off
Posted in Plastering & Drywall on Jan 21
 Dry Wall gets its name from the fact that you don’t need wet cement materials to build it, which makes it ideal for internal walls that might need rearranging later. In modern buildings it is also used as an inner skin because of the way it facilitates the installation of services without the need for chopping bricks. It is capable of providing a superb final finish in the right hands too. Sounds like the perfect solution, doesn’t it? If you need a Plastering Quote for Dry Wall work contact Mr-Skill
Dry Walling is not quite perfect though. The sheets are fitted over a wooden framework in the same way ceilings are made. That means a lot of air space behind a brittle surface. If your teenager comes home awash with hormones and kicks a hole in it, how do you effect a repair when the filler just  keeps disappearing into the space behind the panel? Or, on a lighter note, how do you fill a space where a light switch once was that you just moved? You may not need to find a plasterer. That’s because a small repair is actually dead simple when you follow these 3 easy steps.
1) Trace a rectangle on the wall around the damaged area. Cut carefully though the outer surface using a sharp knife before cutting through with a keyhole saw. Use the down stroke only to avoid disturbing the surrounding material.
2) Attach one or more battens inside the opening with glue and screws and allow to fully dry. Then glue a  neatly fitting patch onto the batten with glue like no more nails.
3) The next day (no sooner please) cover the patch and immediate surrounding area with a suitable filler and, when dry, finish off with light grit paper on an orbital sander. Paint, stand back and feel good about what you just achieved.
We do not recommend that you try a large repair yourself. This is because a bad patch can mar a home and even bring the value down. Play it safe. Find a Dry Wall expert on Mr Skill and get Plastering Quotes from them.
Tags: batten, ceiling, cut, dry wall, dry walling, drywall, fill, filler, find a plasterer, fix, frame, glue, hole, internal, paint, partition, patch, plasterer london, plasterer quote, plastering job London, plastering quote, remove, repair, sand, screw, space, wall, wood
Posted in Plastering & Drywall | Comments Off
Posted in Plastering & Drywall on Oct 11
A small hole in the ceiling may happen accidentally when someone drops a tool in the loft, or be an unwanted leftover from a light fitting that you removed. The principles to making it good again are the same, once you have arranged for an electrician to isolate any electric points. Do not attempt this job yourself if the diameter of the hole is greater than four inches – rather choose from competitive plasterer quotes and find a plasterer to do the job for you.
 o Wear safety glasses at all times, and a face mask when you are in the ceiling space. This is because all manner of things end up in ceilings, and you need to protect your lungs and eyes from harm.
o Clean up the existing hole with a sharp Stanley knife or similar so that no loose material remains. If the ceiling has been plastered, remove a little of this around the hole too.
o Obtain a suitable piece of board that will overlap the hole by approximately three inches on all sides, two full-sized bricks, a hand brush and a tube of silicon as well. Enter the ceiling space with a friend and carefully work your way across to the hole, preferably without dropping anything on the way.
o Brush the immediate ceiling around the hole to remove dust and any debris. Put a generous run of silicone around the hole. Lay the board over the hole, and put the bricks on top of it to press it down securely. You are finished in the roof and need not return.
o Make up a small amount of slurry using any cement-based product mixed with a bonding or key-coating product. Mix this very well until there are absolutely no lumps and it has the consistency of thick cream. Gently apply a thin layer of this to the surface of the exposed board, the hole’s edge, and where you may have removed plaster too.
o Wait for 48 hours before proceeding further. An apprentice working for plasterers in London tried to go ahead straight away, and had to go back into my roof space to repeat everything a second time.
o Obtain a small batch of skimming plaster, and trowel this over the hole using a broad paint scraper. Make sure that this does not protrude below the ceiling level, and leave to dry. The trick is to press it in firmly as you slide the scraper across, and then leave it strictly alone until it has bonded nicely.
o Wait until the plaster does not respond when you press it firmly with your finger, then tidy up the job, merging it into the ceiling as best you can.
A few days later, you can redecorate the patch. Unfortunately, the ceiling will always show a smudgy mark, unless you redecorate completely. Where would you be without Mr-Skill?
Tags: board, bonding liquid, brick, brush, ceiling, ceiling hole, cement, debris, drywall builders London, drywall builders quotes, dust, face mask, fill, find a drywall builder, find a plasterer, hole, hole in ceiling, key-coat, knife, merge, paint scraper, patch, plaster, plastered, plasterer quotes, plasterers London, redecorate, repair, safety glasses, scraper, silicon, slurry, stanley knife
Posted in Plastering & Drywall | Comments Off
Posted in Cleaning Services on Sep 28
I read somewhere that toast always falls to the ground jam-and-butter side down. While I do not know whether this is true or not, I do know that the best way to attract a cigarette burn is to fit a new carpet. This is why a good carpet installer always leaves a few scraps behind. If you have a burn to repair, and no matching scraps to do this with, then  you may be able to scrounge a patch. If not, remove a small piece of carpet that lies permanently under solid furniture and use this. Some housekeepers in London are capable of doing a job like this – others may not be quite as dedicated.
o Remove only as much of the carpet pile as is necessary. Cut between the pile and avoid straight edges and sharp corners. Do not cut through the underlay, because this will be the link between the carpet and the patch.
o Identify a matching section of the carpet scrap. Carpets often have grains, and there may be repeating patterns too. Cut out a patch slightly larger than the hole that you are going to fill, again avoiding the pile (if the patch is large, it may be useful to make a paper template first).
o Dry fit the patch. If necessary trim it, or begin again if you got things badly wrong. When you are happy with your efforts, align and glue the patch to the underlay with non water-soluble contact adhesive, taking care to avoid staining the surface of the carpet while you do. After waiting 24 hours for the glue to dry, carefully cut away any loose strands with a small sharp pair of scissors, and your repair is complete.
This can be a rewarding weekend job to do. If you do not enjoy this type of project, why not get housekeeper quotes at Mr-Skill and find a housekeeper to do the job for you?
Tags: burn, carpet, cigarette, cigarette burn, cleaner quotes, cleaners london, contact, contact glue, cut, find a cleaner, find a housekeeper, glue, grain, housekeeper quotes, housekeepers london, loose, mat, match, patch, pattern, pile, remove, repair, rug, scrap, scraps, strands, template, underfelt, underlay, water-soluble
Posted in Cleaning Services | Comments Off
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