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Posts Tagged ‘scraper<’
Posted in Tiling & Flooring on Feb 27
First you notice that the grout between the tiles has begun to crack. You wonder whether it’s time to Find a Tiler. After that, the grout starts going darker in one spot. Finally, when you tread on a tile, it rocks slightly as the moisture squishes out.
 Fortunately, this is not the end of the world! The good news is that the tile is loose and will be easy to remove. After that, you can have a Plumber in to fix the leak, and perhaps even replace the tile afterwards yourself.
- Avoid your first reaction to lever out the tile. Chances are that you will chip it, and where on earth will you find a replacement one? One London Tiler I know wets the loose tile generously, and then uses a toilet plunger to create a vacuum and gently ease it out. Try it. You could just be pleasantly surprised!
- Depending on how bad the leak is, you may need to turn the water off. If the water is not bubbling out from where you removed the first tile, you may need to chase the leak by removing several more. This is easy when you gently tap a paint scraper
 underneath the middle of the tile, because the mortar will be water-logged.
- Find a Plumber on Mr-Skill to repair the leak. Then wait patiently until the hole the plumber left behind has dried out completely. After that, back-fill it with a strong mix of mortar, and get a Tiling Quote to put the tiles back and re-grout. If you do the job yourself, use an epoxy as there will be insufficient space for tile cement except where the plumber made the hole.
This information comes to you with best wishes of Mr-Skill, that friendly website where you can find every service that you need. These services include electricians, builders, plasterers, carpenters, gardeners and a whole host more besides. The service costs you nothing, and they are all rated too.
Tags: back fill, chip, crack, dark, dry, epoxy, find a plumber, find a tiler, grout, lever, london tiler, loose, moisture, mortar, paint scraper, plumber, plunger, rated, remove, replace, rock, scraper, service, tap, tile, tiling quote, vacuum, water
Posted in Tiling & Flooring | Comments Off
Posted in Plastering & Drywall on Feb 01
Damp is an on-going problem in many homes in Britain, and that’s not just in the older ones either. Water, especially when forced by wind can find its way inside an outside wall through the tiniest of cracks. After the leak is fixed, it’s time to Find a Plasterer to fix the evidence that alerted us to the damp in the first place.
The Problem
The water has leached the cement away leaving weakened plaster that will eventually come off. The only solution is to hack it out and replace it. You have a choice, though. You could Ask Mr-Skill to Arrange a Plaster Quote, or you could have a go at it yourself.
 Repair Stage One
You have to get rid of the damaged plaster at least a foot above any visible damage or residual salts. If the damp was low down, then you must in any case remove the plaster to three feet above floor level. Brush away every grain of loose material. Complete the job with a vacuum cleaner – you may wish to do this when the wife is out shopping.
Repair Stage Two
This is a tip a London Plasterer taught me years ago. Put on a pair of disposable latex gloves. Make a slurry of cement powder and water with a cup of bonding liquid added – the final consistency should be like runny porridge. Brush this firmly over the space where the old plaster came out. This will allow the new plaster to adhere properly. Wash your hands and tools immediately. Allow the slurry to dry for a day.
Repair Stage Three
Make up a stiff plaster mix of 3-Parts sand to 1-Part cement. Apply this with a wide paint scraper or steel float across the entire surface roughly, and leave it alone for two hours to set. Apply a fresh mix of plaster that stands just proud of the surface. Work this off with a straight edge later the same day.  Leave the job to cure for a week.
Repair Stage Four
Apply a moist mix of Polyfilla over the entire surface. When it’s totally dry and the surface has gone a little powdery, finish the job off with an a sanding block or orbital sander, using medium-grit paper. After that, you are ready to decorate!
That’s all very well in theory, but do you really have the time to spend on this? If not, that’s where Mr-Skill comes in. We provide a matching service between customers and tradespeople. Unlike some others, we don’t add a penny to the cost of jobs.
Tags: adhere, bond, brush, cement, clean, consistency, crack, cure, damage, damp, dry, dust, exterior, find a plasterer, float, get rid of, glove, grit, hack, london plasterer, mix, orbital, outside, paint scraper, plaster, plaster quote, polyfilla, powder, remove, replace, salt, sand, scraper, set, slurry, stick, straight edge, tip, wall, water
Posted in Plastering & Drywall | Comments Off
While replacing glass in a UPVC door (or window) is something professionals usually do, there may be times when you have to do the job yourself – like over the Christmas break.  You could do the job yourself provided you can lay your hands on a suitable pane of glass, but do wear gloves and work carefully. At other times it makes far more sense to Find a Window Fitter on Mr-Skill.
- Examine the door frame around the damaged glass to determine from which side it was fitted. One side will have an unbroken line over a strip of rubber. On the other side there will be four pieces of beading that clip in to hold the glass.
- Take up a sharp putty knife or paint scraper and work it under a bottom or a side piece of bead. Hold your other hand out of the way in case the tool slips. Carefully prise out the bottom and side beads, except the top one which will still be holding the glass in place.
 Have an assistant hold the glass in the door frame while you take out the top bead. Hold the pane on both sides while you gently lower it out. Be careful! Wear gloves. The edges will be razor sharp!
- Install the replacement pane in the reverse order, taking care not to crack the glass by applying too much pressure. London Window Fitters often use the trick of applying a little dishwashing soap to the recess in the window frame, when pressing in the final bead.
Under normal circumstances we would recommend that you get Window Fitting Quotes instead and perhaps on Mr-Skill too. That’s because you run the risk of injuring yourself, if for no other reason than that the job may be a little bit unfamiliar to you.
Tags: bead, beading, bottom, broken, clip, crack, damage, dishwash, door, find a window fitter, fit, frame, glass, harm, injure, install, knife, london window fitter, pane, pressure, prise, quadrant, replace, rubber, scraper, sheet, side, soap, strip, top, uPVC, window, window fitting quote(s)
Posted in Window & Door Fitting | Comments Off
 It can be quite tempting to decide to strip away old paint instead of attempting to recover a painted surface. There can be considerably more to the process than meets the eye though – it can be time-consuming, laborious and quite dangerous too. While Mr-Skill provides the following information in good faith we cannot guarantee it under all eventualities. In fact we really do think that you should consider getting a Decorator Quote instead.
o Conduct Research. How old might the paint job be? This can provide a useful clue to the materials used and the right stripping procedure to follow. Depending on the application you could burn the paint off, or use a chemical stripper. In the former case be aware of fire hazards, in the latter beware of chemical burns. It is also possible to remove paint manually using a paint scraper – this is the hardest but perhaps the safest way.
 o Wear Protective Clothing. We cannot over-emphasize this point. If burning paint away wear safety goggles, a safety mask and heat resistant long-sleeved gloves. If using chemicals substitute more appropriate gloves and wear overalls to protect your clothes and skin. For manual stripping you just need a pair of good strong gloves and loads of patience.
When I was a supervisor doing Painting Jobs in London we refused to do a burn-off job without a liability waiver and a fire extinguisher handy, and never used a chemical stripper where ventilation was inadequate. My motto is why take a chance just to save some money – Find a Decorator who is competent instead.
There are many rated ones on Mr-Skill that you could trust to do the job for you and save you hassles.
Tags: bore, burn, chemical, chemical stripper, clothing, decorating job london, decorating quote, decorator london, decorator quote, find a decorator, find a painter, glove, goggle, laborious, mark, material, paint, painter london, painter quote, painting job london, painting quote, recover, scraper, strip, surface, time consuming
Posted in Painting & Decorating | 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
Wallpaper has been popular in England for more than a century. Interior design quotes often allow for simply papering over a previous version when this no longer suits their client’s tastes. When wallpaper begins to peel off – perhaps because of damp or damage – it is time to remove the old paper and start afresh. How exactly do you do this? If you hired in help, this is what you would find a decorator would do.
You will need the following tools and equipment: 
- Good Ladder (and somebody to hold it steady for you)
- Spray Bottle with Water
- Putty Knife
- Paint Scraper
- Safety Knife with Retractable Blade
- Steamer
- Protective Goggles
- Heat-Resistant Safety Gloves
- A Dustbin (for removed paper)
This is how you go about the job:
- Move furniture and curtains away from the wall, take pictures down and remove all picture hooks and nails.
- Using the putty knife, loosen a seam at the bottom of a strip of wallpaper that is easiest to reach. If you are lucky enough to be working with modern paper, you can just tug upwards gently and peel it off. If the paper is an older washable kind, you first need to score through the outer coating and introduce moisture to soften the underlying paper, before you can scrape it off with your paint scraper. Dampen any bits that remain, wait ten minutes, and scrape these off as well.
- If the wallpaper is stubborn, or if you are faced with multiple layers of old wallpaper, pop down to your local hardware store, rent a steamer and make your life much easier. After reading the instructions, fill the steamer with water up to the mark with the electricity turned off , power up and wait for the water in the steamer to begin to boil. Wearing your protective goggles and your gloves, rest the steamer on a part of the wallpaper for 30 seconds (remember to score through waterproof paper first). The wallpaper should scrape off easily, and you can move on to the next section.
When you are done, you will have a clean surface to work on, and your new wallpaper will be easier to hang too. It is not difficult to do this, with help from Mr-Skill. If you decide to have the work done for you, then you will better understand how a decorator quotes.
Tags: cut, decorator quotes, design, difficult, find a decorator, gloves, goggles, interior, interior design quotes, ladder, loose, peal, peel, putty knife, quote, remove, rip, safety knife, scrape, scraper, scribe, spray bottle, steam, steamer, stubborn, tear, tools, tug, wallpaper, water, waterproof
Posted in Handyman Services, Painting & Decorating | Comments Off
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