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How To Prep Walls For Painting

This is exactly the part of a wall painting job that can make or mar the whole project. To ensure that your paint project doesn’t end up being disastrous, the most important place to start is from room preparation which includes cleaning, sanding as well as priming the walls before painting. Not every wall will require to go through all the preparation steps as all walls are unique and some are in better conditions than others. However, it’s advisable to thoroughly inspect the surfaces before you proceed to painting and take the necessary actions where required.

This is a very simple DIY job that should be completed in little time, however it’s also perhaps the most important step of the entire painting project. Hence, if you lack the confidence to pull this off, then we’d recommend employing a painting expert who can guarantee the best results for help. In this guide, we’ll should you how you can prepare your wall for painting.

✓ Cleaning. There is no single best way to properly clean a wall, but most walls will be just fine with a sponge and warm water. For walls that have been stained with oil or grime such as kitchen walls, you can apply grease cutting detergent and water mixture to wash and follow up with warm water to clean the residues and a damp cloth wiping to finish it off. Then leave to dry off properly.

✓ Remove mildrew. Wipe out mildrew using a sponge and solution that’s three to four parts water to one part bleach. Apply this solution and scrub the affected surface with a soft brush.

✓ Sanding. This step is only meant for walls with rough spots on its surface. Dull the uneven spots with a sandpaper, wipe away the dust and leave to dry. Use a fine grit sandpaper to sand the surfaces and let it dry properly.

✓ Priming. Prime the wall to get the most out of your paint. They work to disguise imperfections and create a smooth surface on which you can work on.

How Much To Tile A Bathroom?

Are you thinking about doing a full renovation or just a facelift of one of the most used rooms in your home - the bathroom? Thanks to its little maintenance requirements, tiling is the most obvious choice for wet areas as well as the popular decoration option for bathrooms. So if you’re planning to tile your bathroom how much is it going to cost?

Just like several other home improvement options, the cost of tiling a bathroom is influenced by a wide range of factors which makes it almost impossible to provide a single, accurate answer to the question. These factors include the size of your bathroom, the materials to be used, the professional tiling company hired and many more.

To calculate the cost of your bathroom tiling, you’ll need to determine the size of the area to be tiled. Simply work out the number of tiles you’ll need by multiplying the width and height and include about 10 percent to cover for possible errors. Generally, tiles can cost from £5 to £20 and more depending on your choice of design. Other materials you’ll have to purchase include tile adhesive, grout and silicone. If you don’t have the necessary tools make sure to get a tile cutter, measuring tape as well as a mixing bucket.

If you want to hire a professional for your bathroom tiling project, you should also consider any work that’ll need to be done before fitting the tiles such as the removal of the old tiles. This can have a great impact on the labour cost, so if you’re intending to save some money you can start by removing the old tiles yourself. Overall, depending on your location and the tiler’s experience can expect to incur about £20 to £40 per square metre. However, some tradesmen can charge a daily rate of about £150 to £200.

The importance of selecting the right size battery for your home simply cannot be overemphasized. A lot of home and property owners are facing this challenge and understandably so. Selecting the right battery size for your needs depend on a number of factors which includes your motive for adding a battery, your electricity usage, your budget as well as your panel array size, be it new or existing. In this post, we’re going to take you through some of these factors to help you determine the right battery size for your home or property. Let’s take a look!

• Your motive for getting a battery. While most people purchase a battery to wipe out their need to purchase electricity from the grid with the hope of making some savings, others add a battery so as to enjoy backup power. There are also some who just needs it to power their home with solar energy. It’ll not be economical to size a battery to effectively take you off the grid, but if your motive is to make savings, then you’ll should expect to purchase some electricity from the grid during the year.
• Electricity usage. The average household uses about 16kWh of electricity on a daily basis. During the daylight hours, most of these household will use a third of their electricity when the solar panels are still generating electricity, while the remaining two third are purchased from the grid. In other words, you’ll require a minimum of 10kWh battery capacity if you were to use a battery to power the electricity you purchase from the grid.

For a typical British household, you’ll most likely need a 5kWh solar power system which normally generates about 17 to 21 kWh on a daily basis depending on your location in the UK.

The comfort provided from stepping onto a heated floor is simply unrivalled and even more so, during those cold mornings and chilly nights. With that in mind, stepping onto a soft rug is also a wonderful feeling. So is it possible to have heated floors under carpets? The short and simple answer to this question is yes, heated floors can be installed safely under carpet. If you have the appropriate information, a little bit of planning as well as the right tools and materials, there’s simply no limits as you can enjoy the best of both flooring worlds without any fear. Unlike many individuals would believe that carpet will trap heat rising from the floor, carpeting actually provides the same temperature of any heated floor. What’s more? With the appropriate underlay, the carpet can be provided with the right support which is going to double the comfort provided by the in floor heating system.

One major source of concern is the fact that when heat and textiles are placed close to each other, safety hazard and product performance becomes a huge concern. However, all in flooring heating products have been subject to numerous tests and put through intensive studies and have been largely incorporated by electricians for almost 5 decades. Nationwide standards ensure product safety via independent testing agencies and cables utilized for in flooring heating are designed in such a way to protect wires and get rid of any possibility of electric shock.

Further, with the help of a thermostat, users can adjust and monitor the temperature levels coming from their heat sources. And since there’s a restriction on the maximum temperature of in flooring heating system, home and property owners can be rest assured that their flooring heat will never rise up to a level considered to be unsafe.

Are you interested in constructing a porch to your property? Estimating the cost of the project before proceeding will solve a lot of possible headaches in the future.

A porch is great place where you can keep your shoes, jackets, dog leads as well as other items to create free space within the property. Apart from this, a porch also serves numerous other purposes to make it a very good structure to have on your property. Not only is it a good means to put a roof over your head when it’s pouring with rain, but also a highly economical way to add floor space to your home. The question, however, how much would it cost to build a porch?

The price of building a porch is based on a wide variety of factors such as the type of materials required, the size of the porch, location of the structure and lots more. As a result, you should note that this guide provide figures that are only a rough guide that’ll put you on the right direction to make informed decisions.

Depending on the type of porch you choose to build, the average cost range from £1,900 to £2,100 for a uPVC porch and up to £10,000 for a lean to porch. There are other types of porch including the traditional porches ( Edwardian and Victorian porches) costing within a range of £2,500 to £8,400.

The materials required also has a great influence in determining the price of a porch. An aluminium porch will cost between £7,5000 to £8,200, while a brick porch will cost slightly less between the range of £2,000 to £8,000. They can both be constructed either as a front porch or as a rear porch, but due to fewer restrictions on aluminium porch, it can be made a lot larger.

How To Find A Good Locksmith?

Finding a good and reliable locksmith can be a very tricky challenge especially when you don’t planned ahead. For example in emergency situations whereby you get locked out of your home or car, you simply wouldn’t have the time to look for the best locksmith rather you’d be eager to get just about any locksmith available. So how do you go about this and ensure you hire the best possible locksmithing professional? Here are a few tips you can apply to find a good locksmith.

• Plan Ahead

The best time to start searching for a locksmith is right after the purchase of your home or car and not when an emergency occurs. When you purchase a house some of the first thing you do is to research other contractors for your home management team, so why not add a locksmith to this list?

• Verify The Business

Always research the business online once you’ve found a locksmith. Confirm that address is a local one and check their online reviews for red flags. You can also reach out to them during off work hours to ensure they can be responsive during emergencies.

• Ask For Identification

Once the technicians arrive at your house, you can ask them for a means of identification. Every licensed locksmith possesses a Master Security License Number which should be written on their vehicle as well as their photo identity card. If they claim to be licensed but can’t provide this number, you might want to hire another locksmithing company.

• Obtain A Written Estimate

After review of the situation by the locksmith, he should be able to provide you with a written estimate. If he can’t come up with one, then you may want to send him away.

Most domestic solar thermal panels do not need planning permission and are covered by permitted development rights. There are restrictions on the size and location of these systems. If you live in a conservation area or listed building, or want to install a very large solar thermal system, check with your local authority to see if you will need planning permission.

Roof tiles should be replaced as soon as possible to ensure that your roof stays waterproof. Use crawl boards when replacing them to avoid damaging other tiles, if not ask a qualified roofer to carry out the work, particularly if the tiles are higher up.