North Leeds Plumbing & Heating – Home Improvement and DIY Advice

Archive for the ‘DIY Tips’ Category

When fitting a new door handle, the first step is to drill a hole for the latch, usually about a metre up from the base of the door. Mark its position on the door’s edge.

Hold the latch in position at the centre of the door’s edge and use a pencil to trace around it.

Use a drill bit that is designed to cut into wood and slightly bigger than the latch, allowing thereby enough room for the latch to be fitted into the hole. Measure carefully the depth of the hole that will take the latch. You can do this most effectively by holding the drill bit against the latch and mark the actual drill bit with masking tape at the point where it will stop drilling.

Next, use a wedge to keep the door steady and begin drilling the hole for the latch into the side of the door to the correctly marked depth, and use a chisel to get rid of any wood debris.

Insert the latch next, and mark its position after making sure it is perfectly level. Use a chisel for marking the pencil outline before chiselling out the recess, then press the latch in to see that it is flush with the surface of the door.

Holding the latch in position on the outside of the door, push a pencil through the latch’s hole and mark it where the handle spindle will be inserted. Then drill the hole and clear debris from it before sliding the latch into the door, attaching the door handle and adding the latch plate.

Garden rooms are small rooms constructed in a back garden, away from the main building. They are usually made of wood, cedar being the most common, with aluminium windows and patio-style doors. They typically measure anywhere from 3m x 3m to 10m x 5m, and are usually between three and five metres high. Under permitted development rules, a garden room will not normally require planning permission, but be sure to check with your local council’s planning department, as planning rules can vary between local authority areas.

The Advantages of Garden Rooms
Garden rooms are heated and insulated, so they allow you to sit out in your garden in all weathers. This may not sound attractive when the weather is cold but miserable, but on days when it is sunny but chilly a garden room allows you to admire your flowers or watch visiting birds and animals without catching your death of cold.

How to Install a Garden Room
If you have sufficient space in your garden, and you feel that a garden office would be an attractive addition to your home, a quick Google search for “garden rooms” will reveal a host of companies willing to design and install a room to your specification. Waiting times are usually around the two-week mark, and most companies will do all the work for you. Be warned, though, garden rooms don’t come cheap. Even a three metre by three metre room can cost almost £11000 and a top of the range ten metre by five metre room can cost upwards of £25000. This is a lot more expensive than a glass conservatory, so you might want to consider whether it is worth the extra cost. However, the popularity of garden rooms shows that a lot of people believe that it is.

In the case where an airlock is suspected of being the cause of a blockage of water to a tap, the air will need to be forced from its trapped position.  Airlocks usually result from poor design of the plumbing in a low-pressure or storage-cistern fed system.  Pipework in such a system should never be run uphill and then downhill because air will become trapped in the high pocket.  No water will be able to pass if the pressure is not sufficient.  Air should always be allowed to rise and escape through a cold feed or tap outlet.

Expelling trapped air from the high points in a poorly designed system will allow water to flow, so the problem will normally occur again only when the system has been drained.  If you did not install the system yourself, when you drain it you will likely not know whether or not it was designed well until you try to refill it; the problem, however, is that once you refill the system and determine that there must be trapped air, you have no idea where the high point is.

Try first to connect a hose to the open tap and give it a good blow.  If this does not work, join a small section of hose pipe to join up the low-pressure tap outlet to the high-pressure mains water tap outlet, as this may force the air from the high point.  This is a trick often used by plumbers faced with the same sort of problem.

It is possible to create a new look in a bathroom without spending a lot of money. Luckily, the bathroom is usually the smallest room in the house and much cheaper to redecorate. While remodelling a bathroom can be expensive when all fixtures are being replaced, this is not a necessary route to travel. Small and subtle changes can make a huge difference and keep homeowners adhere to a budget.

The first thing to do is consider the walls. They may need a new coat of paint or a completely new look with wallpaper. No matter what is chosen, make sure the colours are light as this will help make the room appear larger.

Though taps are small fixtures, they can make a statement. Worn taps will make the room look run down. By replacing these, owners will enjoy a clean and modern look. This is a simple and very cheap fix that will really help the overall look of the room.

Seeing as this is the smallest room, replacing the floor should be affordable. Changing to tile or hardwood will add a dramatic effect, but if the budget does not allow for this, simply buying new a new bathroom matt or rug can make a big difference as well.  

There is no need to try and purchase complete bathroom suites. A bathroom makeover will rejuvenate this room. Bathrooms can be fun to redecorate and with many colours, textures and storage options available, homeowners can literally create a new look every few months without over spending.

Raised garden beds have a number of advantages. The soil warms up more quickly, stays in place, but does not become as compacted as a level bed. They offer more protection from pests and weeds and, for the stiff of back and knee, are easier to manage. Although vegetables are the primary beneficiaries of the raised bed, flowers and architectural planting can also be striking when raised from the floor.

Source several boards similar to the scaffold variety, eight to ten wooden stakes 50-60cm long, and four short wood blocks. Use a spade or edging tool to start delineating the bed by creating a 10cm trench. Pile the soil into the centre to start the bed. Remember that the bed must be narrow enough to reach the centre from outside. Peg the corners and trim the boards accordingly. Fix using the blocks and screws or galvanised nails, and then drive the stakes into the ground along the outside of the boards to prevent them sagging away from the weight of soil, water and planting when filled.

For greater height, seek out railway sleepers to use instead of scaffold boards, using cut-down reinforcing rods or similar to anchor the structure securely. Brick can also be used for these taller beds.

Complete the bed with compost and manure, bringing the level to just below the boards. Root vegetables will grow happily in this depth.

Vertical blinds are blinds that consist of a number of vertical panels made of stiffened fabric that hang down and slide against each other to open them. They slide along an aluminium track and are weighted at the base to ensure that they hang straight. They can be slanted to increase or reduce the amount of light let into the room. The ease at which these blinds are controlled makes them a very popular choice.

Vertical blinds are often popular in conservatories and are especially good for patio doors. Additionally, it is possible to use vertical blinds for sloping glazing.

Vertical blinds are very easy to use. You simply pull a cord to move the panels along the aluminium track, and then pull the chain to tilt the slats. If you have children, it may be better to fit a child-safe want. This is a plastic stick attached to the top of the first panel, and used to pull or push the blind along the track. This mechanism reduces the risk of accidental strangling. Alternatively, you could opt to have your vertical blinds fitted to a motor. This will battery operate your blinds, and entirely reduce the need for cords or anything hanging at all.

Vertical blinds can be fitted into windows of any size, although they are best used in large windows and patio doors. You could use them in a conservatory to cover a number of windows at once.

The slats for vertical blinds come in a couple of different sizes, and in a huge range of fabrics. This means you should be able to find a colour and fabric that will suit the room in which they are going to be hung. 

A fuse is a vital piece of protection in the body of a plug. In fact, one is included in all electrical circuits at a number of points to give protection against overloading, either accidental or deliberate. Faults such as short circuits also occur often, and fuses protect against these too. In all modern wiring installations the plugs all contain their own fuse. The circuits themselves are protected by miniature circuit breakers (MCBs) and rewireable or cartridge fuses.
 
With plug fuses, these are simply clipped into position. The general rule is to use a three-amp fuse if the appliance is rated lower than 700 watts and a 13-amp fuse in most other cases.  

With rewireable fuses, these are a little trickier to replace but it’s not rocket science. First of all, switch off the mains electricity and remove the fuse carrier from its holder before removing the old, broken wire. Make sure that the new fuse wire has the correct rating and insert it either through the ceramic tube or across the fuse carrier’s central bridge.

Connect the replacement wire up to its two terminals and use a sharp knife to trim away any excess. Finally, replace the fuse into the fuse box and turn the power back on.

The third type of commonly used household fuse is the cartridge fuse. This comes with its own fuse carrier, so you simply remove the carrier and then replace the fuse it contains before fitting the carrier back into place. Do not attempt to rewire a cartridge fuse.

A foundation is a structure that resides underground and has the function of distributing a building’s weight to spread it over a greater area. It is essentially a sort of raft if you think of the soil as water, which also moves and swells. A foundation thought of in this way can be seen as keeping a structure afloat and stopping it from sinking into the soil. The greater the load it must carry, the greater a foundation needs to be.

With things like small, single-brick-thick garden walls that are lower than about 700mm you can get away with a 100mm thick concrete slab twice the width of the wall. A two-brick-thick wall on the other hand would need a slab 150mm thick and three times the wall’s width.

If the construction in question rests on chalk or virgin rock, a concrete foundation slab is sufficient to adequately support smaller garden structures such as patios and walls. If the site is solid rock but slopes slightly it will have to be levelled out with a concrete wedge-shaped raft, or alternatively you could use raised decking to float over the slope, setting its supporting posts in concrete-filled holes.

Different types of soil also have different problems associated with them, with sand for instance draining very well but prone to shifting. Usually you’ll find that you have to build a foundation of some description, and at the same time take account of drainage. After digging the foundation, check the bottom earth, and if this is soft replace it with compacted hardcore before laying the concrete slab.

Many of us are interested in composting, but are not exactly sure how to go about it or what is involved. Home composting is not as difficult as you may think and if you are an avid gardener you can save a lot of money by using your own compost rather than purchasing it from the local garden centre.

If you are looking to start composting at home, the first thing you will need to do is acquire a compost bin. You can either buy them from a range of home and garden centres or easily purchase one online at very affordable prices. Another option is to build your own compost bin and you can find plenty of online tutorials or books at your local library that will provide step-by-step instructions on the process.

Once you have your compost bin in place, you can start saving your food waste. The easiest and most practical way of doing this is by placing a small tub on your kitchen counter or windowsill and every time to you prepare a meal put the peelings and waste straight into your collector. Some food items cannot be composted, for example, meat, fish, eggs, cheese and oil, so make sure you do not add any of these items into your waste tub. 

When the waste tub is full you empty it straight into the compost bin. A range of other garden waste can also be added, including lawn cuttings and the trimmings from most plants. Before long you will have your own fresh compost, for free.

It is always a good idea to have a well-stocked toolkit, so that if an emergency strikes you will be prepared to deal with the problem. Even if you are not a particularly handy person you may need to call on the services of a neighbour or friend and having at least some tools could prove invaluable.

Toolkits do not have to be very big, as long as they contain the essential items listed below:

•    A good set of screwdrivers
•    Cordless power drill
•    Two large wrenches
•    Pliers
•    Hammer
•    Jack-saw
•    Coping-saw
•    Alan keys
•    Tape measure
•    Electrical tape
•    Craft knife
•    Assorted box of nails and screws
•    Fuses
•    Radiator key

These items can be bought relatively cheaply and toolkits that include a selection of these items are readily available. Having the right tool for the job can make the difference between being able to complete the task in hand or not. Fixing a leaking tap, for example, may be achieved easily with just two wrenches.  Not having these items, on the other hand, could result in wasted time and unnecessary expense.