DIY Extra

Small bubbles, blisters and cracks are a common problems with felted flat roofs. If they are spotted early there is no reason why they need cause serious damage, and no reason for you to replace all of the felting. Check your flat roof as often as possible, particularly at the end of summer and the end of winter as both sun and rain/frost can damage roof felt. Performing minor repairs and maintenance to your roof is very possible, but you need to work safely and if possible work with a helper. Using the correct tools and equipment is an important part of working safely.

There are two basic types of soldered capillary joint, an End Feed Joint and an Integral Ring Fitting. In the end feed joint, solder is fed into the end of the end feed joint and capillary action feeds it into the fitting. With an integral ring, the solder is already contained in a reservoir (ring) on the fitting. Replacing a radiator valve is a straightforward DIY job which anyone can attempt. The most important thing is to drain the system before you start and make sure you have all the correct tools at hand.

Replacing an old plasterboard ceiling is a messy task, but can often be necessary one. Ceilings, especially those on the ground floor, can be subject to a lot of stresses over time and can often crack. Unless you know what you are doing, plastering external corners (such as a chimney breast) can be difficult. If you do not use mesh angle beading on the corner, this will be almost impossible and any knocks will quickly break the plaster away. Where plaster has broken off of an external corner (such as the corner of a chimney breast) it can be difficult to make a good repair.

Always turn off the electricity at the main Consumer Unit, remove the fuse or switch off the MCB for the circuit you are working on before attempting any DIY Electrics. If in doubt about any work on the electrical circuit, speak to an electrician.

Painting exterior masonry is one way to help keep it in good condition and can prevent water invading the brickwork, stonework or render. Masonry paint comes in several different types, each of which is more or less suited to a particular application. Many people have an old wooden table or some wooden chairs knocking around the house. I tend to be given first refusal on lots of old wooden furniture my family don't want or need anymore, but often the furniture is dark and drab. Learn about the different paint brushes and rollers you will need for different painting jobs around the home, from touching up the paint on a door-frame, to painting the render on the outside of your house.

Replacing a pane of glass is a fairly simple task, as long as you follow some basic rules and work safely. The task obviously gets more difficult the larger the pane is and the higher it is located. In most cases, any glass you need will be cut by the glass merchant, with you just supplying the measurements. However, there may be times when you need to cut class yourself and it is important you know how to cut it correctly. Glass is available in a variety of thicknesses. The thickness you choose depends on things such as the amount of exposure to wind (and the suction load on the surface) and the size of the sheet required.

With a bit of forward planning and the right equipment, this DIY job shouldn't cause you too many problems. Just be aware of the safety issues of having a pond with small children in the household. Fitting an Outside Tap makes great sense if you do a lot of gardening or even if you'd just prefer not to have a hose pipe trailing in through the kitchen window every time you want to wash the car. Improving your home security needn't mean spending a fortune on flash burglar alarms (although that's not to say that alarms are a bad idea!).

The concrete floors of modern houses should all have been insulated during construction, normally using a thick layer of dense polystyrene laid in sheets between the hardcore base and the finished surface. Simply painting over patches of mould and mildew might hide the marks for a while, but unless the mould spores are killed, it is unlikely that will be the last you see of them. Here is a complete guide to killing the mould spores and then covering the stains on your walls. Condensation occurs when warmer air (the air inside your house for example) comes into contact with a cold surface such as a window.

With a bit of forward planning and the right equipment, this DIY job shouldn't cause you too many problems. Just be aware of the safety issues of having a pond with small children in the household. Even if you only have a couple of bikes and a few tools in your shed, the cost of replacing them could still be several hundred pounds. On top of that, tools stored in your unsecured shed could be used to gain access to your house. Learning how to clean a deck properly will not only keep it looking good, but will also help to prolong the life of the timber.