Shutters are a great addition to your home that have many benefits including the fact that shutters are a great way to insulate your home reducing energy costs. They secure your windows against storms and break-ins and they look great and can give your house a real continental feel. There are...

The top 10 essential tools for DIY that you should be able to kit yourself out with for no more than £60 at a good tool specialist.

Roman blinds are great for adding a little style to any living or dinning space. Although a number of places offer a good quality Roman Blind fitting those with some DIY knowledge shouldn’t find it too daunting a task to install them yourself. If you’re going to install a Roman blind you...

To keep your house dry, warm, and free from mould, it is essential to keep it as watertight as possible. There are a few key areas where water can enter your house, and its important to understand what these areas are, and what checks you can perform to ensure everything is as it should...

It seems like a no brainer. Wiring a plug is possibly the most simple of tasks for anyone whether they are a DIY enthusiast or an experienced electrician. Many people who attend professional electrical courses are surprised to hear that the majority of plugs wired up by non-skilled homeowners...

There has been a shift in interior design and office refurbishment over the past several years as designers move away from the traditional model of closed-off offices, cramped common spaces and high-walled cubicles. Today’s designers and their clients are embracing shared spaces, open floor...

Some DIY projects actually invalidate your insurance or require you to notify your insurer. Make sure you know what to look for by reading our helpful article.

Modern doors come in exciting ranges of materials and, if carefully selected, can add a great deal to your overall design scheme. This article looks at what is available and when you should consider using them.

Insulation methods used now in UK and throughout the world are quite varied. Not all are particularly environmentally friendly or entirely energy efficient.

A roof terrace is a great way to add value and space to your home. More people than ever are living in urban settings with the shortage of ample space being a major concern. Home owners are turning their heads to the sky to solve this cramped issue by building roof terraces to their homes. To...

This article covers how to prepare your tiled surface, how to remove old grout, re-grouting and sealing. Learn about the products and tools for the job and view a great youtube video illustrating some useful techniques.

If you are a total novice how can you start to gain the knowledge and skills to allow you to break into DIY?

The human mind creates optical illusions and effects which are very important in how we experience the light and colour around us. Understanding these effects is very important to good design.

The surface of timber decks becomes exposed to the elements such as sunlight, rain, snow and frost. This will inevitably lead to a deterioration of the colour if nothing else. However don’t despair you can get it back to the way it once was!

Combi boilers provide heat and hot water for your home without the necessity of a hot water tank, they are a convenient method of heating your home and are ideal for smaller properties and flats where a large water tank is not a viable or practical option. Despite their increasing popularity...

Hardwood flooring, in particular Oak Flooring is an aesthetically and economically sound choice of flooring in your household. Despite its general longevity, hardwood flooring can be prone to scratching if not treated carefully. However, these scratches are often easily repaired, provided you...

Your best mate gets a fancy new mobile phone. You salivate over its sleek exterior, high-tech touch screen and huge range of abilities. They say the phone has the ability to get emails, have apps, they can social network and even make the odd phone call. You look at your own ‘so last year’ phone and decide that it is socially unacceptable to use it any longer.

Most of us will automatically opt for the same old types of materials when we are decorating our kitchens; namely wood, ceramic, stainless steel or granite. Now, these may all be well-respected materials to use, but they are also a tad boring… After all, you just know that there are...

British Winters are cold and damp and this means we increasingly rely on central heating to keep us cosy. However central heating is expensive and not very green so what other ways can we remain warm and be a bit greener? There are lots of alternative ways to heat your home however for some...

Autumn gardens mellow into rich colours as the chaos of summer flower displays fade. However the gardener can not sit on their laurels – Autumn is a key season that will lay the foundation for next years flowers and fruit. So what are some of hte jobs you need to do? 1. Remove the dry...

Concrete is a mixture of cement, sand, gravel and water. Variations in the ratio of the ingredients porduces a mix suitable for different jobs but we will be instructing you on a general puepose mix suitable for most garden tasks and shallow foundations – not house foundations. Mix 1...

Unless you have been marooned in the South Pole or are from another gallaxy you will know that the world cup is now upon us. Everyone seems to be getting in on the act with even Asda and Tesco flooding their shops with flat screen TVs to tempt you to part with more of your hard earned cash.

To create a home office that's suitable for more than one person to use, begin by working to create an efficiently designed work space. Purchase a chair specifically designed for office use, and one that's right for your body size. Office-supply centers and furniture stores both offer assortments of office chairs.

Note from the editor: Homebase provided us with this extract to generate interest in their Easter 2010 offers.  Normally we do not publish articiles which are primarily there to push a company or product however in this case we think the article is a timely reminder of the dangers of DIY. ...

You will be surprised to find the wide variety of colors and shades that timber floor comes in, and you will surely find one that can blend well with your home color scheme.

According to a survey of 2,000 households, 16% have damaged their homers or their property while attempting to make improvements. 20% also admitted to injuring either themselves, or someone else, while carrying out DIY. This is supported by figures from the Society for the Prevention of Accidents, which estimate 200,000 DIY enthusiasts turn up at hospital each year.

Reducing our carbon footprint and our fuel bills is high on the agenda for every home and business.  For businesses there is a wealth of information, often free, about how to reduce energy and acheive Energy Compliance. However there is less available for the home owner. So for those of you...

If you've ever had a nice bicycle stolen from your house or from where you last left it then you may have found yourself uninsured and at a financial loss.

As long as you have owned (but not necessarily lived in) your property for at least two years, you have a right to extend your lease for an additional 90 years at a peppercorn (zero) ground rent.

Individual flat owners have the right to ask the building owner to extend their lease. In addition, a group of flat owners acting together can collectively ask to purchase the freehold from the building owner.