Find a Shop Fitter you can trust in Downpatrick.

Since it’s very common to find heated floors in the bathroom, it becomes very understandable that most home and property owners are fitting a radiant floor heating system under tile flooring. If you’re thinking about how you can fit heat under tile floor, then you’ve come to the right place. However, if you lack enough confidence to pull this off, then we’d advise you get in touch with a professional who can guarantee the best results for help. In this guide, we’d be considering how heating products are fitted under the most commonly heated flooring material which is tile. Let’s take a look!

1. Take a measurement of the room you wish to heat. When taking this measurement, you should leave out permanent fixtures such as tubs, toilets, floor vents and more. This information will be used to create a project sketch which includes the room dimensions
2. Test your electric floor heating rolls. To make sure that your floor heating rolls are in perfect working condition, you should use a digital ohmmeter to test it.
3. Inspect the subfloor. Clear the surface of any nails or other sharp objects which could cause damage to the heating element.
4. Install the flex roll. Simply roll out your flex roll till it gets to the opposite side of the room. Once done, you can then cut the mesh and turn 180 degrees to continue fitting in the other direction.
5. Place the sensor. If you happen to possess a floor heating thermostat that enables a floor sensor, ensure to position the sensor near the thermostat’s location and exactly between two cables, then use hot glue or weave into mesh to secure it.
6. Connect the thermostat. We’d advise you get in touch with a professional to have this done.
7. Install the tile.

• Blade material Artificial grass is made up of lots of individual blades, just like real grass. The blades are made of plastic and are sewn to a backing material. To help keep your artificial grass looking great for longer, a blend of blades made from nylon and polyethylene are best. Nylon is extremely resilient, but isn’t very comfy to walk on, so adding the polyethylene which is still very strong helps to keep it feeling nice underfoot.
• Backing material The backing material holds all the artificial grass blades together. It’s made of two layers: a membrane that the grass is attached to, and a section that’s usually made of latex or polyurethane and bonds everything together. When you’re choosing your artificial grass, ask for samples – try to pull away the backing material. If it comes apart easily, steer clear of that type of grass.
• The artificial grass’ use The lifespan of your artificial grass will depend on how much traffic it gets. It’s best to invest in strong nylon or nylon-blend turfs where it’s going to get walked on regularly, such as on a pathway to a door. Of course, if the artificial grass is more ornamental, a lower-quality product will last a long time.
• Good installation One of the main things that will help your artificial grass last a long time is effective installation. If artificial grass is laid badly, it might suffer from poor drainage and weeds which will reduce its lifespan. It’s always best to get your artificial grass installed by a professional since they’re trained in fitting it to a high standard.

Asides from the cost of adding a new bathroom to your property, one other essential factor you’ll need to consider before moving forward is whether or not a planning permission is required to complete the project. This is a very important step as failure to obtain a planning permission when its actually needed can lead to a severe penalties from the authorities. If you’re also wondering if you proposed bathroom addition project will also require a planning permission, then you’ve come to the right place! In this post, we’re going to let you know if you’d really require a permission to add a new bathroom or otherwise. Let’s take a look!

Generally, bathroom extensions are normally classified as permitted development which allows you to carry out your project without any interruptions from the law or your local authority. In other words, if your extension is meets up with the guidelines of the permitted development rights, you won’t have to apply for a planning permission. However if otherwise, you’ll have to apply for a planning permission to your local council and may require additional reports. What’s more? If you plan on adding the bathroom to a listed building, you must obtain a planning permission as you’d be altering the internal fabric of the building.

And regardless of your position, you’ll always need building regulations approval before you can carry out any bathroom extension project. It may also be required that you’ll have to issue a part wall notice if you’re to build on or close to the boundary with a neighbour.

A sudden appearance of graffiti on your property carried out by some vandals can be a real concern. Since you know it’s your responsibility to have it cleaned, the question becomes would you rather call in a professional or have it cleaned yourself. While calling in a professional may be costly, removing graffiti by yourself won’t be easy either especially if it’s done on brick. Bricks are known to be porous which enables paint to sink with ease inside all of the surface’s grooves. Unlike wood, they can’t be scraped and if it happens to be an internal wall, it can’t be sand- or water-blasted. So, what is the best way to remove graffiti?

Well, your best bet would be to incorporate chemical and gel masonry stripper. And while stripping of the surface is not a complex task, it does involve a number of applications of stripper and multiple scrubbing which makes it very time consuming.

Basically, a fresh and wet paint should be soaked up with am absorbent material without wiping the paint in order to spread the stain. Once done, you can then proceed to apply a suitable solvent like white spirit. After this, wash the area using a degreasing agent taking care in the disposal of the run-off material.

With dried paint, simply scrape off the paint as far as possible and apply a paint removal using the following steps:

• Put on your safety gear like a face mask, safety googles and gloves.
• Apply the paint stripper over the brick wall with a brush starting from a corner at the top of the wall and then working outward and downward.
• Leave for the specified amount of time by the manufacturer. Then start to scrub off the masonry paint stripper beginning at the top of the wall again. Remove as many paints as possible.
• Use rags and warm water to wash the wall and allow it to air dry.
• Repeat the process over again to remove every form of stubborn paint that’s left.
• Use a white vinegar to spray the stripped wall and wipe off any residue of paint with a brush and rinse with water.

How Much Does A Boiler Repair Cost?

An annual service for your boiler might not seem important and may be easy to postpone to another day, but when it happens to breakdown due to lack of adequate attention, this can be quite painful and also costly.

Before you start thinking about the cost of repairing your boiler, the first thing you’ll need to confirm is whether or not your boiler is still covered by the manufacturer’s warranty. You’d be amazed some warranties can last for as long as 12 years, if yours is still on then you can save yourself a huge amount of of money on your boiler repair. As a result, it’s always crucial to keep the details of your warranty somewhere safe, so you can read them from time to time. You never can tell when the rainy day will come!

Most boiler warranties will require your to get your boiler serviced on an annual basis by a licensed and qualified technician. The cost of an annual boiler service is affected by the time of the year you wish to get it done. When boilers are less useful during the summer months, an annual service is usually relatively cheap when compared to the cold months. Around this period, a boiler service will normally cost within the range of £100 to £150, however for a more accurate quote it’s advisable to contact a couple of professionals and compare their quotes.

The cost of getting a boiler repaired will be affected by a couple of factors including your boiler’s make, the age of the boiler as well as your location and how urgent you need it done. If you have a dead boiler, the cost will typically range from £96 to £348 and a boiler displaying a fault code will cost within the range of £90 to £275. Generally, repairing a boiler will cost within the range of £90 to £400 based on the several factors stated above.

• A sturdy ladder
• Gloves and safety goggles
• A hammer and nails to secure your fascia so it doesn’t fall down mid-replacement
• A hacksaw – this will cut through uPVC guttering – just make sure you leave a margin of error with every cut you make
• Cable ties or rope to secure the existing gutters while you dismantle them, so they don’t fall off
• All the right fixings and brackets to secure the guttering
• An electric drill and/or screwdrivers

1. Add a gutter bracket to the top of the fascia board at the opposite end to the stop-end outlet, if you have one. Then tie a piece of string around the base of the bracket.
2. You’ll need to place the gutter outlet accurately over the drain. Hold a plumb line against the fascia directly over the drain, and mark that position with a pencil. Following the manufacturer’s advice on the number of screws to use, fit the gutter outlet no more than 50mm below the level of the roof tiles.
3. Stretch the piece of string you tied on the bracket along the fascia board, and tie it to the outlet. Make sure you check with a spirit level that the string slopes towards the outlet.
4. Mark the positions of the other brackets. They should be no more than 800mm apart, or 600mm if your roof is very steep. They also shouldn’t be any more than 150mm from a joint or fitting. Then fit the rest of the brackets.
5. Fit a stop-end to the first length of gutter and clip it into position on the brackets. At the other end, fit a union piece and screw it into the fascia.
6. Then fit the next length of gutter into it, and the next until you’re finished. Cut the last one to fit using your hacksaw before attaching a stop-end. Then make sure all the joints line up with the insertion depth marks on the fittings. Then you’re done!

A bedroom is meant to be a quiet zone and personal getaway from the chaos of the outside world. However, there are times when the noise coming from the outside would just be too unbearable to put up with. You can’t always control the noise that surrounds your bedroom and even more so when it comes from the neighbours’ house or the streets. The best solution here would be to mitigate this with some simple soundproofing solutions. These are tricks can you can do by yourself, however if you’re not confident enough to pull this off, then it’s advisable to get in touch with a seasoned professional for help. In this guide, we’re going to walk you through the bedroom soundproofing techniques. Let’s take a look!

• Cover the gap under the door. One of the means through which sound can travel into your bedroom is beneath your bedroom door. In order to tackle this in an effective way, you can close it by adhering rubber weather stripping to the bottom of the door.
• Upgrade the door of your bedroom. If your bedroom has a hollow core door which possesses a thin outer layer of wood with plastic or cardboard inside, then you’re likely to be feel more noise in your personal space than if you install a solid wood door. Making use of a heavy duty solid wood door will help block out unwanted noises from your room.
• Put the sound in the cloud. The solution may actually lie in the cloud particularly a ceiling cloud which is an acoustical foam cloud that is hung from the room’s ceiling to block out echoes and absorb noises.

Tiling a kitchen wall can seem like an easy task until you get started. Errors made will forever be evident for everyone to see unless you’re prepared to spend some extra bucks. When done right, it can actually be a very satisfying project, but don’t even think about rushing into it. If you lack a proper training or experience, it’s advisable to leave the task to a skilled professional for the best results and to avoid extra costs. This guide is meant to give you a detailed insight into the process and help you avoid possible errors.

• Preparation

✓ Ensure you have the required amount of tiles, adhesive and grout.

✓ Take the tiles measurement and calculate in square metres.

✓ Determine the number of tiles to be used and add about 10% to the total number to cover for possible wastage.

✓ Check to surface to make sure its clean and dry.

• Mark Out The Area To Be Tiled

✓ Mark out the width of the tiles with spacers using a baton of timber.

✓ Position a tile against the bottom-most point and draw a line.

✓ Put a baton along this line and follow this by a vertical line at the wall’s end.

• Install The Tiles On The Kitchen Walls

✓ Apply an even layer of adhesive with a wall trowel on the kitchen’s wall surface.

✓ Place the first tile on the adhesive and apply small pressure, do this for the remaining tiles with similar pressure to ensure its levelled.

✓ Make use of tile spacers to get a uniform space in between.

✓ Leave the adhesive to harden before applying the grout.

• Grouting

✓ Remove the tile space and clear out excess adhesive

✓ Prepare the grout

✓ Make use of a grout float to apply the mixture into the joints.

✓ Let the grout dry up a bit before washing the surface off with a sponge and water.