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Thanks to its durability, resistance to moisture and stain as well as aesthetic appeal, ceramic tile is a popular material for floor installations. The same qualities that makes it stand out for both kitchen and bathroom floors also makes it a natural choice for walls.

Fitting of ceramic wall tile is a task that requires pre-planning and lots of patience. Generally, it’s usually not that difficult to do but it can be very easy to make mistakes here and there. And because you’ll have to attach a relatively heavy material to vertical surfaces, the project can be somewhat trickier than ceramic floor tile so more care and skill is required here. This can be done by any competent DIYer who is confident and also patient. If you lack any of these attributes, we’d recommend you call in a professional who can guarantee the best results for help. In this article, we’ll take you through the ceramic wall tiles fitting process. Let’s take a look!

✓ Prepare the room. This includes switching off power to electrical outlets, removing decorative wall plates and other accessories on the wall, protecting the surface and taking out the baseboard.

✓ Draw reference lines. Using a chalk line draw a reference line on the wall to be tiled.

✓ Spread the adhesive. Use a notched trowel to spread the tile adhesive

✓ Install the first tile. Use the reference line as a guide to fit the first tile near the centre of the wall, twisting it slightly so its firmly in place. Then check to ensure the tile is level and adjust if you deem fit.

✓ Install all tiles. Following similar technique to install the remaining tiles and use tile spacers to ensure even gaps

✓ Clear out excess adhesive and remove spacers.

✓ Apply grout. Dampen the grout with clean water before the grout application

✓ Caulk the joints. After like 10 days, use silicone sealer to caulk the expansion joints.

If you’re not an expert floor installer who would take wall tile installation as merely being a vertical floor, you are advised to be very cautious when tackling the project. The installation of wall tiles follow some set of rules which you’d better not break if you really wish to protect your investment. And worst of all, a wall tile done wrong is a lifetime penalty of having to look at it. So how can you get it right? Well, probably by reaching out to a wall tile installation professional for a good quality solution that’ll save you time, money and effort. However, we’ve put together this guide to help give you an insight of how it works and also to help you avoid some unnecessary expenses. Let’s have a look!

1. Hang a batten board
2. Start your rows of tiles or bottom-most course with a batten board which works to prevent spillage of tiles.
3. Position the batten board at 3/4 of the tiles’ height. Ensure not to start at the floor.
4. Form A Pyramid Shape With The Tiles
5. If you’ve reached the bottom row of tile, then arrange the tile in a pyramid shape. To achieve this, you’d have to install the tiles one through four as instructed. Each following row will be draped over the pyramid.
6. Examine The Floor For Level & Walls For Plumb
7. If your floor level or plumb is off by a maximum of a half-inch over the course of 8 feet, add extra baseboards and trim to cover up the problem.
8. The Least Size Of Tiles To Be Used Is Half-Wide
9. Ensure that no “silvers (tiles that are lower than half the width of the tile in question) are incorporated in the project.

It depends on a few factors whether a new double glazed window will look different to existing ones. If your existing windows are very old, perhaps 10 years or more, then it’s likely that there will be some small differences.

The first thing to remember is that your double glazing is exposed to the elements as soon as it’s installed. So over time, unless you’re very good at cleaning and maintaining your windows, they’re likely to look a bit dirty. Window frames that are south-facing may also become slightly discoloured from the sun, so if you install a new window right next to it you might notice a difference.

Also, there have been lots of technical advances in windows over the years. If your existing windows are significantly older, you might notice a difference in the handles on openers, and if your existing windows were installed before 2010 they might not have trickle vents, which is an extra strip on the inside of your window to keep air flowing through your home. While it’s not a legal requirement for replacement windows to have trickle vents if the original one didn’t, it’s a good idea to have them installed as they help prevent condensation and mould.

The only truly noticeably different elements to a new double glazed window compared with existing ones are likely to be on the inside, which might not be a problem for you if you only have one window in a room. However, if you know the brand of your existing windows, you can ask your window installer if they can source the same ones. Even if they’ve been updated slightly, the difference should be minimal.

If you’re about to carry out a loft conversion project, you’d probably be wondering how long it’ll take to complete the task. Well, you’re not alone! This is one of the most common questions when it comes to loft conversion projects, however, providing a set timeframe for completion of such projects is impossible as all loft conversions vary. There are different factors that can determine the duration of your project. These factors include, the materials to be used, the type of the proposed loft conversion, the kind of staircase you’ll like to have installed, the number of windows included, the number of rooms to be added as well as a number of other influencing factors. As a result of these variables, the milestones and timings provided are only to be taken as guidelines. If you’d really like to have a set date, you can get in touch with a professional for help.

Generally, it’ll take up to 8 weeks to complete a loft conversion project.

✓ The first week activities will include putting up scaffolding, receiving the first materials for the build and creating an opening in the roof to gain access to the loft space.

✓ In the second week, the structure of the roof will be ammended and more support added.

✓ Third week, the floor joists will be fitted, building of the loft conversion will start, completion of the external roof works and commencement of plumbing and electric works.

✓ Fourth week, complete the building, construct the loft floor, fit the roof windows, insulation, ventilation and internal stud walls.

✓ Fifth week, apply plaster and plasterboard to the room walls, create a staircase opening and fit the new staircase.

✓ Sixth week, plaster the staircase area, complete plumbing and electrical works, hang the doors, fit skirting, handrails and bannisters and start decoration.

✓ Seventh week, complete the decoration and clean and wipe out all wastes.

✓ Eight week, complete all the remaining tasks.

If you want to install an external wall, it is only wise to consider whether or not a planning permission is required in order to avoid a hefty fine. In a great kudos to the government and a welcome relief to home and property owners, the installation of external wall insulation is seen as an “improvement to the house and not an “extension or an “enlargement. Ultimately, this implies that external wall insulation fitting is to be done under permitted development and a planning application may not be required. However, like many other regulations, there are also exceptions to this rule and the main one is if the activity changes the appearance of your property. Properties such as a listed building having tighter regulations may pose some issues. As a result, we’d advise you to consult your local authority to ensure that there’s no fast rule to this topic before commencement of the external wall insulation project.

At the moment, according to the Government Building Regulations, the surface of the entire wall is to be improved to existing standards if the area to be insulated exceeds 25 percent of the wall. In normal situations this is usually the typical case, however to prevent avoidable fines and other possible punishments, it is always best to reach to your local authority and check out the rules guiding external wall insulation in your constituency. Furthermore, since external wall insulation is not a task that’s recommended to be done by yourself, you can also ask the professional external wall insulation fitting company for the applying rules before proceeding. As a good professional, the company should have a better knowledge of the rules and regulation guiding its activities.

1. Using a rubber mallet and a strong pallet knife, remove the beading around the window. You might think they’re part of the frame, but they’re actually separate on the inside of the frame and can be taken out by using pallet knife to prize them out. Start with one of the longest beads first and leave the top bead until last.
2. Give the glass a little tap to loosen it if it doesn’t come out straight away, then the whole unit should slide out easily. Just make sure it falls towards you and not back out onto the ground below!
3. Clear any debris that has found its way into the frame with a brush. Add spacers at the bottom of the frame – these could be pieces of plastic.
4. Get your new sealed unit (make sure you measure the glass before you buy one so you know which size to get) and carefully take it out of the packaging. Look for the British Standard mark – that shows you the bottom of the glass.
5. Lift the glass into the frame, starting with the bottom first, and make sure that it fits square in the frame before taking the spacers out.
6. Use a little washing up liquid to spread along the beads to make it easier when you slide them back into the frame. If they simply push and clip back in, you can use something like a block of wood to help you push them in correctly. Put them back in reverse order to how you took them out.

Fleas are a problem to get rid of when they have actually taken over your house. They breed so promptly that if you find just one flea in your house it's too late.

Fleas are parasites, which means that they need a host to live off. So if you have a pet cat or pet dog, they will jump onto them and also survive off their temperature, hair and blood.

They can additionally make it through in your carpets, simply coming near you to suck on your blood for the day before returning, so you're not risk-free even if you do not have family pets

If you discover you have fleas, there are some things you need to do as soon as you can to get rid of them.

• Treat your pets.
• Briefly remove your animal from your house
• Laundry all your clothes and also sheets
• Obtain a fogger
• Hire the pros

Well, just like many other team work, a bricklayer is only as good as his supporting cast. And a hard-working labourer should be able to keep three bricklayer gangs happy. But even when he gets to serve just one bricklayer, the site conditions and nature of the wall can also play a huge role in determining the number of bricks that can be laid within 24 hours.

With the best possible site condition, hard-working labourer and best scenario with no pillars, no face brick, long straight wall and no wall ties, a well trained bricklayer should be able to lay within a range of 800 to 1100 bricks all day long. However, you rarely get walls like this as there is always going to be some corner or curve somewhere which usually takes some time to get right. Furthermore, once the bricklayer has laid up to 5 feet, there’ll be a need to get some lift. From that point onwards, the job understandably gets slower and tougher - meaning there’ll most definitely be a face brick.

In addition, there are multiple other factors that can affect the number of bricks that can be laid in a day. Sometimes its the complex designs or weather that’ll determine the daily rate.

With the aforementioned factors and more realistically, on a good day and great site, an expert bricklayer should be able to lay about 500 to 800 bricks in a day. This is generally a very good target, but of course you never can tell with the reasons above and other factors that are simply beyond the control of the bricklayer. If you have a project and want it completed as soon as possible, you can pay the bricklayers based on the number of bricks laid to increase their efficiency.