Find a Shop Fitter you can trust in East Cowes.

Spreading gravel on your driveway is usually pretty easy. Tip it into dispersed piles over your driveway area and then use a rake to spread it out evenly. If you’re creating a particularly large driveway and are getting your gravel delivered, you might be able to get help from your delivery driver.

If you’d like to hire a commercial architect, but have a limited budget, there are a few options you could try.

Firstly, if you’re happy to manage the project yourself, you could just engage your architect to create the designs and technical plans. It will then be up to your builder and any other contractors to follow them. You’ll need to put some serious time and effort in to make sure that this goes smoothly, but it will reduce how much you’ll need to pay your architect.

You could also consider reducing the scope of your project. Many architects charge a percentage of your project’s total construction cost, so if you scale down the work then their fees will be lower. Alternatively, you may be able to negotiate a set fee if you want to guarantee that you won’t pay more than a certain amount.

Cutting a plasterboard is a relatively simple process requiring only some basic tools. Unfortunately, the lack of knowledge serves as big deterrent for many people who wishes to put it to good use. Plasterboard can actually be sawn using an ordinary timber saw that’s fine-toothed to get a cleaner edge. However, the basic tools you may also need includes a sharp knife (Stanley Knife), pencil, a fine sandpaper, a straight edge and measurement tape as well as a wall board saw. Let’s have a look at the cutting process!

• Firstly, you need to put the plasterboard sheet flat on a firm surface.

• Use the tape measurement to measure the cut you wish to make.

• With the help of a pencil, simply mark out the part you wish to cut on the plasterboard’s front side.

• Once marked, place a spirited level over the marked spot on the plasterboard sheet you want to cut.

• Cut a shallow mark into the plasterboard sheet using the Stanley Knife to cut along the edge.

• The cut should be slow and gradual to ensure you do not wander off the edge of the marked area.

• Once the shallow cut has been made, turn the plasterboard sheet on its edge and deliver a quick and sharp push towards the plasterboard’s back and on one side of the cut.

• Place the plasterboard sheet backing against a flat surface ensuring the line of the cut is over an edge. Once done, give a quick and sharp push towards the back of the plasterboard sheet and on the part of the board is reaches beyond the edge.

• Using a fine sandpaper, remove all forms of paper burrs.

The process of cutting plasterboard requires a lot of practice. If you lack the training and experience, the cutting process is best left to a proficient professional who can guarantee the best results the first time and save you some additional costs due to potential damages.

How To Plaster A Ceiling

Generally, plastering is a very tricky and time consuming job which usually require lots of efforts and practice to get right - with that in mind it gets even a lot trickier when it comes to ceiling plastering.

However, when you’re able to acquire the right know-how as well as tools, ceiling plastering can be completed by any confident DIYer enthusiast without the need to call in a professional. However, if you lack the needed confidence to pull off this task, then we’d recommend you get in touch with a trustworthy professional who can guarantee the best results for help. In this guide, we’ll take you through the ceiling plastering process.

You’ll need the following materials to get started: plaster, mixing bucket and paddle, plasterer’s float, plasterer’s towel, bucket trowel, protective gear, bucket of clean water and wide brush.

✓ Prepare the area. When it comes to plastering a ceiling it’s almost unavoidable to leave a mess around and no matter how you do it, your plaster will drop on the floor. Therefore you have put drop sheets on the floor, cover the furniture and put thing you don’t want to get dirty out of the way.

✓ Prepare the ceiling to be plastered. Sand down the uneven patches on the ceiling. Once done, wash the ceiling with a sponge and warm soapy water while also removing all cobwebs as well. Leave the surface to dry once completed.

✓ Mix the plaster or buy a premix plaster. To mix the plaster, simply use equal parts of plaster and water for mixing the plaster,

✓ Plaster the ceiling. Apply a little quantity of plaster to the edge of your trowel and try to spread it in rows to do the job without much hassle. Ensure that the thickness of the coat is thin and even throughout the application. The rough edge of the trowel should be used for the spreading as it’ll help you create scrapes or scratches in the plaster.

✓ Sand the surface

What Is The Difference Between A Conservatory And An Orangery?

If you’re looking to build an extension for your home, one of the first things that comes to mind is the type of structure that would best suit your property. When it comes to glass extensions there are two major varieties which includes the traditional conservatory and the orangery, but there are usually a lot of confusion over the differences of these two varieties. With the growth in popularity of glazed extensions, the differences between the two structures are becoming more and more thin. However, the main difference between a conservatory and an orangery is the number of glass incorporated. Conservatories are fully glazed structures featuring a low brick base wall, meanwhile orangeries are grand brick structures with with glazed roofs. But as a result of innovations of over the years in glazing, the difference has changed a bit.

Here are some of the major differences between a conservatory and an orangery.

✓ Orangeries are generally best suited to traditional-styled homes or with older property making use of matching stone or brick in construction. Meanwhile for a more recent or modern property, a conservatory will be the better option to add the flair to your property.

✓ Conservatories tend to be larger than orangeries, therefore if you want a smaller extension, an orangery would be your best bet.

✓ Orangeries are typically rectangular in shape and is traditionally a more regular building meanwhile a conservatory can be shaped to suit your needs. With an conservatory, you can get a T-shaped, L-shaped, curved, double ended and lean-to extensions to suit your preference.

✓ An orangery usually possess a flat roof at the edges with a glazed lantern section right at the centre. You can also find more luxurious orangeries having two or more lantern sections. However, when it comes to the roofing, conservatories generally have more options. Some are gabled or pitched, others are lean-to with a plethora of choice to finish off the roof.

If you’re about to fit a new bathroom in your home, then you’d probably be wondering how much would be the labour cost of getting it done. Unfortunately, a single accurate answer can not be provided to this question as there are many influencing factors that can determine the labour cost to fit a new bathroom. In this guide, we’ll give you a good insight on the labour cost of installing a new bathroom.

While you can obtain a good evaluation when planning the work on your bathroom, the final cost can largely vary. For small jobs such as fitting a pedestal basin with taps, professional installers can charge within the range of £170 to £250. Meanwhile, bigger projects such as tiling an entire bathroom can cost an average fee of about £70 to £90 per square metre. Generally, the overall average cost of fitting a new bathroom is about £6,500 in the UK. But in an event whereby you’ll be switching to a bathroom suite that’s exactly like the old one which wouldn’t require extra flooring as well as tiling, there’s a high chance you may be able to complete the project for a significantly lesser price.

The main reason why the labour costs vary is due to the fact that each individual job will have to be priced based on its own particular requirements and circumstances. Other influencing factors that’ll affect how easy a job is to complete, how much material will be incorporated and the duration of the project includes the size of the bathroom in question as well as the shape. However, there can be unforeseen complications like damaged piping which will also raise the price of the project and more.

Do you notice your sink is taking ages to drain or perhaps you’re perceiving a funny smell oozing from it? You don’t have to panic as this is most definitely a blockage. Unblocking your drain requires just a little effort and chances are, you might not need to reach out to a professional. This blockage may be in your home’s internal or external drains but so far the the drain is within your property, it’s entirely your responsibility to make sure that they are well maintained and repaired (if the need arises).

Generally, outside drain problems are more likely to be harder to fix when compared to your average blocked sink. But it isn’t impossible should you have the relevant tools as well as knowledge. In this post, we’re going to consider a safe and effective approach to unblock a drain outside. Let’s take a look!

1. Pull the cover off the drain. This may require the use of a flat head screwdriver to remove the drain’s cover. If that isn’t working, you can try tying a rope around the cover to give you a good coverage
2. Identify the blockage. This is usually messy, but you simply have to do it if you wish to save some money. Simply reach down to remove as many of the blockage that you can reach as possible. This will make it easier for you to remove the rest with a drain rod
3. Use the drain rod. Simply put the drain rod inside and apply pressure. You’ll have to twist the rod in a clockwise direction to get into the blockage. Depending on how big or stubborn the drain is, it may take a while to get through it.