Assembling Flat-Pack Furniture
Flat-pack furniture has three ingredients - the various panels, shelves, doors and drawers, a bag of hardware for putting everything together, and the instructions. The parts and hardware are usually fine. The trouble is working out what goes ... [... more]
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Putting up Picture and Dado Rails
Picture and dado rails are right back in fashion these days. They break up big expanses of wall and give you the opportunity of using different decorative finishes above and below them. Use your pencil, spirit level and a length of the moulding ... [... more]
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Papering Walls
Paper-hanging is one of those jobs you either love or hate, but getting the hang of it yourself will save you a big decorator's bill. Papering is a satisfying job because it transforms a room more dramatically than paint. If your room has a ... [... more]
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Drilling Holes in Wood
Lots of DIY jobs involve making holes in things. For example, youll need holes in pieces of wood to insert screws, so that you can join them to other pieces of wood or fix them to the walls. Use twist drill bits to make holes up to about 10 mm ... [... more]
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Tiling over Tiles
If you want more tiles on your walls than are there already, the easiest option is to tile over the existing tiles. If youre tiling over existing tiles, all you have to do is wash the surface with detergent or sugar soap to remove grease and ... [... more]
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Varnishing Stripped or New Wood
On stripped woodwork and on new wood, sand the surface smooth with fine glasspaper and dust it off with a cloth moistened with white spirit. If you're just varnishing it, add one part white spirit to nine parts of varnish and apply this as a ... [... more]
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Putting up a Fixed Shelf in an Alcove
Alcoves are a great place to put up shelves because they have side walls to support the shelf ends. All you have to do is fix a slim wooden support batten to each side wall and rest your shelf on top once you've cut it to length. Prepare the two ... [... more]
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Varnishing Existing Varnished Wood
On existing varnished woodwork, sand it lightly with the finest surface of a sanding sponge. Then wipe the surface with a cloth moistened with white spirit, to remove dirt, dust and grease. Brush on a coat of new varnish, just as if you were ... [... more]
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Preparing Walls and Ceilings
Preparation is the most important part of any job. Skimp on it and you'll never get good results. Tackle the ceiling first, then the walls and finally any woodwork. Wash painted walls with a solution of detergent or sugar soap, working from the ... [... more]
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Stripping Paint
It is usually straightforward to paint over existing paintwork. But sometimes old paintwork can get badly chipped, or be so thick from previous redecoration that it obscures decorative detail or makes windows stick. You must strip it off and ... [... more]
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Removing Floor Coatings
In a nutshell, some old floor coverings can stay and some have to go. In the first category come vinyl and cork tiles that are well stuck down to the floor surface, and also sheet vinyl. Ceramic or quarry tiles can be covered with a thin layer of ... [... more]
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Planing Wood, Cutting Curves and Sanding Wood
Most of the wood you use around the house will be bought off the shelf - already sawn and planed to a standard cross-sectional size. You just cut off the lengths you want. To make fine adjustments to wood, you need a plane, which contains a ... [... more]
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