Julian Cassell's DIY Blog

A good stepladder is an essential for any DIY enthusiast, and in fact even if you only do a minimal amount of DIY, you still need a stepladder. Nothing annoys me more than seeing people balance on chairs, sofa edges, buckets, tables, and many other ‘unfit for purpose’ items, trying to bang in a nail, or stretch to paint the corner of the room. So, if you haven’t got one, get yourself a decent stepladder read more »

Using a hammer correctly not only makes your DIY work much more efficient, but also saves you from injuring thumbs and fingers. It’s clearly not the most complicated of operations, but many people don’t hold a hammer correctly, or look after the head of the hammer so that the majority of the blows you make, hit the intended target. Below are a few simple points about the correct way to use a hammer. read more »

Using sandpaper may seem like a slightly tedious subject for a guide, but I just wanted to share a couple of points that will save you money, and make any sanding you do, much easier, and more effective. I’m basically talking about sanding by hand here, no power tools, no sandpaper wrapped around wooden blocks, no sanding pads, just, very simply, how to make the best use of rolls, or sheets of sandpaper. read more »

Carbon monoxide (CO) detector patches detect the presence of dangerous levels of CO in the atmosphere, resulting in the circular area in the centre of the detector changing colour. These patches are often seen as an alternative to using mains operated, or, battery operated CO alarms, but this really should NOT be the case, and in the following guide, I’ll explain why. read more »

Screws or nails for your DIY project? Which do you choose? To be honest, using nails has now become a comparatively rare occurrence, as you can be much more accurate with screws, they are easy to pop in and out if you need to make adjustments, and in most cases, create stronger fixings than nails. Also, one of the main reasons I, and indeed any builder, or DIY enthusiast uses more screws than nails these days is a direct result of the invention, and general uptake of the cordless screwdriver. Effectively, screws can now be inserted much more quickly than a nail, with far less effort.

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