Julian Cassell's DIY Blog

Floating shelves are normally supplied with manufacturer ‘s guidelines for fitting, but most designs are similar to that shown in the sequence below, where wall brackets are positioned and the shelf simply slides onto these to provide the illusion of no fixings holding the shelf in place. As always, take great care when fixing into walls so as to avoid cables and pipes that may be buried under the wall surface. read more »

As the name suggests, hinge bolts are fitted on the hinging edge of a door. Hinge bolts are most commonly used on front doors, but they can also, for example, be used on back doors or patios doors. They are normally used in pairs with one slightly below the top hinge and another just above the bottom hinge. They offer excellent additional security to the main locks on a door. read more »

Mortice door bolts fit in the edge of doors providing an excellent extra security measure. Normally, bolts are positioned on the opening edge of the door – one close to the top of the door and another close to the bottom. They may also be used on the hinging edge. The bolts are key operated from the inside, and cannot be accessed from outside. read more »

Five-lever locks are used for entrance, and back doors – five levers approved to BS3621 is the minimum requirement for entrance doors. Mortice lever-locks can have between 2 and 7 levers. The more levers there are, the more difficult the lock is to pick. Fitting a mortice lock from new requires drilling into the edge of the door in order to accommodate the lock (using a similar technique to that shown for fitting a latch in the guide ‘Fitting internal doors’). read more »

As an alternative to the many flatpack or adjustable shelving systems on the market, you can of course construct your own shelving system to create a more fitted look. A custom made system like this can follow a number of different designs, with one of the most straightforward options being a batten shelving system such as the one shown below – this type of shelf is normally constructed in an alcove. read more »