Julian Cassell's DIY Blog

Twin-slot shelving provides an excellent storage system that is both robust and adjustable. Always take great care when fixing into walls, being sure to avoid any buried cables or pipes. A cable, pipe and stud detector will always help you find suitable fixing points. The wall structure will determine the type of wall plugs and fixings you use. The strongest shelving is achieved when read more »

Cylinder locks generally require changing when you move house, or another common situation is if you lose your keys. A typical variety of cylinder lock is the Yale lock shown below. These locks may literally be changed in a few minutes – its really not necessary to hire a locksmith or carpenter, and unless there is a problem with the lock body itself, you literally just replace the cylinder part as shown below. read more »

If you decide to rehang a door, perhaps on the other side of the frame (lining), it becomes necessary to fill the old hinge positions so that the frame can be redecorated and a neat finish achieved. You can use a wood filler to slowly build up and fill the hole, but a better finish is generally achieved if you first try to patch the hole with wood, followed by a small amount of filler to deal with any small imperfections. read more »

Doors can sag and become difficult to open if the hinges are not screwed firmly in place. Screws can loosen off and it may be just a case of retightening them, but if the screw no longer bites in the screw hole you will need another course of action. Sometimes you may be able to replace loose screws with ones which are slightly larger, or, if this doesn’t work you will need to fill and re-drill the fixing holes in order to strengthen the hinge fixing positions. read more »

Doors tend to rattle if the doorstop (thin length of beading around the inside of the frame) is badly positioned. It is simple to adjust the doorstop position and cure the problem, but you will need a little bit of filler and touch up paint to create a neat finish. read more »