Julian Cassell's DIY Blog

The most important point about fitting kitchen wall units is to find secure fixing positions. This is not normally a problem with masonry walls, but with hollow or stud walls, ideally all fixings should go into the wooden studs. Alternatively you can take off the plasterboard behind the units and fix wooden noggings (horizontal supports) inside the wall between adjacent vertical studs. read more »

If you’re fitting a new kitchen, always fit base units before wall units – its simply much easier for establishing levels. The technique shown here shows the units being fixed directly to the wall surface.  As always, take care when finding safe fixing points – a cable, pipe and stud detector can help you here. read more »

Carbon monoxide (CO) alarms are essential safety devices that must be fitted in your home. Do not confuse them with smoke alarms as they do not detect smoke, but the presence of CO instead. An accumulation of odourless CO can be fatal and collects when fuel-burning appliances malfunction or are badly fitted. These alarms are simple and quick to fit. read more »

A battery operated smoke alarm is quick and easy to fit. There are different types available and always follow manufacturers’ guidelines precisely when positioning them. Battery operated alarms should be checked and maintained regularly. The following guide shows a typical sequence for fitting a smoke alarm. read more »

Hollow walls or stud walls are most commonly made from vertical wooden supports (studs) that are covered by sheets of plasterboard. Because there are gaps between the vertical supports, significant areas of the wall will be hollow when covered with plasterboard, so this wall type is often referred to as a hollow wall. Ideally, you should try and fix into the wooden supports, but, if this is not possible, there are fixing techniques to ensure that you can cope with the hollow part of the wall, and that is what is shown below. read more »