Julian Cassell's DIY Blog

Using lining paper on walls, and ceilings, is a decorating technique carried out for two primary reasons. Firstly, lining paper may be used to provide a base onto which you then hang a decorative wallpaper, or, secondly it can be used to help even out imperfections on a wall or ceiling surface, before paint is applied. In this guide, I’ll explain the main properties, and types, of lining paper, and the points you need to consider when deciding on whether using lining paper is right for your situation. read more »

Decorating fillers occupy row upon row of shelf space in most DIY outlets, which I always imagine provides a very confusing message to most experienced DIY enthusiasts, let alone some poor soul considering their first decorating project. I appreciate that there are different manufacturers, and different package sizes, but that aside, the overwhelming choice seems to encourage buying a different filler for every occasion, when in fact you can do every decorating job you’ll ever come across with a far, far smaller range requirement. read more »

Decorating the exterior of your home is a DIY task that can range considerably in size, depending on your circumstances. You may literally have  a few small details that require painting if you live in a uPVC double-glazed unpainted brick home, or alternatively, re-decoration will be on a much larger scale if your house is rendered with wooden windows, for example. My list below can be applied to all outside decorating, but it is probably of most interest to those people with lots of wood, and lots of walls to paint! read more »

Mythic Paint is a relatively new player in the UK market, and they offer a selection of water-based paints for both the interior and exterior of your home. Okay, nothing too exciting in that introduction, but where my interest certainly began to perk up was when I noticed that all their paints contains zero VOCs (nasty chemicals), zero carcinogens (very nasty chemicals), are completely non-toxic, and have literally no smell. Now, there are other ‘user-friendly’ paints around, but none that have stirred up this amount of interest in the ‘trade’ marketplace. read more »

Fitting a wall mounted basin provides a greater challenge than fitting a pedestal basin, or basin in a vanity unit, as you need to pay serious attention to how the weight of the basin is going to be supported. Also, you will almost certainly need to adjust supply and waste pipe positions for your new basin, therefore more advanced plumbing skills are required, than would normally be the case if, for example, you were just changing over one pedestal basin for another. read more »