This blog is the result of over 20 years of working in building and renovations and a growing career in writing guides, columns and books.
Posted in Buying Guides, Safety Buying Guides on March 18th, 2011 by Julian Cassell – Be the first to comment
Now I don’t want to go down the road of some of the Health and Safety Gestapo otherwise, quite frankly, none of us would ever pick up a paint brush again, but I do want to impart a little bit of advice about staying safe with DIY and specifically eye protection. Whether you are doing all out demolition jobs, building a new house, or, just simply doing some average DIY around the home, you really do need to look after your eyes. read more »
Posted in Buying Guides, Decorating Tool and Material Reviews on March 9th, 2011 by Julian Cassell – Be the first to comment
Buying a tile cutter is a necessary undertaking for any DIY tiling project. The main issue is deciding whether to go with an electric option, a traditional unpowered manual tile cutter, or indeed both. My recommendations at the bottom of this guide have changed slightly recently because of an incredibly good experience with a tile cutter which I think is easily the best value tile cutter I’ve ever used. read more »
Posted in 'How-to' Guides, Paths, Paving, and Patios on March 3rd, 2011 by Julian Cassell – 2 Comments
In terms of keeping it simple, laying a gravel path is about as easy as garden construction gets. However, if you want it to look good, and be easy to maintain, there are a few necessary precautions to take in its design. read more »
Posted in Buying Guides, Gardening Reviews on March 2nd, 2011 by Julian Cassell – 1 Comment
A few years ago, building a deck required a lot more measuring, cutting and general design work than is now the case. Most of the well known outlets now supply your deck in a kit form. The popularity of decks has also made them very competitively priced, and the overall quality of the wood supplied is in most cases fit for purpose. In general buying a deck and constructing it over a weekend is very achievable for anyone with a little bit of DIY know-how. read more »
Posted in Buying Guides, Gardening Reviews on February 23rd, 2011 by Julian Cassell – Be the first to comment
Buying a shed is an almost inevitable undertaking for every homeowner. I’ve put up a number of shed types in my time, and after each construction, I always find myself standing back at the end of the job and on the one hand admiring the fact that you can put up a watertight building in a few hours, but on the other hand feeling a little concerned about how long it will last – let’s face it, flat pack sheds aren’t made out of seasoned prime timber. read more »
