Julian Cassell's DIY Blog

A good manual tile cutter is pretty vital to a tiler’s toolkit and although you may need an electric tile cutter, or tile saw, for making tricky cuts, a manual cutter is the ideal tool for making quick, straight and accurate cuts. These types of tile cutter are also known as score and snap tile cutters, because that best describes how they work, and although you can buy hand held manual cutters, I’d urge you to opt for the larger model of manual tile cutter that I demonstrate in the guide below. read more »

How to fix a shed roof is a topic that can certainly range in extremes, from simply tacking back down some loose felt, to discovering the ply or building boards (roof sheets) used to make up the structure of the roof are totally rotten, and so complete replacement becomes necessary. Below are a few considerations and solutions to common shed roof problems, as well as what I’ve found to be a selection of excellent products for fixing a shed roof. read more »

When deciding where to start tiling a floor, you can employ a number of techniques that will help in your decision-making process. The aim is to produce a tile layout that provides the most balanced effect, in terms of cut tiles around the edge of the room, as well as trying to establish any areas where you ideally need to centralise the design, such as at a door entrance, for example. In reality, your tile layout will normally have compromises read more »

Cordless drills are without doubt amongst the most useful tools that any DIY enthusiast will own, and therefore it is essential to know how to use a cordless drill correctly. Before I begin, forget all the hundreds of different terms you’ve read or seen describing this type of tool as there really are only three main categories of cordless drill. Firstly there’s a cordless drill driver, secondly there’s a cordless combi drill, and thirdly there’s a cordless SDS drill. Forget the SDS drill for this guide, as it’s a more heavy duty option. read more »

Asbestos safety is a topic that needs to concern all homeowners, as the wrong type of asbestos exposure is a serious health risk. However, with any material that is potentially dangerous to health, as long as we all know what dangers are actually presented by that material, then it becomes more straightforward to deal with it in a safe way. Many of us have asbestos present in or around our homes, and the key thing to remember is that in most cases, it only starts to present a health risk once it is cut and/or disturbed. read more »