Avoid potential disasters with our handy guides to the most common DIY tasks undertaken. Good luck!
Knocking down a wall
If you're looking round a house and know you want something more open-plan, it's useful to find out immediately which walls you can and can't remove.
Design your lighting
Well thought-out lighting can make a huge difference to your home simply because it determines shape, reveals colour and defines texture.
Tiling made easy
If the tiles in your kitchen or bathroom are an eyesore there's no need to painstakingly chip them all off and start again. Just tile right over the top of them.
Planning a loft conversion
You could transform the dark and dusty loft space in your roof into a light-filled extra room. It needn't be the headache you may imagine, and it may add even more to the value of your home.
Retro door handles
If you want to find original door handles to smarten up cupboards and units at a fraction of the price you'd pay in a hardware store, go to a yachting or ship's chandlery shop instead.
Find classic radiators
These days an increasing number of people want to do up their houses in a historically accurate style, making original cast iron Victorian radiators in good working order highly sought after.
Restore woodwork
Old houses look their best when period features are intact, rather then removed or covered up. Unfortunately, the previous owner might not have appreciated this and these features may now be lost.