News Archive10% Discount24 June 2010 Do you want to SAVE 10% off your next order?
Every order that we send out now includes a 10% discount code which can be redeemed when you place your next order on Tools & Hardware Direct. It is simple to claim your 10% discount, just click here and follow the instructions. So place your order today to receive the 10% discount code before this offer expires.
Online DIY Advice22 June 2010 Online DIY Advice
Anna Leach of The Independent has written how more and more people are turning to using the internet as a source of information about DIY. People are using the internet as a tool to gain tips and guides on small renovations around the home, instead of employing a tradesman. This has the potential to save you hundreds of pounds each year, and possibly even enjoy yourself when you take on a little project. Even if you want to employ a tradesman, it is a good idea to read about the DIY job, look at what the work involves and how long the advice websites thinks it will take. This will help you have a better idea of what the tradesman is doing, and if the quote is realistic. We have found a couple of great sites which offer comprehensive guides to hundreds of DIY tasks around the home. www.diydoctor.co.uk www.diyfixit.co.uk
Tip 20 - Pattern Wallpaper09 May 2010
Decorating Tip 20 – Pattern Wallpaper If you are using large patterned wallpaper, remember to buy more wallpaper to allow for the patterns to repeat and look good. The wallpaper should have a pattern repeat size on the label which will give you details on how much paper you will need to repeat a pattern. If you want to see all of our Decorating Tips to date then Click Here. For paint brushes, wallpaper or paint scrapers and more decorating products click here.
Tip 19 - Buy From the Same Batch08 May 2010
Decorating Tip 19 – Buy from the Same Batch When you buy your wallpaper, make sure that you check the batch numbers and buy all of them from the same batch. There can be a slight difference in colour which will not be noticeable when comparing the two sheets until they are up on the wall. If you want to see all of our Decorating Tips to date then Click Here. For paint brushes, wallpaper or paint scrapers and more decorating products click here.
Tip 18 - Disposing of Paint07 May 2010
Decorating Tip 18 – Disposing of Paint If you have too much paint left over, do not pour it down the sink or the drain. It is not healthy for your drains to have paint poured down them, and there are better ways to dispose of the paint. You should seal the paint with its lid, and store the paint in a dry place. If you need to get rid of the paint, call your local authority about how to do this, or take it to your local dump. If you want to see all of our Decorating Tips to date then Click Here. For paint brushes, wallpaper or paint scrapers and more decorating products click here.
Tip 17 - Be Care Around Windows06 May 2010
Decorating Tip 17 – Be Careful Around Windows Remember to be careful around any windows you paint. If you paint the windows, keep them open and allow them to dry completely before closing to ensure that the windows do not dry closed. If you are painting sash windows, make sure that you be careful where you paint as it can stop them from working effectively. If you want to see all of our Decorating Tips to date then Click Here. For paint brushes, wallpaper or paint scrapers and more decorating products click here.
Tip 16 - Painting Radiators05 May 2010
Decorating Tip 16 – Painting Radiators If you are repainting a wall, remember to keep some paint spare to paint the radiator. Radiators blend into a wall better if they are painted the same colour, and will help them not stand out and look unattractive. If you remove your radiator to paint the wall, remember to bleed the radiator afterwards. If you want to see all of our Decorating Tips to date then Click Here. For paint brushes, wallpaper or paint scrapers and more decorating products click here.
Tip 15 - Never Stir Non-Drip Paint04 May 2010
Decorating Tip 15 – Stirring Non-Drip Paint If you are using non-drip paint, make sure you do not stir or mix it, otherwise it will not be non-drip paint. If you want to see all of our Decorating Tips to date then Click Here. For paint brushes, wallpaper or paint scrapers and more decorating products click here.
Tip 14 - Electricity Off03 May 2010
Decorating Tip 14 - Always Turn the Electricity Off Remember to always turn off the electricity in the home when painting around plugs, and carefully unscrew them from the wall. You can then paint around where the socket will fit, without painting on the socket which will provide you with a clean and tidy finish. If you want to see all of our Decorating Tips to date then Click Here. For paint brushes, wallpaper or paint scrapers and more decorating products click here.
Tip 13 - The Wallpaper Calculator02 May 2010
Decorating Tip 13 – The Wallpaper Calculator Use a wallpaper calculator to work out exactly how much wallpaper you need to decorate a room. It is simple to use and can save you a lot of money buying the correct amount for once. Click here to use the wallpaper calculator. If you want to see all of our Decorating Tips to date then Click Here. For paint brushes, wallpaper or paint scrapers and more decorating products click here.
Tip 12 - Save Yourself A Cleaning Job01 May 2010
Decorating Tip 12 – Save Yourself the Cleaning Job To save yourself a bit of time at the end of the job, you can line your paint roller tray with tin foil. This will act as a cover for your tray, so when you have finished painting, you can simply remove the foil, throw it away, and be left with a clean painting tray and no washing up needed! If you want to see all of our Decorating Tips to date then Click Here. For paint brushes, wallpaper or paint scrapers and more decorating products click here.
Tip 11 - Remember The Radiators30 April 2010
Decorating Tip 11 - Remember The Radiator Before you start painting, you must remember to turn off the radiators in the room. If the radiator is left on, it can cause wrinkling of the paintwork. Painting behind radiators is usually best using a special paint roller designed for fitting down the back of radiators. If you want to see all of our Decorating Tips to date then Click Here. For paint brushes, wallpaper or paint scrapers and more decorating products click here.
Tip 10 - Speed Up Your Painting29 April 2010
Tip 10 – Speed Up Painting If you want to get your decorating work out of the way fast, then save time by using a paint roller. Paint rollers are simple to use, just load paint onto the roller evenly, and start painting the walls. Do not load too much paint onto the roller as it will drip as you roll creating a bit of a mess. To find out how to keep rollers soft, read Tip 3 by clicking here.
Tip 9 - Prevent Paint Wrinkling28 April 2010
Tip 9 – Prevent Paint Wrinkling Wrinkling is caused by painting a second coat before the first coat is completely dry. It is important to leave time for the first layer to dry thoroughly before applying any more paint. Wrinkling can also be caused by applying in direct or strong sunlight. The best way to banish any wrinkling is by sanding it down, followed by repainting.
If you want to see all of our Decorating Tips then click here.
Tip 8 - What To Wear When Decorating27 April 2010
Tip 8 – What To Wear When Painting This might seem like its obvious, but a lot of people find themselves in trouble while painting after wearing the wrong material. The main type of material to avoid wearing is wool or knitwear. Try to avoid any type of clothing which is likely to shed material while painting, as it will leave debris on your painted wall. This will be hard to remove, possible using the trick from Tip 7, but will make painting more difficult than it should be. The best clothing to wear is something like jeans and a cotton shirt. These materials should not cause you any trouble when painting.
If you want to see all of our Decorating Tips to date then Click Here.
Tip 7 - Keep Paint Brushes Soft26 April 2010
Tip 7 – Keeping Paint Brushes Soft How To Keep Paint Brushes Soft If you require numerous brush sizes for a job, or simply need a break and want to leave your paint brushes for a while, they can often dry out while not being used and become hard and impossible to use. A solution to stop this from happening is simply wrapping the paint brushes in foil or cling film. This will ensure that the brushes are kept soft when you are not using them. This is especially important in hot weather. If you want to see all of our Decorating Tips to date then Click Here. For paint brushes, wallpaper or paint scrapers and more decorating products click here.
Tip 6 - Fallen Bristles25 April 2010
Tip 6 – How To Deal With Fallen Bristles If your brush is releasing bristles as you paint, you might need a better quality paintbrush. To deal with the bristles, it is important that you do not try to pick the bristles out with your fingers. This will usually result in messy paintwork with fingerprints and uneven paint. A quick trick to getting the bristle out is to turn the brush onto its side and gently side the brush along the bristle trying to pick it up. It will usually stick to the brush, then you can remove it with your hands from the brush. You can also try this technique with bits of fluff and hairs which become attached to the paintwork. If you want to see all of our Decorating Tips to date then Click Here. For paint brushes, wallpaper or paint scrapers and more decorating products click here.
Tip 5 - Where To Start Painting24 April 2010
Tip 5 – Where To Start Painting When painting, it is important to always start at the top of the wall. This way any drips that occur will spill straight onto the wall below. These can then be repainted over as you work your way down. If you start at the bottom you will find yourself dripping on drying paint, and having to touch up the wall as you go. If you want to see all of our Decorating Tips to date then Click Here. For paint brushes, wallpaper or paint scrapers and more decorating products click here.
Tip 4 - Stop Sandpaper Cracking23 April 2010
How To Stop Sandpaper From Cracking Sandpaper, or glasspaper as it is also referred as, can become very dry if left in the wrong conditions. If sandpaper is kept in a warm room or next to a radiator or other heat source, it will become brittle and can crack when folded or used. You can stop this from happening by making the back of the sandpaper damp with a sponge. This will allow you to fold the sandpaper without it cracking. If you want to see all of our Decorating Tips to date then Click Here. For paint brushes, wallpaper or paint scrapers and more decorating products click here.
Tip 3 - Keeping Rollers Soft22 April 2010
Decorating Tip 3 - How To Keep paint Rollers Soft Paint rollers are an excellent way to paint walls faster and have a more even distribution of paint. If you need to keep your rollers soft and want to use them again later in the day, simply wrap them in a plastic bag or foil, ensuring that it is tight and no air can get in. This will prevent the roller from becoming dried out and hard to clean, and you can resume using it later that day. If you want to see all of our Decorating Tips to date then Click Here. For paint brushes, wallpaper or paint scrapers and more decorating products click here.
Tip 2 - Masking Tape21 April 2010
Decorating Tip 2 – How To Use Masking Tape When Decorating Masking tape is a crucial tool when painting a wall or windows. When you are painting and need a separation of colour, like on a wall to ceiling for example, apply masking tape around the edge of the ceiling. When you paint the wall, the masking tape will ensure that you paint the walls to the top, without painting any of the ceiling. It is important to make sure that the masking tape is straight and has not bobbled as paint could get under it. Masking tape should be removed before you paint is dried, because if the paint has dried and you remove the masking tape, it may create chippings or peel the paint. It is fine to paint over the masking tape and no paint will seep through. If you want to see all of our Decorating Tips to date then Click Here. For paint brushes, wallpaper or paint scrapers and more decorating products click here.
Decorating - 20 Tips in 20 Days20 April 2010
Decorating Tips Of The Trade We are going to provide you with 20 Decorating Tips over the next 20 Days. Recent research shows that more people are looking to make home improvements rather than move house, so we want to help you with this by providing useful tips of the decorating trade. These tips will be everything from how to calculate the amount of paint you need, to stop sandpaper from cracking, to stopping paint from wrinkling.
All of these tips will contribute to a greater knowledge of decorating like the professionals do, and leave you feeling confident in tackling any home improvement.
Tip 1 - Paint Calculator20 April 2010
The Paint Calculator This is something that everyone should use before they start any painting and decorating. Dulux has a calculator on their website which offers a great tool to working out how much paint you need for walls, doors, skirting boards and more. It is simple to use, simply entering the room dimensions and it will give you an estimate of the paint required. This means that you can buy the correct amount of paint for once, saving tens of pounds. Remember that it is important to always have a little bit of the paint left at the end for future touch ups around the home. For paint brushes, wallpaper or paint scrapers and more decorating products click here.
Bulk Orders19 April 2010 As you know, we sell a huge range of fixings and hardware. We sell our products in easy to manage packets, but can also sell larger quantities of fixings and hardware if necessary.
Need DIY Help?09 April 2010
A study by Bosch revealed that 45% of Britons find DIY uninteresting. This is not that surprising, as at times it can be tedious and unwelcome, but the study also states that Britons homes are in more need of renovation than anywhere else in Europe. Do we need to make more time for home improvement and DIY? 70% of people say that DIY is simply too much effort. With the current economical climate, tradesmen are a luxury, with people looking to take on more work in their own home to save some money. The survey also found that people would prefer to improve their current home rather than move due to the current climate. If you are worried about tackling the DIY in your house, there are a huge number of websites which offer great advice and guidance on everything DIY. You can find guides from painting a door to tiling a roof to building a wall or even how to knock one down. Here are a couple of DIY sites which offer great tips and guidance when making your home improvements. www.diydoctor.org.uk – DIY Doctor offers hundreds of articles detailing projects. It is a great site to get a basic knowledge of how to tackle a job, and what tools are required. www.askthebuilder.com – This experienced tradesman has uploaded over 250 videos on Youtube with tutorials of how to make home improvements. His website is just as useful and is a great resource however experienced you are.
Nowhere To Hide For The Cowboys08 April 2010 Websites such as MyHammer are dragging tradesmen into the 21st century by offering a bidding service, where people can post a home improvement job onto the MyHammer website, and trademen will bid to you for the job, leaving you a choice of builders all offering competitive prices! After the job is completed, you can review your tradesman, give them a rating, and let everyone else read it.
New Home Improvement Section08 March 2010 We have added a Home Improvement section to our ever expanding website. You can find products such as:
We are constantly adding new products to all areas of our website, improving our range and aiming to offer a huge selection for all your DIY needs.
Expanding Product Range02 December 2009
New Flat-Rate Postage18 November 2009 Here at Tools & Hardware Direct we aim to offer you the best service, at the lowest prices! This is why we have introduced a flat-rate postage of just £2.99!!!
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