In the last article we gave you some information on the different types of wooden floor. In this article we will discuss different fitting methods.

Floating floors

Floating wooden floors are not fixed to the subfloor and as such ‘float’ on the underlay you have used. The reason a floor is left floating is because is it will expand or contract as necessary due to changes in temperature or humidity. Floating floors are easy to fit and if you are competent at DIY you can do the job yourself.

Tongue and groove

Some wooden floors fit together using the tongue and groove method. One side of the plank has a tongue and the other a groove. The tongue is glued into the grove of the adjacent plank creating a solid floor surface.

Click flooring

Click flooring doesn’t use adhesive, the floor just clicks together using an ingenious rebate along the edge of the planks. Click wooden floor is one of the easiest types of flooring to fit.

If you have decided to fit a wooden flooring one of the rooms in your home you will first need to be aware of a few things before you decide on the type of wood. Are you looking for a safety flooring?

Solid wooden flooring

Solid wooden flooring is as the name suggests made out of solid pieces of wood. It is great to use in any room except the bathroom and with new types available that can be ‘clicked’ together, fitting is easy too.

Engineered wooden flooring

Engineered wooden flooring uses a layer of real wood on top of a substrate of wood composites. This makes the flooring more structurally stable than other types of wooden floor so it can be used where there are rapid changes of temperature in the room such as the conservatory.

I was putting up some new shelves at my granddads house this morning and it got me thinking, why is it that men like doing D.I.Y and most women (like my mum, girlfriend etc) always find a handyman to do it for them.
Now I’ve been fixing cupboards, putting up shelving, painting and decorating since I used to help my dad when I was a small boy living in our big house in South Manchester. My brothers & sister never were very hands on and if something needed fixing it was always my dad and me to get on with the job.
I learnt a few simple tips from my dad & I found these to be very effective…
1) Preparation is the key
2) Keep costs low and if it’s a bigger job get some advice from somebody with experience
3) If you are going to need a few days to do the job, make sure that everyone in the house knows. Take your time. Don’t make any mistakes
4) If you need help at anytime, do not be afraid to ask
5) Keep it as simple as possible
I have been trying to follow these simple guidelines for years and have never come a cropper. I always think to myself, if a jobs worth doing its worth doing properly. Maybe I should start getting paid for my handy work, over the years I must have saved my family a fortune.

Why do all men think that they are naturally good at DIY?
Well to answer this question, there is a formula that everyone can use to find out if they are good at DIY…
Intelligence + Ability to read instructions - Making it up as you go along = Good at D.I.Y
My dad has been looking around for a new shelving unit & wardrobe on the internet.
I have been helping him find the best value for money shelving unit & he says he will do the rest.
Now, if you’re like me & thinking ohh Jee Wizz, 90% of dads are rubbish at D.I.Y then you would be thinking exactly the same thing as me.
My dad uses brown tape on EVERYTHING and it something needs holding together he will use BLUE rope – the kind that is used for outdoor festivals and holding bundles of hay together.
My dad is like Homer Simpson when it comes to anything D.I.Y – makes it up as he goes along.
It’s very funny to watch his brain working away and getting himself more and more away from the instructions that are clearly laid out in front of him.
I might just have to pop round when he has his “thinking cap” on and starts to assemble the kitchen unit and the wardrobe. That should give me hours of hilarity if nothing else.

There are various things you can do with a tiny budget to bring your house into the 21st Century. A couple of little tips would be to add a colourful throw and a couple of cushions to your sofa for an instant pep up, to clear the clutter from each room and just have on show some striking ornaments or focal pieces, or even to create a focal wall in a dull room with some designer wallpaper. These are all fabulous tips, however my newest trick is to pay attention to the little things such as the handles on your kitchen doors, wardrobe, bedroom and living room doors, and to keep your eyes peeled for pretty and individual kitchen door handles, curtain rail ends, and various other handles and knobs which will add a bit of sparkle and individuality to each room. It might be just a little change but it will add a big difference to the feel of the room. If you’ve got a metallic or wooden bed with high head and foot boards and prominent corners you can even add decoration to them. Curtain rail ends are good for this as (depending on the bed) you can just remove the original corner decoration and stick the decorative fixtures on. Simples!

The economy is on most people’s mind right now, with many people unable to afford to go out and revel with their friends like they used to. That’s why the awful phrase ‘staying in is the new going out’ has come to the fore. It’s an attempt to make you feel better about not being able to go out as much as you used to.

However, there is some good news following the fact that most people can’t afford to go out and have to stay in. It leaves you and your family with more time at home to perform those jobs you’ve been putting off for years, such as painting the spare room, wallpapering the bedroom or sanding the floor in the dining room.

If you’re spending time staying in, and don’t want to sit in front of the idiot box night after night, you can instead apply yourself to making some much needed improvements to your home. This will save you money, as you’re not spending it partying or hiring a professional decorator, and it will help you improve the look (and subsequently the value) of your home.

So put down that wine glass and pick up that paintbrush, there’s some decorating to be done.

Decorating doesn’t have to be expensive, and one couple have proven just that as they’ve redecorated their home with items they’ve found from local skips!

The couple, Paul and Pauline Allen, hail from Brighton and East Sussex and they claim that the most they’ve spent redecorating their home is just a few pounds. It’s surprising too when you consider that the couple live in an old Victorian home.

Fifty-nine-year-old Mrs Allen stated:

When we moved here we had bits like a dining room table and a couple of chairs but that was it. Now it’s full to the brim with lovely pieces.

It’s not stealing, or scrounging or even down to being tight. It’s just throwing things away seems almost perverse when we have a perfectly good home for it.

The couple started ‘finding’ what they could around the area when they moved into their home, a Victorian property built in 1890.

Mrs Allen added:

While trying to find original fittings like doors and the bathroom suite we discovered reclaimed things were so expensive.

That’s when we noticed that other people were chucking the same things out and it went from there. We haven’t bought a single new thing since.

The whole process has taken twenty years, and now their home is practically finished, and restored to its former glory.

If you’re trying to sell your house and are finding it difficult, as most people are right now, you’ve probably looked at just what it is that’s preventing your house from selling. The obvious things like cleaning up, making sure no cupboards or doors are broken, and not leaving embarrassing personal items laying around should be your first point of call.

Once this has all been done, you’ll need to look at some other factors of your home and why it’s not selling.

It’s a fact that most people make their minds up on a house in the first seven seconds, so if you’ve got a stunning bathroom upstairs it won’t help your potential sale if your downstairs is a shambles.

As a result, the outside of your home is the most important part, with your curb appeal being of paramount importance. How does your house look when you approach it? Does it look messy from the outside? Does your roof look shoddy, your front door dirty and your garden a mess?

If the answers to these questions is a resounding yes, you’ll need to do something about it. Spend some time (and some money) on your front garden and the outside appearance of your home. It’ll save you more in the long run.

You may think that the middle of a recession isn’t the best time to be decorating your home. Funds are tight, you need to save money and many people are being made redundant throughout the UK. However, if you have some spare cash (and I realise most people won’t) now is the perfect time to go for those home altering jobs and rejuvenate some of your rooms.

The reason that now is the perfect time is simple, many decorators and craftsmen are out of work due to the recession, or are looking for additional part time work in the evenings and weekends. This means that you’ll be able to employ a decorator for your home for a discounted rate on what you would have paid at this time last year, or what you’d be expected to pay next year.

It also puts you in the strong position of seeing several decorators and getting quotes from each of them, knowing that you’ll be able to opt for the cheapest, or haggle down the price of one which you prefer.

The recession may be bad for the economy, but could be great news for the look of your home.

The housing market has collapsed to a ten year low, meaning most of us can’t afford to move home or we’ll end up losing an awful lot of money on our houses. Luckily, as this has pretty much affected everyone, if you’re looking to trade up to a bigger house you’ll be able to do so easily enough as it will have lost value by the same amount as yours or even by more again.

If you’re not looking to move though, you’re probably hoping to ride out the deflation in the housing market and wait for the eventual recovery, which is expected to happen sometime towards the end of 2010.

In the meantime you could set about adding value to your home to make sure it’s ready for the market’s recovery, but which room is the best to develop?

Traditionally, the two homes that add the most value to a home are the kitchen and the bathroom, as these are the rooms that you create a real wow factor with. Sadly these are also the two rooms that tend to be the most expensive to decorate, as a new bathroom suit or a new kitchen can cost thousands each.