With the good times come the bad times. And it’s only when we appreciate how bad the bad times are that we can appreciate what’s good in life. The same goes with DIY. Standing back and looking at the impressive room you’ve just decorated or the brilliant shelves you’ve just fixed makes you feel good. One thing however that makes you feel bad and we mean BAD, is wallpaper stripping.

I’ve yet to find a person who likes stripping wallpaper, even the stuff which is supposed to pull off in a single strip but never does. And if you have a particularly bad experiance where the previous homeowner has used 10,000 tubes of superglue to affix the paper to the wall, it’s no wonder you’ll never want to do it again.

We could say invest in a wallpaper steamer to help you out, but even that’s not good enough. What you need to do instead is GSI to strip the walls for you.

Every person who does DIY knows that the most important thing to do before starting is to make sure you have enough tea bags to get you through the job. Tea and DIY are like cookies and cream or like sausage and mash - they’re a match made in heaven.

The type of tea you drink when you are doing DIY is imperative, there’s no point drinking Earl Grey, Jasmine or Camomile, what you need is good old builders brew, well steeped and with a little milk plus two sugars and plently of it.

Another important thing here is the art of never making a brew yourself. Getting someone else to make a brew is epitome DIY nirvana.

Any painting and decorating job should always be done properly to get the best level of finish. And to do this there’s one thing you must always get right - and that’s the preparation.

Preparing the surfaces before you start painting is imperative. If you simply paint over the exisitng piaitnt without any preparation you’ll only create more work in the long run as the new paint you apply will simply flake off.

Skirtings and window frames will need to be sanded down gently before applying an undercoat. top coat should only be applied after the undercoat and with gentle sanding between. If you are painting over bare wood you should always use primer first.

If you are using emulsion, make sure the walls are smooth and give them a wipe over to remove any residues such as grease or anything which my stop the new paint adhering properley.

It’s only if you get the preparation right that you’ll get the best finish.

We’ve all been there - you’ve had new carpets fitted and the fitting company had to remove your doors. You screw them back in place only to find there’s not a cat-in-hells chance of them ever closing again. What you need to do is to remove some meat from the bottom of the door.

Using an electric plane is the easiest and most dangerous way of removing some wood from the bottom of a door. The door simply needs removing from the door frame and lying on its side. Using a straight edge mark on both sides of the door the amount of wood you need to remove.

It’s best to use the plane outdoors because of the mess it will create. Start the plane on the lowest setting and shave a small amount from the door until you get the feel for it. Turn the door over to plane the other side and make sure you are planing evenly. Use sandpaper to get a good finish.

When using an electric plane, safety glasses, a safety mask and gloves should always be worn.

If you have every tried to fit your own skirting boards you will realise the job is a lot trickier than it looks. Fitting them to the wall is ok, as is adding the coat of primer and top coat of paint. The difficult bit it getting the angles right when you are cutting them.

One of the best tools to use when cutting any angles on any wood working job is a mitre saw. A mitre saw can hold the piece of wood in place until you accurately cut it to form the exact angle needed.

You would think that most skirtings would only need a 45 degree angle cutting, but many homes in the UK are not square and a variety of angles may need to be cut so you can butt the skirtings together to get the best finish.