Whether you want to achieve the best possible vendor offer, or you need to maximise the rental potential of your property, it might be time to learn a thing or two about DIY. Like growing numbers of Londoners, you may be looking to cut costs by carrying out jobs yourself. But what sort of planning and preparation can make it easier?
It’s been reported that 1 in 3 London men and 1 in 4 London women call someone in for jobs as straightforward as flat-pack furniture. But the whole point of flat-pack is that anyone can do it. From a simple bedside table to a complicated cabin bed, these packs always come with detailed instructions. Reading the instructions in full before you start will help enormously; it’s always easier to do one step if you know what step is coming after. It’s also worth checking that all the little bits are included and putting them into separate bowls or containers before you start.
Unless you’re doing a particularly specialised job, most DIY tasks can be carried out with tools from a fairly basic tool kit. But it’s important you have these basics covered, because you will lose time if you have to source them once you’ve started. Londoners know only too well that there is no such thing as a ‘quick trip’ to the local DIY store.
Start tidy and work carefully
Start as you mean to go on by ensuring that the area you’re working in as clean and tidy as possible. Remove or cover soft furnishings. Tidy away ornaments, photo frames and plants, by putting them in one large container and then in another room. If you keep them all together, it’ll be much easier to unpack after. Remember, if you’re doing anything that involves plaster, sanding or drilling, it’s going to cause a dusty mess which will settle on everything it can. As you work, keep a vacuum and cloth nearby and stay on top of it. Make sure you put each tool back in the box after you’ve used it, so you’ll know exactly where it is when you next need it.
No matter how tidy and organised you are, it’s not unusual for to something to go wrong. Whether you get paint on the carpet, make a hole in the wall, or get in a sticky situation with superglue, just stay calm and remember that everything is fixable. And it’s much easier to deal with if you do it straightaway. Whether you need to know how to remove super glue from nails and skin or how to get paint off the carpet, the internet has the answer.
Measuring-up is an absolute imperative. Buying too few materials is a pain, whilst buying too much is a waste of money. Work on the 10% rule (order 10% more than you need) for everything from tiles to timber, skirting boards, bricks, paint, and plaster. Don’t guess lengths and widths, use your tape measure and make your calculations properly. This will save you time, money and stress at a later point in the job.
With a wealth of how-to videos out there these days, you can find detailed advice for almost any job in the house. But with so many to choose from, it is important that you choose a video with value. As yourself; does the person presenting have verifiable skills or qualifications? How many followers do they have? Is the video in the right language and locale? Watch the video a few times before you get started.
These hacks may seem obvious, but you’d be surprised at just how many people start DIY jobs without being properly prepared. Things like measuring up, reading instructions, and even tidying first, can save you much hassle as the job moves forward. Like anything though, it’s also important to be prepared for things to go wrong, and if they do, stay calm, and act straightaway.
