This customer wanted to have a previously built wardrobe cupboard removed and the walls made good prior to re-painting the entire room.

Having dismantled the wardrobe and disposed of everything, I was able to re-plaster the holes and grooves created in the walls and ceiling. When that was dry, that all got a good sanding. I was then able to rectify any minor dips left behind with a coat of interior quick drying filler. Again, it was all sanded smooth.

A thin coat of white paint was applied to the area and while that dried, I painted the ceiling twice using Dulux Trade vinyl matt emulsion in white. Then some more paint on the plastered area while I concentrated efforts around the window and cutting the room in. Finally, a third coat of white on all the repaired area and it was impossible to see where the wardrobe once attached the the walls and ceiling.

To finish the room off, all the woodwork was painted in Dulux white Satinwood.

This customer asked if I could match the paper from the rest of the house to fit along a wall where a plasterer had carried out some work.
“Leave it to me” I said.
It took a little while but the paper was tracked down and purchased.
Then all I had to do was put it up and paint it the same colour as the other walls. Luckily we knew it was Dulux Natural Calico vinyl matt so it was just a simple case of getting some.
There was also a section on the right hand wall that had previously been torn so I put a sharp knife through it and stripped a rectangle off the wall. Then I just needed to fill that piece in with some careful cutting and placing.

All in all, pretty good… even if I say so myself!

It’s late October 2015 and over the course of a day and a half, we took down all the old trellis and cut back a huge amount of ivy and thorny bushes so that we could then replace all the trellis with new pressure treated timber. We used stainless steel screws in the timber to avoid them rusting.

We supplied 3M lengths of 4×2″ timber and cut them up to give us two lengths of 450mm and two lengths of 1050mm. The shorter lengths were secured to the face of the brickwork and then we added the 1050 lengths of the top of them (to get around the coping stones) to give us the up-stand we needed and secured the trellis panels between them. We were very timber (and therefore cost) efficient doing it this way.

For the really professional looking finish, we custom made a panel to fit at the house end. Things like this take a little time and effort but the results speak for themselves.

We thoroughly enjoyed this job!

Looks nice but all woodwork is totally rotten

Lots of cutting back carried out first

All cutting back finished

Trellis coming along

Trellis work complete

Small custom built panel for the professional finish

How it looks from the outside

How it looks from the outside

This job was incredibly rewarding. Every part of it was done by myself.

I was confronted with a really damp toilet on inspection. It was damp for two reasons. The first being an issue with the roof and guttering, which I resolved first. The second being the age of the house and there is no cavity, so water sitting outside was penetrating the brickwork. I removed the water butt and redirected the rainwater directly into the drain, bypassing the building.

I removed all the damp plaster work from the ceiling and walls and let it dry out for a week before applying a base coat plaster. then I skimmed the entire room and let it dry for two weeks. However, the damp was still showing in places as the brickwork must be sodden after years of sucking up the water.

I therefore applied a damp proofing paint which blocks out the damp and then I applied two coats of Zinsser Permawhite which is an excellent paint for damp areas. It can also be applied to wood, which I did do.

On the outside brickwork, I did some pointing repair, removed items that were leaning against the brickwork as that is a great cause of damp and finally I painted on a water repellent to the brickwork in an extra effort to help the situation.

The finishing touch was a new loo roll holder and a grab rail to help the lady as she made me tea all the time!

Water damage from roof

All loose plaster removed

Rough base coat plaster applied

Building up layers of top coat plaster

Fully skimmed room

Drying out

Damp still in the brickwork

Damp areas stain blocked, twice

First coat of Zinsser Permawhite paint

Two coats of Zinsser Permawhite paint and on all woodwork too

This job absolutely transformed the front of this beautiful old cottage in Ridgmont.

The first job was a thoroughly good sanding and prepping to get the tired door into a position ready to be painted.

The paints used were Ronseal exterior satin colours. The surround was Pure Brilliant White and the door was Spring Green. Everything was under-coated prior to 2 coats of the exterior satin being applied.

The customers changed their minds right at the end and the letterbox and knocker went black. Great decision though.