Bathroom Design Ideas

A 1998 report by the Policy Studies Institute, funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, found that 60 per cent of council and housing association tenants had no home contents insurance whatsoever. This was due to a number of factors; not least that contents insurance is relatively more expensive for people on lower incomes than for people with higher incomes – two per cent of income for the poorest 20 per cent of households compared to 0.5 per cent for the richest 20 per cent. However, many respondents said that they were planning to take out Policy Expert contents insurance in the future, so it was not simply a matter of affordability, but had just as much to do with the natural human tendency not to think about insurance until something goes wrong.

The Knowledge Gap

Worryingly, the report showed that many people incorrectly thought that they were covered under contents insurance when they were not. Housing association tenants in particular often believed that contents insurance was included in their rent; when, in reality, most housing associations at the time adopted a policy of letting tenants make their own arrangements. However, in response to the report’s findings, the insurance industry, in partnership with local authorities and housing associations, developed ‘insurance with rent’ or ‘affinity’ schemes that attempted to address this problem.

‘Insurance With Rent’ and ‘Affinity’ Schemes Today

Today, many such schemes exist. They have lots of features in common, such as low premiums, flexible payment options and 100 per cent coverage with no excess to pay. The main difference is that with ‘affinity’ schemes, the landlord merely introduces the tenant to the insurer, whereas with ‘insurance with rent’ schemes, the landlord does much of the administration work and receives a commission from the insurer. From the tenant’s point of view, however, there is little difference between the two.

The beauty of modern shopping is that most department stores and many smaller retailers are now accessible online, enabling you to create and accessorize the perfect bathroom without leaving the comfort of your own home.  One thing for sure when choosing your dream bathroom is that no bathroom would be complete without a bathroom cabinet, the perfect place to store your more mundane items, and the perfect piece of bathroom furniture in which to display your favourite toiletries. 

Typically, bathroom cabinets are wall-mounted above a sink and incorporate a mirrored surface.  However, depending on the style of your bathroom, you might wish to make a statement by choosing a metallic medicine cabinet, kept locked and out of children’s reach for safety, or a glass-fronted display cabinet that could showcase your prettiest soaps, bath oils and even perfumes.  The latter would be in perfect keeping with an old-fashioned but comfortable bathroom, complete with a decadent free-standing bath.  In smaller bathrooms, however, a simple, slim cabinet mounted above a piece of bathroom furniture would make better design sense.

If space is at a premium there are a variety of design tricks that can be utilised when selecting your bathroom cabinet.  These range from a wall-hung unit with adjustable shelves to hide the most awkward of toiletries to a selection of shelves which could function as an open cabinet, hung above the bath to save crucial floor space.  Alternatively, an all-encompassing vanity unit surrounding the sink can be used to hide a multitude of sins, from bathroom cleaning products to spare toilet rolls.

A burst pipe or one that is pierced and leaking can cause a huge amount of damage to the home, if emergency repairs are not made quickly.  First turn off the water supply to the damaged pipe and drain the water from the system of which it is a component.  Hopefully this can be achieved without turning off the mains supply to the whole house.  Once the damaged pipe is isolated and drained some simple repair strategies can be employed.

Examine the nature of the damage and clear any loose metal bits from the area.  Clean the edges and surrounding pipe surfaces with wire wool in preparation for a repair.

Small holes and cracks can be filled with epoxy resin if there is some available.  Mix up a sufficient amount of the resin to create a sealing layer about 3-5mm thick over the crack or hole and be sure to spread it some distance over  the surrounding pipe surface.  Allow at least 24 hours for the resin to cure or dry before allowing water to flow through the pipe again.

If there is no resin handy, or for larger cracks or holes, a sleeve can be fashioned from a length of garden hose.  Cut a piece of hose longer than the area of damage, and slit it length wise.  Coat the inside of the hosw with epoxy resin and slip it over the damaged pipe.  Seal the ends with jubilee clips.  After 24 hiurs, fill the pipe with water and check carefully for continued leaking.  Use two clips at each end if necessary.

It should be stressed that these are both temporary fixes, and that damaged pipes should be fully replaced by new copper piping, or flexible piping.  A kit can be purchased from a DIY or plumbing supply shop.

When situations change, your home insurance cover may be affected.  Avoid exposing yourself to needless risk by keeping your insurer informed of new circumstances.

There are obvious times when you will need to contact your insurer.  For example, when you move house.  Moving to a new home entails a complete review of your home insurance needs.  No two policies or homes are the same.  If you previously held buildings and contents insurance, your household contents may not change greatly.  However, many people throw out old items when moving house and replace them with goods suited to their new dwelling, so a degree of insurance updating is needed.

It is surprising how frequently home contents change.  If you go clothes shopping regularly or have a weakness for new gadgets, things quickly mount up.  Keep a current inventory of household items in case you need to make a claim.

If you invest in expensive items such as paintings or jewellery, contact your insurer.  High value goods are often insured separately to general household items, and your policy may need adjusting to reflect this.

Any building work such as extensions that take place in your home should be reported to your insurer, as this could affect your home’s value, and may impact on your buildings insurance policy.  Sheds and fences can be included in cheap buildings insurance, so remember to advise your insurer of any new additions.

Finally, if you change your name, either through marriage or for some other reason, it is essential to inform your insurer so that your policy can be kept up-to-date.

Painting is something everyone can do, but it pays to be aware of which paint is best for your job. Gone are the days where types of paint could be counted on one hand; there is now a wide variety available depending on the surface being painted and your preferable finish.  The correct type of paint can make or break a job, so make sure you are clear which is your best bet before buying.

•    Anti-condensation Paint – This is designed specifically for those areas where condensation is likely to be present, such as the kitchen and bathroom.  It should prevent any major damage to paint and walls that condensation usually causes.
•    Emulsion – One of the more common types of paint, this is perfect for walls as it is quick-drying, but it may need several coats to dry in satisfactorily.
•    Enamel Paint – Enamel is used for metal and woodwork and gives a durable finish.
•    Masonry Paint – This is designed for use externally on porous surfaces and is much thicker than your standard indoor paints.
•    Solvent-based Gloss – Gloss is mainly used on wood and metal surfaces such as doors, windowsills and radiators etc.  It is generally accepted that it is better to apply two thin coats of gloss than one thick one.
•    Water-based Gloss – This type of gloss will not deliver such a glossy finish as solvent-based, but will dry very quickly, offering a quicker job time.
•    Undercoat – As the name suggests, this is best for providing the base layer over darker colours, for the topcoat to follow.

Cork flooring is a great choice for those seeking a flooring material that is resistant to both bacteria and mould.  This is an attractive feature for people with allergies or children.  Cork acts well as insulation for holding heat in and as a means to provide some measure of sound proofing. 

Cork flooring is relatively easy to maintain if you follow the recommended practices.  First and foremost, use little water to clean your cork floor.  Cork flooring can stain easily.  Sweep or vacuum any dirt from the floor first.  Cork flooring can also scratch easily, so dirt should be removed regularly to prevent any abrasive scratches. 

A damp mop, not dripping, is used to clean cork flooring after it has been swept or vacuumed.  To ensure that you are not using a wet mop, squeeze any excess water out thoroughly.  Never pour water onto the cork floor.  If there is a wet spill, clean it up immediately.  The cork floor can absorb any surplus moisture, leading to warping of the floor and even mildew growth.  There are cleaning products especially designed for cork floors that are pH balanced.  Never use ammonia, bleach or scouring products on cork flooring. 

Furniture should be fitted with felt pads on leg bottoms to prevent any scratching if the furniture is moved.  For added protection, cork flooring can be refinished with a polyurethane varnish. 

There are some easy, inexpensive and effective ways to fool the eye and make a small room appear more spacious. 

First and foremost, reduce the clutter.  Remove any objects or things you may have stacked up or cluttering the space.  Put up shelves if necessary, but ideally move these things out of sight. 

Paint the room with light, cool colours.  Darker, warmer colours can make a room feel cosy, but also smaller.  Light colours can make a room seem more open.  This doesn’t mean you have to stick with white.  Cool, light hues such as blues or greens are also effective. 

Light, whether it is artificial or natural, will open up a room and create a feeling of more space.  Remove any heavy curtains and replace them with either shades that let light in while providing privacy, or lighter drapes.  Recessed lights, track lighting and additional lamps can also provide more light. 

Don’t employ lots of patterns in your decorations or furniture.  Choose plain, simple upholstery for furniture and avoid the plaids, stripes, or prints that will only make your small room seem cluttered or claustrophobic. 

Regarding furniture, as surprising as it may seem, to increase the feeling of space in a small room choose a few large pieces of furniture rather than multiple pieces of small furniture.  Again, this helps reduce the feeling of clutter in a room. 

Employing these few simple tricks can help make that once small, claustrophobic room seem a bit more spacious and airy.

There are many types of hammers on the market for you to choose from, and each one has a different purpose.  It is a good idea to know which type of hammer is best to use for the DIY job you are undertaking.

A claw hammer is the most common type of hammer, and is used to fix nails into walls or other materials.  As the name suggests, it has a claw on the other side of the head, which aids in removing old or wonky nails from wood or other materials.

A ball peen hammer has two heads on it; one is round, while the other is flat, and they each have different uses.  A ball peen hammer is most often used for riveting, shaping soft metals, and centre punching.

A drywall hammer is often used for plaster boarding work, as it has a heavy rounded head on one side to hit the nails in with, and a flat head on the other side to tuck in the trimmed edges of the plasterboard.

A lump hammer, also known as a club hammer, has a heavy head which is used alongside a cold chisel or bolster for cutting bricks.  It is also popular on demolition jobs.

A pin hammer is very light and has a small head, so is ideal for more delicate work.

A mallet has a head with a large surface and is often used in carpentry work.  It is possible to purchase both rubber and wooden mallets.

The real problem when it comes to tiling internal corners is that they are often not perfectly square.  This means that tiles have to be cut away slightly to allow for the geometric defects in walls.  A convenient way of doing this is to measure the gap at the bottom and the top and use this result to angle the cut for the tiles.

Another method is to place the tile you are about to cut on top of the last whole tile in a row, and hold a third whole tile on top of this with one of its edges pressed into the corner.  Then you can use the top tile’s opposite edge to draw the line of the necessary cut.

External corner tiling is also complicated by the fact that walls are typically not perfectly square.  The problem with external corner tiling, however, is a bit trickier than with internal corners.  This is because you need to hide the unglazed edges of the cut tiles.

The way to achieve this is to cover one wall with the tiles cut to fit in the normal way.  The cut tiles which then start the other wall are then placed so that they overlap those on the first one.  The exposed cut edge is then covered with tiling grout.  The finish can be made even neater if you begin the second wall with whole edging tiles.  However, the walls have to be perfectly vertical in order to do this, which is usually not the case.

Power tools are designed to make jobs around the home faster and more efficient. There are a number of power tools to be aware of that can make things much easier when it comes to carrying out DIY tasks.

Power drills are essential parts of any DIY tool kit. Generally, there are two types available, cordless battery-powered drills and those that have to be plugged into a mains supply. Battery powered drills are useful for numerous tasks, particularly when screwing or unscrewing large numbers or screws; for example, when assembling furniture. When it comes to more heavy-duty tasks, such as drilling holes through walls, the extra power of a mains-operated drill will prove much more effective.

There are various types of electric saw available. Two of the main types are jigsaws and circular saws. Jigsaws are fitted with small, narrow blades that are used for the accurate cutting of shapes in wood, metal, or tiles, particularly when curves and detailed work are involved. Circular saws are more useful for cutting straight through timber or other materials. The large rounded saw will easily cut through the material and various types of blade are available, depending on the task at hand.

Finally, an electric sander can be turned to a number of tasks, in particular the smoothing of surfaces; for example, removing raised abrasions on a wall, prior to painting. There are a wide variety of sandpaper grades available, depending on what task is being carried out. The finish achieved will be much more even that can usually be accomplished manually, using a sheet of sandpaper.