Megablab Home Improvement

Archive for the ‘Gardening’ Category

DIY Greenhouse – why build your own greenhouse?

Presumably you’ve arrived here because you’ve taken the great decision to build your DIY greenhouse (or finally convinced your partner to let you!). Perhaps you are already a keen gardener and want to grow beautiful flowers or maybe you are just salivating at the thought of fresh, ripe and delicious home-grown fruit and vegetables for your table, picked at your convenience from your DIY greenhouse. Having your own DIY greenhouse puts you firmly in control of what you eat, and often when you eat it; since you decide on variables such as temperature, soil-type and humidity, you control the environment to such a degree you can even control the growing season. Want a certain type of seasonal fruit or vegetable at the ‘wrong’ time of the year? Well, you can have it, fresh from your own DIY greenhouse! Read the rest of this entry »

Knowing how to repair your sunglasses yourself is a great skill to have. Sunglasses are not just worn to look stylish and complete your wardrobe. A good pair of sunglasses helps us see better while driving or playing sports, and protects our eyes from harmful UV rays. Damaged frames are common in sunglasses, so it’s helpful to know how to repair them yourself so you can fix them yourself without having to go to the shop. Whether you have designer or costume frames, most sunglasses can be repaired easily at home. This saves you time and money. Most repairs can be made quickly and easily, by just following the steps below.

The first thing you’ll need is an eyeglass repair kit. These are widely available in any almost any pharmacy and optical store. They are inexpensive and come in handy for other types of small repairs you may have in the future.Make sure that the lenses are inserted tightly. If a screw is loose or missing, use one of the screwdrivers from the repair kit. The kit may also come with a magnifying glass which help you see better. Once you’ve properly inserted the lens and tightened the screws around the frames, add a small amount of clear nail polish on top of the screw to keep it tight and in place. Apply the nail polish to the whole screw before it’s tightened, then add a little more to the top and bottom of the screw after it is tightened to keep it in place. Some people use nail glue or even super glue to tighten the screws on their frames. But this kind of glue is too thick and much more messy than clear nail polish. Clear nail polish is also much more gentle on your frames than super glue.

If the frame is bent, fix it by gently bending it back into place. Make sure to always keep your sunglasses stored in a hard case. Plastic and wire frames are especially susceptible to being bent and worn out if not properly stored.
If your sunglasses are lopsided, place them upside down on a flat table. Make sure the hinges are tight and look over the temples to see exactly where it’s not straight. Adjust the crooked temple slowly by bending it with needle-nosed pliers.
You can also use the same pliers to straighten the bridge if it is lopsided. If the bridge is plastic, softening it first by holding the sunglasses over boiled water for just a few seconds will make it easier to bend them.

How to plan a loft conversion is the question on the minds of more and more householders considering making an additional room out of their loft. So start your planning by thinking about the issues involved.

Even though Planning Permissions are not normally required, it’s not just a case of putting in an additional staircase, throwing down a new floor and installing a few lights. It’s a complex operation. Can you visualise your attic as an additional room or rooms used for the purpose you intend?

How will you get access? What kind of stairway is appropriate and is there room for it? How long will the job take? You should actually allow up to six weeks for the job to be completed, depending on the size of the area to be converted and your precise requirements. Read the rest of this entry »

DIY projects around the home can be a great source of personal satisfaction and fun. They can also save a lot of money. However, in order to achieve these results, they need to be done correctly. Failed do-it-yourself projects can turn into a nightmare quickly, and often a costly nightmare too.

Have you failed at a home project? We all have, most likely, in some way. So how do you know when to leave it to a professional? We’ve got answers. Leave your home project to a professional when it falls into one of these categories.

It’s Dangerous

For some homeowners, running a circular saw could be considered dangerous, and if that’s the case for you, call a professional. Read the rest of this entry »

Extended cold temperatures can cause damage to any pipes. Planning and preparation are the keys to avoiding broken pipes and the subsequent water damage they create. One of the primary causes of broken or burst pipes is open foundation vents. You can close the foundation vent by cutting wood or styrofoam to fit the openings. Also, caulk around pipes as they enter the house. If the outside hose bib has a separate shut off valve, use this to shut off the outside water supply. Then drain the water from the pipes leading outside. Make sure all outdoor pipes are empty and in the off position. Then shut off the valve until spring. If you do not have a separate shut off valve for the outdoor hose bib, then wrap the faucet with foam insulation covers or use newspaper or rags wrapped in plastic. Read the rest of this entry »

Want to make your home impressive? Pay more attention to painting. There are many ways to enhance the outlook of your home, but painting plays a vital role when it’s up to home décor. Painting is also an art which needs dedication, patience and magical touch. A perfect finish is what you need to transform your home into an amazing masterpiece. Don’t get panic when you hear all these words, you can also transform yourself into a professional painter.

Here are some simple tips that might help you to paint your home in a unique and trendy way: Read the rest of this entry »

The Lindapter construction systems have now been in operation for many years and supply quick and strong solutions to the building of steel structures. The typical Lindapter systems make the joints by a series of clamps instead of the original drill and bolt systems.

The Floorfast system is a similar type of construction that has been designed to enable steel floor plates to be fixed onto the steel beam structure by one man from above. Metal floors can be notoriously difficult to fix as the typical fixing system requires a good many holes to be drilled through the beam and this not only takes time it is difficult to do on site and if it is carried out in the factory then it is difficult to line the beams up in the correct position and in all probability the floor plates will have to be drilled on site. There can also be a question of the integrity of the beam with so many holes drilled in it. There is also the problem of fitting bolts onto the underside of the steel beam and this can be extremely difficult to get to in some cases. Read the rest of this entry »

The Lindapter construction system used a series of clamps instead of the normal drilling and nut and bolt construction system for steelwork jointing. The system originally required no drilling of beams which made assembly very simple and also retained the integrity of the steel beam concerned. This integrity is not vital if the steelwork has been designed correctly and it is quite common to find that the two systems marry together quite well.

Lindapter have now developed a Stainless steel Hollo Bolt, which is designed to hold steel beams together without the need of a nut or a clamping system. The Hollo Bolt is a system in which the two beams or steel pipes or girders which are to be joined together are first put into position and clamped or supported so that they do not move. When this has been achieved then the next stage is to drill a hole through both the beams, which is just large enough to accept the Hollo Bolt, The bolt is then inserted into the hole and then tightened. Read the rest of this entry »

Sometimes, it’s necessary to level an internal bathroom wall. This can be because your house is old and the walls may have shifted through subsidence; or maybe your builder wasn’t quite as accurate with his level as he could have been when putting them up!

While minor discrepancies in alignment can be ignored for a wall that is to be painted or plainly wallpapered; bathroom walls intended for tiling shouldn’t be. No matter how you were to cut and place them, the joins between the tiles would always show up in the corners of the room. Read the rest of this entry »

Making your own solar cell at your own can be a tricky fulfilling experience. The basics of harnessing energy from the sun’s rays is simple; it converts light energy into electrical energy. Solar energy trend is increasing day by day all over the world and more and more people are considering to build solar panels on their house roof to get electricity and reduce their electric bills. The sun rays give off approximately 1,000 watts of energy per square meter of the planet’s surface. The most common use of solar cell is on calculators and wrist watches. The solar cells are also called photovoltaic cells. Commercially built solar panels are used on emergency road signs, call boxes, and buoys and even in parking lots to power the lights which ultimately reduces load of electricity on other electricity sources. Read the rest of this entry »