How-To & DIY
221 sources in the library on how-to & diy, 40 on this page cited in a published note. Each one says what the document covers and what it is good for. Name a source to see which document it is and where to read it. One at a time. Page 2 of 6.
- fair RN-MQVKCT cited
Energy Saving Trust
A costed micro measure. Radiator foil panels cost around £25 for a roll from a DIY store, cut to size to fit snugly behind the radiator. Fitted to radiators on uninsulated external walls they save £18 a year in Great Britain or £20 in Northern Ireland, and cut carbon by 60kg a year in GB or 110kg in NI. Last updated 31 October 2025.
Cited in Radiator Covers: Cost, Heat Loss & Ideas.
- fair RN-D8SEN2 cited
Southern Water
Southern Water advice page on leaks and dripping taps; it gives up to 10,000 litres a year as the water a dripping tap can waste.
Cited in How to Fix a Leaking Tap.
- fair RN-HN9JQA cited
Timber Decking and Cladding Association
The Timber Decking and Cladding Association's specification page sets out its recommended standards for a 15-year deck, including 150 mm of gravel at the bottom of post holes for drainage.
Cited in Decking Cost: Timber vs Composite, How to Build Decking.
- fair RN-8TMWBN cited
Which?
Which? cost guide based on a survey of nine Trusted Traders in November 2025; it prices re-skimming the walls of a medium room of about 3.3 m by 3 m at £400–£1,250 excluding VAT.
- fair RN-XOML4Y cited
Which?
Which?'s carpet buying guide on measuring a room; it advises adding 10 cm to the length and width for trimming and fitting.
Cited in How to Fit Carpet (or Prep for a Fitter).
- supplier figure RN-4QLVKK cited
Airflow Developments Ltd
A UK fan maker's summary of BS 7671 bathroom zones for extractor fans. It gives zone 1 up to 2.25 m above the bath or tray and zone 2 extending 0.6 m beyond zone 1.
- supplier figure RN-KNHDYU cited
ARDEX UK
Manufacturer data for ARDITEX NA latex based levelling and smoothing compound. Coverage is approximately 5 m2 at 3mm thick per unit, so a 20 m2 room at 3mm needs about four units. Application thickness is 3mm to 6mm generally, extending to 3mm to 30mm over pitch adhesive residues provided the residue is hard, sound, not water softenable and cohesive. Over steel the surface must first be abraded or shot blasted to bright metal before applying at 3-6mm. Above 8mm ARDEX Coarse Aggregate improves coverage. Embodied carbon is quoted at 0.49 kg CO2 eq per kg. The manufacturer notes that properties built before the 1970s commonly lack a structural damp proof membrane and can read up to 98 per cent relative humidity, in which case a pre-smoothing layer is followed by a surface damp proof membrane. ARDEX also notes 1 N/mm2 equals about 100 tonnes/m2, and that some products in the range walk on in as little as 1 hour and deep fill to 50mm.
Cited in Floor Levelling & Subfloor Prep.
- supplier figure RN-P8IWJ3 cited
ARDEX UK
A tile adhesive maker's installer guide, which instructs that tiles are laid onto a solid bed of adhesive rather than with partial coverage.
Cited in Tiling a Floor Over Underfloor Heating: What to Know.
- supplier figure RN-GGIO9P cited
ARDEX UK
ARDEX UK's tiling guidance: plaster must be at least 4 weeks old before tiling and carry no more than 20 kg/m2 of tiling, as recommended by BS 5385.
Cited in How to Tile a Wall or Floor.
- supplier figure RN-7BDOHK cited
B&Q
B&Q's product page for a single 18 mm MDF sheet of 2440 × 1220 mm. It gives the shelf price of the sheet, which sets the bottom of the note's MDF price range.
Cited in How to Build Fitted Wardrobes.
- supplier figure RN-JYSW60 cited
B&Q
Retailer product page carrying the maker's step-by-step timetable for Multi-Finish: two coats to at least 2 mm, closing in at 45–60 minutes, trowelling at 90 and 100 minutes and a final trowel at 120 minutes.
- supplier figure RN-HSUWRU cited
BAL (Building Adhesives Ltd)
The adhesive maker's guidance on tiling timber floors: strengthen a weak floor with a tile backer board or 15 mm marine plywood screwed at 300 mm centres before tiling.
Cited in How to Tile a Floor.
- supplier figure RN-QY4KX2 cited
BAL (Building Adhesives Ltd)
BAL's technical note on screed drying times gives minimum drying periods before tiling (3 weeks for cement:sand screed, 6 weeks for concrete) and says all screeds should be moisture tested first.
Cited in How to Tile a Floor.
- supplier figure RN-A6DET9 cited
BAL Adhesives
BAL, a UK tile adhesive maker, on preparing screeds for tiling: SR1 regularity means no gap over 3 mm under a 2 m straightedge, and traditional screeds need at least three weeks to cure.
Cited in How to Tile a Floor, How to Tile a Wall or Floor.
- supplier figure RN-4Y4G3B cited
BAL Adhesives (Building Adhesives Ltd)
A tile adhesive maker's guidance on tiling heated floors: cement screed curing time, the heat-up cycle, screed temperature at tiling, and movement joint bay sizes.
Cited in Tiling a Floor Over Underfloor Heating: What to Know.
- supplier figure RN-9N3R5G cited
British Gypsum
British Gypsum's own plaster selector guide (hosted on Travis Perkins' document store because british-gypsum.com is behind a bot challenge). It specifies GypPrime for high-suction and Bond-it for low-suction or smooth backgrounds.
- supplier figure RN-L9G2D0 cited
British Gypsum (via Wickes)
British Gypsum's installation guidance sheet for Thistle MultiFinish. It gives the water quantity per 25 kg bag and the coat and trowelling timeline.
Cited in How to Skim a Wall (Plastering Basics).
- supplier figure RN-OM2QA4 cited
British Gypsum (via Wickes)
British Gypsum's product data sheet for Thistle MultiFinish, as published by Wickes. It gives the coverage per 25 kg bag at the 2 mm wall thickness.
Cited in How to Skim a Wall (Plastering Basics).
- supplier figure RN-53X5YZ cited
Builder Depot
Builder Depot product page for a single 4.8 m preservative-treated softwood deck board, 32 x 125 mm nominal, giving its price including VAT and per metre.
Cited in How to Build Decking.
- supplier figure RN-IJ8U4W cited
Builder Depot
Merchant product page reproducing British Gypsum's technical data for Thistle Hardwall undercoat plaster: coverage of 3 m² per 25 kg bag at 11 mm, which gives three to four bags per 10 m².
- supplier figure RN-XKTCXD cited
Builder Depot
Merchant product page reproducing British Gypsum's technical data for Thistle Multi-Finish: coverage of 10 m² per 25 kg bag at a 2 mm thickness.
Cited in How to Plaster a Wall: A Beginner's Guide, What Order Should You Renovate a House In? Sequence of Works.
- supplier figure RN-G44IWY cited
Builder Depot
A builders' merchant product page listing a 600 x 1200 mm porcelain wall and floor tile at £18.54 per square metre including VAT, inside the note's £15–£50 porcelain supply range.
Cited in How to Tile a Floor.
- supplier figure RN-COV8AU cited
Dulux Trade (AkzoNobel)
Dulux Trade's product page for its water-based satinwood. It gives a recoat time of 4 to 6 hours, with drying dependent on temperature and humidity.
Cited in How to Paint Woodwork & Skirting.
- supplier figure RN-VJKBDP cited
Dulux Trade (AkzoNobel)
Manufacturer specifier guide with the numbers behind a how-much-paint calculation. Coverage is quoted at 18 m2 per litre for Diamond Matt, 17 m2 per litre for Vinyl Matt, and 16 m2 per litre for the other two grades in the comparison table, so a 5 litre tin covers roughly 85 m2 in one coat and a two coat job on a 40 m2 room needs about 5 litres. Scrub resistance is Scrub Class 5 on the top grade against Scrub Class 2 on Vinyl Matt, both Class 1 to ISO 11998 and Type C to BS 7719. Dulux Trade Vinyl Matt is stated to be 99.9 per cent VOC free based on in-can VOC content measured to ISO 11890-2:2013, and the guide shows measured VOC emissions in mg/m3 against the BREEAM TVOC threshold of less than or equal to 1.0 mg/m3. For airless spraying the guide specifies a 515 or 517 tip at 1300-1700 psi (89-117 bar). The manufacturer notes coverage is a guideline only and varies with equipment, substrate and application.
Cited in How Much Paint Do I Need?.
- supplier figure RN-HVB1D6 cited
Dunlop (ARDEX)
Manufacturer technical data for a standard water resistant floor and wall tile adhesive, useful as the baseline against a flexible adhesive. At 3mm thickness a 20 kg bag covers approximately 2 kg/m2 on dry wall areas and 3.5 kg/m2 on floors, exterior and wet areas. Open time is 15 to 20 minutes, noticeably shorter than the 30 to 45 minutes of the S1 grade. Bed thickness is 3 to 6mm. Mix ratio is about 2.5 parts powder to 1 part water by volume, roughly 5.6 litres of cold water per 20 kg bag. Application is at about 20C and never below 5C. It exceeds BS EN 12004 for a C1T adhesive, and the manufacturer states it is not suitable for porcelain tiles or exterior areas unless a flexible additive is used. Maximum weight of tiling including adhesive is 20 kg/m2 onto plaster and 32 kg/m2 onto plasterboard, with plasterboard requiring fixing at 300mm centres or as the board manufacturer directs.
Cited in Tile Adhesive & Grout Explained, Tile Shops & Tile Merchants: Buying Tiles for Less.
- supplier figure RN-AR6HPI cited
Elliotts
A builders' merchant listing for British Gypsum's Gyproc Cove 127, which also lists the 3000 mm length. It settles that plaster cove is sold in 3 m and 3.6 m lengths.
Cited in How to Fit Coving & Cornice.
- supplier figure RN-DZFL4W cited
EnviroVent
A UK ventilation maker's guidance on bathroom zones. It settles that a fan in zone 1 or 2 must be at least IPX4 and that most of its bathroom fans meet that rating.
Cited in How to Install an Extractor Fan Through a Wall, Loft Conversion with an Ensuite: Layout & Cost.
- supplier figure RN-OK9SIV cited
Häfele U.K.
Häfele's product page for its 32 mm grid line-boring jig for cabinet sides. It confirms the 32 mm hole grid and the 37 mm set-back of the front row from the carcase edge.
Cited in How to Build Fitted Wardrobes.
- supplier figure RN-GGQOB1 cited
Häfele U.K.
Häfele's UK product page for its Confirmat one-piece connector screws. It lists the 50 mm length (article 264.42.190) and gives the product details: a 7 mm shaft for a 5 mm drill hole, which is the 7×50 mm confirmat size.
Cited in How to Build Fitted Wardrobes.
- supplier figure RN-BGPFNK cited
Interfloor
Maker's product page for a crumb rubber carpet underlay; it gives the product's density as 415 kg/m3, far above the 80-120 kg/m3 the note formerly gave for crumb rubber.
Cited in How to Fit Carpet (or Prep for a Fitter).
- supplier figure RN-DR6ALN cited
Interfloor
Underlay maker Interfloor's stretch-fit installation method; it confirms the gripper is fixed with a gap between it and the skirting.
Cited in How to Fit Carpet (or Prep for a Fitter).
- supplier figure RN-EINCEU cited
JELD-WEN
JELD-WEN's fitting instructions for moulded and flush internal doors give the trimming allowance (4 mm per long edge, 6 mm from the bottom) and advise against trimming the top edge.
Cited in How to Hang an Internal Door.
- supplier figure RN-1R08PG cited
Julius Blum GmbH
The hinge-planning page of Blum's technical catalogue. It settles that the number of concealed hinges a cabinet door needs is set by the door's weight and height, read from the maker's chart.
Cited in How to Build Fitted Wardrobes.
- supplier figure RN-XQ0PIK cited
Knauf Insulation
Knauf Insulation's installation guide for loft roll in a cold pitched roof. Its safety equipment list names crawl boards for moving around the loft.
Cited in How to Insulate a Loft (DIY).
- supplier figure RN-C1YQYA cited
Lawsons (Whetstone) Ltd
A builders' merchant product page for 3 m of CLS studwork sold as 50 x 100 mm nominal and 38 x 89 mm finished, priced at £10.56 including VAT (£8.80 ex VAT) in September 2026.
Cited in How to Build a Stud Wall, How to Get Trade Prices Without a Trade Account.
- supplier figure RN-FLUYOP cited
Mapei
Mapei's technical article on tile selection states that porcelain tiles fall in group BIa of the tile classification, with water absorption between 0 and 0.5%.
Cited in How to Tile a Floor.
- supplier figure RN-HGWNIE cited
Marshalls
Marshalls' technical information for its garden paving ranges. It requires porcelain paving to be primed before laying on a full mortar bed, and recommends slurry priming natural stone.
Cited in How to Lay a Patio.
- supplier figure RN-EDP1YV cited
Nu-Heat
An underfloor heating maker's guidance on floor finishes: stone and ceramic tiles conduct heat best of all coverings and suit UFH, preferably with a flexible adhesive.
Cited in Tiling a Floor Over Underfloor Heating: What to Know.
- supplier figure RN-QZYZ1R cited
Nu-Heat
An underfloor heating maker's guidance on vinyl and lino over UFH. It says to check the flooring maker's maximum surface temperature, which is 27°C for most manufacturers.
Cited in How to Lay Vinyl & LVT Flooring, LVT (Luxury Vinyl Tile) Flooring Explained.
- supplier figure RN-EIVB3Y cited
Quick-Step (Unilin)
A vinyl flooring maker's subfloor preparation guidance. It sets moisture limits of 2.5% CM for cement screed and 0.5% CM for anhydrite, lower with underfloor heating.
Cited in How to Lay Vinyl & LVT Flooring.