Handyman Job in Aylesbury
Painting and Decorating, Shed door repair and more for a customer in Aylesbury
Painting, a shed door, window handles and peeling bathroom paint — Aylesbury
A fairly typical day’s work: a room to redecorate, a shed door hanging off, two window handles that had given up, and peeling paint in the bathroom. Here is what each one actually involved — the interesting part is usually why a thing failed rather than the fixing of it.
Decorating the Front Room
The walls were sound, but a candle had been smoking and left a film over everything. The customer wanted a new colour while we were at it.
Three coats on the walls and ceiling — candle soot will grin through two. The woodwork got a light sand and two coats of Dulux satinwood. I put stick-down carpet protector across the floor and tape every edge, which takes twenty minutes and saves an argument. An empty room is easier to paint, but most people cannot move a sofa into the garden for two days, so I work around the furniture and sheet it properly.
Fixing the Shed
The door had come off and the pair of them no longer lined up. That is almost never the door’s fault — the shed had settled unevenly and the frame had gone out of square with it. Rehanging a door on a shed that is still leaning only moves the problem a few months down the road, so I levelled the shed first and hung the door afterwards. I do shed roofs too, felt and rubber both.
Changing UPVC Window Handles
uPVC window handles work loose, or the gearbox inside gives up, and the window gets stiff or stops locking properly. Nine times out of ten the handle is the whole problem and the window itself is fine. I match the replacement to what is already there — spindle length matters more than looks — and fit it while I am there. £40 for the first handle and £30 for each one after that, part included. Two on this job.
Solving a Bathroom Paint Peeling Problem
Paint peeling in a bathroom gets blamed on the steam, and the steam is usually only half the story. Here the plaster had never been given a mist coat, so the paint had nothing to key into — bare plaster drinks the water straight out of undiluted emulsion and the film never bonds. Add a room that gets wet twice a day and it lifts.
I took off everything that was loose, put a proper mist coat on, then two top coats. Done that way it stays put.
That is a normal booking for me — four unrelated jobs in one visit, which works out far cheaper than getting three different people out. If you have a list like that, give me a ring and we will work through it.
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We would love to know a bit more about your project.
Call Richard on 01296 312 922 or 07723 966130
TradesPro is a service area business covering Aylesbury and the surrounding villages.