July and August are wonderful months for lying in a shady spot the garden with a glass of Pimms, soaking up the warmth. But if you can tear yourself away, these months are also a great to take on some of the DIY tasks that might not be so easy – or appealing – when it’s colder.
Gloss painting and sanding
If you repaint a room on a warm day with the windows open, you’ll hopefully avoid having to inhale too much smelly gloss, which can be overpowering. The paint will dry quicker in a well-ventilated room, too.
Sanding anything from a small table to the bedroom floor creates a lot of dust that can settle on curtains and other fittings and irritate your lungs. It’s a good idea to wear a protective mask when sanding, but the dust will disperse faster if you have a window letting in a gentle breeze. Better still if your item can be taken outside for sanding, you can avoid dust indoors altogether.
Add reflective panels to radiators and draught proofing to doors
The walls behind radiators absorb heat, stopping it circulating around your room. Radiator reflector panels, placed between the heater and the wall, cost as little as £30 to install but can save you £20 a year in energy costs. It’s far better to fit them in summer, rather than waiting until you actually need to put the radiators on and some heat has already been lost.
Summer is also a good opportunity to add draught-proofing to windows, doors and even your letterbox.
Replace loft insulation
No one wants to be crawling around their loft when it’s almost freezing. But good insulation can save you £200 a year, so get it laid while the weather is warm. If you can, lag the pipes too.
Deal with damp and mould
These tend to become more apparent when the weather is wet and gloomy, but mould and damp can start to appear during summer. Check potential problem areas and treat where necessary in readiness for wetter days.
Create some space
Most of us go slightly potty if we’re surrounded by clutter. But over the winter months it can easily build up when a trip to the tip doesn’t seem very appealing, but a somewhat pointless post-Christmas shopping splurge does. While the temperature is bearable, take the time to clear out your loft and garage, take those bags full of clothes to the charity shop and fill your car with unwanted items to deposit at the local recycling centre.
Get some help with a homelift
It’s all very well having the very best summer DIY intentions, but moving tins of paint, furniture and even clothes around in the heat can be extremely tiring. It may even put you off doing a task, particularly if you have limited mobility. But a Stiltz Homelift can make a big difference. It means you don’t have the hassle of multiple trips up and down stairs and a Stiltz can move effortlessly between floors in 30 seconds. It’s less physical effort and its far easier to transport heavy or difficult-to-carry items too.
The Stiltz Duo moves two people with an elegant, attractive design and the footprint of a small armchair. It is neat and discreet and will complement any home improvement or new decoration project.
The larger Stiltz Trio can accommodate a wheelchair and is ideal for people who use a walking frame. It’s also excellent for moving chairs and side tables, bags of charity clothing and larger pieces of DIY equipment around. But it’s surprisingly compact and stylish, too, with a footprint of just 1.25m2.
Homelifts are an affordable accessibility solution and, even if you don’t have any particular mobility issues just yet, installing one will future proof your home for coming years.
For more information on the full range of Stiltz Homelifts, visit stiltz.co.uk/
About Stiltz
Stiltz is the UK’s leading homelift provider. The company manufacturers, supplies and installs a range of models in different sizes and for different needs. For more information, visit www.stiltz.co.uk/home-lifts/
Facebook – www.facebook.com/StiltzLifts
X – https://x.com/StiltzLifts
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/stiltzlifts/?hl=en
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/stiltz-lifts/