Ace Hardware

Your Guide to Drywall InstallationBrought to you by Ace Hardware

rawvolution — Sun, 03 Aug 2025 18:32:13 +0000

Drywall—also known as wallboard, sheetrock, or gypsum board—is a key building material used in modern home construction. Whether you’re updating a single room or finishing an entire basement, drywall offers a cost-effective, durable, and DIY-friendly option for interior walls and ceilings.

At Ace Hardware, we believe in empowering you with the tools, materials, and knowledge to get the job done right. This guide will walk you through everything you need to know to tackle your own drywall project confidently—from choosing the right materials to achieving a clean, professional finish.

Drywall Basics: Why It’s a Great Choice
Drywall is made from a gypsum core, sandwiched between layers of paperboard. It’s lightweight, fire-resistant, easy to cut and shape, and far more affordable than brick or wood. Since its invention in 1916, drywall has become a go-to for builders and homeowners alike.

Key Benefits of Drywall:
Budget-friendly
Fire-resistant
Quick to install
Long-lasting
No drying time needed
With drywall, you can complete home projects quickly and efficiently—perfect for any weekend warrior.

What You’ll Need

Tools:
Ace Hardware has all the tools you’ll need, including:
4-in-1 screwdriver
Cordless drill
Drywall saw
Spirit level
Chalk line
Taping knives & spackle knife
Tape measure
Drywall square (T-square)
Pry bar
Safety glasses
Step ladder or sturdy chair

Materials:
Drywall panels (typically 9.5mm or 12.5mm thick)
Drywall screws or nails
Drywall tape
Joint compound (also known as “mud”)

Step-by-Step: Hanging Drywall Like a Pro
1. Measure Your Space
Start by measuring the wall or ceiling area where drywall will be installed. Mark fastening guidelines every 12–16 inches (or about 40 cm) and trim panels about 1 cm shorter than the wall to allow for easier fitting.

2. Select the Right Panels
Drywall comes in various thicknesses. If you’re not sure which to use, your local Ace associate can help. Thinner sheets (9.5 mm) work well for ceilings, while thicker options (12.5 mm) are ideal for walls or high-traffic areas.

3. Plan Around Fixtures
If your wall includes windows, doors, outlets, or other features, mark and cut these out ahead of time using a drywall saw. Sketch out a simple diagram before making your cuts for accuracy.

4. Tack Sheets in Place
Hold the panels in place and use drywall nails to tack them temporarily. Mark out screw points with chalk for precision, ensuring your panels are level before final fastening.

5. Secure with Screws
Drill drywall screws every 12–16 inches along the studs. Be sure to drive screws just below the surface without breaking the paper.
Finishing Touches: Tape and Mud Like a Pro

6. Apply Joint Compound
Use a taping knife to smooth joint compound over all seams. Then, embed drywall tape over the compound and smooth it flat. Let it dry completely.

7. Smooth It Out
Once dry, apply additional thin coats of compound as needed, feathering out the edges. Sand between coats for a smooth finish. A clean, dry spackle knife will give you the best result.

Tips for Corners and Electrical Outlets
For corners, use corner bead for crisp lines and extra durability. Apply joint compound over the bead and sand once dry.

When dealing with wiring, ensure all outlet boxes are properly cut out and measured. The faceplate should sit flush with no gaps.
Drywall FAQs – Answered by Ace Hardware Experts
Drywall vs. Plaster: What’s the Difference?
Drywall is made from gypsum and is easier and quicker to install. Plaster, though very durable, is more labor-intensive and costly.

Repair or Replace?
If damage is significant, replacement is usually more effective and long-lasting. With drywall’s low cost, it’s often simpler to swap out a sheet than patch over serious cracks.

How Far Apart Should Screws Be?
Every 12–16 inches is ideal. This ensures strong support without unnecessary fasteners.

What Size Drywall Should I Use?
In most cases, 9.5 mm or 12.5 mm panels are sufficient. Our team at Ace can help you choose the right thickness and size based on your space and needs.
Need Help? Ace Has Your Back.

Whether you’re a first-timer or a seasoned DIYer, Ace Hardware is here to support your home improvement journey. From expert advice to the right tools and materials, we’ve got everything you need to make your drywall project a success.
Stop by your local Ace Hardware or talk to one of our helpful team members today!

HOW TO FIT A TAP IN 6 STEPS

rawvolution — Sun, 03 Aug 2025 18:25:48 +0000

So, you want to know how to change a tap? Whether you’re looking to refresh your kitchen with a new style of tap or if your bathroom tap’s on the brink, then you may want to get it changed sooner rather than later. For an experienced DIYer, replacing a tap is a relatively straightforward job. All it takes is a little planning and the correct tools. But for someone who doesn’t have hands-on experience, it can be quite an intimidating job to complete. We’ve put together this guide with step-by-step instructions to show you how to fit a tap. We’ll also be covering tips on fitting mixer taps, monobloc taps, and answering your frequently asked questions. This guide will either guide you in changing your taps or encourage you to reach out to a professional plumber to do the job for you. Step 1: Drill an 18mm hole directly through the wall Consider where your outdoor tap will be installed, then figure out where your mains water supply is located so you can connect your tap pipework to it. We recommend having them nearby one another. Measure the area in which your drill bit will enter the wall from the outside. When you’re drilling through the wall from the outside, make sure there’s no chance you’ll come into contact with anything on the wall’s interior. Finally, mark where you want the outside tap to go, then start drilling. Top tip: It’s important to drill the wall from the outside to prevent blowing the brick out on the outside. When you have around an inch or so to go, switch off the hammer mode on your SDS drill and use the drill function instead. Step 2: Affix the backplate and outdoor tap Ensure the copper pipe inside the property is placed correctly, then drive the backplate through the wall. If needed, cut back the copper pipework. Once the brass backplate is flush with the wall, use a pencil and mark the three holes on the surface of the wall. Take away the backplate and carefully use your drill to make 7mm screw holes. Step 3: Attach the water supply to the copper pipe The best way to connect this to the water supply is by adding an elbow to the copper. How to fit a kitchen tap Tools you’ll need to fit a tap: Screwdriver Sink spanner An adjustable wrench Your new taps Tap connector pipe(s) Junior hacksaw Pipe cutting tool Step 1: Remove your old taps As obvious as it sounds, before you embark on fitting a kitchen tap, you’ll need to switch off your water supply. If you fail to do this, there’ll no doubt be a lot of water carnage in your house! Next, turn on the taps so that they run the system dry. Use a wrench to unfasten the nut that affixes the supply pipes to the tap. This bit can be tricky, but all you need is a little patience. Lastly, unfasten the nut that connects your basin or bath to your taps. Top tip: It’s a good idea to get someone else to hold onto the tap to stop it from turning while you unfasten the nut.

Step 2: Clean the area
Once you’ve removed your old taps, be sure to clean the area and get rid of any remaining dirt and adhesive.

Inspect the condition of your joins, pipes, and fixings. If anything needs repairing, now’s the time to do so.

Make sure that your new taps’ fittings work correctly with your old pipes. If not, then you may need an adaptor. If you’re using plastic fittings, then you may need a plumber for the pipework. And you’ll need a reducing coupler for taps with one spout (monobloc taps).

Typically, your new tap will include a 10mm pipe, which will need to increase to the 15mm supply pipe.

Your plumbing will probably already be in place if you’re carrying out this job from scratch. Be sure the tap is placed correctly so that it extends to the sink or bath.

Step 3: Positioning your new taps
Position your taps inside the sink or bath’s holes. The washers should sit in between the sink or bath’s surface and the tap. Then, affix the tap using a back nut.

Step 4: Connect the supply pipes
After you’ve attached the taps, you can then connect the supply pipes. You can either use plush-fit plastic fittings or copper piping for this.

If your taps are in an awkward position, copper piping is more suitable, although you’ll probably need a solder and blowtorch to fix the lengths together.

Step 5: Connect the water supply
Hand tighten each end until you achieve the best position so that the water runs easily. Be sure to keep your plumbing tidy so that there aren’t any turns or twists.

Finally, tighten each end.

Step 6: Detecting leaks
Turn on the water gently, so the taps run. Even the tiniest drop of water can cause long-term damage. So, inspect around the taps and around the connections to make sure that no water is leaking.

If you spot any water escaping, tighten the connections and nuts and try again. If water is still leaking, it might be time to call your local plumber – they may have to take it apart and start again.

How to fit a kitchen tap with flexible hoses
A flexible hose, otherwise known as a flexible tap connector, connects taps to the water supply. It’s useful for connecting taps in cramped areas.

Fitting a tap with flexible hoses is a fairly simple job, but one that requires specialist equipment and expertise. Here’s a quick overview of the typical kitchen tap installation process:

Preparation
Connecting the kitchen tap with flexible hoses
Fitting the tap
Connecting and testing
How to fit a mixer tap in 6 quick steps
Unsure of how to install a shower mixer tap? These tap types combine cold and hot water within the tap’s body. They do this using a single lever that rotates from left to right. Or they use individual cold and hot controls to ascertain the stream of cold and hot water.

Here’s a quick overview of how to fit a mixer tap:

Take away the old tap and remove the connection, then detach the nut (it’s hexagonal) that keeps the tap secure.
Remove your old taps and clean the area. Secure the tap tails so that they sit tightly in the tap’s frame.
Attach the fixing studs to the tap’s base. Place the tap above the countertop or sink’s tap hole. Next, pull the fixing studs and tap tails across them.
Affix a retaining plate and washer over the fixing studs from underneath the tap hole. Place nuts on the fixing studs.
Once the tap’s in the right position, use a spanner to screw in the nuts tightly. Be careful not to harm the sink, though.
Switch on the mains water supply to ensure no water can escape. If any water escapes, inspect the connectors, then adjust if necessary.
How to fit bath taps
Fitting a bathroom tap is fairly similar to fitting a kitchen tap. So, refer to the ‘how to fit a kitchen tap’ guidelines above for detailed instructions.

Before you start this task, take away the bath panel to remove and install the new bath taps.

Acrylic bath panels just slip into place. If not, find push on/off magnetic catches or screws that fasten the panel. It’s possible you might need to take off a section of the supporting structure to allow you to get underneath the bath.

First and foremost, you’ll need to know which bath tap you have. Usually, bath taps come in two types:

Pillar taps – two individual taps for cold and hot water.
Mixer taps – one individual tap that blends both cold and hot water. Typically, these include a shower fixture, too, often known as a bath shower mixer tap.
Other less-known bath tap choices include wall-mounted taps, valve-operated bath fillers, and freestanding taps. If you don’t know which tap type you have, it’s best to speak to a professional plumber.

Tools you’ll need:
New taps
A wrench
A back nut
A blowtorch and a solder (if you’re using copper piping to relink the water supply pipes)
Here’s a quick overview of the steps involved. Please note, the below steps relate to separate hot and cold taps (bath pillar taps), not mixer taps:

Prepare the area.
Turn off your water supply.
Unfasten the tap connectors.
Detach the bath tap.
Clean the area.
Check the condition of your fixings, pipes, and joins.
Put the new bath tap in place.
Install the connectors to your replacement bath tap.
Attach the connectors to your pipes (either using push-fit plastic fittings or copper piping).
Position the back nut.
Hand tighten the nut.
Repeat the previous step.
Install the flexible tap tails.
Switch on the water at the mains.
Make sure there aren’t any leaks.
Discover more about tap fitting costs.

Fitting a monobloc tap
Unless you have experience in fitting monobloc taps, it’s best to speak to a contractor to take care of tap installation. To save time, you can use our useful search bar to connect with plumbers in your local area and compare tap installation costs.

HOW TO HANG A DOOR

rawvolution — Sun, 03 Aug 2025 17:45:30 +0000

How To Hang A Door | An Easy DIY Guide

It’s hard enough to choose the style of door for your home let alone hanging a door! Or so you might think. In this easy DIY guide, we’re going to show you how to hang a door perfectly – just like a carpenter would!

Before we jump straight in, let’s take a look at everything you need for door hanging.

Tools & Materials Required

Whether you’re replacing doors or want to fit a new door, you’re going to need the following:

Essential Tools
Door (check out our internal doors)
Combination square
Tape measure
Mallet (or hammer)
Pencil
Chisels (various sizes)

Additional Equipment
Wooden wedge
Marking gauge
Plane (smoothing and power)
Drill (and drill bits)
Screwdriver (or screwdriver bits for drill)
Door holder (or someone to help

If you’ve got all of these to hand, let’s quickly go over another important (and often missed) step.

Hanging A Door – Which Way Does It Go?

Without the appropriate diagram or prior knowledge of the door, it can be difficult to figure out which way the door is intended to be hung.

Don’t Hang The Door Upside Down

Make no mistake, it is easy to hang a door upside down. Let’s try and avoid that!

Now you’d think it would be obvious, but that’s not always the case. With some doors, you can tell which way up they need to be hung just by looking at the design.

For instance, with four panel and six panel doors the bottom horizontal stile will be taller than that of the top.

Another traditional door style (much like our DX 30’s Style White Primed Internal Door) features three slim vertical panels below a single square panel.

If it’s a hollow core door that you’re hanging, pay attention to where the lock block is situated.

Finding the lock block:

The lock block is a solid piece of timber that is used to secure your latch and lock handles to. It is normally marked on the top of the door but if it is not, there is another way to check.

Simply tap the door with your knuckle. If it sounds hollow, this is your hinge side. If it sounds solid, this is your latch side. This is important to find out before you take steps to hang the door.

Which Way Should The Door Swing?

When it comes to which direction to hang a door, you’ll often find that there is only one way for it to open. If it’s not clear at first, you need to determine which way the door will swing before hanging it.

More often than not, the door will swing into the room if it is joined to a hallway
Consider where the light switch is situated – avoid this being covered by the door when opened
If you’re still unsure, pop the model of the door into Google Images to see which way up it should be hung

Without further ado, let’s hang your door!

Hanging Doors – Step By Step

Here’s the guide that you’re here for – let’s learn how to fit an internal door. You’ll have them up in no time!

Prepare Door Frame / Lining

Firstly, you’ll need to prepare the door frame (or door lining).

If these are newly fitted, make sure they are clean and free of debris. If the walls have been plastered, ensure that any lumps stuck to the frame are removed using a blunt chisel.

If you are fitting a door to an old door frame, it may be best to remove the door stops and sand both stops and the frame to ensure they are nice and smooth.

Professional tip: You’ll need to use the combination square and pencil to mark the thickness of the doors edge if your frame doesn’t have door stops already (this is usually 35mm or 44mm thick).

Once you’ve set the square to the correct thickness, use it to mark a line in from the face of the frame at each corner. Make sure the lines start approximately 3 inches away from the top and bottom of the frame as to avoid the hinges.

On these lines, tap in a nail around halfway. This prevents the door falling through during marking up and also keeps it nice and flush.

If you’re hanging an Oak door (or something very expensive) and don’t want to risk a nail denting it, use a small offcut of timber (or even door stop). Nail this so the edge sits on the line – you’re far less likely to damage the door this way.

Mark Up Using The Door

Now, ensuring that the lock block is on the side where the handle is to be fitted, put the door into the frame.

If the door size needs to be reduced in order to be hung in the frame, plane the door down where necessary using a hand plane or an electric plane (depending on how much material you need to remove).

Once the door has been planed to suit, pop it back into the frame. Now raise the door up (using a wooden wedge) so that there is only a 2mm or 3mm gap between the top of the door and the frame.

Consistency tip: To ensure consistency when hanging multiple doors, use cardboard or cut a spacer. If you are hanging the door without carpet or flooring already down, make sure you leave a suitably sized gap at the bottom to allow for this. As an example, you should allow approx. 20mm when planning on fitting carpet and underlay.

Marking The Hinges

If you are hanging the door on an existing frame that already has a hinge position, simply mark these out on the door. Then skip some of the information below until we remove the door from the frame.

If it’s a new frame, use the below instructions.

Standard Hinge Positioning:

Top hinge: 150mm from the top of the frame
Bottom hinge: 230mm from the bottom of the frame
Third hinge: Required for fire doors, hardwood or heavy exterior doors – position in between top and bottom hinges

Tip: mark an ‘x’ with your pencil on the side of the line where you want the hinge to be (do this on the door and frame). This way you’re less likely to remove material from the wrong side of the line!

If you’re happy with the markings you’ve made, remove the door from the lining. Place the door in the door holder hinge side up (alternatively, have your helping hand hold the door in this position for you).

Using the square, square off all of the pencil lines that you made. Make the lines clear but faint – this makes them easier to remove later on.

Now you can place the hinge on the door and draw around it to mark the hinge position. Ensure that the whole rectangular plate of the hinge is touching the door and is parallel. Measure the thickness of the hinge plate and mark this on the door too – this is so you remove the correct amount of material.

Cut Out The Hinge Spaces

When chopping the hinges out, make sure you use a sharp chisel.

Cutting Technique:

Cut the top and bottom line of the hinge horizontally and to the depth of the hinge thickness
At intervals of 5mm to 10mm, cut 45° degree angle lines between the top and bottom cuts
Keep within the lines and gently remove the excess material with the chisel
Repeat this for the remaining hinge spaces

Once you have removed the material, you should be left with the perfect space in which to sit the hinge. Make sure you remove any remaining pencil lines once all the hinges have been cut out.

You can also drill pilot holes for your screws at this point. Simply hold the hinge in position and drill a small hole in the centre of each screw hole. Make sure that the drill bit is thinner and shallower than the screws you plan to use.

Trim The Bottom Of The Door

You may find that you need to plane the bottom edge of the door. Use a handheld plane for small amounts or an electric planer for larger removals.

Leading Edge

It may be necessary to apply a leading edge to the door. This is to prevent it from hitting the frame when closing.

Hang The Door!

You should now be in a position to finally hang the door, step back and admire your handy work!

Installation Sequence:

Lift the door into position and angle it so that the top hinge can be screwed in first
Screw in the top hinge with just a single screw (in case anything needs adjusting)
With the single screw holding the door in position, pivot the door down
Screw in the middle hinge completely, then the bottom hinge
Once these are screwed in and you are happy with the fit, complete the top hinge

When screwing the hinges on, make sure the screw heads finish flush with the hinge for the best appearance and function.

You’ve Hung A Door!

Congratulations! You’ve completed our ‘how to hang a door’ guide and you should now be standing proudly in front of your newly hung door.

Now it’s time for you to get the handles and latch fitted so that the door is complete.

If you still don’t feel confident and would rather a professional fit the door for you, we’ve written another post about the expected cost of hanging a door.

Need Quality Doors For Your Project?

Browse our complete range of internal doors, door frames, and hardware to complete your installation.