PROBLEM SOLVERS: From fixing roofs and damaged old photographs to filling potholes and finding vintage wedding dresses, ALANNA GALLAGHERhas a range of solutions for everyday problems
THE RIGHT MAN FOR THE JOB
I need a Mr Fix-it and my supermarket notice board is full of offers. How can I tell the cowboys from the professionals?
A handyman who is available, thorough and trustworthy is worth his weight in gold. These jobs are usually pressing and most of us don’t have the time to get several tenders for them, so is word-of-mouth the best way to go?
Yes, says Ray Bennett, a former barman and now a professional handyman based in Dundrum, Dublin 14, who is on a back-to-work scheme and gets work based purely on personal recommendations.
“Don’t take on anyone who won’t furnish you with a card that lists his home address and a landline telephone number as well as a mobile number. Should anything go wrong you at least know his whereabouts,” says Bennett.
“Most word-of-mouth recommendations work out, but if you’re not happy, say so, and say it sooner rather than later.
“Get a price for the job before you let anyone start. Never take on anyone who charges by the hour or by the day. Have the repairs priced on a per job basis. Ask to pay for the job by cheque upon completion. That way you have some assurance that their work is above board.”
70 Acorn Road, Dundrum, Dublin 16
Tel: 01-2989420/086-1919831
PRIZED POSSESSIONS RING A DING DING
I’ve gained weight and my wedding ring doesn’t fit any more: who will fix it?
Most upscale jewellers are a bit sniffy about doing repairs, so head straight to Simon Phelan at Djinn Jewellery on Camden Street, Dublin 2. He trained with the fourth-generation master goldsmith SN Soni, in Jaipur, India, and returns every year for a month of further training.
“For resizing, we charge anything from €15 to €40: it depends on how much gold we need to put into the ring,” he says. “Nowadays people are getting family rings or family heirlooms sized to fit rather than buying new.” He also says that ring fingers can go up a size in summer when hands get swollen in the heat. In this case, he advises people to take off the piece and wait until their fingers resume their normal size.
djinnjewellery.com
PICTURE THIS
Who will restore a cherished old photo?
Restore My Old Photo in Dunshaughlin, Co Meath offers a service that ranges from a basic retouch costing €10 to expert restoration of photographs damaged by damp, which can cost up to €76. Photo-enlarging from print starts from €3. It can also convert Cine 8 films to DVD.
restoremyoldphoto.com
TIME OUT
I’ve inherited a grandfather clock: who will get it working again?
O’Sullivan Brothers operate from a first-floor office in Cork city. You can expect to pay upwards of €300 for a complete overhaul, but they’re reluctant to put a price on any job sight unseen. They they will collect clocks from within the Munster region.
Timepiece Antique Clocks on Patrick Street is the place to go for Dublin readers.
osullivanbros.com
timepieceantiqueclocks.com
UPSIZING YOUR WARDROBE
I’ve spent the summer eating ice cream and nothing in my wardrobe fits me any more. I need to let everything out: what’s the most cost-effective way of doing this?
Redress has a series of one- and two-day courses on how to rework garments into something that fits and flatters you. Its one-day Fashion Skills Crash Course costs €80 and will equip you with the knowledge to tackle hems and seams and make your clothes work for the new you.
re-dress.ie
POT LUCK
My driveway/boreen has potholes: how do I avoid spending money I don’t have on boring old tarmacadam?
You can patch them up by buying buckets of tarmac and using these to fill up the holes, says Jim Boggan of Asphalt Relay in Wexford. Buckets cost from €25 to €30 each. This quantity will fill three or four deep potholes in your drive.
“Some people try patching potholes using concrete, but that doesn’t work. It is very difficult to bond one to the other and the tarmac tends to wear around the concrete, so when you go to do a proper job you have to deal with lumps of concrete.
“Alternatively, you can fill the holes with a fine quarry material such as ‘screenings’, a dust and small-stone mixture. But this really is only a temporary job. Prices vary between €10 and €12 per tonne, depending on what part of the country you buy it.
“If you don’t want tarmacadam, you put a decorative stone, such as golden gravel or red chip, on top of a resin that bonds the two together together. That will cost from €40 to €60 per square metre.
asphaltrelay.ie
WEDDING WISH
I’m a romantic and want to wear a vintage wedding dress, but they don’t fit modern shapes very well. What can be done?
Marie Therese Duggan of the Goddess Room in Greystones (01-2016591) can, within reason, rework its collection of vintage dresses to suit.
“We will rework our garments, which are already cleaned and renovated. Despite the Kate Middleton effect, a lot of Irish brides still don’t like sleeves in their big day dress, so that’s something we take into consideration,” she says.
“We recently remodeled a 1930s dress with a cathedral train into something more manageable. We created a bustle effect so that in effect you got two dresses for the price of one; one look to wear when walking up the aisle, and a second look for the reception afterwards. That dress also required a bias-cut underdress. The total price was €950 for something unique.”
thegoddessroom.net
HOLE OVERHEAD
I’ve got a hole in my roof. Who should I talk to?
Marti O’Rourke of O’Rourke Roofing says people are leaving roof repairs for longer because of limited access to money. “It’s like teeth: you don’t get a call until there’s a problem,” he says. He offers a free call-out to homes within the greater Dublin area. How much will the job cost? He won’t know until he takes a look, but, as a guideline, replacing a slate on a single-storey house will cost from €80 and for a two-storey house it will cost from €200.
orourkeroofing.com
TAILORING TIPS
Can I turn a jacket into a sleeveless vest (or is that so last year?)
Despite its perceived impracticality, the sleeveless jacket is a big trend for winter. If you want to bring one of your jackets up to date, you’ll have to take sleeves off for a start, says Peadar Brennan of Grafton Alterations on Dublin’s South Anne Street. If the jacket isn’t lined you’ll have to put a facing on it. This costs approximately €30. This price excludes the cost of the fabric you’ll need to buy for the facing. He recommends coming in first to show him the jacket and then he will advise you.
Alternatively, you could unpick the stitching yourself using a picker that can be bought from Hickeys or Dublin Woollen Mills and make a detail out of fraying the sleeve edge. This will only work with certain fabrics, but will give an on-trend cowboy/Navajo feel a la Isabel Marant to your wardrobe.
01-6717813
A-LINE TO PENCIL
Can you make an A-line skirt that is fiercely fashionable this season but that doesn’t flatter into a pencil skirt worthy of Mad Men?
With a plain A-line skirt you could it take in from the hip to the hem, says Laura Lynch of Studio 54 in Blackrock, Co Dublin. If it’s a Stella McCartney style, with an inverted pleat at the front, either stitch down the pleat, leaving it open, or a godet effect might be enough to enable you to walk in it. This will cost €17.60.
studio54.biz
MINIMALISE MAXIS
How do I shorten one of last year’s tragic maxis that made me look too old?
“It depends on how slim the person is,” says Rita Smith of Thimbles on Rathgar Road in Dublin. “You can get people who are slim who can wear their hems very short. For the rest of us, I would bring it to the knee. Absolutely nobody wants their maxi reworked into the midi-length that glossy fashion magazine have been raving about.”
This will cost from €15, depending on the width of the original skirt and the number of layers it has.
01-4971775
BEST FOOT FORWARD
Is there a shoemaker who will put a little bit of height on some too-flat flats?
Ballet flats have become a wardrobe staple, but for the shorter among us, they can be too flat. CD Shoes can put up to half an inch on ballets and brogues; expect to pay from €25 upwards.
It can also take up to an inch off heels that are impractically high for everyday life. This costs from €10.
Try breathing new life into old scuffed leather shoes by sanding down the upper surface using fine grade sandpaper to reveal a suede-effect finish.
cdshoes.ie
MENSWEAR
I have numerous good-quality suits that cost a fortune but need updating. Where can I go?
The Rediscovery Centre’s ReAlter service in its Eco Shop on Ballymun’s main street will rework and alter garments using traditional tailoring and dressmaking skills, creating well-finished suiting that fits and flatters. RTÉ’s Anne Cassin is a fan. Simple jobs such as taking up or letting down hems start from €10.
rediscoverycentre.ie
