When drilling holes for spotlighting in ceilings, be sure to have a fim grip on the drill, Ease it into the ceiling your are drilling and let the drill do the work, the ring cutter that you will be using has a nasty habit of catchingi in the woodwork or plasterwok causing the drill to spin in your hand. Could easily break a wrist!
When tiling your walls or floors, Make sure you wipe off any excess adhesive. It will save you hours of scraping when you come to grout!
When decorating or plastering your walls or ceilings, start at a wall with a window, You will notice as you work the light from the window will show up any discrepencies i.e shadows, giving you chance to sort them before you go too far
If your thinking of redecorating and find a few holes in your plasterwork, try mixing a bit of multipurpose bonding with multipurpose plaster. You will get a much smoother finish and makes it easier to paint or paper over
If your mixing a standard 4:1 ratio of sand to cement by hand then try putting 2 shovels of sand in then half a shovel of cement then the next two sand then the next half cement. Will save your muscles as requires less mixing!
When mixing sand and cement make sure you use the same ratio and quantities each time or else the colour will vary when it dries. Particularly important if you are attempting any kind of brickwork.
This tip is more for the DIY as the professional builder would not approve but its a good cheat!! If you find your sand and cement mix drying out before you have had time use it, try adding a small squirt of washing up liquid, It keeps it wet and manageable a bit longer.
When stacking bricks make sure the face of the brick is facing inwards to protect it.