First of all you need to determine what type of flooring you have. Just lift the carpets and look, chances are you’re either looking at lengths of parallel board all lying neatly next to one another (well ok… kind of neatly lying next to one another) or you may just find a large expanse of chipboard.

The lengths of parallel board are called tongue and groove, it’s not the name of some bizarre dance but a description of how the boarding works. One side has a tongue sticking out which slots neatly into the other side of the next board which has a groove running down the side of the board for it’s whole length. The whole thing slots neatly together to make a nice strong floor.

Lifting tongue and groove is easier than lifting chipboard in my own experience. There are a few ways to go about this task:

1. Work out which length of board you need to lift, identify where it’s fixed down to a joist by looking for the nail heads, mark a diagonal line across the board such that a part of both cut ends will remain supported by the joist, cut thru using a small tenon saw. Once the ends are cut you need to cut thru the tongue holding the board in place, you can either do this the nice way by cutting along the whole length of the board on both sides with the tenon saw… or you can do it the rough way using a flat, wide bolster chisel to smash through the tongue down both sides of the board. Once this is done you can pry the board up using a small crowbar.

2. You can make a much better and faster job of the above using a small cordless circular saw instead of the tenon saw. If the saw allows it then be sure to set the depth of cut to the width of the boards you’re cutting.

Did I mention that you REALLY need to be aware of any pipes or cables running under the board you’re cutting? Well if I didn’t then please do take care, you REALLY need to be aware of pipes and cables under the board your cutting. A mistake here can result in an expensive an annoying flood or even a terminal electric shock!!

If you’re not so lucky then you’ve lifted the carpets and discovered a vast expanse of chipboard… Bother!!

Personally I prefer to use a small circular saw for cutting chipboard. I use the lines of nails to identify the position of any joists and cut the board in line with the joists, leaving enough of an edge to be able to fix the board back down afterwards. I also avoid cutting the board into narrow strips because this weakens it badly, I prefer to cut a larger square section if I have to cut the stuff at all.

Using a circular saw in an enclosed space can get really noisy, dusty and dangerous so treat the job with respect and make sure you’re protecting your hands, eyes, ears and lungs… gloves, goggles, ear defenders and a facemask. Simple isn’t it?

This morning I decided that enough is enough, surely it’s easy enough to shovel the snow off the driveway?

Of course if you’re gonna bother clearing snow then you might just as well do it properly, and this is why:

• It’s really good exercise.
• It really warms you up on a cold day.
• It’s very satisfying once finished.
• Do it right and your drive will stay clear even if there’s more snow!

What do you need?

• A wide Plastic Snow Shovel
• A wide stiff broom
• A bag of rock salt
• A pair of waterproof working gloves

If you’re lucky then the snow is fresh and no-one has walked or driven over it yet. If you find it like this then just use the broom to push the snow to one side, work your way from one end to the other pushing snow across the driveway in straight lines. If you’ve got kids then brush it all into one big pile because you can make a snowman really quickly too! Before long you’ll have a mostly clear driveway ready for the next step.

If you’re not so lucky then the kids, the dog, the postman and the neighbours have all walked, driven or tobogganed on every inch of your drive and compacted the snow into a couple of inches of ice. Brilliant… NOT! This is REALLY gonna get you warm now. Grab hold of your plastic snow shovel, a wide builders shovel will do but will be  much more noisy…. It’s ok though, that incessant scraping noise is only irritating all the people sat indoors NOT helping you shovel snow. Start at one end of the drive and shovel a line of snow straight across and into a pile on the most convenient side. Repeat, over and over and over again. You end up with a mostly clear drive with a big pile of icy lumps along one side. The kids can make the sort of snowballs that knock people unconscious with this stuff )

You may notice I’ve said mostly clear… let’s not get too anal about this, there’s no prizes for the best driveway! Besides which it will usually start snowing again the moment you start clearing up, it’s sods law! Once the driveway is mostly clear then it’s important that you take the next step. If you just leave it with odd patches and a thin dusting of snow then the chances are this will freeze into a lethal sheet of ice which is just making things worse.

Next step. Get your working gloves on if you haven’t already, pick up or drag your bag of rock salt to one end of the driveway. Take care lifting it, even the smaller bags can weigh 25Kg so mind your back. Take a handful of rock salt at a time and spread it thinly over the driveway, try to avoid having piles of it dotted here and there because it just doesn’t work so well. Once the rock salt is down it will slowly dissolve, melting any ice that’s left on the surface and creating a thin film of salt that will melt any new snow too.

Now step back and admire your handiwork… you can feel a bit smug too because it’s claimed that snow shoveling can burn 10 calories per minute… Phew! I’d sit down and have a cup of tea if I were you…

Here’s some more stuff I looked up because I was wondering where does rock salt come from and why does salt cause ice to melt, check out the section in this article about Salinity & Freezing Point