The long weekend is almost upon us so if you're planning a home improvement project make sure you take advantage of these deals and discounts.
This weekend is a Bank Holiday, and as it’s the last one of the summer, many people will be taking the time to do a spot of DIY.
Whether it’s painting the kitchen, decking the patio or putting up a new shed, Brits across the country will be donning their overalls and getting stuck into new projects to improve their homes and gardens.
Instead of spending a fortune on new paints, brushes or nail guns, here I’ve listed the best offers for you to take advantage of.
Homebase
Right now there’s 20% off selected wallpaper rolls at Homebase, along with a buy-one-get-one-half-price deal on 2.5 Litre and five-litre cans of Dulux Coloured Emission paints.
You can also get 65% off selected kitchen, bathroom and bedroom sets and 15% off certain Hotpot appliances. For the bathroom, there’s a 60% discount on a selection of shower enclosures and trays, as well as 20% off bathroom vanity furniture.
The price of small appliances has also been cut in half; a Morphy Richards 23-litre microwave is half price at £55.99, while a Home of Style pyramid kettle has a price tag of £24.99 (from £49.99).
You can get some great discounts on power tools too, with a Worx sheet finishing sander for £25.99 (from £34.99), a Oendulum Jigsaw for £33.49 (was £44.99) and a Worx screwdriver for £29.99 (was £39.99).
B&Q
There’s also a host of offers on DIY goods over at B&Q this weekend. Firstly you can get 20% off the price of a kitchen, bedroom or bathroom, worth at least £350 in total.
One third has been cut off the price of outdoor furniture and BBQ gear, so there are some pretty good deals to be had. Take the Weber 47cm kettle BBQ which is now £63 (from £99.00), the Blooma Hanang four-burner BBQ, down to £199 (from £299), or a Pizza Stone metal tray and cutter reduced to £10, from £20.
Dulux paint pots are also on a three-for-two offer and there’s 20% off selected showers and 25% off selected internal doors.
The price of sheds is also down, such as the Blooma 7x3 overlap wooden bin and bike shed for £119 (from £149) or a slightly larger 7x7 shed for £249 (was £299).
Wickes
Wickes has a massive clearance section on its website which lists all the best bargains for August. There’s 15% off ladders, three-for-two on solid wood flooring and a buy-one-get-one-free offer on certain wall and floor tiles.
Flooring underlay is also reduced at two for £50, the price of lights has been cut by 30% and light bulbs are included in a buy-one-get-one-free deal.
Plumbing and heating products have also been reduced by 20% and there is a three-for-two offer on five-litre pots of masonry paint.
Within the clearance section you can get your hands on a wall hung vanity unit for £39 (was £149), a 74-piece drill set for £14.99 (was £29.99) or a high pressure host for £1.99 (was £4.99).
Cashback offers
Before you buy something new, it’s worth checking if you can make some cashback on it. The two major cashback sites are Quidco and Top Cashback and they are both stacked full of deals which pay you money for shopping.
These websites track your payment and give you the cash (in around a month) which they have earned from advertising certain retailers on their sites. It doesn’t cost anything to go through a cashback site, so you're basically getting free money!
Here I’ve picked out the best offers from each site for your DIY needs.
Quidco:
- Knock off an extra 3.5% when shopping at Homebase through Quidco. It’s also a faster-paying merchant which means you’ll get your cashback at a quicker rate than normal.
- If you buy from B&Q you’ll get a higher cashback rate of 5% and again the money will arrive in your bank account sooner than most retailers on the site.
- Topps Tiles is also included as a faster-paying retailer and has an impressive rate of 8%
- If you’re going straight to the Delux Decorator Centre you can earn an extra 3% with Quidco.
Top Cashback:
- There’s a discount for B&Q shoppers of 5.25% on home décor items and 4.25% on all other home delivery purchases this weekend.
- Homebase has a cashback rate of 2.1% for reserve and collect items and 1.57% on those ordered for delivery.
- Screwfix Direct is offering 3.15% on online purchases worth more than £500 and 2.1% on those valued from £250 to £499.99
- Wickes has a 2.1% cashback rate
- UK Flooring Direct, which pays out faster, has a rate of 5.25% on all items
- Topps Tiles is paying 10.5% on online purchases, it’s faster paying and you can save £150 when spending at least £900 in store
The best way to pay for home improvements
The cost of improving your home can add up quickly and if you’ve moved somewhere new you might have a lot of projects on the go at the same time.
If you’re about to pay out a lot then it’s worth using a card which will pay you back some rewards.
The American Express Platinum card, for example, pays back 5% cashback in the first three months (up to £125). You need to spend £2,500 to get the full £125 but if you were going to pay this out anyway – you’re effectively being paid to do it, or giving yourself a 5% discount.
Similarly, there are several good reward cards which pay you back for spending on them. The Lloyds Avios card pays one Avios point for every £1 spent, for example, whereas with the Tesco Clubcard for Purchases you can earn points to spend in store.
It’s also worth looking at the credit card market if you don’t have the immediate funds to pay for DIY projects. Cards with a long 0% purchase period are a good option as they allow you to buy now pay later – and these periods can last up to 18 months. This can be useful if you’d prefer to spread the spending over a year instead of having to pay for everything up front, or being saddled with high interest payments.
If you're already trying to pay off a credit card debt it may be worth using a 0% balance transfer card. This will give you a break from interest payments so you can focus on paying off the money you owe.