Three items to always buy at B&Q – and two to avoid

B&Q is famous for its DIY products and nifty outdoor garden furniture.

But what’s best to buy and avoid at the hardware store? We take a look below.

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You can find your nearest B&Q using the store locator on its website.

Alternatively, if you’d rather order home, don’t forget about extra delivery fees.

Standard delivery costs £6 but it’s free for any purchase over £75.

But for large deliveries – orders over £350 – you’ll need to pay an added £12 to have it delivered.

And don’t buy something for the sake of it being cheap – if you don’t already need it, you’re wasting money.

You can always look around for better deals before you commit as well – there might be unmissable discounts you’d rather invest in elsewhere.

To check, you can use tools like Google Shopping or PriceSpy UK to compare hardware items across other retailers.

But for now let’s get into what to buy and avoid at B&Q.

What to buy

Hot tubs

Hot tubs are always a firm favourite at the height of summer, and you might find the cheapest deals at B&Q.

The craze has even begun already this year – shoppers just spotted one tub slashed by £237 from the DIY experts.

It was the four-person Canadian spa grand rapids plug and play portable hot tub, selling for £238 instead of £475.

That’s a 50% discount and you can find more of these usually in the retailers’ clearance sale.

Normally, like this one, you can set up a hot tub in 15 minutes. This particular model also comes with three-speed jets and is 1.8metres deep.

There may be more whopping deals like that cropping up in summer – so keep your eyes peeled.

Seasonal sales

It’s not unlike B&Q to host impressive seasonal sales – the most exciting of which is usually around Christmas.

Last year there was even stock selling for as little as 10p.

Keep an eye out for your local shop’s sale when the time comes around – stock will be subject to availability and prices may differ depending on where in the country you live.

But to be sure whenever a sale comes around, we recommend calling up your nearest branch to see what’s on offer.

Mould repellents

Mould became a big issue in households particularly over winter when temperatures rose.

But you don’t want to problem to keep appearing throughout the year.

In that case make sure you visit B&Q – it does everything from cling-film packs to go on various-sized windows to draught excludes to prevent condensation build up.

You can buy draught excluders for as little as £4.50 and cling-film for your window can cost roughly £13.

For more on how to prevent mould, read our guide.

What not to buy

Lighting

If you’re after lamps and various bits of lighting, you’re better visiting The Range in our opinion.

When you look on the B&Q website, you’ll see living room overhead lights costing on average £85.

But at The Range you can bag something similar for just £28 – a whole £57 cheaper.

Of course, it’s likely you’ll find sales at B&Q, but for a larger variety of cheap lighting you’re better browsing at The Range.

Wall art

You won’t find as many options if you’re after wall art at B&Q as you will at Ikea.

While you can hanging prints for as little as £8 at Ikea, whereas B&Q charges from £24 for the same kind of item.

But don’t abandon delivery costs either – remember Ikea still charges £4 for a small parcel.

Of course, that could go up if you’re bulk buying.

This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk