Insulating your home is a fairly simple job that doesn’t require any special DIY skills. It is cost effective and could save you a fortune in electricity and central heating bills by reducing the amount of heat lost from your home. The better your insulation in your home is, the less you will have to use heaters. Having your central heating on all the time is both expensive and also results in a bigger carbon foot print.
Insulating pipes and water tanks is very important especially in the winter. It only takes a couple of hours to protect your plumbing and can prove to be worth the time in the end if it prevents pipework problems. If these freeze, they could burst and that is the last thing that anyone wants to happen; an emergency plumber call out can be expensive.
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A garage is often over looked as extra valuable space and is most of the time piled with junk, old bikes, Christmas decorations and anything else people don’t want to throw away. Rather than waste this space it can be quite easily turned into that office or home gym you always wanted or even an extra bedroom’ whatever you need the extra space for a garage conversion is a great option.
Another consideration is if you need to make mobility alterations to your home and require more single level living accommodation. A garage conversion can often be the most practical solution as an average sized garage would give adequate space for a good sized bedroom and en suite with a shower for easy access, or perhaps with a wet room, or if you already have a downstairs bathroom, a living/sleeping space could be created.
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An investigation into fire safety will be conducted by the London Assembly Planning and Housing Committee to assess whether the measures in place concerning timber framed and tall buildings, which are becoming ever popular construction features in new built properties, are adequate.
The review of fire safety comes following multiple fires within timber framed properties owned by Greenacre Homes. Greenacre Homes Ltd work with local housing associations and on developments that are publicly funded to build public sector housing developments. There have recently been two instances of fires that have swept through Greenacre Homes sites, one in November last year which resulted in 10 people suffering injuries at a site in Peckham made up of a block of flats, and a further incident at the start of January in Camberwell Station Road.
The second fire affected a five-storey building that was being constructed, damaging 75% of the building. Following the blaze, there were calls from fire chiefs for stricter measures to be put in place, and the review that the London Assembly Planning and Housing Committee will undertake will focus on timber framed residential properties rather than commercial properties.
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The UK’s largest builders merchants, Travis Perkins, have announced that they have seen a change in customer trends which indicate that property developing and self building are becoming more popular again in the weeks since Christmas, whereas DIY seems to be taking more of a back seat.
The news comes as the demand for DIY equipment such as screwdrivers and paint brushes is decreasing; they are being purchased less frequently in DIY stores such as Wickes which is owned by Travis Perkins, compared both to the weeks and months before Christmas and the trends the building firm saw this time last year.
Last year, there was an overall decline of 3% in the number of retail purchases for DIY home improvement equipment, but this was lower than the sector expected considering the country was in the grip of a recession. People had still preferred the DIY option, choosing to improve their homes rather than move house, mainly due to the lack of public confidence in the housing market.
As the UK has finally moved out of recession and the housing market it beginning to turn, confidence in property prices and investing in bricks and mortar is beginning to be a more attractive prospect. This seems to be what is happening as Travis Perkins are seeing more sales to tradespeople coming out of the woodwork, who make up 70% of their customers, purchasing building materials such as bricks and timber to renovate properties for resale or as rental properties.
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A report launched today by Experian for the ‘Cut the VAT’ coalition, an alliance of 21 organisations including the Federation of Master Builders, the Modern Masonry Alliance, the Clay Roof Tile Council and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, has unveiled that as many as 55,000 new jobs in the building sector and construction industry could be created if VAT on labour for building work and home improvements was cut to 5%.
Creating Building Jobs
The Cut the VAT coalition believes that by cutting the percentage of VAT paid on labour for renovation and property maintenance work from the current 12.5% to 5% would help the current economic situation of high numbers of unemployed people, and would also have a number of social and economic benefits for the UK as a whole, including helping the Government reach its carbon emission reduction targets.
The report anticipates an additional 24,000 construction jobs could be created in 2010 alone, with this rising to nearly 35,000 building sector jobs by 2019. In addition, the report explains that the additional demand for tradespeople to carry out work in domestic properties will have a knock on effect for companies who supply materials to the trades as people decide to upgrade central heating systems, repair roofs, build extensions and rewire homes. As a result of making building work and renovation of properties more affordable for homeowners, this will in turn help people make their homes more energy efficient, reducing energy consumption and saving them money.
Taking place from 2nd-4th March 2010, the Ecobuild exhibition in Earls Court, London, will provide the biggest event for green building, sustainable housing design and construction and should appeal to both tradespeople and companies looking to upskill in microgeneration installation and renewable energy technology. The exhibition should also appeal to home owners wanting to integrate green technologies or products into their home or those looking to self build and create a sustainable low carbon home.
The exhibition first launched in 2005 and has seen visitor numbers double each year, and with the increased popularity of green building and eco retrofitting, the attractiveness of this event could be even greater this year.
Across the three day event, there will be a range of activities for visitors to engage with, including conferences covering topics such as:
- zero carbon buildings
- can the building sector go green
- sustainable construction
- green renovation
- renewable energy generation
- the effect of Copenhagen on development in the UK
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If your home is getting cramped and you could do with an extra bedroom or a home office then having a loft conversion is a great option. Loft conversions are generally cheaper and less hassle than an extension as you already have the fabric of the house there and there is often no building work involved.
The space in an attic or loft is roughly 30% of the total floor area of your home and most of the time all that is up there is a water tank or cylinder and some pipes that can be easily moved if necessary. Also in most cases there is no planning permission required, although it is always better to check with your local council. Read more…
Knowing exactly what type of chimney your property has can be important, not only if you ever need to find a roofing contractor to carry out repairs, but if you’re planning a project such as installing a new fireplace. The type of chimney your property has may dictate or narrow the options available to you.
There are four different sorts of chimneys that you may find in your home, and you can identify which your home has by looking for certain features. The different sorts of flues are:
- brick chimney
- pre-cast flue
- pre-fabricated flue
- no flue
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Whether you need a bigger kitchen or an extra bedroom when your family has out grown your home you have 2 options, extend your home if you have land available or move house. Both are valid options but which one is best for you?
First we will look at extensions and what they entail. Taking on an extension can be quite daunting when you think that you may not be able to use your garden or drive for a few months and you may be living out of 1 room and bathing in the sink, but a well planned extension can not only add value to your property but transform your cramped house into your dream home.
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If you have been thinking of extending your living space in the home an attic room is a good idea to give you that extra square footage. It can be used equally well as a general loft storage area or if you want to make an extra bedroom perhaps with en suite facilities, or simply just a chill out area.
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