Local Traders News

Decorating Children’s and Teenager’s Bedrooms

Sarah — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:00:06 +0000

When it comes to decorating the bedrooms of youngsters and teenagers, as we all know, if there’s one thing they do constantly it’s change their minds. Whether it be the shade or colour of paint they like or how many cuddly toys they have on their bed, kids always seem to know best which is why parents are advised that taking a practical approach to decorating their kids’ beloved rooms can help save money, make cleaning the room easier and receive design approval from their occupants in one go.

Parents are recommended to choose hard wearing products such as textured carpets that can easily cope with things such as spilt paint, dropped food and stains from muddy football boots. Another consideration when choosing carpetting would be picking one that is hardwearing and easy to keep clean. Darker coloured carpets are often most effective at hiding general dirt, but it is certainly a good idea to avoid light coloured carpets such as beige and cream. Choosing thick carpets, especially for teenager’s rooms, can also provide good sound insulation to reduce the amount of noise escaping from the room. If you’re still unsure of the best flooring material to choose, speaking to a reputable carpet fitter to get expert advice can often be the best approach.

When it comes to choosing furniture to decorate your child’s room with, there is a lot of choice out there. When choosing children’s beds and mattresses, go for the more hardwearing options. Storage is also a big concern – the more storage options available, the more chance your child might keep their room tidy!

It is believed also buying neutral coloured furniture is a great plus because as we know, as time goes by, the luminous bed stead may not be something that is suitable or continues to be a popular choice for your children.

Getting onto the walls, a popular method of dealing with changeable teenage or children’s taste is to paint the walls with neutral colours, and taking advantage of new paint products such as wipeable paint will help reduce the amount of work repainting the walls if they get marked or your child changes their mind about their preferred colour scheme. Favourite colours can be incorporated through use of accessories to jazz up the bedroom design.

Young Plasterer Wins Bangor College Apprentice of the Year Award

Sarah — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:00:31 +0000

Bangor College has awarded Phil Foulkes, a twenty-three year old plasterer from Llanberis, with the Apprentice of the Year award. He came top out of 200 students at Colleg Menai, however left the college last year after completing the final year of his course.

His tutor at the time, Mike Gashe, commended Phil on his achievement, saying,

“He has proved that you can go forward and has done well for himself.”

Foulkes left school without having achieved any qualifications, however he admits that he wasn’t interested in school. Enrolling on the course at Colleg Menai gave him an opportunity to learn something new and learn the skill of plastering, which he both enjoys and is good at.

After finishing his three year course, Phil went on to start his own plastering business, however he is not the only tradesperson in his family. Phil has 6 brothers and sisters, of whom 2 are joiners and another is a fellow plasterer.

The Apprentice of the Year award isn’t the first that the young plasterer has been awarded. He previously won the National Skillbuild Championship gold medal, which had he not now been too old to enter, Phil would have automatically been eligible for a place in the world plastering championships.

Not to have the wind easily knocked out of his sails, Phil has commented that although his immediate focus is on getting his plastering business running, he has plans to make plastering awards that older plasterers can enter a possibility in the future,

“It was a really nice feeling to win the UK competition, and it’s a pity I can’t compete again. What I’d like to do though is establish the business properly and then maybe arrange a competition for older plasterers myself.”

Calling on a reputable plasterer to complete work on your home can be stressful if you don’t know who to contact, but localtraders.com can put you in touch with a reliable and experienced local tradesman to carry out your plastering and/or screeding work.

Whether you’ve got insurance claims for damaged ceilings or plasterwork after a flood or burst pipe, need a wall replastering after damp treatment or want to replace cornicing and decorative plasterwork in a period property, we have a number of timeserved tradespeople who can provide the solution to all your plastering and screeding needs. Just submit your details today through the enquiry form and a recommended local tradesperson will be in touch.

Olympics Could Pave the Way for Better Profits in 2010 For Marshalls

Sarah — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:45:32 +0000

2009 was a poor year with the UK construction industry as a whole having been hit very hard by the recession. As well as commercial cuts in spending on development and building projects, homeowners also tightened their belts and purse strings so companies catering for both commercial and domestic customers could not even rely on the other half of their market to provide a positive.

After seeing a decline in profits in 2009, although 2010 isn’t likely to provide a miracle cure to make up for last year’s reduction in revenue, paving firm Marshalls are beginning to see a turn in the market for 2010 compared to this time last year. Marshalls, who have just been recognised as a 2010 Business Superbrand for their strength as a B2B brand, receive 60% of their revenue from commercial, public sector and corporate customers and 40% of sales as generated by sales to residential homeowners.

Marshalls supply a range of paving and driveway products and both functional and decorative items to enhance gardens, including walling materials, paving, greenhouses, summerhouses, garages and products to assist with water management in your garden. Their range of hard landscaping materials is produced with commitment to quality products, with the Marshalls group including a number of prominent brands including Classical Flagstones, supplying stone flooring and flagging in both contemporary and traditional ranges, Compton concrete garages, Alton cedar greenhouses and Robinsons aluminium greenhouses. In addition to the companies that are part of the Marshalls group, the paving and hard landscaping firm also supplies garden furniture and planters, outdoor lighting and stone benches and a range of garden gates.

The landscaping firm has also seen a turn in its fortunes over the last six months as enquiries and orders generated by builders working on developments for the 2012 London Olympics have doubled creating £2 million in orders and £14 million worth of enquiries. Due to the construction work still being in progress, the majority of the work will not be immediate for the company however. Graham Holden, the Chief Executive said,

“We tend to come in towards the end of projects so I expect the bulk of our work to be in late 2011.”

Holden went on to say that the signs of housing market recovery could be a positive indication for the year ahead, although the poor weather in January had been shown to have a negative impact on homeowners spending money on their homes.

As the weather is improving and the nights are becoming lighter, there is less inclination for people to hide away in their homes and the attractiveness of having a new driveway laid with paving, gravel, cobbles or pattern imprinted concrete could become ever more popular. If you need to find a reputable paving and driveway firm to provide a quote to lay a new drive or pave a path or patio, look no further than localtraders.com.

Choosing the Right Type of Fence Posts for Your New Fence

Sarah — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:00:03 +0000

The first step towards replacing your old broken and insecure fencing is to choose your fence panels and the height that you want your fencing to come to. Once that decision has been made however, deciding which posts you are to use when erecting a fence is equally important.

There are a number of options available, but some are more practical than others depending on the type of fence you are planning to erect in your garden:

concrete posts
wooden posts
metal posts

Most posts are available in a range of different heights, but you need to bear in mind that in some cases, there may be restrictions in place about where you can erect fencing and the maximum height that fencing can be, for example in conservation areas or if your new fence will block out light to a neighbour’s garden. If in doubt, it is always best to speak to a local planning officer at your local council.

Concrete posts

Concrete posts are the most durable choice for fence posts. They provide a lot of strength to the fence and will withstand all weather conditions. If choosing this post then you will probably need to get some help erecting them due the weight, but they can be combined with concrete gravel boards for a co-ordinated look and to protect your fence panels from moisture in the ground, prolonging their life.

Wood posts

Wooden post blend in a lot better with the overall look of the fence, but you will need to plant them deeper into the ground to provide the same strength as concrete, and they will need more maintenance work over the years as they will rot. There are a couple of options available to you to reduce the likelihood of your posts rotting however. You may want to add a bit of concrete to the bed of the posts to reduce the amount of the surface that is exposed to moisture, or you could use tanalised timber or treat the wooden posts with a wood preservative before installing them.

If you choose tanalised timber, the chemicals used in the tanalising process such as arsenic, and be leached into the surrounding soil, so you should avoid using tanalised posts near to vegetable patches, especially if you want to try organic gardening.

Metal fence posts

Metal fence posts are the easiest of the 3 to erect and are a good, long lasting option as they will not rot. They are better suited to metal fencing however as they can look a little harsh or out of place with wooden fence panels, unless you are looking to create a contemporary look to your garden with stainless steel metal water features or metal sculptures.

Once you have decided on the type of fence and posts you are going to use, the next step is to calculate how many fence posts you will need to erect your fencing around the perimeter of your garden or along your driveway or yard.

Erecting a Garden Fence – Different Types of Fence Panels

Phil — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 08:00:23 +0000

First and foremost when erecting a fence the obvious and perhaps most important thing to do is to decide what type of fence will suit your needs. There are 4 main types of fencing that you can use:

closeboard
palisade
overlap
trellis

By understanding what each of these types of fencing look like and are suitable for, you will be able to get the best type of fence to suit your needs.

Closeboard fencing is made from overlapped boards of timber. Closeboard fence panels provide complete privacy and are the strongest of the 4 main types of fence.

Palisade fencing is your more traditional looking sort of fence. This is a type of picket fence which, unlike closeboard fence panels, offer both visibility and also security in equal amounts.

Overlap fencing is similar to closeboard panels in that they are constructed from overlapping boards of timber, but they overlap horizontally whereas closeboard overlaps are vertical. Again, like closeboard panels, overlap fencing offers maximum privacy and security by screening off your garden from prying eyes.

Trellis fencing can be used in two ways; on its own or built in front or above other fence panels. On its own, trellis offers security, but privacy levels are low due to its diamond/square shaped cuts. It does have the benefit of providing a good framework for growing climbing plants up which can increase the privacy of your garden by blocking out the spaces in between the wooden laths.

Insulating Your Home to Prevent Drafts and Cut Energy Bills

Teresa — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 08:00:26 +0000

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.

The main source of heat loss in the home is through the roof so make sure that your loft is insulated properly, but you can also take smaller, inexpensive measures such as using draft excluders on the front and back doors of your home, along with double glazed windows, and using sealant in the gaps between the edge of your floor boards and skirting boards will keep the temperature higher in the home by reducing cold drafts.

The recommended depth for loft insulation is 270mm. When laying loft insulation, always make sure that protective clothing, gloves and a mask are worn at all times. Glass mineral wool insulation can cause skin iritation and it is important to wear a face mask to prevent inhalation of small fibres when laying and cutting pieces to the right length.

£628k Isle of Man Airport Fencing Project Underway

Sarah — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:14:47 +0000

Contractors have begun installing a £628k perimeter fence around the airport on the Isle of Man in line with plans drawn up by the Department for Transport in 2005. The plans for the fence installation were originally proposed when it was found that sections of fencing were broken or damaged, leaving the perimeter of the airfield insecure. In addition, a stile crossing the wall of the airfield enabled public access to the airfield itself.

The work to erect fencing around the site began yesterday and will stretch 3.7 miles with areas of the airport that need to be protected by high security fencing being surrounded with concrete fence posts that are 2.8 metres high, with a layer of barbed wire as an additional deterrent to trespassers. Metal fence posts with lower level metal fencing will provide a secure boundary around other areas of the airport perimeter as a cheaper option where high security isn’t such an issue.

The high cost of installing the airport security fencing has resulting in criticism being directed at the Department for Transport, however airport director, Ann Reynolds maintains that the benefits of providing additional safety and security justify the cost, saying that the current inadequate security leave those using the airport vulnerable because of the “number of trespassers” using the airfield as a short cut.

The work comes at a time when the airport is seeing other major work being done, including the building of a promontory built using stone imported from Norway which will extend into the sea. The airport’s runway end safety areas (RESAs) are also being extended in order to comply with safety standards that have been recommended to be put in place internationally. The airport development work will include a range of other groundwork and improvements including:

new car park and pavement construction
lighting
drainage works
footways
planting and landscaping
utility works
barrier systems and pay meters

The work should improve the aesthetics of the airport as well as providing sufficient additional resources to handle the demand the facility is put under, especially at busy times such as school holidays.

Creating Additional Living Accommodation: Garage Conversions

Dan — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 08:00:47 +0000

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.

Depending on your the size and location of your garage and what type of house you own, it can be an easy process and cause very little disruption in your home so lets look at what’s involved with garage conversions. Converting a garage into an extra room is classed as a ‘change of use of part of a building’ and so you will more than likely need to have planning permission from your local council to carry out this work.

If your garage is external then you will more than likely need to build a cavity wall to provide adequate insulation as most external garages are built single bricked as they are not designed for living in. This may require some extra foundations to be laid to support the extra weight and again may require planning permission. If your garage already has a cavity wall rather than being single skin, then the build will be significantly less expensive and time consuming.

Garage conversions vary in cost depending on build type but a typical single garage conversion can cost between £5,000 – £10,000 with a double garage conversion costing around £9,000 – £18,000 so you may wish to consider this a cost effective alternative to other options such as an extension or a loft conversion.

Firm Destroys Historic Plaster Ceiling During Renovation

Sarah — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 08:00:52 +0000

While carrying out property development of a historic listed building in Aberdeen, Stewart Property Services Ltd carried out unauthorised internal work to the property, making changes that planning permission had not been granted to cover. The unauthorised work consisted of creating 15 bedrooms in the property which had been approved to consist of 9 bedrooms, with the remaining space being used for resident meeting space, games rooms and seating areas.

The affected space contained two examples of fine plaster ceilings dating from the late 18th or early 19th century, which were considered to be among the best examples of decorative plasterwork that have survived to be seen today. An historic buildings inspector who visited the property in 2007 had commented at the time that although there were ‘grander, more elaborate’ examples than the ceilings that could be seen in the Victoria Court property in public buildings in the city such as theatres, they were not as old, and it was also noted that the plasterwork ceilings of the listed building were in good condition.

When the planners questioned about the unauthorised work, the developer advised that as renovation work had progressed, problems with dry and wet rot had been discovered which would have resulted in a large amount of repair work which would have been costly. The developer also tried to justify the change to 15 bedrooms rather than the original approved 9 bedrooms that he was requesting retrospective planning permission for by advising that it was “financially imperative” for his company to allow the change to the original permission.

During the renovation process, one of the ceilings was removed completely and the other was obscured by a false ceiling which had been fitted with a sprinkler system. The Development Management Sub-Committee members at the city council unanimously decided that action needed to be taken against the developer in order to protect the remaining plasterwork ceiling and to enforce the undertaking of remedial work to reinstate a plaster ceiling in place of the plasterwork that was destroyed.

The enforcement action that the council has imposed includes removal of the partition walls that were built on the first and second floors, returning rooms to their original sizes and any original features should be restored with replacement features to match existing surviving decorative elements where these are missing, ensuring the pattern in which they are applied matched the original design – work which would have to be approved by the planning authority. In addition to this, the false ceiling would have to be removed to reveal the original plasterwork ceiling that was not damaged, and a new ceiling would have to be applied to match the original plasterwork design.

Kate Dean, the convener, condemned the actions of the developers, saying it was unacceptable to destroy parts of buildings that are of historical importance, but noted that she would be looking forward to the proposals submitted by the development company to address the requirements of the committee.

New Heating and Cooling Seminars Launched by Danfoss

Sarah — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 12:21:54 +0000

Danfoss, a family owned global business and one of Denmark’s biggest industrial companies, manufacture, service and sell mechanical parts and electronic components around the world for a number of industries. Their products include heating solutions, air conditioning controls, and controls for appliances and water systems.

Danfoss have announced that they have launched a free new CPD seminar which will be called ‘The Complete Design Solution for Variable Flow Systems’. The new seminar, which will add to current seminars offered by Danfoss, will provide the opportunity for mechanical design engineers and contractors who are responsible for designing systems to benefit from two workshops, each lasting 40 minutes, covering the heating and cooling aspects of variable flow heating systems.

Variable flow systems are installed as a method of increasing energy efficiency of heating and cooling systems and should also help increase the lifespan of the systems that are installed. There is also increased value for money for customers because the pumps and amount of pipework required to install the system will be less expensive than alternative types of system.

The aim of the seminars is to bring together the various aspects of control and balance within variable flow systems, especially as Danfoss Randall have identified, the use of this type of system is now practically universal. The seminars should provide engineers and contractors with a complete picture of variable flow heat and cooling systems, beginning with the design process involved, installing the heating or cooling system, commissioning and the lifetime of the system.

The first seminar covers the heating aspect of variable flow systems, in particular balance and control of the system, but also covering the following elements:

circuits for underfloor heating
2-pipe radiator systems
de-centralised plant control
de-centralised plant balance
pressure controller sizing
system by-pass
pump protection

The second workshop will focus on the cooling element of variable flow systems, again focusing on the balance and control of the systems, but also covering the following:

chilled beam control and balance
fan coil control and balance
air handling unit control and balance
improving control authority
pressure independent control valves
savings on commissioning and installation of systems
pump energy usage reduction

Danfoss deliver the free seminars at contractors’ and engineering firms’ own premises and certificates of attendance will be provided to all attending. Workshops can be arranged through the Danfoss website.