If things go wrong

It doesn’t have to be the end of the world if your home improvements go wrong. The easiest solution is to discuss the problem and give the tradesman a chance to put it right. If that doesn’t work, follow these simple steps. Put your complaint in writing giving a deadline. Send it to the head office (if there is one) and send it by recorded or special delievery so that there can be no dispute about it having been received.

Always keep copies of all letters sent and received and make a note of conversations. If you’re not satisfied with the work, you may consider withholding part of the payment. Be careful if you have a credit agreement because there could be complications if you fall behind with payments. Inform the lender if such problems arise. If you chose a contractor that belongs to a trade association, they may offer a conciliation or arbitration service to settle your dispute. If you’re considering taking the contractor to court, it will be worth paying an expert to back up your complaint. Any reputable trader with relevant experience can count as an expert. Claims not exceeding £5,000 will normally be allocated to the small claims track. Claims between £5,000 and £15,000 will generally be allocated to the fast track County Court procedure.

source: independent

builders Facts

facts - finding a good builder

You’ll not only endure weeks of builder’s bum and builder’s tea - a builder can make your project a dream or a nightmare. Find out how to choose wisely.

A bad builder in your home can be an extremely stressful experience, but for every rotten apple there are many hard-working and responsible companies. The trick is knowing how to select them. Below is a step-by-step guide to rooting out the cowboys and picking a sure-fire winner.
Read more

builders Facts

Facts - radiators

So the first chill of autumn has sliced its way through the air and thoughts are turning to central heating. For most of us, that means firing up a series of ugly white steel boxes that we try to hide behind covers.

But those days are over, and the radiators/">radiator fetish is spreading among consumers and designers.Radiators now come in all sorts of shapes, materials and colours – round steel plates, hot boxes, even stone and clear glass models – partly because of the need to find more eco-friendly solutions and partly because of the wealth of options available. By answering a few simple questions, you can find something to fit the bill.

How big should my radiators/">radiator be?

This is the first crucial step. Ask a plumber to calculate this before you buy. Or do it yourself in watts or British Thermal Units (BTUs). Work out the volume of the room in cubic metres (length x height x width) then for sitting rooms multiply by 50, bedrooms 40, halls, stairs and kitchens 30 and bathrooms 90. Add 15 per cent for north-facing rooms and 20 for French windows, or deduct 10 per cent for double glazing. If your house is less than 20 years old, take off 30 per cent. That number is the size of radiators/">radiator you need in watts. Multiply by 3.412 for BTUs.

What is the greenest heating choice?

Swap stainless-steel radiators for recycled aluminium. They use a tiny amount of water, so heat up quickly and reduce energy use. Then fit thermostatic radiators/">radiator valves, which automatically switch each radiators/">radiator off as they reach the desired temperature, so the hot water can go to the other radiators instead. If you use a timer system, energy is only used when necessary.

What are radiators made from?

Katie Findlay, co-owner of Feature Radiators, the biggest supplier of specialist contemporary and traditional radiators in the UK, gives her verdict.

Aluminium: Lightweight, easy to install, and gives terrific output for the size. Quick to heat up, too, but quicker to cool down. Aluminium is also reasonably priced and popular in modern and period homes as the flat-fronted panels make them discreet.

Cast iron: If you want a reclaimed original cast-iron Victorian radiators/">radiator, you’ll have to find the perfect size and have it restored, and you risk damaging your boiler. It’s hard to assess its output to know if it’s the right size for the room, and it can be hard to spot leaks. You also have no recourse if you bought it as seen from a salvage yard. If you buy reproduction, it will come with a guarantee, and you can have have it professionally spray-painted.

Cast iron takes a while to get going but retains heat very well. You need to turn them on 90 minutes before you want to use the room, but you can turn them off earlier. They also tend to give a good all-round heat rather than the quick, intense burst you get from steel, so are great in old houses.

If you have cast iron, add a third short midday heating period to reduce that long heating-up time.

Stainless steel: Good for bending into sexy shapes, this is often the contemporary material of choice. It lasts well and is very efficient. But if you go for an unusual look, think about whether you can live with it for a long time.

Stone: Natural materials are coming through now. Findlay does one in marble, which is fantastic for retaining heat and looks great in a bathroom. You can have it with a rail attached for a towel.

Glass: Glass radiators are electric but come with their own thermostats and have no visible pipes or wires. “It just looks like a window, but it heats up,” says Edd Payton from the Glass radiators/">Radiator Company. The glass is covered with a clear film that does the heating. Or you can have one that looks like a mirror. They are expensive (about £1,000) but only cost around 2p an hour to run. They are popular in France, where electricity is cheap.

Do I have to put them under the window?

Radiators are usually put under windows since they work best in the coolest part of the room, but that’s not necessary if you work out where you want your furniture. If you have floor-length curtains, it might not be sensible to have the radiators/">radiator under the window as it will be hard for the heat to push its way back into the room. Or trim the curtains.

Can I paint my exisiting radiators/">radiator?

You can, but you won’t get the professional job that spraying would do. Findlay recommends using car paint, which, she says, is perfectly adequate for the job. “It’s designed to cope with extremes of temperature and has be tough enough to withstand a great deal of abuse,” she says. “You can use emulsion to match the walls, but it will crack and peel.”

Should I buy electric radiators?

You would use these if you have built an extension and didn’t want to go through the upheaval of adding to your existing central heating system, or if you were in a listed building and weren’t allowed to install pipes. Or if you needed extra heat in a specific room, if say, an elderly parent was coming to stay. Many radiators come in freestanding electric versions.

Do heated towel rails work?

Yes, if you buy the right one. You do need to consider if it is the sole source of heat for the room because if you cover it in towels then there won’t be much space left for heating the room. But if you are going to have a radiators/">radiator as well then the dedicated rails are perfect for warming the towels.

www.featureradiators.com; 01274 567 789 (nationwide delivery)
www.theoldradiatorcompany 01233 840 455
www.glassradiators.co.uk; 08700 100 602
www.diy.com; 08700 101 006 (designer radiators from B&Q)
www.marbleheating.co.uk; 08452 300 877
www.radiatingstyle.com; 08700 723 428

source: independent

Facts Going Green heating planning Plumbing

Facts - Converting Your Garage

So, when was the last time you actually parked your car in the garage? Even if you do manage to squeeze past the old tins of paint and carpet offcuts, you’ll probably only be able to open the driver’s door 12 inches before it hits the washing machine. Cars have got bigger; garages have become dumping grounds for all the detritus of modern life.

Meanwhile, the living quarters of the house are bursting at the seams. We sit in our too-small living rooms, desperately devising ways of expanding our homes. The loft has been done, digging out the cellar will cost a fortune. So, what does the homeowner do next?

It’s time to prioritise our own needs over those of our cars. It’s time we admitted that we will never use the workbench, that a third of a can of paint does not merit its own room in the house. It’s time to reclaim the garage space.

Even the smallest garage can account for at least 60 square feet of floor space. With several specialist conversion companies now enjoying a boom, turning a garage into an office, bedroom, home-cinema den or dining room could be the most cost-effective way to boost the size and value of your home.

That’s exactly what Alistair Fleming of Flemings Associates did to a garage in south London. His clients had plenty of bedrooms, but were short of living space downstairs, and saw their redundant garage as the solution. The local planners insisted that they kept the existing façade and doors, but behind that, they now have an integrated room that flows seamlessly into the rest of the house.

The walls and floor were kept consistent with the main house to unite the living room with the new play area, and a sliding door was added to shut the room off when it’s not in use. A new, oversized window at the rear of the extension draws in plenty of natural light, providing huge views over the garden. The new room also doubles up as a useful entertaining space. The conversion is a triumph.

But how do these conversions affect the value of your property? Is it something worth carrying out for profit alone, if you’re thinking of selling up? Dominic Pasqua, a partner at Knight Frank’s Wimbledon office, thinks it can have a “massive” impact on your property’s price tag. “If a house has off-street parking and a good-sized garage, a quality conversion could add £100,000 to the value of a house worth £1m. It makes it more desirable and therefore easier to sell.”

This is backed up by Anglian Home Improvements, a company that specialises in converting garages. It quotes an average single-garage conversion would cost between £6,000 to £10,000, but claims that the work can increase the value of a property by up to 6 per cent. This means that a three-bedroomed semi-detached house worth £250,000 that has £7,500 spent on converting its garage, could add £15,000 to its asking price.

But converted garages won’t increase the value of every house, warns Pasqua. “Areas where private parking is scarce or at a premium may find that garage conversions have no effect on the house’s value and could actually take away one of the main attractions to potential buyers.”

The interiors expert Elizabeth Wilhide, author of Converted: How to Extend Your Home Up, Down and Out, has some smart ideas and useful tips on turning unused garages into assets. Whether planning permission is required can often be a grey area, and Wilhide offers the following guidelines: “In planning law, garages may be considered as extensions,depending on their size and location. If you are converting a garage and you have not already used up your ‘permitted development rights’ on other extensions, you probably won’t need planning permission, unless you are intending to carry out major changes that would affect the appearance of your home from the street, your home is listed or you live in a conservation area.”

Wilhide continues: “Also, if you are intending the conversion to house a new commercial activity, your plans will fall under legislation concerning change of use. Err on the side of caution and investigate the position with your local planning officer first.”

Utilising garages can open up a whole range of new possibilities for your home, and create less disruption than you might think. “Attached garages can be absorbed very easily into the rest of your home,” suggests Wilhide, “simply by adding a connecting door between the two if one does not already exist. It is also a relatively simple procedure to install windows in place of the existing garage doors. The opening is already made, so you won’t be affecting the structure of your home.”

Rooflights could provide another option, especially if you’re creating a studio or office, but beyond these structural considerations, the work will largely consist of fitting out the interior, adding insulation up to current standards, and extending central heating and other services if these do not already exist.

And don’t forget detached garages, which can also be converted as stand-alone extensions. Integrate them more closely with your house by adding a covered walkway that will also protect you from the elements in bad weather. Annexes like these make perfect offices or overspill bedrooms, helping to keep work and relatives from invading your home.

It seems that garages are the new lofts. Rising house prices and families needing extra space have fuelled this mini boom in garage conversions, and the realisation that there has always been an extra, decent-sized room in our home is slowly dawning on thousands of us. All we need to do now is find somewhere else to hoard all that junk.

‘Converted: How to Extend Your Home Up, Down and Out’ by Elizabeth Wilhide is published by Collins, £20; Fleming Associates: 07976 248475; Anglian Home Improvements, 0800 500 600, www.anglianhome.co.uk

source: independent

Facts planning permission

Facts - Under floor heating

I came across an article by Hugo Tugman on his opinion regarding under floor heating. Usually everyone sings it’s praises, hailing it as the green savior. But Hugo gives it a less sycophantic review.

he writes:
“I used to love the idea of under-floor heating. There are no radiators to clutter up the walls and you get an even heat with warm feet and a cool head – in theory it is fantastic. Earlier this year I moved into a rented flat while my house was full of builders, and the flat had under-floor heating, but to my surprise, I have to admit that I went very cold on the whole thing.

The “thermal mass” argument suggests that because the heating system heats up the whole floor, this heat is retained efficiently over a long period. However, our experience was that this system was very difficult to control as it had a very slow response.

Often, we would come in to find the flat roasting and ended up opening windows – in mid-winter – to cool down. Other times we’d find the flat was cold (probably because we’d left the windows open after being too hot) and the place would take an age to warm up again, even with the heat turned up full. Hardly an energy efficient system.

It certainly struck me that, for all the benefits of warm feet on a stone bathroom floor (which is undeniably pleasing), there was an equal and opposite discomfort. Sitting as a family on the floor of the living room after Sunday lunch to play a board game became uncomfortably hot.

I suppose that the lesson is that you need to choose a system that suits you. Some people will go for a radiators/">radiator system throughout their house, with the exception of the kitchen – where finding walls for placing radiators is always difficult – and for bathrooms they specify under-floor heating, for that “warm feet” syndrome.

There are now plenty of boiler systems that can cope with supplying both types of heating systems. Alternatively, some people install electric under-floor systems in specific areas.

Generally speaking, the running costs of electric systems are much higher, but gas (for heating the warm water systems) has become much more expensive than it was. Plus, the installation cost of an electrical system is considerably less.

The other thing to bear in mind is that radiators are no longer just the ubiquitous ugly ribbed metal panels they once were. There are some wonderful sculptural radiators for feature areas, and more usefully there are simple, flat panel radiators that can be made to any size – tall and thin or long and low, depending on the room.”
More information on under floor heating

How much will it cost?

The new breed of electrical under-floor heating system, where there is a heated wire mesh laid into the adhesive beneath a tiled floor, is cheap to install – sometimes as little as a few hundred pounds, plus your tiling. Beware the running costs, however: they can be startlingly high. To have a new warm water, gas-fired, under-floor system fitted throughout a house would be likely to cost in the region of £8,000 to £10,000.

How much hassle is it?

In an ideal world, under-floor heating needs to go down before the flooring. In a refurbishment project, it often means lifting the floor up, which will usually render the rooms in question out of bounds while the work is in progress. With the water systems, it is recommended, and sensible, to pressure test the whole system before putting the floors back down. This will preclude the possibility of doing certain areas of the house at a time.

What’s the first step?

Try to gain some experience of the different options, rather than just falling for the sales patter. If you are thinking about an under-floor system, find out if any friends or relations have something similar, and spend some time in their house to see what you think.

part source: independent

Facts Going Green

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