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Over the years, more and more home and property owners are beginning to realize the huge benefits that can be derived from loft insulation being a worthwhile investment. It’s quite worrisome the way in which energy bills have soared over the past 10 years and loft insulation is a considerable affordable energy efficiency measure that can go a long way to help increase your home’s energy savings.

As far back as the 1980’s, the standard when it comes to insulation thickness was 25 mm to 50 mm which was, at the time, considered to be sufficient. However, building regulations have changed the norm that now states that a new build needs to possess 270 mm of insulation in the loft in order to achieve the required u-value of less than 0.16/m2k based on the standard rock wool or sheep wool insulation.

Generally with loft insulation, there’s a law of depreciating returns which implies that the first couple of insulation centimetres will save you many times the cost of the installation, however an extra layer or centimetre is going to add less value to the point where it’ll no longer be wise or worthwhile to add any further centimetre. Therefore, with cheaper energy prices 30 years back, that additional couple of centimetres was not just worthwhile, but with the recent alarming rises in costs of fuel, that additional £10 savings per year has all of sudden changed to £30 which makes it become a lot more attractive.

If you already have 270 mm of loft insulation, regardless of the material you’re looking to add you’re most likely not going to benefit from a top up. The cost of the materials and installation will definitely be too high for the couple of pounds it’ll save you per year.

In some cases, it’s possible to convert a basement into an apartment. This can be a great way to incorporate an additional dwelling into your property and increase its value. However, converting a basement into an apartment can be quite expensive and time-consuming.

As with any type of dwelling, you’ll need to think about basic things like access, damp proofing, ventilation, insulation, heating, electrics, plumbing, lighting and décor. If you’re planning on extending your basement, then you’ll also need to ensure that your property is sufficiently supported.

It’s a good idea to consult a professional, like a basement conversion building specialist, to find out how feasible your project is before you go ahead with it.

How Much Is Plasterboard?

Do you wish to install plasterboard in the nearest future? If yes, then you’d probably want to know the amount it’s going to cost. Here, we’ll give you a detailed plasterboarding prices breakdown to help you calculate an estimate for your project.

A plasterboarding project including the cost of both materials and labour with the use of a high quality panels is about £4 to £5 per panel. Therefore, if you wish to calculate on the basis of a standard room about 12x12ft would cost about £500 to £600. However, this price can fluctuate significantly depending on the professional as well as the quality of the materials you wish to incorporate in completing the project. We’d recommend that you hire the services of a professional with accreditation as he would provide you with a detailed quote with no hidden charges or costs. To give you a clearer idea, we’ve taken the time out to put together some estimated costs of employing the services of a seasoned professional plasterer to supply and plasterboard your home or office. Let’s take a look!

• A 6 x 12ft room with panels and plasterboard should have an average cost within the range of £250 to £400 and duration of one to two days.

• The individual cost of plasterboarding or drywalling a standard 12 x 12ft room should have an average cost within the range of £500 to £600 and duration of one to three days. These includes 60% for materials used (£330), 30% for tradespersons (£165) and the remaining 10% for waste removal (£55) to give a total cost of £550.

• A 12 x 24ft room with panels and plasterboard should have an average cost within the range of £1000 to £1200 and duration of three to six days.

When Does A Loft Become A Habitable Room?

When a loft is being converted to functional space, there are a multiple options it can offer. It’s not uncommon that at the conversion of this space, many household may not have a specific plan on how it’s going to be used. However, they know later on an actual need might arise, perhaps as you start working from home, developing other hobbies that requires an extra space or the family grows.

The loft can easily be converted into a game room, study room, playroom or even a household’s “breathing space etc. However, when the family grows and you wish to make use of the space on the top of your home as an extra bedroom, there are many factors to consider. The fact is, just because there’s enough space to fit a bed, doesn’t make it habitable. For a loft to become habitable, it must be built specifically for the purpose of being a sleeping area and must also comply with the relevant building regulations. It’s as a result of this, many property sale particulars include “potential third bedroom, subject to regulations statement written on it as well as the boarded and insulated loft space’s dimensions.

Loft conversions building regulations are set in such a way to ensure that adequate attention is given to both safety and structural elements to build a new space that’s fit for undetermined household use. These regulations are established minimum requirements to guarantee the following:

• The new floor and ceiling’s structural integrity.

• The existing roof and party wall modification’s structural stability.

• Safety during fire incidents plus an escape route.

• An appropriate stairway access.

• The proposed changes’ structural suitability to the external environment in association with the local area as well as any unique factors specific to the property.

If you’ve decided to construct a porch to your property and now looking to figure out the cost required to complete the project, then you’re at the right place!

There are many factors that comes to play when determining the price of building a porch. These factors includes the size of the porch, the number of windows, the style of the roof as well as the type of the porch selected. Now let’s take a look at these factors one after the other.

• The Porch’s Size

As you would have correctly imagined, a large porch will definitely cost more money than a smaller one. A rough estimate of a porch’s cost per square metre is approximately £1,400.

• The Number Of Windows

Just like in the scenario above, the more the number of windows to be incorporated, the more money you’ll have to pay to complete your porch. A porch window will generally cost you within a range of £300 to £1,000

• The Style Of The Roof

There are two popular styles of porch’s roof which includes a tiled rood and a rubber flat roof. Generally, roof tiles are costlier than a rubber flat roof. A tiled roof would cost you between £0.80 to £1.80 per roof tile, while a rubber roofing will cost your between £70 to £90 per metre squared.

• Type Of The Porch

Another huge determinant of a porch’s price is type of material incorporated. For instance, if your preferred type is a lean-to, the price of a uPVC would be between £2,300 to £2,700. Meanwhile, a flat gable roof porch should cost within a range of £3,300 to £3,800.

Kindly note that the costs quoted in this article are only rough estimates, for a more accurate estimate you can contact a porch building professional within your local area.

We all need a reliable place to keep our clothes or dresses, however in situations where a standard freestanding wardrobe just won’t cut it, there is the need to put into consideration a fitted wardrobe. For instance, if you have a bedroom with acloves and sloping ceilings, you’ll discover that the standard-size, freestanding wardrobe just won’t be suitable as they’ll appear strange and look very much out of place while also not being able to put the available space to efficient use. In this regard, a fitted wardrobe will do a much better job as it’s a lot more suitable for mostly all types of bedrooms. So if you’re thinking about having one fitted in your bedroom, you’d probably want to know the just how much it’ll cost. In this article, we’re going to provide you with a good insight on fitted wardrobes cost.

Generally, the prices of fitted wardrobes depend largely on a number of factors. These variables include both the quality as well as the type of included fittings. The types of fitted wardrobes with their estimated price range are given below:

✓ Bespoke fitted bedroom wardrobe. This type can range between £2500 to about £3000 depending on the design details. The extras include mouldings, columns and panels.

✓ Simple two section closet. This type can range between £2500 to about £3200 depending on the design.

✓ Large bedroom, three section, six doors. This type of fitted wardrobe features both interior and exterior finishes alongside drawers and hanging space. The cost normally ranges between £4400 to £4900.

✓ Contemporary, sliding door fitted wardrobe. This type usually features three sections alongside door mirrors to make the bedroom appear larger. The cost normally ranges between £2800 to £3600.

Are you interested in extending your home to create more living space? If yes, then you’d probably want to know how much value it can add to your property in order to compare the building costs to the potential value gain. Well, as long as you know what you’re doing, your house doesn’t necessarily have to be a money pit. So what are your options when talking about home extensions and what’s the associated value to be gained?

• Bathroom Extensions

Although you should have it in mind that bathroom extensions isn’t usually that cheap, but once done, it can increase the value of a standard UK house within the range of £12,000 to £15,000. Meanwhile the finishing cost of a bathroom can range from £2,500 to £7,000.

• Single or Double Storey Extensions

Single storey extensions are always huge when it comes to increasing the value of your home - giving about 4 to 7 percent increase. If it goes that far, then literally nothing beats a full spectrum, double storey extension which can give up to 11 percent increase in the value of a property - equalling about a whooping £33,000 for a standard home in the UK.

• Conservatory Extension

With conservatories becoming more and more popular in the UK due to the weather conditions, several buyers are now including it’s availability as part of the criteria for purchasing a house. Wonder why? This is simply because everyone wants to enjoy their garden all throughout the year. As a result of this high demand, adding this type of extension to your house can go a long way to increase it’s value. However, it’s very important to incorporate high quality materials during construction. With glass conservatories offering, on the average, up to £5,000 increase in value, the cheaper PVC alternative offers much less value and can also deter potential buyers.

Any residential building work requires a general builder. The term Residential building work means any work which is involved in building a house or changing or adding to a home. It also comprises of mending, refurbishing, ornamenting or applying shielding treatment to home. A dwelling is defined as a building or a part where people live. This might include an apartment, house or a townhouse.

Here is a list of some of the works that require a building licence:

• construction of a garage, carport or a shed

• renovation for bathroom, kitchen or laundry

• structural landscaping and building swimming pools

• construction of conservatories and atriums

• house lifting for example, raising the height of an existing structure permanently

• removing and resitting dwellings

• steam rooms and saunas.

General building contracts might also involve work that needs a specialist. These works can be appropriately subcontracted. However, this work must be carried out by the container of a permitted contractor licence or competent administrator certificate in that specialist category.

There are a number of different categories of licences that are available depending on whether you want to oversee the work or have an agreement with another party. When you have a contractor licence, you will have the option of submitting a contact to bid on the work. You can only do the categories of work designated on your licence card. Contractor licences can be allotted to people and businesses and partnerships.

With a certificate of a qualified supervisor, you will be able to supervise the type of work specified in the certificate. Such certificates are only issued to individuals and do not allow you to contract for work.

The licence of an endorsed contractor is issued to those individuals who have applied for a contractor licence but also possess the necessary qualifications and experience to become a qualified supervisor.