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Rendering of a house is one of those projects that can greatly improve the visual appeal of your home, enhance it’s energy efficiency, protect the brickwork from the elements and ultimately, add value to your home. Generally, the cost of rendering a house normally costs within the range of £25 to £70 per metre square, while the average cost house rendering costs stands at about £40 per square metre. Therefore, a 3 bedroom semi detached house will cost within the range of £4000 to about £5000.

The total cost of rendering a house is determined by a wide range of factors. These factors includes the following:

✓ Type of the rendering. There are three main types of rendering which includes sand and cement rendering, monocouche rendering as well as acrylic or silicone rendering. However, re-rendering applies to sand and cement sooner and it’ll also have to be painted every 3 to 6 years. Consequently, longer term cost can be higher when compared to the other types.

✓ Ease of access. Where your contractor will have to work around obstacles like shrubs or conservatory, this can make the cost a bit higher as it’ll take longer time to complete.

✓ Prep work. If the contractor needs to fill some cracks or perhaps an old mortar requires tuck pointing before rendering can be started, this will also affect the cost.

✓ Scaffolding. In the event whereby the job requires the use of scaffolding and you’ll have to hire one as a different cost, then the price will be higher.

✓ Your location. Due to the high standards of living and higher demands in areas like London or the Southeast, prices in these regions are usually higher than that of the other regions like Midlands and North.

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.

External Wall Insulation (EWI) is the act of insulating a home by fitting insulation to the exterior parts of the building which in turn improves thermal performance, cuts energy consumption ( savings on energy bill) and also adds to the home’s visual appeal. The systems are built in multiple layers, with the insulation board offering a plethora of options with each being suitable to varying projects and their needs. Installing an external wall insulation comes with a variety of benefits, let’s have a look!

• Thermal Performance Improvement

With EWI, the thermal inertia of the walls are greatly enhanced while also restricting the loss of heat. Ultimately, this lowers heating costs, enhances the comfort of indoor thermal and also reduces CO2 pollution.

• Eliminates Noise Pollution

When the noise levels are high, it can have a bad impact on our overall well being. A great way to reduce the disturbances from the outside like traffic noise is by fitting an External Wall Installation system.

• More Comfortable Living Space

Do you know the damp in homes can contribute to respiratory problems? A properly insulated home will greatly limit the impact of condensation by combating the damp issues. As a result, you can always expect your house to be cosy and comfy irrespective of the season. A cooler summer and warmer spring is guaranteed with EWI.

• Enhances The Property’s Visual Appeal

Looking for an excuse to rejuvenate your home’s aesthetic appeal? Well, you can as well try out adding an EWI system. There are a plethora of unique colours and styles you can pick from to beautify your home effortlessly.

• Adds Value To Property

An insulated home will generally cost more than an uninsulated one at the time of resale. Potential home buyers are more interested in the acquisition of a home with an EWI system due to its various benefits - and a higher demand can only imply a higher price!

It depends on the style and size of the conversion, but in general, a loft conversion will take between 1-2 months. A loft conversion is a substantial building project, and plans will need to be drawn up. This may add to the time it takes to complete your loft conversion.

When it comes to house renovation costs, nothing is certain. As a rule of thumb, you should always expect the unexpected. Unforeseen circumstances (mostly unfavourable) can crop up from anywhere, at any time, greatly affecting the cost of the project. However, if you’ve completed proper planning and done your due diligence on your property before commencement, there’s absolutely no reason why you can’t put the works on budget.

The cost of a house renovation project depends on a lot of variables. These variables include the type of property you’re undertaking as well as the amount and complexity of the entire project. What’s more? Whether you decide to do some of the work yourself or wish to hire quality tradespeople to cover the entire project will also tell on the cost of the home renovation.

In the event whereby you wish to completely gut your property and begin from square one, here are some of the cost you’re most likely going to incur:

✓ Planning applications and building controls

✓ Architect’s design and specifications

✓ Contractors and build costs

✓ Snags as well as unforeseen problems

What will be the biggest cost, which will be determined by the amount of work you need done, is most likely going to be the structural and building work, which can reach up to tens of thousands of pounds.

Asides from material and labour, the administrative costs is another important cost you’ll need to factor in. The first thing here is usually insurance, this is because all regular building insurance policies does not cover large scale renovation projects. So if what you’re planning is a huge structural change to your property, then it’s more likely that it won’t be covered by your buildings insurance policy. In this event, you’ll have to take out a specialist renovation insurance.

A lot of an uninsulated property’s heat is lost through the roof and that’s even more alarming, when you realize this figure is up to a quarter of the total heat of the house. Hence, the tremendous importance of preventing this heat loss through loft insulation which will go a long way to help you against spending unnecessary thousands of pounds on heating bill as well as energy loss.

Loft insulation is an effective method to achieve the desired result, however the question is, how exactly does it work? Well, it’s time to find out!

Using either a fireplace or central heating to heat up your home, a large quantity of that heat would be lost through the roof of your home. Generally, heat rises and when it does, there’s simply no way to prevent it - it’s just science. Escaping by both the conduction and convection methods via your roof, the heat escaping through your ceiling, into the loft space and out into the open air outside can only be significantly reduced by laying loft insulation.

Generally, the added layer of insulation works by trapping the heat inside the room below the loft so as to enable the air within your house to stay warmer for longer. What’s more? The layer of insulation also keeps cold air from the outside from entering your home. As a result, you don’t have to heat your home as much in order to achieve the same temperature for each individual room. Over time, just by doing this you can potentially save hundreds pounds. Getting it installed in your home may actually seem a bit expensive at first, but it’s something that’ll eventually pay off.

Garage conversion is a great way to add extra usable space to your home without having to extend your property. A fun fact is that, in the UK if you have your car parked in the garage, you’re in the minority. According to a research carried out by Admiral Loans, just about 33 percent of home owners in the UK store their cars in the garage. For most people the garage is literally a dumping ground that’s never fully utilized as such. In recent times, the garage is now being used to store a variety of other stuffs asides a car which includes garden furniture, tools and appliances, utilities such as washing machine, fridge and freezer as well as food and groceries. These facts show that more and more people are underutilizing their garage when they may actually be in need of more usable space in their property. So why not put into consideration converting the garage into a new space that would be able to serve more purpose?

If you’ve decided to convert your garage, you’d probably want to know the how long the project will take. There are a wide range of factors that can determine the duration of a garage conversion project. These factors include:

• If the foundation needs reinforcing

• If the floors, walls, or roofs are in a bad condition.

• If the ceiling height needs some raising

• If the insulation required in newer builds.

All aforementioned factors will make the garage conversion project take longer than expected. However, in normal situations garage conversions are relatively quick to complete once you start the building works. A single-car conversion will usually take about 3 to 4 weeks to complete depending on the existing garage’s structure.

How To Lay Loft Boards

Do you need more storage space in your home or property? If you live in a tiny space especially where extensions can’t be made sideways, why not look to the topmost area of your home and consider boarding out your loft to make it usable?

Boarding your loft can make for a fairly easy DIY project but like every other home improvement tasks, it requires some specific skill sets as well as knowledge for a successful construction. Therefore, we’d recommend you hire the services of a reliable professional in order to guarantee the best possible outcome, especially if you lack proper training or experience that’ll help you avoid some costly mistakes. Here, we’ll give you a good insight into the loft board laying procedures.

• Get The Right Tools & Equipment

The materials and supplies you’ll need to lay loft boards include loft boards, screws, tape measure and pencil, drill, hammer, saw, protective gear such as gloves and dust mask.

• Work Out The Area

Measure up the area you need the boards to cover. The standard loft features two different sizes (both are 18mm thick) which include 2400mm x 600mm and 1220mm x 320mm. You should ensure that the board you opt for fits through the loft hatch perfectly.

• Start Laying

Once you’re done working out the area, the next step is to put on your protective gear and start putting the boards in place. You should lay the boards in a staggered pattern so as to give a better strength. While doing this, watch out for any wire running through your loft so they don’t get trapped, you should also cut the boards for easy access to the light fittings’ top.

• Make It Permanent

Upon the successful placement of the boards in a way that offer a safe area to store things and stand on, you’ll have to screw them in place. Start by drilling 2 or 5 holes along the edge of individual boards in such a way that lines up with the centre of the joist below. Once done, then you can fix them in place with screws.