Find a Builder you can trust in Yeovil.

Some individuals who have been in the construction department for many years may not be qualified, that is, they may not have undergone an apprenticeship and/or trade certificate courses, but they might still be very skilled at their work. However, anybody can pick up a sledgehammer and demand themselves a builder lacking any skills or training. The wise thing would be to ask the builder coming to your house about what qualifications they have and what training they have undergone.

Licensing of building practitioners

You can now check if your builder or tradesperson is a licensed building practitioner by using an electronic public register which has a record of every registered builder. Being licensed provides you with an assurance that the builder who is about to do your work has proven his shill to the government and earned his right to be a practitioner. If you wish for certain important building and design work on your home it is imperative that you hire a licensed practitioner, the act is very common when you compare the scenario with when you have to call a plumber or an electrician regarding any work.

In order to become a builder in the UK, you must complete an apprenticeship or an NVQ. NVQ is another popular route to becoming a builder. You can also get your NVQ even when you are working as an apprentice. You can also make it based on any recognised overseas qualification.

All associates maintain a Code of Practice and Conduct which sets the standards for all stages of the building procedure. The Code requires builders to:

• Submit quotes on projects for which they have time.

• Securing the contract with a sufficient insurance cover.

• Maintain honesty and integrity at all times.

• Obey the law and industry standards of conduct.

All members of the construction association must also follow a code of conduct. As a consumer, if you think your builder has breached the Code of Conduct or the Code of Ethics, you can file a written against him or her.

How Much Does It Cost To Have A Loft Boarded?

More often than not, several homeowners fail to realize there’s so much value sitting right under their roof - the loft. When a loft is boarded, there are so many juicy benefits that can be derived. It can be used as a storage room, spare bathroom, home office and several more functions. Therefore, if you really wish to maximize the space under your home’s roof, you’d have to considering boarding it. So how much would it cost to have your loft boarded? Here, you’ll discover the cost of boarding your lofts so you that you can set a budget and start to plan.

The cost of boarding a loft is actually affordable for several individuals, simply because you’re allowed to floor as much or as little as you require. And while you’re up there flooring and fitting the loft boards, you can as well decide to upgrade the insulation of the loft too. This way, you be able to prevent heat from escaping through the roof of the house which helps improve energy efficiency and ultimately, save you some money on heating bills.

If you’d prefer to make it a DIY project, the cost of 18mm chipboard is about £8 to £10 per sheet sized 2400m x 600m. Meanwhile the insulation boards should range between £18 to £22 for a sheet.

For a professional service, you’ll be provided with a quote for both the materials and labour. The amount will be based on the number of boarding required as well as the method selected. For an average storage space needs, flooring size of about 15m2 is suitable. The price for this quantity would be between the range of £50 to £700 for the counter barren method or above £1000 for a more sophisticated method.

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.

Do you want to inject a new lease of life into your home or property, or transform it into a more modern style that better suits your taste? Or perhaps you’re only looking to add more value to your property to enable you sell for a profit in the nearest future. Regardless of your purpose, determining the cost of your home renovation can be incredibly difficult. However, you can still obtain a reasonable budget for the project with proper planning as well as preparation. It’s almost impossible to get an exact figure for any home renovation cost, however, this article aims to give you a good idea of cost range to enable you make informed decisions.

The cost of renovating a house can vary significantly depending on a wide range of factors. Some costs are fixed while others may vary greatly. As a result, if you want to have a more exact figure, you’ll have to call in a professional beforehand to give you an idea of how much they’ll charge. Below are some of the most significant costs you’ll most likely face during property renovation.

✓ Administrative cost. 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.

✓ Planning permission and property renovation. This is another potential cost you’ll have to factor in. Submitting a planning application in the UK usually ranges between £200 to £250.

✓ Adding an extension. Generally, a 4m by 5m extension would cost within the range of £30,000 to £40,000.

When its impossible to build out and create more space sideways, why can’t you look upwards? As more and more homeowners in the UK are carrying out their loft conversion project, one question that keeps popping up is the amount of value the loft conversion can add to their homes. However, this is a question that is impossible to provide a single and precise answer to. This is because the value that’ll be generated by a loft conversion is largely dependent on a wide range of influencing factors. To give you a vague idea of the loft conversion value to a property, we’ve put forward a research carried out by industry experts so you can know what you’re in for.

Nationwide carried out a research which shows clearly that a loft conversion including an additional bedroom as part of the building plan will increase a house’s value by up to 21 percent. Since the number of rooms a house has is one of the main metrics for house valuations, loft conversion comes in pretty handy as it’s a great and easy way to convert your house from a 4 bedroom house to a 5 bedroom house prior to sale.

Apart from the financial value aspect, loft conversion also adds more value to your lifestyle which is very unlike nearly other financial investments you can make. More space in your house automatically means more storage or a new room as you wish. A new room can be for a growing family or probably to serve as a guest room. It can also be used as a study space or even an office especially with the rapidly growing rate of people working from home. With loft conversion, the possibilities in terms of value are simply endless!

There is a variety of methods available to ensure that your paving drains properly, for example draining into a lawn or soakaway. Correct drainage of paving is a requirement for planning permission. See our guide on planning permission for paving for more information.

How Much Plasterboard Do I Need?

Although many people especially contractors have a tough time estimating the number of drywall or plasterboard needed to complete a project, it’s a rather simple task if all factors are taken into consideration. If you’re able to follow the same procedures taken by professionals to count dry wall sheets, you’ll be in the right direction. Let’s have a look at the procedures to follow!

lTake Square Footage Measurement

• Measure the square footage of the area where the plasterboard will be fitted.

• Multiply the height by the width of each wall or ceiling area.

• Add all quantities to obtain a total square-foot amount.

lCalculate Drywall Sheets

• To calculate the number of drywall or plasterboard sheet is very simple once you’ve gotten the total square footage.

• To get started, simply divide the total square footage of area by 32 (that’s if you are using a 4 by 8 sheets) or you can also make use of 48 to make the division (only if you’re making use of the 4 by 12 sheets).

• The answer you get after the division will give you the full number of plasterboard sheets that’s required to complete the project.

We’d recommend you include an extra 10 to 15 percent of whatever you calculate to take care of the possible odd cuts and wastages. This implies that if your total area is 1600 square feet while incorporating 4 by 8 sheets, simply divide 1600 by 32 which equals 50 sheets, now take 10% of 50 which equals 5, then add back the 5 extra to the 50 sheets earlier calculated to get 55 sheets. If you wish to estimate the cost, simply multiply the number of sheets gotten by the price per sheet. Do not forget to include delivery charges and local taxes.

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.