Find a Shop Fitter you can trust in Slough.

The roof is a particularly important part of the home, providing weather and water protection. Therefore, it’s important to regularly check your guttering system and clean out any debris that could cause blockages.Advice given is to consider having a mesh gutter guard to prevent the build-up of leaves and other debris, especially if you want to harvest rainwater.

Are you trying to choose the perfect air conditioning unit for your home or property? Or perhaps you’re simply trying to figure out if it could be the right climate control option for your house. Regardless of your purpose, determining the amount AC systems cost to run can play a key role in identifying what your best options really are.

Obtaining estimates for the amount your new air conditioning units will cost to run may not be on top of your priority list and even more so if you’re always busy trying to determine the installation price. However, it won’t be the wisest decision to procure a new air conditioning system you can’t afford to use.

There are a lot of factors that determines the cost of running an air conditioning system. However, to give a rough idea of how much it’ll cost to run your new AC system, here’s a cost guide for two of the most popular types of air conditioning - split and multi split units.

For a small room size with an air conditioning output of about 2.5 kW, the cost to run per hour is about £10. Meanwhile,a mid-sized room with an air conditioning output of about 3.5 kW, the cost to run per hour is about £14. And lastly, a large room size with an air conditioning output of about 5 kW, the cost to run per house will be about £20.

In the event whereby you’re eager to fit a new air conditioning system, your best bet for a more accurate quote will be to get in touch with an air conditioning technician who will go through your unique project as well as the price influencing factors to provide a unique price for your project as well as its running cost.

Rendering is an external wall’s plastered finish which provides a smooth finish while also protecting the brickwork from the elements like rain, snow and the likes. The traditional rendering is normally applied in two or three coats which enables it to be more resistant to surface cracks. In modern times, the finishes are largely different from the grey pebble dash of post war housing. Today, we now have a plethora of specialist products to pick from such as through-coloured silicone renders as well as one coat renders. The types of renders include the following:

✓ Cement renders. These are the common option that are usually mixed on site and used in a number of applications, then painted when dried. There’s a need to paint this type of render regularly to keep them looking great.

✓ Polymer renders. These are pre mixed and mostly pre coloured (usually with through colouring).

✓ Through-coloured products. These rendered do not need to be painted as the pigment is already added in the manufacturing process to colour the whole render.

✓ Lime renders. These are superior to cement as they’re less likely to trap moisture in the brickwork and also more good looking. However, they’re generally more costly and more difficult to apply.

Overall, rendering on a house provides several benefits. Not only is it able to protect your brickwork against the elements like the rain and wind, but it can also make the building more efficient. Being fully aware that about 30 percent of the energy used in heating a home is lost via the external walls, making use of a product such as acrylic insulated render is a smart approach to improve your home’s energy efficiency without affecting your interior living space.

Installing wooden flooring is a quite simple process, however to get it right the first time, there are very essential preparations that must be made. These includes determining the site is in the best condition before installation, removal of all floor coverings and underlay for a more stable and durable installation and incorporation of the right expansion gap of about 10mm to 12mm which would be maintained around the floor’s perimeter.

Wooden floor fitting can be done on two types of sub-floor - Concrete and Plywood. To install onto concrete, you can follow the guide below:

• Incorporate flexible wood on concrete adhesives.

• With the help of a 3mm toothed trowel, spread above 2 board widths of adhesive along the starting wall sub-floor, beginning at a corner of your room.

• Position the first row of flooring into the area that is glued using the tongue facing opposite the wall.

• Put 10mm spacers against the wall to see to the consistency in expansion gaps.

• Make sure the joints are at a minimum of 150mm apart from the first row when fitting the second row.

• Utilize pre-cut smaller boards if you’re to start a new row with staggered joints.

• Continue with this nailing method and make sure the 10mm expansion gaps are consistent around the floor’s perimeter.

To install onto plywood, you can follow this guide:

• Make use of a porta-nailer.

• Position 10mm spacers against the wall - parallel with the installation direction.

• Fit the first row using the tongue facing opposite the wall and with the help of the porta-nailer or flooring nailer.

• Lay the second row and make sure the short end joints are at a minimum of 150mm apart from that of the first row.

• Utilize pre-cut smaller boards if you’re to start a new row with staggered joints.

• Continue with this nailing method and make sure the 10mm expansion gaps are consistent around the floor’s perimeter.

Click here to learn more about wood flooring.

One of the things that has been on the UK government’s agenda for some time now is to promote the use of renewable energy sources. In fact, the Renewable Energy Directive put out by the EU instructs all member countries to achieve a 20 percent renewable target before the year 2020. The UK’s commitment to this objective has been made quite glaring with a number of funding options that has been put in place to help business owners looking to solar panels on their properties. This commitment was also showcased by a reduction in the cost of solar panels, so new investors have little to worry about. Although there aren’t any grants in the conventional sense, but there are opportunities for solar panel funding in the UK. At present, the only scheme open to new applications is the SEG - Smart Export Guarantee which came into effect on 1st January, 2020.

In general, there are four notable incentives in the UK for solar panels which includes the aforementioned Smart Export Guarantee, Reduced VAT on Energy Saving Products, Feed-in Tariff ( no longer open to new applications ), as well as the Renewable Heat Incentive ( RHI - applies only to solar water heating ).

Being the only one still open to new applications, we’ll provide you with some insights on SEG. The Smart Export Guarantee allows small scale low-carbon electricity generators to receive payments for surplus energy they’re able to export back to the grid. Although, this is not a direct government scheme, all licensed suppliers are necessitated to offer an export tariff to their customers. Those suppliers with more than 150,000 customers are obligated to offer a tariff, while the suppliers with fewer customers can partake on a voluntary basis.

Periodic testing and inspections should be completed: Every 10 years for your home, Every five years for rented accommodation, Every three years for a caravan, Every year for a swimming pool.Electrical inspections are also carried out when buying, selling or renting a property.

Quantity surveyors are professionals trained in the management of all costs that’s associated with building and civil engineering projects. Typically, their works is both site and office-based with the main goal of minimizing expenses and also to keep them within the set limits of a budget. What’s more? They aim to achieve all these without having to compromise on the quality of the outcomes and while also complying with the building, health as well as safety regulations. Quantity surveyors also take part in projects and work hand in hand with clients or contractors right from the start - preparing detailed project estimates. They also work to gather tender and contract documentation, carry out feasibility studies and see to the implementation of risk control. Upon the commencement of a building project, quantity surveyors carefully monitors any variations which may result in cost fluctuations.

Quantity surveyors will, over the course of the project, undertake key tasks such as outcome analysis, work evaluation as well as progress reports. However, it’s also very common for surveyors to carry on extra responsibilities which includes allocation works to subcontractors, ordering of construction materials as well as seeing to the arrangement of payments. Generally, the list of what they can handle can be limitless, it all depends on the project as well as the employer.

From the above, you may presume that quantity surveyors are only involved in large construction projects, but this is actually not the case. Asides working with local authorities, commercial businesses, consultancies as well as property developers, quantity surveyors also offer their services to both residential clients and small business owners. They’re very flexible and can capitalize on many different services like providing an initial maintenance schedule for Strata managers and more.

With each year that passes, the amount of electric cars on the road keeps rising and with them comes a necessity to develop new infrastructures and also accessories like charging cables as well as connectors for easy sustainability. This concept is still pretty much new to the general public as most people still use vehicles that are fuelled by petrol and diesel. There are also some differences in design which asides from the lack of an engine underneath the vehicle’s bonnet, the way in which an electric car is filled up largely varies petrol or diesel powered vehicles. There’s a lot that people will have to learn about electric cars and even more so when it comes to their everyday use. One of the most common questions a lot of individuals ask about electric cars is whether all electrical vehicle chargers are the same. If you’re also looking for an answer to this question, then you’ve come to right place!

If you’re interested in getting an electric car, charging your vehicle at home may not generate any major concern but what about making use of the public charging system? This is when it gets a bit confusing because if you’ve never had to do it before you may worried about making use of the wrong charger on your car. So the question is, does every electric vehicles have the same plug? The answer is simple - there are different plugs and cables for varying electric vehicle brand as well as points of use. In general, you’d have to choose most suitable charging level for your electric vehicle.