Find a Shop Fitter you can trust in Bankside.

Smart controls such as Hive are the next generation technology with more and more people now converting their houses into smart homes to control multiple devices in the homes remotely. Smart technology can be incorporated with several household devices such as security, lighting, entertainment and more. But what if there’s an oil boiler installed in your home, can you still connect your Hive with the your heating? Well, simply read on to find out.

The answer to this question is yes, most oil boilers are compatible with Hive and can substitute for either an existing conventional programmer or thermostat. The smart technology works to help derive more benefits from your heating system and they usually come with apps which can be used to control your home’s heating from anywhere with just your mobile device. Hive, however, cannot work to replace the functions of smart oil boiler heating controls to modulate your heating as they only work on an on or off basis. To make use of the modulating technology in an oil boiler, the cost of manufacture would be considerably higher while offering little advantage in efficiency for the home or property owner. Ultimately, this implies that you can’t incorporate smart technology to control the output in a similar way as a gas boiler, but there are still some ways to utilize smart technology with your oil boiler in such a way to boost your efficiency and lessen the energy bills.

Do you want to use your Hive with your home’s oil boiler? We’d advise you get in touch with an OFTEC qualified engineer if you wish to install Hive Active Heating on your oil boiler, as British Gas engineer do not offer this service.

Damp is a serious problem, particularly if you live in an old property, because it can lead to structural damage. This will cost you big money and could be very dangerous, to yourself and the property. Take damp seriously and get it inspected and resolved as soon as you discover it!

If you’re considering giving your home a quick facelift, laying of paving slabs for your outdoor living spaces might be a great way to start. It can be installed in some many parts of your home’s exterior from the pathways to driveways and from the yards to the patios. With proper training and experience, laying paving slabs is a very easy and quick process. However, the issue here is, how do you calculate the number of paving slabs you need? In this step by step guide, you’ll find all the information needed to help you get started. Once you’re able to get the accurate number of paving slabs, do ensure to include extras that’ll cover up for possible errors or damages.

Just like any other measurement task, it’ll be a lot easier when you know how as well as when you have the right tools to use for the job. To get started, you’ll need a tape measure, pen or pencil, pegs, string, hammer, paper and calculator.

• Draw a sketch of the area. This sketch will take note of the area’s length and width.

• Using strings and pegs, mark out the area to be paved

• Using a tape measure, take a measurement of the length and width of the space along the string lines and note them on the sketch.

• If the area is a drive make sure that the paved area is wide enough to accommodate the cars intended

• Multiply the length of the space by the width to get the area of the space.

• Once calculated, divide the total area of the space by the area of the single slab. This will give you an accurate number of the paving slabs you’ll require to complete your project.

If you’re looking to hire the services of a house cleaner for your residential property, then one of the first things that naturally comes to mind is the cost of completing this task. Simple as it seems, there’s actually no short and direct answer to this question as the price of your clean will depends on a number of varying factors. Generally, the key drivers of the amount you’ll have to pay for your clean includes the following: location, number of rooms, frequency of cleans, the cleaner’s experience, number of cleaners in the local area, number of bathrooms, agency charges as well as optional extras.

There are two main routes you can take to hire a cleaner. These routes include using a cleaning company or agency, or source your own independent cleaner. Whichever way you choose to go through, it’ll automatically play a role in the price you’ll have to pay to get the cleaning service. In general, you can normally expect to pay between £4 to £10 per hour in agency fees in addition to the rate the average cleaner would expect for the area, based on how competitive the market for agencies is in your area.

For hourly cleaners, the cost you can expect to pay to have your house cleaned typically ranges from £12 to £23 average cost per hour. Prices in more rural areas tend to vary a lot more, which is mostly dictated by the number of businesses that are operating in the area.

There are a number of ways in which you can save money on your clean which includes supplying your own cleaning product or equipment, opting out of optional extras like oven cleaning or ironing, comparing quotes from different provides to get the best price and more.

Asbestos is basically a naturally occurring fibre which, until the 1990s, has been a commonly used material in construction and other industries. There are three major kinds of asbestos fibres in the UK and they include crocidolite or blue, amosite or brown as well as chrysotile or white.

Before it’s life threatening potentials were exposed, asbestos was commonly used across the globe in buildings and structures as a means of insulation, roofing, flooring and was also sprayed on ceiling as well as walls. Upon the discovery of its hazardous features however, it has been swiftly banned in the UK but it may still be discovered in buildings and structures that have been erected before the year 2000.

In the event whereby a building or structure possesses asbestos within them, it can pose only a little risk but only if they remain undisturbed. It’s only when they’re disturbed or damaged that the tiny asbestos fibres are usually discharged into the air and can be easily inhaled into the lungs. Breathing in of asbestos is a very harmful thing as the fibres can have a terrible impact on your lungs and their linings. What’s more? Asbestos-related health conditions’ symptoms normally takes several years to surface which means that an exposure to the deadly substance many years ago may only start to show symptoms today. Therefore, if you’ve worked in a building or construction industry especially within the time period of 1970s to 1990s, there is a real chance that you’ve been exposed to asbestos. This type of jobs include ship building, construction and insulation projects, but this doesn’t necessarily imply that asbestos exposure can not occur in other jobs as well.

If you’re about to get a new bath installed in your home or property, then its only wise to carry out a research to determine the cost to complete such a project. In order to help you make the best informed decision possible, we’ve created this post gives you the price range of the purchase as well as installation of a new bath. Let’s take a look!

There are a number of factors that can influence the total installation cost of a bath, however the main ones include the price of the bath and the installation cost. These two components are higher for steel baths, freestanding bath and whirlpool bath when compared to shower baths and corner baths. In general, it can take within the range of £390 to £5500 to purchase ans install a new bath. Depending on the type, below are the rice range for different type of baths:

• Shower bath. This is the most popular and costs within the range of £180 to £2,275 depending on the brand, material, warranty and other factors.
• Corner baths. These can cost anywhere within the range of £213 to £1,007.
• Steel baths. These can cost anywhere within the range of £287 to £3,360
• Freestanding bath. These can cost anywhere within the range of £489 to £4,315
• Whirlpool bath. These can cost anywhere within the range of £185 to £1,061

And while its possible to get a quick evaluation of the estimated costs when you’re planning to install a new bath, the end figure can vary. Most professional bath installer will charge anywhere between £110 to £500 depend on the type of the bath as well as how complex and intricate the task at hand is.

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.