While the kids are away...

For the last four years, our local Primary School has carried out major building improvements during the Summer holiday period.

Four years ago it was a new hardwood floor in the main hall, three years ago, the roof was replaced, last year, the windows were replaced with new double glazed upvc windows that actually opened - amazing to think a whole generation of children had gone to school without being able to open the windows for fresh air on a hot summer's day.

This year, it was the turn of the central heating as victorian piping and huge radiators were ripped out and replaced with a system that will promise to be more fuel efficient whilst also actually heating the classrooms.

My point? Well apart from the joy of seeing my children's school environment receive regular upgrades, it just shows that it really does make sense to carry out some home improvement projects when the house is relatively empty.

And with the kids just starting back at school, 6th form or even university, what better time is there to get those home improvement tasks done?

Any installation, whether that's double glazing or a driveway is a lot easier to complete when the installers don't have to work around children.

Apart from the obvious dangers of inquisitive children and power tools, a good installation team will be well aware of their environment whilst carrying out any home improvement installation, disruption can be kept to a minimum and the chances are by the time the kids come back from school, the job will be pretty much complete or progressed so much since they left in the morning, they'll be amazed.

It's no surprise that after a lull during the Summer holidays, double glazing, paving, fitted kitchen and loft/garage conversion companies etc start to get busy again. Also, at the risk of evoking the wrath of the masses for merely mentioning Christmas whilst it still seems a long way off, many homeowners will be planning home improvements with the ultimate goal of having them completed and in use before December.

What's more, to keep the demand up, many home improvement companies will carry forward Summer offers into the Autumn, as well.

There are still plenty of bargains to be had but the first step in planning any home improvement is to get an idea of what the job is going to cost. You can do that online from the comfort of your own home using our 'Quoter family of websites.

Next step is to get that quote confirmed by more than one company, preferably three for comparison. Again, our online service is designed to do just that.

photo credit: pinksherbet

Is the Credit Crisis Coming to a Close? Find Out For Yourself!

Is the Credit Crisis Coming to a Close? Find Out For Yourself!

Last week, the Institute of Chartered Accountants released a report suggested that business confidence was beginning to rise again, and that this could spell the end for Britain’s recession.

They said that the confidence levels of business people had risen drastically, and were positive for the first time since the credit crunch hit in autumn 2007.

However, an online poll by The Guardian newspaper found that 76% of respondents felt the recession was not ‘at an end’, and that “there’s still a long way to go”.

One of the difficulties in measuring recessions, and indeed recoveries, is that the financial markets operate on a different time scale to the ‘real economy’ – that of homes and families and shops and gas bills. Just as the full scale recession started in the finance sector long before it hit the shopping centres and service jobs, recovery is likely to begin in the city well in advance of the high streets.

So what can you do to find out if the recession is still in full swing in your area?

There are actually a surprising number of interesting ways to get an idea of the strength of the economy, just by looking around you. Economists call them ‘weak economic indicators’, back-of-the-napkin measurements can be surprisingly good at measuring the current standing of an economy. Here’s a few to mull over:

Litter at the Cinema: loosely speaking, the more popcorn being sold, the more affluent society is becoming, as cinema-goers become more stretch beyond the admission price. TIP: You can gauge the amount of popcorn being sold yourself by having a look round the cinema once the movie has finished – the more litter, the more popcorn, the better the economic signs.

Bulding Works: A large number of cranes on a city’s skyline can indicate a growing economy – more building happens when there’s more money about, after all. Empty building sites, however, can indicate precisely the opposite as projects are abandoned due to lack of resources to continue projects.

Loose change and cigarette ends: loose change lying on the ground can be a good indicator – when times are lean, you’ll not spot so much laying around. Similarly, smokers tend to get every last puff out of cigarettes when they are feeling the pinch, so long ends on discarded cigarette ends can show a booming economy.

Taxis: When the belt tightens its time to start walking or getting the bus. Lots of empty taxis can be a pretty good indicator that things are on the decline; not being able to get one because they’re all in use is quite the opposite.

The Lipstick Effect: When times are tough, many people tend to buy fewer expensive luxuries and instead get items which will not affect their budget so drastically. This is often called ‘The Lipstick Effect’, as women tend to spend more on luxury cosmetics and less on clothing during a recession – in fact, the first major boom in the cosmetics industry is said to have coincided with the Great Depression.

It’s surprisingly easy to get a feel for how the economy is doing simply by knowing what to look for and now is a great time to consider a major home improvement like having double glazing fitted or perhaps converting a garage or loft.

photo credit: stevebott

Flat Pack Kitchens - It's OK to call in the professionals

It's OK to call in the professionals.

We’ve written before about how easy it is to get the kitchen of your dreams, what to look for when choosing a kitchen company and how to take advantage of computer-based planning to get a good idea of what you’re new kitchen could look like.

We’ve covered topics like ensuring any plumbing work is carried out by a Corgi registered engineer if any gas appliances need re-plumbing or gas pipes need moving.

We’ve shown you some pretty pictures of kitchens to die for – the latest trends in colours and designs as well as kitchen designs for disabled and wheelchair users.

We’ve proved that it doesn’t have to cost the earth to get a new kitchens, planned and installed by professional kitchen companies and our online kitchen quoting website is always busy helping homeowners get an instant online price for their ideal fitted kitchen.

And yet, we still receive calls from homeowners who have a room full of half completed kitchen unit carcasses, unable to complete the job for a variety of reasons – ill health, not having the right tools, unable to get that finished look due to uneven walls and floors, or suffering horrendous home-plumbing nightmares. Yes, unfortunately for those homeowners, we’ve heard them all.

And it’s nobody’s fault. A fit your own flat-pack kitchen, on the face of it, sounds like good value. It’s only when you start totting up the extras – taps and tiles, handles and granite worktops that the costs start rising – not to mention the large quantity of your valuable time to that the time factor and how doing it yourself could mean being without a kitchen for a few weeks, that it doesn’t sound so attractive anymore.

Getting a professional company round is so relaxing compared to DIY. You go online, type in your measurements, select your style and get a rough expectation of cost there and then – job done!

We’ll call you back from our own offices in Derby, discuss your choices and find out a bit more about what’s involved (perhaps you were thinking of an extension to put the new kitchen into? Or there’s a wall you want knocking down?) and then offer to get three local companies to call round, cost up the job, discuss your design requests etc and leave you with a written quote.

They’ll have the right tools for the job, the experience to cope with the most uneven of walls and floors or removing walls as part of the planned refurbishment and qualified plumbers as part of the team. They’ll also be remarkably quick compared to doing it yourself too.

Their cupboard carcasses are usually factory made, solid units so they’ll last longer and take more punishment than flatpack. Finally, they’ll have specialist tools and tricks to tend to those all important finishing touches.

Visit KitchenQuoter today and get your instant online quote for your dream fitted kitchen.

photo credit: hannahandsimon

Conservatories with a difference

As the Summer holidays draw to a close, it suddenly seems like the nights get dark very quickly, making the garden virtually unusable outside the weekends.

Which makes it fairly unsurprising that conservatory enquiries pick up at the as homeowners begin to miss having their own little slice of outdoors, and look for ways to share and enjoy their gardens the whole year round.

With the incredible range of designs available these days, having a conservatory really can make you feel like you’re living in the garden – albeit behind the latest in thermal glass engineering.

Whilst the more traditional Victorian, Edwardian and gable-end styles are all readily available and do provide very good value for money – especially given the extra floor space they add to a typical property – there’s always new styles and fashions around, and we know you’re after the best. If you’re after something a little different or individual, then take a look a these:

Tiled Roof Conservatories.

In Scotland, a sunroom will generally have a ‘traditional’ tiled roof, rather than the polycarbonate or glass roofs favoured by the English.

Recently, though, tiled-roof conservatories are beginning to grow in popularity south of the border as well. They usually fall under the same planning rules as a glass conservatory, and can add an air of traditional respectability to your conservatory.

Orangeries

When we talk about orangeries, we’re not talking something the size of the Botanical Gardens at Kew here (although if you have the space, why not!). No, we’re talking about new designs and production methods making these stylish and contemporary additions to your home very affordable as well as becoming increasingly available.

The designs main feature is an all glass/polycarbonate roof which sits like an extra tier above the main structure. Traditionally to let more light in, these ‘extra tiers’ of glass can really add that touch of class to your living space. No wonder they’re so popular.

Extensions with bi-folding doors

Not a conservatory in the strictest sense and extra planning considerations may have to be made, bi-folding doors have opened up previously dark areas of your home and given rooms a new lease of life – by joining the outside with the inside in one very unique door.

If you’ve not seen bi-fold doors in action, then let me explain. Imagine the old concertina / folding doors from village halls etc that could partition a room? Bi-folding doors work in pretty much the same way. A string of individual door panels, hinged together and fitted into a track top and bottom. Each door can be folded back in turn so you can open up as much or as little as you want.

Imagine getting up for breakfast, seeing the beautiful day outside and fancying your morning cuppa alfresco? No more backwards and forwards with trays and chairs, just open the ‘wall’ and sit at your table as normal. Glorious.

Bi-folding doors are usually available in uPVC or aluminium, depending on the span (uPVC is stronger over greater spans), and even a 3 fold door can make a tremendous difference to the amount of light getting inside your home, not to mention the flexibility to open up the whole space. They’ve been used to great effect in rooms adjoining patios, swimming pool enclosures and even cafe’s and restaurants have seen the commercial benefit of being able to open and expand into the outdoors as easily as opening a door.

Just a few ideas to wet your appetites and who knows, within a few months, you could be enjoying the great outdoors without having to leave your cosy warm home.

Protect yourself from pushy door-to-door home improvement salesmen

Door-to-door home improvement salesmen have a bad reputation. In terms of popularity with the general public, they must rank somewhere between estate agents and politicians.

Here at Home Improvement Quotes, we’ve been working for over a decade to help homeowners like you get the best of the dreaded cold-callers.

We do this in two ways – firstly, we supply you with free guide prices before you ever talk to a salesman, so you can be confident that you’re getting a good deal. Secondly, after you get a quote we’ll help you get in contact with up to three local or national home improvements companies, so you can compare a range of quotes and services, rather than just plumping for whichever one happens to knock on your door.

When salesmen do call, though, you want to protect yourself as much as possible, and that’s why we’ve put together these tips on getting the most from home improvement salespeople.

1. Take the pressure off

Never be pressured into getting home improvements which you don’t need, just because the salesman is standing there on the doorstep. A salesman putting too much pressure on you to make a decision is a bad sign – the company may only be in the area for a few days touting for business, which could void any guarantees and make it difficult to track them down if things go wrong. A genuine home improvement salesman will give you time to make your decision – by law, if the salesman’s visit is unsolicited (i.e. you did not invite him round for an appointment), you are entitled to seven days’ thinking time. During this seven day period you can consider the offer, get quotes from other builders to compare deals or even change your mind completely.

2. Be patient

Never – never – sign a contract on the initial consultation – even if you are tempted by special offers which have to be signed for that day. Take the seven-day thinking period to read over the contract, even if you do not think you need to – make sure you read all the clauses and the small print. Once you have signed the contract, you have limited cancellation rights – contracts are legally binding and you cannot back out of them just because you have changed your mind. Most importantly, never sign the contract just because you want to get rid of the salesman – it’s far better to listen to half an hour of sales patter than to enter into a contract for thousands of pounds which you can’t get out of later.

3. Your right to cancel

In certain cases, where a salesman has visited your home uninvited and you have signed a contract, you can get out of it if you act fast. However this is a risk – a contract is legally binding and there are criteria in place to stop you breaking your end of the bargain. You are only protected if the salesman called at your house totally unexpectedly and you signed the contract on that first visit in your own home. Secondly, the goods or services which you have bought must amount to over £35. If both of these criteria stand, then you have seven days to back out of the contract under The Consumer Protection Regulations 1987 (commonly known as the Doorstep Selling Regulations).

You must cancel your contract in writing to the trader and the cancellation takes effect at the time of posting. It is a legal requirement for traders to inform customers of their cancellation rights – those who fail to do this cannot enforce the agreement. Note that responding to a telephone call asking you for a consultation, an advert in the local paper or a leaflet through the door for home improvements all count as inviting a salesman into your home, and automatically void the cancellation criteria.

4. Make a short-list

Comparing more than one contractor is perhaps the most important part of home improvements. Even if you still decide to go for the salesman who called at the door, it’s still vital to get quotes from three or four other companies. Get as much literature from the door-to-door salesman as you can and then ask friends or neighbours if they have heard of the company or know any examples of their work. Also ask your friends if they know of any other builders whom you may have missed off your list. Always look for contractors who are members of a local trade association and who have premises in the area, and drive past it if you can – anyone can put an address onto a business card which is not really a builder’s yard at all. Beware of cards which have only a telephone number and no address and of cold callers whose business details you cannot find in the local directories or online.

5. Preference Services

Door-to-door and telephone sales are still viable ways to get good deals on home improvements – most salesman are working for local building firms and offer the same quality services at competitive rates. However if cold calling just gets on your nerves and you know you will never use those sellers, there are preference services in place which, if you enrol, makes it illegal for unsolicited callers to contact you. www.tpsonline.org.uk is the official website of the Telephone Preference Service, where consumers can register online to exempt both landline and mobile numbers from sales calls. Most local councils will provide homes with signs and stickers for the front door which bars sellers from knocking. Preference services make it illegal for any company or sole trader to contact you unsolicited.

How Home Improvement Quotes Can Help

We keep a database of vetted and approved home improvement companies. When you get a quote from us we’ll offer to put you in contact with up to three local companies so you can compare and contrast a range of quotes. Since we’ve already given you a guide price, you’ll know what to expect, too, and can make an informed assessment of the offers you are given

Visit Home Improvement Quotes today, and get started straight away.