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This is a very great opportunity to not only get free external wall insulation, but also cut down your energy bills depending on the type of property you live in. Generally, to enjoy free external wall insulation you must at least be part of the group receiving one of the benefits listed below and also depends on the amount of money you earn. The benefits include:

• Income based jobseeker’s allowance (JSA)

• Income support

• Income-related employment and support allowance (ESA)

• Tax credits

• Pension credit guarantee credit.

• Universal credit.

There are also other important factors that determines if you can have a free insulation fitted on your property. These includes the place you reside, the carbon level of your home and according to some suppliers, the level of beneficial impact the insulation will have on your home. In order to have a free external wall insulation installed, you must either be the owner of your home or at least obtain the go ahead from your landlord before any external wall insulation activity can be made.

Good news is, if you fit the aforementioned criteria and you’ve already installed an external wall insulation, you just may be entitled to receive a refund for the good job done. However, to really find out if you’re eligible, we’d recommend you get in touch with your supplier directly. Also, the Energy Saving Trust (EST) can direct you to some organizations who can assist you in the determination of your eligibility.

As a home and property owner living in England, you can also check out the Each Home Counts Advice Website which is committed to giving impartial energy efficiency advice.

At the end of the day, if it turns out you happen to be ineligible for a free external wall insulation, you can still go ahead to contact a professional installer for a help at a competitive price to enjoy the several benefits that comes with home insulation.

How To Plasterboard A Brick Wall

Do you want to cover your brick wall with plasterboard? The key to success here is the preparation. You must ensure that brick wall is prepared well enough to receive the plasterboard. To get started, there’s the need to attach wood furring strips to the wall which serves as studs in a wood frame structure. This way, the plasterboard will be prevented from getting in touch with the brick. You can always hang pictures or any other forms of decoration in between the gap between the walls. Let’s have a look!

lAttach Furring Strips

• Get a 2 inch by 4 inch wood stud and apply a bead of construction adhesive.

• Using a masonry bit, drill a pilot hole through the wood stud’s base as well as the brick wall.

• Hit a 3 inch fluted nail through the hole using a sledgehammer

• Using a construction adhesive, bind a horizontal 2 inch by 3 inch stud to the upper edge of the wall.

• Using an adhesive, bind the length of a 2 inch by 3 inch stud on its wide side.

• Use a masonry drill to drill a hole on the wood stud and 1 1/2 inches into the brick wall.

• Hit a 3 inch fluted nail through the pilot hole.

lApply Plasterboard

• Hold a plasterboard sheet against the furring strips.

• Use plasterboard screw to hold the drywall sheets in place.

• Use fibreglass to cover the joints where the two plasterboard sheets meet.

• Use a thin layer of the joint compound on the tape. Once done, screw it using a 6 inch taping knife, then allow to dry overnight.

• Use a sandpaper to smooth the joint compound.

• Use a fresh coat of the joint compound to block the holes and joints. Once done, allow the compound to dry.

• Use a light sandpaper to smooth the final coat.

Plasterboarding a brick wall is a simple task but the preparation part must be done right to protect your investment. Therefore, we’d recommend you hire the services of a skilful professional, who can guarantee the best results especially if you lack enough training and experience to carry out a DIY project.

This is an individual who is trained in the art of working with concrete blocks or bricks, clay bricks as well as other kinds of mortar building materials. In a combination of these materials and good bricklaying skills, a bricklayer can build and repair veneer as well as full brick construction, arches, partitions and other structures.

Contrary to many beliefs, a bricklayer actually does more than laying of bricks. There’s more to being a bricklayer than you can probably think of. A single bricklaying projects requires a wide array of skills. Let’s have a look at these skills!

• Using damp resistant materials to seal foundations.

• Spreading mortar between joints and applying them to serve as a thick layer binding the bricks together in rows.

• Reading and working from specifications as well as plans.

• Working with brick-cutting machines.

• Taking charge and caring for cement blocks or bricks, clay bricks and the likes.

• Construction of scaffolding - subject to possession of some licenses in some states.

A bricklayer mostly works outdoors, in the field and may also work at heights. Depending on the job, a bricklayer can work as part of a team or be in contact with the public. They are mostly recruited by building and construction companies and bricklaying sub contractors. However, they can also set up their own private construction firm or become a self employed tradesperson.

A bricklaying qualification is one of just two construction trades which can continue to become a registered builder. And regardless of the form a bricklaying employment takes, there are certain qualities that makes a really good bricklayer. These includes:

• Ability to work at heights and outdoors

• Enjoy practical work

• Technical aptitude

• Good hand-eye coordination

• Independent and yet a team player too

• Top physical fitness

• Attitude and attendance.

Laying of bricks is a skilful trade which requires the bricklayer to fully understand the process involved in the required building material preparation necessary to construct a foundation as well as to mix the concrete or mortar. As a tradesperson, you also need to fully comprehend how to make use of various materials and master the art of shaping, polishing and cutting it. A typical bricklaying endeavour is expected to include different activities such as preparation of the surface, assembly, installation, reinforcement as well as repair.

As a result, every aspect of the job demands an in depth and extensive knowledge, skills and also experience. To get started in this career path, you can also consider getting a bricklaying license as this will stand you out from the lots from your customer’s point of view. However, to obtain a bricklaying license, you’ll need to have some qualifications which includes an industry experience in the field as well as a trade certificate. These formal and nationally recognized qualifications can be gotten through the Recognition of Prior Learning.

It must, however, be said that several states will require either a building practitioner registration or a bricklaying license to enable you practice as a professional bricklayer in order to ensure that the national standards for quality is always met. In other states, a bricklayer must meet some certain registration requirements or possess concrete licenses. Some will necessitate that you register as a building practitioner to take on certain projects but only to a particular level.

Overall, a bricklaying license will help you meet the building commission’s requirements so as to avoid stern punishments like fines and sanctions. It also allows you to sign legal contracts and agreements, market your services and lots more to steer ahead of competition in the industry.

The simple answer to this question is... they can be! Although there are many types of porch designs that are available in the market, the uPVC porch happens to be one of the most loved and cost effective. Most home and property owners prefer the installation of a uPVC porch for a number of reasons. These includes:

• Value for money

It’s no coincidence the uPVC is widely accepted across the building industry with a plethora of uses. Not only is it relatively inexpensive to manufacture, but even the recycled uPVC is now becoming more and more useful. UPVC’s main rivals are wood and aluminium, and both are way more expensive to incorporate for frame profiles. Therefore, making use of uPVC is going to make your initial costs relatively low.

• Life Span

Although the main rivals in both hardwood and aluminium can also boast a lengthy lifespan just as uPVC. However, considering the price that you can get a uPVC, the lifespan is just incredible as it can be measured in decades.

• Aesthetic Appeal

UPVC gives you a wide range of foil colours that’ll fit your home perfectly well while also enhancing it’s visual appeal. You can actually get a porch that looks exactly like it’s manufactured from timber frames. To achieve this, all you need to do would be to make use of a wood grain surface finish. This is also long lasting, strong and resistant to fade.

• Little Maintenance

This is a very common feature of uPVC that makes it even more advantageous when used in making a porch. Unlike timber or wood which swells due to absorption of water or shrinks, you’ll never need to worry about all these distortions and more with uPVC. No painting, no sanding and ultimately, low maintenance required.

Being the most used room in a house, it’s little surprise kitchen extension are usually one of the most popular requests in the UK. They do not only open up a frequently used space in your home, but also goes a long way to add value to your property. However, to know the value that’ll added you must first determine the cost of building such an extension before moving forward. Generally, a typical kitchen extension will cost within the range of £20,000 to about £50,000 plus VAT, based on the size of your project as well as your location.

In reality, a single accurate cost of a kitchen extension will vary depending on a lot of influencing factors, one of which is the type of the extension. Let’s take a look!

✓ Rear extension. You may want to consider this type, if you do not have sufficient space for a side return. This will extend your kitchen into your garden which implies that you’re going to give up some green space to make this a reality. The average price to have this done in London will be about £30,000 or more including VAT, and about £20,000 plus VAT or more in other areas.

✓ Side return extension. This, normally, isn’t a huge add to your property, but will create a lot of space for your kitchen while also be a lot reasonable in terms of cost. This type will extend your home into an alleyway at the side of your property if any is available there. On average, the cost of the side return extension should be about £50,000 plus VAT in London and a lot less in the other regions.

If you’re planning to build a small extension on your property, you’ll most likely want to know the length of time it’ll take to complete the home extension. Just like many other home improvement projects, it’s impossible to provide a specific number of day in which your project will be completed as the duration is based on a number of influencing factors. This includes the size of the development work as well as whether or not you plan to live in the house when the work is being done. In this article, we’re going to give you a breakdown of the processes that’s involved in building a small single storey extension alongside the duration for each so you can have an idea of how long your small extension project will take. Let’s take a look!

✓ A small single storey extension will normally take about 3 months to be completed.

✓ Site preparation is the first step in the process and it’ll take up to 2 weeks the dig out the footings and prepare foundations. Followed by a further 2 weeks to fit the damp course as well as any drains required around the extension.

✓ The 5th week is spent on working on the external walls and putting in place blockwork to deliver cavity wall insulation.

✓ The next 2 weeks will be spent on installing the roof structure as well as internal walls.

✓ Once done. The builders will make the structure weather proof and electricians or gas fitters will be on site to add power to the extension. This will be followed by internal walls’ plastering as well as breaking into your main house.

✓ After this, when the plaster is dry and decoration completed, units or furniture will then be installed.

Generally, extensions can be a very tricky undertaking - where it can be quite difficult to have a clear comprehension of the rules, regulations as well as costs. Therefore before you rush in to kick start your ground floor extension project, it’ll be wise to get a good grip on the cost. In this article, we’re going to give you a rough estimate of the cost of a ground floor extension. Let’s take a look!

Just like several other home improvement projects, the cost of constructing a ground floor extension is based on a number of things which includes the size, materials used, your location, the quality of the tradesmen or company hired and lots more. For instance, if you happen to reside in London, the cost of your ground floor extension is going to be a lot higher than the other regions.

The single cost of a ground floor extension should fall within the range of £1,500 per square metre to about £2,000 per square metre. However, if you happen to live in London or the South East, this price can reach up to £1,900 per square metre to about £2,400 per square metre. These prices are for good quality ground floor extensions only. Basic or low quality extensions would naturally cost less while superior quality extension will cost more.

Now looking at the size of the ground floor extension, if you’re looking for a size of about 5m x 5m, you can expect to pay a price within the range of £32,000 to about £36,000. And as usual, in London or the South East, this price can reach up to £50,000 or even more. And that’s just for constructing the extension. If the other relevant costs like the 10 percent to 15 percent professional fees for the architect, planning application (if needed), building regulations and more, the price goes up.