House Extension Tips - Remodeling

Adding an extra kids' play room to your house? Or are you planning a study for yourself? Such home extensions can require a lot of planning and research. Paying heed to the legal side of the matter is also important to save you from fines and penalties. Here are some instructions to help you with your venture.

Permits And Regulations
Home extensions generally need you to obtain a permit before you can go forward with the job. Especially, for a new extension to the old plan of your house, it is mandatory to seek a permit from the local authority. Standards set out in the 'Building Regulations' need to be followed and met. This is precisely what is checked by the authority when you present them your new home extensions plan. They inspect the plan and confirm it meets the building regulation standards. Upon the receipt of the planning permission you will then need to apply for the Building Regulations. It is necessary to obtain the planning permission before proceeding with the further actions.

Consider Your Neighbours
When planning house extensions, make sure it does not cause trouble for your neighbours. Do not construct any structure that may have adverse effects on their lives, like block their driveway or sunlight. The best practice is to consult your neighbours before going for any house extensions. This will prevent any problems arising later on and also maintain a healthy relationship between your family and your neighborhood.

It may reduce your expenses in case the neighbour is looking to do something similar, e.g. building a wall around the property. Such a consultation with your neighbours can sometimes prove beneficial to you. Special permits and agreements are required for building walls and constructions for semi detached or terraced houses or flats.

Contracting The Trades
Different tradesmen are required for your home extensions. You may have to employ an electrician, a plumber, a gas fitter, to name a few. How do you find them? Some people believe the best way to look for a tradesman is to ask friends and family for proper recommendations. These generally prove to be the safest avenues to get hold of a good choice. However it is recommended to only go for a licensed builders company. This ensures the trade is qualified to the required standards to do the job. However it is recommended to employ one company only to undertake the whole project. This would help to take the stress off you organising different trades.

You should also prepare a legal contract between you and the people on the job. This is to prevent any unpleasant situation that may arise just in case there is any disagreement or problem later on.

Some More Planning
Some more planning before you finally start your home extensions project are as follows. You need to understand if you are looking at an extension or a major conversion and plan accordingly. This will save you a lot of space and money. E.g., instead of building a new room, try and convert the garage you never use. The other thing to consider is the time frame within which you want to complete the project. And obviously, budget is a very important factor. So, for the best results, plan your home extensions carefully considering all that has been discussed above.

Arthur Prudent is a developer of London house extension - web site offering all aspects of builders services. Visit our site for more helpful information about London house extensions and other similar topics.

Living Room Rough Framing

Give Your Bathroom a Facelift Instead of Moving

Are you looking for a way to make your bathroom better? With the economy being slow, many homeowners are opting to stay in their older homes and improve them rather than buy a new house. The bathroom is the second most popular room to remodel, because we all spend so much time in there every day. Since we spend a lot of time in this little room, it's quite nice to bring some creature comforts or a touch of luxury to it, because we know we'll enjoy it everyday. Here are a couple ideas for beautifying your bathroom.

1. Invest in a great bath tub. Although this may sound a little trite at first, you'd be amazed at how soothing whirlpool tubs or clawfoot bathtubs improve your bathroom. They not only upgrade the look of your bathroom immensely, they are wonderfully soothing and relaxing space for you to take that bubble bath. Whether you choose a built in model or a free standing type of tub, an antique style or modern design, whirlpool bathtubs are a sure way to upgrade the luxury of your bathroom, and increase your enjoyment of your time there.

2. Get a bathroom vanity to match that new bathtub. You use your bathroom vanity everyday to brush your teeth, fix your hair, and put your makeup on. This is the space we make ourselves look presentable, but if we have an old vanity without enough cabinet space, cracked counters, or a peeling finish, it's time to upgrade! Go ahead and get a nice new bathroom vanity to match your snazzy new bathtub, and your bathroom will be like an entirely new space.

3. Replace the linens and towels. This may seem like a small thing, but it will make you feel like you're staying in a luxury hotel. There is nothing better than a brand new big fluffy towel to wrap up in after your whirlpool bathtub session, and it will upgrade the way your bathroom looks as well. You don't want to have a new tub and vanity installed and then keep using old ratty towels that work, but don't really look nice. Remember, you are taking on this home improvement project to make your bathroom feel like new, so go the whole nine yards and complete the makeover!

If you would like more information on whirlpool tubs or where to find clawfoot bathtubs, please visit the Simply Bathtubs website.

Plumbing Vent Turn In Wall

Environmental Construction Products

Trends in sustainable and environmentally friendly construction continue to inch towards the mainstream, with new products being introduced almost daily that are more cost effective and efficient than ever. Here are some products and trends in environmental construction:

Walls

Use of alternative building materials, including reclaimed woods, recycled metals and non toxic materials are making homes more green from the inside out. Even insulation is becoming more green, with wider usage of a mixture of recycled cotton and denim materials instead of toxic and dangerous to install traditional insulation.

Flooring

There's a wide range of environmentally friendly flooring options. From concrete to stones, recycled metals, recycled tiles, recycled glass, reclaimed woods, sustainable woods, bamboo, cork and even more environmentally friendly linoleums.

Paints and Finishes

There is now a large amount of paints and stains available for your interiors, including walls, floors, bathrooms, staircases and all your surfaces. These new products are either non-toxic or use much less toxic chemicals, making the eco-friendly choice also the most healthy choice for environmentally sensitive people. In addition, these less toxic paints and finishes are much easier to dispose of.

Carpeting

Traditional new carpeting uses a lot of chemicals to produce. In addition, the installation of new carpeting will typically fill the indoor air in your home with what are called "VOC's" or volatile organic compounds. These compounds include chemical carcinogens like benzenes and even formaldehyde. That new carpet smell is actually a cocktail of chemicals you are breathing. These chemicals can take several years to dissipate from your indoor air. By using eco-friendly carpeting, you are eliminating or severely decreasing the amount of chemicals you are bringing into your home. Also, the materials used in eco-friendly carpeting are typically recycled or sustainable. Most carpets need padding and these too can be loaded with chemicals. Instead, homeowners can choose new environmentally friendly carpet padding that is made from recycled cotton.

Cabinetry and Countertops

Even kitchen and bathroom cabinetry and countertops can be eco-friendly. New cabinet options include cabinets made from completely sustainable woods using non-toxic finishes. For countertops, new non-toxic composite materials including quartz and recycled glass chips are available. Even the glue used to adhere the cabinets to the countertop can be an eco-friendly water based glue product.

Whether you are building a new home, remodeling or simply performing some upgrades, you won't want to ignore the many eco-friendly options.

Lydia Quinn writes for Brandon Safety Lights, a leading provider of solar barricade lights, barricade light accessories and traffic safety supplies. Visit us at: http://www.brandonsafetylights.com

Diagonal Roof Truss Brace

Why Do People Neglect This Vital Part of Their Homes ?

If there was one part of most homes - one vital part - that most people seem to overlook when designing their interiors, it possibly would be the ceiling. People get new furniture for their living rooms, nice wall hangings for the walls, redo the kitchen, but when it come to the ceiling, most people buy just a pretty chandelier and feel they are done ...

And considering how important ceilings are to nice looking interiors and how much can be easily done to make them a lot better looking, that is a pity ...

Ceilings reflect light and sound and contribute a great deal to the acoustic characteristics of any space. The ceiling plays a great role in determining how your home looks and feels ...

Types of Ceilings

The type of ceiling you choose for a room may greatly determine what the room will feel like, so you might want to choose the ceiling type with some care. That said, here are a few types you may want to consider ...

. A cove ceiling : This will have rounded corners and may most often house diffused lights, creating a sophisticated look.

. Suspended ceiling : this is a lowered flat ceiling and may have decorative cornices on the edges.

. Coffered or 'Box' Ceiling : Wood grids are used to create a feeling of the ceiling being recessed, and this most often creates a dramatic, antique appeal. This type of ceiling is most often used in family rooms, home libraries and home theatres.

Creating False Ceilings

False ceilings can give a room a clean and smooth look from below as all the ducting, wiring and lighting insets could be hidden. But that is not all - the air gap between the false ceiling and the actual ceiling acts as an insulator.

Easily available low density fibreboard tiles may be used to create false ceilings. This is also a very good thermal and sound insulator.

False ceilings are most often used in auditoriums, movie halls and recording rooms, but it can be used in home theatre rooms as well.

The Ultimate Ceiling Makeover - Using Fabrics

Now, if you are the type who loves class and want your home to ooze with style and class, then one thing you might want to do is drape fabric across the ceiling to create a exotic and dramatic look and feel. Sure, this is high maintenance, but people who do this do it because of its unique and rich appeal.

Ever heard of living room designs with a personality How about some Online Floor Plans that could make the task of building your dream home easier. Interested in some good ranch house designs

ICF - Insulated Concrete Forms - Method of Building Walls

There are several different methods used to build walls. This article will discuss the ICF method. We will look at the materials used in this method and then list the conclusions reached based on these materials. If you are standing inside the house, we will talk about the materials from the inside of the house to the outside of the house.

Gypsum Wall Board - this material absorbs water. The moist Gypsum wallboard can contribute to mold and mildew.

EPS foam - very good insulation properties. It is 'continuous and touching' which provides excellent energy savings.

Concrete - this material is poured in what is known as a 'continuous pour'. Even if the concrete is poured in lifts, the adhesive properties of concrete to itself allow the pour to be considered continuous. This material that goes from free flowing to rock solid is what provides the best-sealed envelope of a home.

EPS foam - very good insulation properties. It is 'continuous and touching' which provides excellent energy savings.

Cementious Finish - typically a fiber mesh wrap is applied to the walls and synthetic stucco materials are installed in two applications to get the requested look by the homebuyer.

Windows and Door openings - typically the openings are formed with 2x12's cut down to the width of the foam blocks and braced to accept the concrete pour. The 2x's are fastened with J-bolts that are placed prior to the concrete pour. An issue with the openings is that they have wood in the exterior walls in the areas where water has the highest possibility to enter the house. This creates the possibility, and likelihood, of water entering at these locations (the same as a wood framed house.) Remember, when the air is flowing thru the return air it is pressurizing the air which means 'additional air' has to come in the house. The window and door areas are where this air will come from, which allows water to get further into the wall, into the wood 2x bucks and farther away from the edges. This makes it take longer for the moisture to get out. When this occurs this will lead to the formation of mold and mildew.

Ease of construction - the trained skill level to build the walls of a custom home are similar to the skill level needed to build a concrete block home, or for a skilled carpenter to build a wood framed home.

Issues during construction - typical issues are proper bracing to minimize/eliminate concrete spills (blowouts) and bracing to keep the walls plumb (vertically aligned) and straight along the top of the forms.

The ORNL (Oak Ridge National Laboratory, contracted by the United States Department of Energy) after testing all 16 methods of construction proves the method of construction that Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF) utilizes is the second best method of building a home (by approximately 9% less savings) in regards to energy savings. To confirm please view: http://www.ornl.gov/roofs+walls/research/detailed_papers/thermal/index.html

The ICF method exceeds all building codes for high wind resistance due to the use of poured-in-place concrete in the forms.

This article has discussed the ICF method of building walls. It has described the various materials that are used. This article has also shown the problems and benefits that each of these materials can cause when building a house. The use of the ICF method of building walls only fails in 2 areas of building a home to prevent mold and mildew issues, which is the use of wood around openings and the use of a gypsum product (drywall) on the interior of the exterior wall. The 2 inches of foam and the drywall board on the interior is what accounts for the 9% higher use of energy than a wall with concrete in direct contact with the interior, such as the most energy efficient wall that utilizes the method referenced by the ORNL as concrete- insulation - concrete (CIC).

Are you getting ready to build a new home? Are you trying to build an energy efficient home? To get more information about building your next energy efficient home, visit http://www.allwallsystem.com, a "CIC" method of building.

Mold On Oak Door Jamb

Do You Need Help With Your Interior Decorating?

The problem people face when it comes to finding a new look for their home, is that there is an absolutely huge selection to choose from. It can be a big challenge when it comes to interior decorating and people are sometimes faced with a dilemma about what style or theme to choose for each room.

Looking for Inspiration?

For the people who are short of ideas or inspiration, you may find what you are looking for in an interior design magazine. As with everything, there is a selection of these different magazines everywhere and the thing is that it can often be difficult even choosing the right one that you need.

It is best to look around and look at each one you see and browse through the styles in each one. By doing this, it may be the inspiration you need and may give you the ultimate ideas to transform your home.

What Are The Benefits of an Interior Design Magazine?

The problem people face is that they have a lack of inspiration and therefore go for simple designs to just make do. They may want something original and tasteful and maybe something that is very homely too. In the magazines, they have been designed to feature all of the best and newest interior designs to help people who are struggling to find something that they may like. The great thing is that these magazines are an inexpensive source of information and they cater for everyones tastes.

New homeowners like to find the right look for their home and the magazine can be a breath of fresh air to them. It can be great to help you update any out of date dcor around the home. Some of the magazines will be catered for cutting edge dcor so if this is something you want then these magazines will be great for you.

What Style are you after?

You may have been considering a certain dcor or style before but you didnt know where to start. The different interior magazines can help you to achieve that certain look. You may be after a particular magazine that can help you to achieve a more traditional theme rather than the cutting edge dcor. It could be that you want to redesign your cottage and with an interior magazine it will guide you and give you the ideas that you need. Also, the best bit is that some of them even guide you through the process of the design too.

Andrew Caxton is a consultant who writes on many consumer topics like home decorating and interior design for http://www.home-decorating-reviews.com A website with tips on interior decorating, amongst many related topics.

Basement Dehumidifiers to Dry Your Damp Basement

When constructed properly with correct ventilation, basement should ideally be dry. But somehow most basements end up becoming a victim to dampness. In case, the humidity level in your basement crosses the mark of 50%, it becomes a breeding ground for mildews, molds and several other allergens. Rotting of wooden furniture and allergies among the family members are a common problem that people face due to such conditions.

The method of working of a dehumidifier is similar to that of air conditioners and refrigerator. However, dehumidifiers extract humidity without sending forth the cold breeze. Purchasing a basement dehumidifier require some planning to make the correct choice.

Area of the basement

The foremost thing is to know the area of the basement that needs to be dehumidified. If the area is quite large, Santa Fe dehumidifiers are a good choice. They perfectly suit the places that are little wet and require moisture removal through dehumidification, which can lower it to a 55 degrees mark.

Nonetheless, in case your budget doesn't allow you to make a big investment on the dehumidifier, you can consider Millennium low temp dehumidifiers. It is most appropriate for the area of the size 800-1100 square feet.

A portable or a fixed unit?

Another important thing that needs to be considered is, if you need an installed basement dehumidifier or a portable dehumidifier? While you may carry portable dehumidifier to different sections of your basement, you will not have this flexibility with a fixed dehumidifier unit.

Noise level

When purchasing a dehumidifier, you also must not forget to check its noise level, as some are noisy, while others are quite silent. So, there are many factors that ought to be considered while making a purchase for basement dehumidifiers. Make sure that you keep in mind the mentioned points so as to select the best basement dehumidifier that suits your requirements.

Maintenance of the basement dehumidifier

One thing that is commonly noticed with dehumidifiers is that as they usually remain out of people's everyday task, many homeowners tend to forget about their maintenance, which is very important. It is necessary to unfill and clean these dehumidifiers at regular intervals, else bacterial growth will soon start to proliferate. You may find that in some dehumidifiers, there is no collection container inside. Instead a hose can be taken to the floor drain which is an easy solution to the problem. This is especially useful for working people who could not spare out much time from their daily schedule.

Now, what are you waiting for? Go and get the best dehumidifier and bid farewell to all the molds, allergens and health risks that are associated with high moisture level and ensure healthy living of your family. Internet is a great global marketplace to lookout for the best deals to purchase the superior quality basement dehumidifiers at pocket-friendly rates. What more? You can make the purchase at the comfort of your home. So, find a solution to the allergens, molds and mildews in your home with these dehumidifiers and start clicking soon!

For any more information on the designs, shapes, sizes and prices of dehumidifiers, please visit http://www.dehumidifiertips.com/

Insulation Damage