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February 2009
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- February 2009
Our Six Point Guide to a Rejuvenated Bathroom
Along with Kitchens, we often equate Bathroom improvement as being costly and in these times of financial restraint, we are all looking at ways of saving both money and time. Fear not, in this article entitled how to improve your home, we will consider six imaginative ways of improving your bathroom without having to go to the costly expense of ripping it out and starting again.
Our first tip is don't despair. In most cases, a degree of imagination and inspiration will help rejuvenate that space. Setting aside the sanitary ware, which can often be costly, think about those elements, which can be replaced fairly readily and easily. By these, we mean the lights, taps, tiles, bath panel and colour scheme together with your toot paste holder and towels for example.
Our six-point guide to a rejuvenated bathroom:
- Flooring: - If your floor covering is unattractive, have you thought about removing it and painting the floorboards or concrete which sit below?
- Taps: - An instant success is to replace the basin and bath taps together with the toilet flush handle. There are some many styles to choose from that you will quite literally be spoilt for choice. If you want to go for a contemporary look, the vogue is for brushed steel. If you live in a period property for example, why not visit your local architectural salvage yard. You will be surprised what bargains you can find there!
- Bath panels: - A bespoke bath panel can often set your bathroom apart from the rest. In choosing the next generation of panel, be sure to choose one that is not painted MDF (will often not stand up to repeated splashing) and that can be removed easily in order access any pipe work hidden behind it.
- Mirror: - As we have done in our bathroom, how about completely mirroring one wall? This instantly creates a sense of space, light and openness. If you do opt for a full width mirror, do pay the extra fitting fee a glazier will charge as believe you me, screwing a 6 foot mirror to a tiled wall is not fun (particularly if you really don't know what you are doing). If you can't afford a new mirror or indeed are looking for something out of the ordinary, do visit your local second-hand shops or flea markets.
- Tiles: - Tiling the entire bathroom may be too expensive and therefore not an option. In that case, how about tiling small wall areas in order to provide visual contrast?
- Accessories: - Once the hard work is over, let your imaginative side take control and go for those colour co-ordinate accessories. Good quality towels in sophisticated colours can in their own way make the space. Add to this a few candles together with an unusual towel rail and you have created your very own sanctuary. One you will be proud of and be completed in time for the locusts!
Working From Home
With improvements in information technology and the greater use of personal computers, more and more people are discarding the daily commute by setting up business at home. Not only is this more sustainable but financially savvy given that the rented office is no longer needed. In planning terms, planning permission would not normally be required if the overall character of your home is not changed as a result of the business being conducted here.
To answer this question, you must ask yourself the following:-
- Will your home be used mainly as a private home?
- Will there be a noticeable increase in both traffic and people visiting?
- Will the business generate any activities unusual in a residential area?
- Will the business have a detrimental impact upon neighbours by virtue of the creation of nuisance and noise or smells?
In their quest to control business activities within residential areas, the Local Authority is keen to ensure that the essential character of your street is not compromised by any business activity going on thereabouts. If it were found that a business were taking place there without the necessary change of use permission, it is likely that the business will be the subject of some kind of enforcement action to either regularise it or halt it. Therefore please ask yourself the above or if in doubt, discuss your business proposal directly with your Local Authority.
See also www.communities.gov.uk
Working From Home - How to Make Use of Your Garden
When the daily grind gets all too much and you are given the opportunity to work from home, most people would grab it with both hands and feet. With living space at a premium and the loft full of unwanted gifts and furniture that may not even be yours, how else can you meaningfully take up the working from home opportunity? For many of us who are lucky to live in a house with a reasonably sized garden, the answer may lie just there. An office located in the garden works on many levels. Firstly, it quite literally divorces your work life from your home life and being in a "green environment" helps focus the grey cells. Furthermore, if you have been using a bedroom as an office, you can reclaim that space for its rightful purpose and in doing so, makes the home more marketable when it comes to selling. The costs of creating a room with a view quite often equate to less than the stamp duty on an average house sell and a sympathetic and well designed outside room will add value to your property.
Now for the boring bit....if you do consider creating an outside room, it needs to be a space which is comfortable and pleasant to be in. Firstly, make sure that the proposed structure is sited on foundations and not slabs and don't forget the need to run power cables from the house to the outside room. The building must be insulated in order to avoid freezing in winter and overheating in summer and finally remember that outside rooms can be vulnerable to burglary and therefore you will need to fix locks and possibly an alarm system.
Do I Need Planning Permission to Erect Such a Structure?
You do not need planning permission to erect such a structure if:-
- You do not build it forward of the front elevation of the house;
- It is less than 3m high with a flat roof and 4m high for a pitched roof;
- Any part of it that is 2m away or closer is less than 2.5m high;
- The proposal doesn't involve the need to construct a raised platform more than 350mm high;
- It will take up less than 50% of the garden area.
Other restrictions may well apply if for example you live in a Conservation Area or your house is Listed so it is worth checking with the relevant Local Authority.
The Heat Is On - Will the Government's Aspirations of Zero Carbon Living become a Reality?
Did you realise that by 2016, the Government will expect that all new homes that are built will be zero carbon? In order for a house to be classed as being zero carbon, it will have to generate as much power as it uses over the course of a year. For most of us, the idea of having a home that generates enough power to meet its own requirements would appear as likely as the 50 pence litre of petrol. However, the zero carbon home is not a figment of imagination but became a step closer to mass reality with the first four-bedroom house being unveiled in Kent this week.
The question that begs to be asked is how can we really achieve this?
There is no doubt that meeting this objective will be expensive. In most cases, traditional building materials and construction techniques will not cut the metaphorical mustard and will have to be markedly improved. Where we site a house and how it is orientated will have to be considered. For example, there will be an expectation that new build properties will be orientated in such a way as to maximise space heating from the winter sun and shade from cold northerly winds. Following traditional street patterns may have to be jeopardised in favour of space heating orientation. Don't be surprised to find that those icy drafts synonymous with older properties will be consigned to history and instead, we can look forward to air tight rooms and entrance lobbies designed to reduce mass migration of heat. All very well but what do we do with the excessively flatulent dog in an airtight room?
The fun doesn't stop there. We can look forward to motion detection lighting, which means it will only come on when areas within the home are actively populated and intelligent software to prioritise the use of appliances and stagger their use.
Ways of physically generating renewable energy include the use of ground or air source heat pumps for hot water and space heating together with the use of biomass as a fuel. For the generation of electrical power, it is likely that in future, our roofscape will be populated by micro generating wind turbines and banks of gleaming photovoltaic cells adorned to roof planes. This will certainly have an impact upon the appearance of sensitive landscapes and conservation areas.
Our local environment will determine what our buildings will look like. Zero Carbon will mean that road miles will be reduced in favour of using locally sourced materials. Moreover, we can look forward to harvesting our rainwater and recycling it through the use of reed bed technology for example.
There is no doubt that the technology is there but in these times of economic belt tightening, can all those involved in the delivery of homes stomach the additional burden of meeting the zero carbon challenge?
Does the idea of living in a draft proof room do it for you?
We look forward to your comments.
Heating Our Homes - How size matters when it comes to buying a new boiler
For many of us, buying a new boiler is not something we do with great regularity. Given this fact, it is important to remember that yes, size matters when it comes to choosing the best boiler for our homes. In addition, the number and way we use our bathrooms will also influence our decision together with the level of insulation our property affords.
By law, all new and replacement gas and oil fired boilers (with few exceptions - see "Heating and our environmental responsibilities") must be condensing boilers.
Essentially, there are 3 types:
- Combination (combi)
- Regular - traditional, heat only or conventional boilers which unlike combis, heat a store of water in a cylinder
- System - similar to Regular but don't need an expansion tank and have the heating and hot water components built in, making installation quicker and easier
If you live in a larger home with more bathrooms for example, it is highly likely that demand for hot water (say in the get ready for work and school rush) will come from many outlets at the same time. If this is the case, it is highly likely that you should consider a hot water cylinder to store enough hot water to meet demand. Therefore, the most suitable option would be the regular or indeed system boiler.
If you live in a smaller home with one bathroom or possibly a bathroom and en-suite, the likely demand for hot water will not be the same as in the above scenario and therefore a condensing combi system which heats water on demand may be the more appropriate solution.
I am afraid to say that the hard work doesn't stop there. The final consideration is the level of insulation as heat loss is a determining factor. A poorly insulated property will I am afraid lose more heat when compared to a modern well insulated property. Therefore, a larger boiler will be required in order to compensate for the heat loss. The more cost effective solution in the short term will in our opinion be upgrading the level of insulation and there are grants available to help ou with this.
With living space at a premium, it is no surprise that combination boilers now account for more than half of all new domestic boilers installed in Britain each year. The removal of the need for a hot water cylinder and the attraction of almost instant hot water are seen as positive benefits. However, combi is not always best if you require high flow rates (for power showers) or demand from several outlets at once. I can vouch for this having stayed in homes with a combi system installed where high demand can lead to cold water at one or more outlets.
The way we heat our homes can also influence the size of the boiler required. If for example you are considering installing under floor heating in your property, did you realise that a typical under floor system will require a temperature flow of 45 degrees C compared to 60 degrees C for traditional radiators? Therefore, houses heated by radiators will require a larger boiler when compared to a house heated by an under floor system.
What boiler is best for me?
| Type of Property | Type of Boiler |
| Bungalow or Flat (with no liveable roofspace) | Combi |
| Two or More Bathrooms | System or Regular |
| Low mains water pressure | System or Regular |
| Upgrading existing boiler | System, Regular or Combi |
| Loft Conversion | Combi |
Will Your House Last 1,000 Years? - Heating and Our Environmental Responsibilities
Did you realise that Britain has the oldest housing stock in the developed world with 8.5 million properties over 60 years old?
Given the current rate of demolition, this will mean that the average house could realistically have to last for 1,000 years before it is replaced. I look at my own home and at times, I struggle to believe it could comfortably last a further 100 years without major refurbishment let alone 1,000 years.
Whilst this statistic is faintly absurd, what it does do is make us realise that yes, our homes have a long term purpose and therefore, we need to make sure that we seek ways of improving their environmental performance for the benefit of our own finances and the environment at large.
Part L of the Building Regulations "Conservation of Fuel and Power" governs amongst other things, heating system controls and boilers.
Did you realise that since April 2005, all new and replacement gas and oil fired domestic boilers must be condensing boilers of Seasonal Efficiency of Domestic Boilers in the United Kingdom (SEDBUK) band A or B ensuring a high efficiency rating. If you do live in a property where the pipework isn't compatible with a condensing system, then you are exempt from installing a condensing boiler if this can be demonstrated.
What is a Condensing Boiler?
A condensing boiler is quite literally a high efficiency boiler which works by recovering more heat from fuel burnt than a conventional boiler. By recovering and using heat that would otherwise be lost up the flue, the most efficient condensing boilers can operate at efficiency rates of greater than 90%.
How does a 90% efficiency rate compare to a conventional boiler?
Typically, a conventional boiler which is more than 15 years old for example, may only operate at an efficiency of 55% meaning that in some cases, they are 35% less efficient when compared to a modern condensing boiler. In real terms, quite substantial savings can be made by investing in a new boiler. You could be saving in the region of 35 pence in every £1 of fuel you use for heating and hot water or as much as £240 per annum.
The improvement to your heating system doesn't necessarily stop there. Part L of the Building Regulations also states that the controls operating the boiler should be improved (where necessary) by including a timer, room thermostat and thermostatic radiator valves. Please remember that the installation of a new boiler will require building regulation approval - Please Refer to the Building Regulations section for More Information about this matter.
Is it time you thought about investing in a new boiler?
The House of Straw - No longer the preserve of Fables and Fairly Tales
In a bold step, it appears that North Kesteven District Council (Lincolnshire) is about to announce plans for the first social houses to be built in Britain using straw bales. As we set out in our recent article entitled "the true cost of buildings" (31st January 2009), North Kesteven District Council recognises the benefits that can be gained from green construction.
What does Straw Offer?
- Offers construction cost savings
- Is a good insulating material
- Can be locally sourced (thus reducing freight costs)
- Is sustainable
Costing in the region of £120,000 each, the four properties will be made out of 480 tightly packed bales and finished with lime-washed walls. The cost saving does not stop there with up to 80% a year saved on heating bills.
Whilst this is the first time that a local authority has commissioned this, the practice is not new with a number of private homes and commercial buildings having already been constructed in the UK using straw.
What about Planning and Building Control Regulations?
Although the material may be different, the same building and planning control process will have to be addressed regardless. Unless the proposal is to be sited within an area of special control where the external finish of the building is paramount, the planning department will only be interested in its appropriateness when it comes to its size, siting and design.
With challenging carbon emission targets to meet, who knows, a straw bale house may be coming to a place near you soon.
