Welcome to the Blogs

Just a reminder, as reported earlier this week, the Homebuilding and Renovating show will kick off today at the NEC in Birmingham.

If home improvement is high on the agenda this summer, you could come away with new inspiration thanks to the diverse range of exhibitors and contributors at the show.

Click here to register for your free ticket t

In terms of quality and elegance, you just can’t beat hardwood shutters. The UK’s premier shutter company, Shutterly Fabulous offers an excellent selection of shutters, along with an unrivalled design and installation service.

At Shutterly Fabulous, each part of the shutter panel and frame is coated in a UV protective paint to resist fading, whilst the wood used for manufacture is kiln dried to ensure no warping occurs. And, you can take heart that all shutters are made from premium grade solid hardwoods such as Yellow Poplar or Elm.

With its chunky angles and pure white finish, the new Metropolitan range from RAK Ceramics exudes designer appeal. But the prices remain reasonable with a basin and full pedestal priced at just £98.64. As well as two basin styles, an acrylic bath and a WC, the Metropolitan range includes taps, mirrors, bath shower screens and a spacious stainless steel bathroom cabinet. And RAK Ceramics is offering the chance to win £1,000 to spend across this range.

Quality wood shutters not only enhance the overall appearance and design-look of your home, but can also add to value to your property. A specialist in this area, Shaftesbury Blinds & Shutters  have options to suit most looks and budgets – and is currently holding a January sale offering up to 50 per cent off selected shutter ranges.

Vancouver Shutters are reduced from £440 to £220 per square metre, Phoenix Shutters are reduced to just £188 per square metre, and the Phoenix Blinds down from £105 to £89.25 per square metre (excludes fitting).

A can of WD40 is always handy to have around the house, and can be used for a lot more than just a squeaky door hinge or a rusty bike chain.

It’s useful for keeping garden furniture mechanisms free from rust and stiffness over the rainy winter. Spray on your mower blades to stop wet grass sticking and clogging up your mower.
 

With Christmas just around the corner and the New Year knocking at our door, we just can’t afford to have disruptions around the house. But what about that decorating job that you desperately need to complete?

Here are just some of the tradespeople you have recommended this week

• Flow London, unique bathroom design and installation, including online product shop. Based in SW London, covering London. Call 020 7733 7373 or visit Flowlondon.co.uk. Click here to visit Flow London’s profile on ProblemSolved.

Well I’m delighted to have been invited to participate in the Problem Solved Blogs and I hope that you find the contents of the pieces I write over the coming months both useful and informative.

To introduce myself, I am Tim Foley, owner of the website www.kitchensfitted.co.uk and aside from our very popular forum that assists those buying and fitting kitchens and our website articles detailing how to fit a kitchen, we provide and install bespoke quality surfaces nationwide.

Putting good use to any of those remnant bits of carpet lying around the house, Easybind from Stairrods is a handy new way to bind rugs and runners at home with the use of only a simple hot glue gun.

Available in 23 varying colours of rope–style edging, Easybind can be attached to the edge of any length of carpet to create complementary stair runners or rugs for the home. Far cheaper than sending off carpet for professional bounding and over-locking, and far less time to wait for the end product,  Easybind can be attached and completed at home in a matter of minutes.

The countdown to Christmas has begun and the party season is underway. But with all those guests, muddy feet and pets – not to mention accidental food and drink spills, your carpets and upholstery will be lucky to escape unscathed. Which is why Stainbusters – the UK’s premier carpet and upholstery cleaning company – is offering to giveaway a professional clean (worth £250) to each of two lucky readers.

Here are just some of the tradespeople you have recommended this week:

• Kingsford PMB, high quality, professional building company with comprehensive services. Based in SW London, covering that area. Call 020 8404 9762 or visit Kingsfordpmb.com. Click here to view Kingsford PMB’s profile on ProblemSolved.

Competitively priced carpets are available all year round from Gilt Edge Carpets, so it rarely needs sales. A family company with a wealth of knowledge, it provides free advice and an expert planning, estimating and fitting service. Choose from wool, velvets, Seagrass, Jute – even Bamboo or Paper. It can also offer Vinyl, Lino, Rubber or Laminate flooring at prices starting from as little as £10 per square metre.

With the property market growing ever more unsettled, the more information you can have before taking the leap as a buyer or seller, can never be a bad thing. Fresh out of the box and here to help is Betternest.co.uk, a website which demonstrates a property's potential to be expanded and altered for maximum profit and spatial benefits.

Answering the three main questions on buyers and sellers lips, for a flat rate fee the Betternest Property Potential Report details what space can be added to a property, how much it will cost and the estimated profit made from the alterations.

If you've had your finger off the pulse, bamboo is in.  So it's a case of right place, right time for Simply Bamboo. Working closely with its manufacturers, Simply Bamboo ensures a colour consistency, standard of product and some of the lowest prices around. Floorboards start from £15.95 per square metre (excluding VAT), and readers can claim a 10 per cent discount across the entire range.

Here are just some of the tradespeople you have recommended this week:

• Sorenson Carpentry, family run, well experienced building company offering a wide spectrum of services. Based in Essex, covering Essex and London. Call 07831 525227 or 07794 231045. Click here to visit Sorenson Carpentry's entry on ProblemSolved.

Here are just some of the tradespeople you have recommended this week:

• Interior Scope, top quality all round trader, offering decorating, carpentry and flooring services. Based in SE London, covering London. Call 07859 308 600 or visit Interiorscope.co.uk.

Planning a bathroom re-vamp for the New Year?

Good quality doors and windows are paramount to the overall look of your home – especially over winter months. But if you don’t want to pay a fortune, it is worth looking up Frames Direct Ltd. From bi-folding doors and sash windows to garage doors and conservatories, Frames Direct Ltd delivers the highest standards. And with security an every growing concern amongst city dwellers, it is reassuring to know that all windows feature insurance approved multi-locking systems for safer security.

Thinking of selling your home this year?

Here are just some of the tradespeople you have recommended this week

• Peter Montgomery, offering skilled decorating and painting services including specialist paint effects and exterior work, covering W, SW and WC London, call 27958 350 850 or 020 8877 9157. Click here to see Peter Montgomery's webpage on Problemsolved.

Not really a girl for DIY, but give me a couple of these “Nifty” leather-covered Mini Measures from Mr and Mrs House, and I could be persuaded. Available in a choice of six elegant colours, they measure lengths of up to 1.5 metres and are sure to add a little glamour to your tool box. There are currently discounts of up to 20 per cent on selected items at Mr and Mrs House, with the Mini Measures reduced from £14.50 (inc. VAT) to £11.60 until 30 April.

It’s always a treat to find something that is aesthetically pleasing as well as being good for the environment. A material long loved by the Italians, polished plaster is a naturally breathable and eco-friendly material, containing no cements, resins or acrylics; and, because it is lime-based, has a natural resistance to mould and bacteria – making it ideal for bathroom and kitchen walls.  Specialists in this field, The Polished Plaster Company can not only supply and put up polished plaster - it also offers four day intensive polished plaster application courses.

Sick to death of being preached at about green living?

Here are just some of the tradespeople you have recommended this week:

• David Miller, professional property maintenance company offering comprehensive services. Based in Essex, covers S, E London. Call 07976 643 666 or 01992 610 099. Click here for David Miller's entry on ProblemSolved.

• NR Installations Ltd, specialising in kitchen design and installations and refurbishments. Based in Surrey, covering London.

Here are just some of the tradespeople you have recommended this week:

• Brick Image Ltd, expert tradesmen in a variety of brickwork services. Based in East London, covering all London. Call 0845 257 2270 or visit brickimage.co.uk
• Egis Decorators, top quality, reliable painting and decorating company. Based in N London, covering N, W and NW London. Call 020 8374 8086 or visit egisdecorators.co.uk

Whilst you can’t match the charm and appeal of sash windows, they can be cause for headache. But Sliding Sash Solutions aims to help with a complete overhaul service for sash windows that virtually eliminates draughts and rattles, reduces outside noise and increases security. Priced from £225 per window ,  with a reduced five per cent VAT due to its energy saving credentials, the company is offering readers a free set of restrictor locks (£31.50, including fitting) for each sash window overhaul booked - assurance that your sash windows maintain the highest level of security.

Each week I receive quite a number of emails from the public  asking about renovation issues . A common question is how to tell when you’ve got a damp problem. If you suspect one, how do you know how serious it is? Can you treat it yourself? How much is it going to cost to sort out?

Here are just some of the tradespeople you have recommended this week

• MW Maintenance Ltd, experienced company offering gutter maintenance, repairs and roofing alongside a full property maintenance and refurbishment service, covering all London, call 0208 498 9100 or email info@gutters.me.uk.

The refreshingly simple and well laid out website shuttershop.co.uk makes choosing and ordering your shutters easy and stress-free – and I’m all for home improvements that tick those boxes.

A stalwart in the business for over 18 years, The Shutter Shop is one of the biggest suppliers of traditional interior wooden shutters, offering Basswood (a premium North American Basswood), Lockwood (American sustainably sourced hardwood), and Craftwood shutters (made from engineered timber) in a variety of styles, and in many

A website dedicated to the hardy home owner with a passion for DIY, uk-homeimprovement.com offers some useful advice and tips to ensure it does cost less to do it yourself.

With illustrated step by step DIY guides from hanging wallpaper to putting up corner shelving, helpful tips on how to save money on your household bills, recommended suppliers for all your DIY product desires and an online shopping store to indulge in all the things which make your home your own, uk-homeimprovement.com is definitely worth look.

Here are just some of the tradespeople you have recommended this week:

• Hallmark Building Contractors, offering a vast range of building, architectural & advisory services. Based in Hertfordshire, covering all London and SE England. Call 01923 270 037 or visit Hallmarkbuildingcontractors.com

In terms of investments for the home, you can’t do much better than a set of quality solid wood shutters. Highly aesthetic and practical, these could greatly enhance the value of your home.

Established since 1982, the Plantation Shutters’ range has evolved to include a number of unique features - hidden fixings, rebated panels and mortise and tenon joints – making them the strongest, most efficient and user friendly shutters on the market.

We all know the importance of saving energy – it can still seem like a lot of effort though, which is why Thinkinsulation.com is such a great website. Clear and well laid out, it offers genuinely useful information and tips on how to improve your home’s energy efficiency, help reduce harmful emissions and save money whilst you’re at it. Find out how insulation works, why it is the most cost-effective and sustainable energy saving product you can buy and what types of insulation would work best for you.

Here are just some of the tradespeople you have recommended this week

• MAS Tiling, exceptionally skilled tiler offering interior and exterior tiling including natural stone, covering London, Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, call 07932 196002 or visit MAStiling.co.uk
• 0800 Handyman, dedicated handyman service offering solutions to a vast range of tasks, covering all London, call 0800 426396 or visit 0800handyman.co.uk

As property prices continue to rise (will this never end?), the advice “don’t move, improve” has never been more relevant – and helping you to do just that is Loft Conversions Direct.

Whether it’s an extra bedroom, a playroom or a home office space, LCD can build it, offering an economical way to expand your space as well as adding value to your property.

A fun and surprisingly handy website, Yahoo! Answers provides an interactive platform to indulge in one of man’s best virtues; curiosity.

With helpful categories such as the home and garden, health and computers to the more adventurous and opinionated such as politics, social sciences and parenting, Yahoo!

Here are just some of the tradespeople you have recommended this week:

• Nick Cope, professional painter and decorator offering a variety of specialist services. Based in SW London, covering London. Call 07789 971 916 or visit NCope.co.uk
• Lewis Electrical, expertly efficient in full spectrum of electrical services. Based in Central London, covering all London. Call 01737 243184

Here are just some of the tradespeople you have recommended this week:

• John Simons, highy experienced tiler offering supply and fit of natural stone and mosaics tiles on floors and walls, covering all London, call 07779 244 407 or visit Johnsimonswallandfloortiler.co.uk
• Patrick Lloyd Electrical, professional electrician offering all electrical installations including home entertainment, security and CCTV systems, covering all London and Essex, call 020 8521 2175 or 07779 220 498

Here are just some of the tradespeople you have recommended this week:

• D & L Plumbing and Heating, perfect solution to all your plumbing problems. Based in SE London, covering London. Call 07773 298 931 or email dandlplumbingandheating@googlemail.com.
• NS Electrical, undertaking all professional electrical work, including underfloor heating. Based in East London, covering London. Call 07977 414 102.