Thinking of adding a conservatory to your home?

Conservatories offer versatile accommodation and they are one of the most cost effective ways of creating extra living space for your home. They can usually be constructed more quickly than an extension and often do not need planning permission.

Before jumping in, do your research to make sure you are buying the best quality structure within your budget. Choose a reputable builder. Visit the builder’s web site to see examples of their work and to read customer testimonials (link to how to choose a builder article).

A quotation for your conservatory

Ask your builder what is included in his quote.  Does it include flooring, electrics, heating and ventilation?  You would be advised to have heating and ventilation installed so that you can use your conservatory year round. A separate heating system will enable you to heat your conservatory without needing to use your main heating system.

The majority of conservatories do not need planning or building regulations approval, listed building are a notable exception,  but you would be well advised to check ahead. Get it wrong and you might have to take it down!

Think carefully about the position of your conservatory. South facing and it will take the full sun and so will need good ventilation and shade in the summer. North facing and you will need some heating in the winter. Take care that your conservatory does not take up too much space in your garden and choose a design which is keeping with your house.

The structure of your conservatory

Most conservatories have concrete foundations, cavity brickwork lower walls with glazed upper walls and roof panels set within frames.  A number of materials can be used for the frames, UPVC is the most economical and the most commonly used, but UPVC might not be allowed on listed buildings or in conservation areas.  Alternatives are aluminium, steel and timber.

What type of glass is used in conservatories?

 For safety, toughened or laminated glass must be used throughout. Laminated glass offers added security benefits against break-ins and cuts out around 90% of the sun’s UV rays, which fade furnishings.

To prevent overheating, particularly if your conservatory faces south, use solar control glass such as K2's Celsius Performance Glass or bronze polycarbonate panels for the roof. This can reduce the temperature by several degrees in the summer as well as reducing glare. You can also consider ridge ventilation and roof lights that open automatically above a given temperature to allow air to circulate. 

MASIPHUMELELE CORPORATION & TRUST

We would like to thank each and everyone of you for your support of the Masi Bike Ride which took place last month.

The intrepid team of 16 plus back up support team completed the gruelling (for most, a few seemed to find it annoyingly easy!) ride across the hills and dales of Yorkshire and back again - a cumulative 2000 miles (over 3000 kilometres). Please find attached a few photos of the team as follows:- leaving on the first day, on route, doing their cooling down exercises at Bempton House after the first day, some of the team leaving on the second day and a convenient break at a friend's in York on the second day.

Peter and I are absolutely delighted that the efforts of the team have raised well over £3500, including gift aid this comes to over £4225! This far exceeds anything Peter had in his mind when he first suggested the bike ride last year. With regards to Gift Aid, we have assumed that you are all British tax payers unless you have explicitly told us otherwise. If this is not the case could you please let us know so that we can adapt our records and prevent us getting into trouble with the Inland Revenue!

We would like to thank again our corporate sponsors, Kent Building Developments for providing the tabards, solicitors Chadwick Lawrence and Squire Sanders for their corporate donations, Bempton House for post ride sustenance and 'Beauty by Alex Clarke' for the memorable post ride massages.

Once again thank you for your support of Masiphumelele; each and every donation will make a difference to life opportunities in Masiphumelele. The UK trustees are meeting at the end of next month and will decide on which projects and individuals this money will support.

With sincere thanks and best wishes

Sandra and Peter Dodson

Masiphumelele Trust Limited

Registered Office

7, Silverdale Road, Wargrave-on-Thames, Berkshire, RG10 8EA

A Registered Charity No. 1137358

Thinking about an extension?

If you own a property or are thinking of buying one, there are many ways you can improve it to create the extra space you need.  A well designed and well built extension will not only give you the extra spaces you need but also add value to and improve the appearance of your home.

What you need to consider before you start

Good planning will ensure your extension delivers your initial vision. So before you begin determine what your extension is for?  This sounds obvious but deciding you need extra space without planning how to achieve this can lead to disappointment and even worse extra space that doesn’t meet your needs.  

What you need extra space for?

 A growing family

A home office

To accommodate adult children or elderly parents

Leisure activities

You’ve bought a new property and want to make improvements

How your new extension will achieve this?

A games room

A garden room

A swimming pool

Office space

A dining and entertaining space

A conservatory

Kitchen diner

Budget of course is a major factor and having a definite budget will help design and extra space decisions easier to make.

Do you need an architect?

There is no doubt that you need a professional to design your extension and draw up the plans. However using a complete design and build service has many advantages over using individuals for the various stages of creating your dream home.  

Having one company to deal with means your project will run smoothly with no need for plan alterations and updates between different professionals.  An experienced complete design and build company will help you to find the best ways to solve your extra space needs and will also take care of any planning application you will need.

Other things you need to consider

Do you need planning permission >>> see blog post

How to choose a builder>>> see blog post

Ask about a feasibility Study which is an excellent way of finding out what the extending possibilities are for your home.

Local Business man supports South African Entrepreneurs

A local business man felt so strongly of the importance of access to good education, finance and expertise for business start ups that he not only sponsored a cycle ride to fund education and budding entrepreneurs in a South African township but he also took part.

The sponsored cycle ride for Masiphumelele, which translates from the Xhosa to ‘we will succeed’ took in 155 miles of Yorkshire countryside from Harrogate to Bempton (nr Flamborough) and back.

’ Steve Kent, MD of Kent Building Developments Ltd said ‘I know from my own personal experience that business start up’s with access to business mentors, finance and expertise succeed. I think business translates across the world with all business owners thinking and acting along the same lines. If I can help someone else succeed in business through good education and guidance then I feel a real sense of achievement. As well as education, one of Masicorps objectives is to expand small business start-ups and business development work and I know there is a strong demand in the township for this sort of help. 

To date the group of friends raised £4,000.00  for Masicorp. The cycle ride was sponsored by three local businesses, Kent building Developments Ltd, Yorkshire solicitors Chadwick Lawrence with overnight respite provided by Bempton House B&B.

Steve Kent added ‘After heavy rain for one hour on Saturday morning, the weather during the weekend of 18^th and 19^th March was kind to us. We were very lucky, considering that most of us are infrequent cyclists, we had no punctures, no injuries, no breakdowns and no accidents!’

Information

MASICORP has over 12 years’ experience working in the township. Our approach has been to ask the community where and how they need support and, from this, we know the residents want a hand-up not a handout. We know that they see education as the route out of poverty.

Education is what we do: we built a library and education resource centre where over 20 programs are available free to residents; we have an important project to help improve education in the 30+ township crèches; we have a highly successful university bursary program and we work with and in the township’s primary and high schools.

Steve Kent of Kent Building Developments Ltd has an extensive background in Building and Civil Engineering Design and Construction. He has worked on some of the UK’s largest projects. Steve and the rest of the team have a huge knowledge base enabling the company to offer a unique Design Consultancy and Construction Service, including Architectural Design and Contract Management.

Kent Building Developments Ltd

Threshers Barn,
Low Moorgate,
Rillington,
Malton
YO17 8JW

Telephone 01944 759 259

email  steve@kent-build.co.uk

www.kent-build.co.uk

Kent Building Developments sponsors cycle ride for South African township

On the 17th and 18th of March Kent Building Developments will be sponsoring a cycle ride from Harrogate to Bempton (near Flamborough Head), 150 miles! Thankfully this is mainly on B and minor roads. It will take us 2 days and we will be staying at Bempton house B & B.

All funds raised will go to Masiphumele Trust to help them promote education at Masiphumele. This  includes mentorship and financial support for students at university and will also help indidviduals establish small and sustainable businesses. Please visit www.masicorp.org for more

To sponsor this really worthwhile town ship plan please ring 01944 759 259

How to make your home an eco home - part 2 New Build

Eco house part 2 – new build

This is really exciting and gives you more options to make your home eco friendly and save on energy bills. Many of the same options apply as for an older property but for a new build eco home you will have to consider the trade-off between the considerable extra build cost  and energy saving.

Planning a new eco home or looking to buy a new build eco home what should you be looking for?

Ground source or air source heat pumps

High levels of insulation

Your new eco home should be designed so you gain as much solar energy as possible so reducing the need for lighting and heating

Hot water and energy production from solar panels and/or PV panels

Double or triple glazing

Look for homes that use natural insulation

Taking care over the design in the early stages will reap benefits not just in energy savings but on the value and saleability of your home as fuel prices increase

If every home in the UK adopted these measures CO2 emissions would be reduced and for non domestic buildings the potential reduction in CO2 emissions are even greater .

Look for a builder with experience in building eco homes and ask what sort of energy savings you can expect.

How to make your home an eco home - older properties

Plenty of people are talking about it, even governments work out how to make it happen, but just how do you make your home an eco friendly home and what benefits should you expect?

Eco house part 1 – older property
If as most of us do in the UK you live in an older home or one built earlier than the 1970’s you will be limited in the changes you can make and the savings you can expect. However there are still things you can do depending on the type of property you have.

While it is a good thing to save money on fuel bills a few simple changes will make your home more comfortable and at the same time you can do your bit for energy saving. In a few years time as energy costs rise it seems likely that a poor energy rating could affect and make homes difficult to sell.

• Make sure you have high levels of insulation – roof and cavity walls
• Make sure windows and doors are sealed with no gaps
• Lag hot water pipes and tanks
• Make sure doors are well fitting and block any gaps
• Don’t leave gadgets on standby in the UK it is estimated that 8% of domestic energy is used by items left on standby
• Consider using an energy wizard which helps to reduce fluctuations in voltage and current which reduce the energy efficiency of domestic appliances. It is estimated that energy wizards can cut bills by 10% for an average household that saving of £60 per year. They cost between £20 to £30. 
• Check your central heating boiler, is it energy efficient. The older the model the less energy efficient your boiler is likely to be.

• The same applies to appliances older fridge freezers use more energy and are less environmentally friendly
• More expensive to implement, there are other changes you can make to reduce energy usage and make your home more comfortable.
• Consider double/ triple glazing or secondary glazing
• Condensing boilers can save energy costs as they can be more energy efficient than traditional boilers. This is a design of boiler which can have an increased efficiency over the more traditional boiler. The efficiency of a typical non-condensing boiler is around 75%, whereas with condensing boilers it can be over 87%. This increased efficiency is due to the extraction of heat from the otherwise wasted flue gases.
• Installing skylights will bring in more light reducing the need for artificial light
• Solar panels can be installed but you will need a new dual coil cylinder and control equipment making installation costly. It can take many years to break even on the cost

• Motion sensor light bulbs for indoors and outdoors reduce energy bills as lights are automatically turned on and off.  They also act as a burglar deterrent.
   

for more on eco homes please visit http://www.kent-build-eco.co.uk/