While the kids are away...

For the last four years, our local Primary School has carried out major building improvements during the Summer holiday period.

Four years ago it was a new hardwood floor in the main hall, three years ago, the roof was replaced, last year, the windows were replaced with new double glazed upvc windows that actually opened - amazing to think a whole generation of children had gone to school without being able to open the windows for fresh air on a hot summer's day.

This year, it was the turn of the central heating as victorian piping and huge radiators were ripped out and replaced with a system that will promise to be more fuel efficient whilst also actually heating the classrooms.

My point? Well apart from the joy of seeing my children's school environment receive regular upgrades, it just shows that it really does make sense to carry out some home improvement projects when the house is relatively empty.

And with the kids just starting back at school, 6th form or even university, what better time is there to get those home improvement tasks done?

Any installation, whether that's double glazing or a driveway is a lot easier to complete when the installers don't have to work around children.

Apart from the obvious dangers of inquisitive children and power tools, a good installation team will be well aware of their environment whilst carrying out any home improvement installation, disruption can be kept to a minimum and the chances are by the time the kids come back from school, the job will be pretty much complete or progressed so much since they left in the morning, they'll be amazed.

It's no surprise that after a lull during the Summer holidays, double glazing, paving, fitted kitchen and loft/garage conversion companies etc start to get busy again. Also, at the risk of evoking the wrath of the masses for merely mentioning Christmas whilst it still seems a long way off, many homeowners will be planning home improvements with the ultimate goal of having them completed and in use before December.

What's more, to keep the demand up, many home improvement companies will carry forward Summer offers into the Autumn, as well.

There are still plenty of bargains to be had but the first step in planning any home improvement is to get an idea of what the job is going to cost. You can do that online from the comfort of your own home using our 'Quoter family of websites.

Next step is to get that quote confirmed by more than one company, preferably three for comparison. Again, our online service is designed to do just that.

photo credit: pinksherbet