In need of extra space in your home?

Struggled to pack your large family into one room over Christmas? Then you're not the only one! It's not an uncommon sight, cramming 14 people round a table, banging elbows, banishing your Nan to eat in the corner, sitting on a stool, for most of us this is what Christmas day is like. There's simply not enough room, with nieces and nephews springing up everywhere, where do you put them?! People seem to be finding a solution though, garage conversions.

Garage Conversions

Photo Credit: Jon Large

After the Christmas period we've noticed a surge in demand for garage conversions. For some it is an unused space, but what many are realising it has the opportunity to provide an alternate living/dining area for when the 'family' comes round. If you're undecided about whether or not you should fork out for one, here are some reasons For and Against.

For:

Extra Living Space

"If only I had one more room!" Well you can, garage conversions, but what would you turn it into? Think of the possibilities!

• Extra living/dining space
• Mancave (we all need one)
• Somewhere to store your shrine to Freddie Mercury, (just me?) 
• Your own bar
• Play area for the kids (probably not with the bar)
• Another bedroom
• Study
• Office
• Home Gym
• Home Cinema/Games room

If you have a growing family you may feel the pressure of having to move to a larger, new house. By utilising your garage you eliminate the problem and the stress of having to move home. Not to mention the significant amount of money you will save converting your garage.

Increase the Value of Your Home

By converting your garage, you could actually add extra value to your home – the value of your conversion will rise in tandem with the price of your home. Obviously, in very uncertain financial times, it's vital to add value to your home wherever possible. Also, if your garage is attached to your house, you can expect to 'brighten up' your home, using glazed doors for access and letting more light into the adjoining room.

To simply put it, if your garage is a 100sq.ft and local prices are £100 per square feet, then converting your garage for extra living space adds an extra £10,000 on your property value. The price for a garage conversion varies from company to company, but you can get free quotes from our quoter website www.garageconversionquoter.co.uk from real garage conversion companies in your area. 

Against:

Getting Past the Red Tape

Photo Credit: McBeth

It is very important to check if planning permission is required before you commence with any conversion work on your garage. If you fail to do this, and find out at a later date that planning permission was required – you may be required by law to reverse any work that you have already completed. This must be done at your own cost so it can obviously be a very expensive and time-consuming task. Your local authority should be able to answer any questions that you have about planning permission in relation to your conversion, however, only around 10% of all garage conversions will require local authority planning permission. 

At the End of the Day...

At the end of the day you're increasing your property's value, and providing an extra living area to accommodate your growing/larger family. If you're interested it's definitely worth your time looking into yourself. Use our garage conversion quoter websites to get free quotes from the top three companies in your area based on past customer feedback. Click here to go to our website. 

Think green this Christmas.

If you've resisted the festive urge to be the first to get your Christmas decorations up and alight, then good news - we've got some handy tips to help you save energy this Christmas.

Did you know it's now possible to buy energy saving and solar powered rope lights and other exterior Christmas lights? Solar lights that charge during the day and timer technology to switch them on just in the evening.

We all know leaving interior lights on when no-one's in the room is wasteful, so don't leave your tree lights on either. A typical 100 string Christmas tree light left on for 10 hours a day, over the 12 days of Christmas will produce enough CO2 to inflate 60 balloons.

LED lights use a fraction of the power (90%) of normal Christmas lights.

Think about using recycled wrapping for presents, or get creative with something reusable. Americans produce 1 million extra tons of waste during the holidays, and last Christmas, the UK used enough one-use wrapping to cover the entire surface of Guernsey!

And with all that cooking and company calling round, you'll find the rooms can quickly get uncomfortably hot, so don't forget to turn down thermostats or even switch room radiators off completely.

And talking of parties, whilst it may be tempting to buy in paper plates and plastic cups, that's all extra landfill. If large numbers of glasses are required, then many supermarkets offer a glass loan service. Over Christmas, we traditionally produce more than 750 million extra wine bottles! Don't forget to recycle.

Lastly, the Christmas tree. Real trees can be recycled afterwards - either mulched, burnt or planted for use again next year, whereas artificial trees are usually made from wire and plastics which don't bio-degrade at all well. True an artificial tree is re-usable but sale statistics have shown, on average, artificial trees only last for 6 years before they're replaced.

Have a Safe Christmas - check those Smoke Alarms

Please ensure you and your family stay safe this Christmas by checking your Smoke Alarms / Smoke Detectors are working properly.

If you have elderly neighbours, then show a little seasonal goodwill and check theirs are working too. They may not be able to reach and test them themselves. Be careful when reaching for alarms and use a proper stepladder etc to reach to the alarms safely.

For full information on smoke alarm siting and maintenance, please visit this link:

http://www.firekills.gov.uk/smoke_alarms/06.htm

Stay safe and have an enjoyable Christmas and New Year.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas scene by Georgie Crouch - age 9

Dear readers and customers

Our offices will be shut from Friday 21st December to Wednesday 2nd January for the Christmas holidays.

You can still access our websites and get instant online quotes for your home improvement projects and our I.T team will be poised ready to act should the websites decide to go on holiday as well.

Thank you for visiting our Quoter sites during the last year and for your continued readership of our Blog.

We'll be back with some great new posts in the New Year.

Merry Christmas and stay safe!

Home improvements during December - are we mad?

Home improvements during December - are we mad?

Actually we're quite sane. December and Christmas are a perfect time to get a few quotes for Home Improvement projects you're planning either before Christmas or in the New Year.

Many Home Improvement companies run special offers that could save you pounds during December as they experience a traditional Christmas slow down in trade, due to peoples thoughts turning to turkey and mince pies no doubt.

And at Home Improvement Quotes, our registered home improvement companies, supplying everything from double glazing to fitted kitchens, driveways to roof repairs offer written quotations that are valid well into the New Year.

So now there's no excuse for drinking and eating to excess as you can get an instant online quote for your next home improvement project and find out just how much you've got left to spend on those Christmas trimmings.

Whether you're considering doing the work before Christmas or prepared to wait 'till afterwards, now is a great time to get a free written quotation.

Click here to visit Home Improvement Quotes and select your instant online quote from the range of projects on the left.

Feature - New Kitchen in time for Christmas

Feature: New Kitchen in time for Xmas

Christmas - a time of parties and celebrations, eating to excess and culinary frustration when despite your best attempts, short of taking a hacksaw to the poor thing, the turkey refuses to fit in your old oven.

Of course, Christmas and New Year is a tough time for kitchens (all the best parties end up there you know) so if your kitchen looks like it might not last or you really want to impress visitors, then why not think about having a new kitchen installed. There's still time.

Kitchen Quoter can help you get an instant online quote for your new kitchen and you can do it all from the comfort of your own home, without the need for a salesman to call.

Simply visit KitchenQuoter, select your area of the UK and confirm your contact details.

Then you can enter your measurements, select options like base and wall units, style and if you want to include appliances.

Our clever website will then calculate an instant quote ranging from budget to luxury, to give you an expectation of cost.

It's a completely free service and afterwards, we can offer you the opportunity to get your quotation confirmed in writing by up to three local companies to you, vetted by ourselves and based on quality, price and localness to you.

No companies will call you without our first having obtained your express permission, however, our service could save you pounds as our registered kitchen companies save on traditional forms of advertising and so pass those savings directly onto you.

www.kitchenquoter.co.uk can help you choose your new fitted kitchen.