So, you’ve finally gained ownership of your new home and moving day is slowly creeping up. It’s an exciting time but one that you should prepare for ahead of time.
The team at Simply Plastics have analysed Google Trend Data to determine the interior design trends that are set to dominate 2023. The team also advises how to incorporate the trends into your own home this New Year.
Are you looking to buy a home, but don’t know the difference between a mortgage and a construction loan? Don’t worry, you’re not alone! Many people are confused about the differences between these two types of loans.
Regardless of how technology has taken over most of society, you can’t deny the tranquillity only
nature can provide. Considering how hectic life can be, even having a small area designed for
peace and quiet at home could help improve your mental well-being.
M S International, Inc. (MSI), the leading supplier of flooring, countertops, wall tile, and hardscaping products in North America, introduces its Top 5 Trends for 2023 in the MSI exclusive Lookbook.
Barry O’Connor relocated to Britain, from South Africa, in 2004 with a compounded background in construction. In 2018, he founded Trusko, a specialist construction company delivering bespoke services within principal contracting, with the help of an extensive and reliable supply chain.
Electricity is an essential part of any industrial facility, but it can also be dangerous if not used correctly. This is why it’s important to make sure that any electrical cords in your construction site are in good condition and not showing signs of damage or wear. If you find cords that seem worn, frayed, or cracked, replace them immediately.
Residential properties are always vulnerable to physical security issues. For instance, the doors and windows are weak points easily breached by intruders. It might threaten the safety of your family and friends.
Damages from a fire can be devastating, but attending to it is critical to get your life back on track. Seeing what you can do for your home to prevent further damage immediately is vital. While it’s tempting to handle the situation on your own, you should work with professionals so they can get a good look at your home.
These building professionals have procedures to ensure your house is safe to live in. Before they arrive, here are a few things you must and mustn’t do to avoid further complications.
1. Do Turn Off Your Heating Or Cooling System
Shutting down the heating or air conditioning after a fire ravages your home is critical. The system uses the air duct to distribute air throughout the house. The rise in temperature, smoke, soot, and toxic gasses can spread through the home.
These spreading gasses cause more problems and put your family’s lives in danger. If there’s an active fire, the duct could make it worse by supplying it with fresh oxygen, making the fire bigger.
The smoke is potentially the most dangerous as it kills more through inhalation. There are more smoke inhalation casualties than those who suffered from burns. Inspect the fire or wait for a professional to do it for you.
You must also remove the filter if you use a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) or an individual air conditioning system. Fortunately, service providers like Summit Facility Services can help you restore your home after a fire.
2. Do Make Safety Your Priority
A fire can leave so much damage that it can make a home too dangerous. Stay away from the devastation and only enter once a professional has given you the go-ahead. Structural damage can make your home unstable, and falling objects can injure you. There’s also a chance a fire can start once more.
Check your family members and pets and attend to their needs instead of fussing over the house. If you’re also inside, soot is more likely to scatter over carpeting, curtains, and furniture. If the house is not too damaged, you can lay fresh towels onto the dirt so residue won’t fly everywhere. Also, keep your hands clean to avoid causing any more damage.
3. Do Create A Report
If you’ve saved your camera phone, take photos as evidence of the damage. But don’t enter the house as it could be dangerous. You might also need to make descriptions of the areas or fixtures the fire damaged for fixes and replacements, especially for roofs.
Online correspondences are also important, specifically with your insurance agent or restoration contractors. Keep receipts and other documents on hand. You’ll need this to get compensation from your insurance company. The evidence you gather must show the fire damaged your home.
4. Don’t Use Any Appliance Or Electronics
Avoid using any electrical equipment in your home after the fire. That includes your television, computer, sound systems, and more. You’d want to have them professionally checked and cleaned first. Professionals will first try to salvage what they can by getting them out of the area for assessment.
They’ll need to see how much damage the fire, smoke, and water did to the items. Some might require only cleaning, so you won’t have to replace them. Avoid using ceiling fixtures like lighting because they might’ve gotten wet from broken plumbing upstairs or firefighter hoses.
5. Don’t Wash Anything In The House
If you have home or fire insurance, try not to touch anything in the house. Wait before washing anything. That includes the walls, ceilings, and other surfaces that absorb water.
The insurance company will need to see your home and make an assessment. The insurance coverage will kick in if the representative sees that your home does qualify for compensation.
The assessment also provides a pay-out to cover losses so you can replace damaged items in the house beyond saving. Make sure you have enough coverage to help restore your home when needed.
6. Don’t Stay Too Close To The Carpet And Upholstery
If you think your couches and curtains are still okay to use, think again. Smoke has likely clung to the surface of these items. They can harm your health due to their acidic content.
Depending on the intensity and makeup of the fire, smoke can contain various acids, sulfurs, and carbons. You and your family could inhale them if you insist on using them after a fire. If you spot the following items, don’t touch them until the restoration professionals can clean them:
Upholstery and curtains: Vulnerable to smoke and can be damaged with improper cleaning.
Carpets and rugs: Might sustain straining. However, the professionals can still save them if attended to as soon as possible.
Clothing: Might get damaged by soot and requires a unique cleaning process to prevent permanent staining.
Furniture: Will need a proper cleaning agent to avoid smoke damage
It’s essential to leave the cleaning process to the professionals. They have the tools and expertise when it comes to fire damage.
Takeaway
Fire damage can destroy your home and, if it stays intact, will retain soot, smoke damage, and other residues. Realising that some things you can do are beyond your control is essential.
It’s best to leave the restoration to the professionals because they know more about handling and cleaning your home. But before you request a service, call your insurance company first so they can analyse the extent of the damage.
Whether you live in an area in the constant path of wildfires and fire danger, or you’ve never suffered a fire in your life, you should never be relaxed around a fire. Fires can happen at any time and they can cause a lot of suffering for both your home and the people inside of it.
If you’re looking for ways to improve your business’s lighting, you’ve come to the right place. This blog post will go over some of the best lighting solutions for businesses. So read on for all the information you need to know about business lighting solutions!
If you’re planning on building a home, there are various considerations to keep in mind, and you shouldn’t overlook pest control. There are several reasons why it’s essential to prioritize pest control for your home, including new construction.
Having a well-maintained roof is essential for keeping your home or business safe and secure. Professional roof inspections and maintenance can help you achieve this by providing various advantages, including improved structural integrity, energy efficiency, prolonged life expectancy, reduced repair costs, lower insurance premiums, and peace of mind.
Are you wondering when the right time is to renovate your roof? It is easy to overlook the condition of your roof, but it can be one of the most important aspects of protecting your home. Whether you are planning for a full renovation or just a few minor repairs, it pays to know when is the right time to renovate.
The construction industry is rapidly evolving with the introduction of new technologies and processes. As a result, fleet management is becoming increasingly important for construction companies to stay competitive.
Buying an existing house is usually a good idea if you’re a homeowner. With that said, building your own home is an incredibly attractive concept. A newly built home can be designed for your needs, comes with few hidden problems, and won’t include hazardous materials like asbestos.
How to Build a Home as a Novice Homeowner
When building a new home from scratch, consider using sweat quality in the form of smaller projects. Not only can this save you money, but it can make the process less overwhelming.
Hire a Contractor (Unless You’re a Contractor)Should you build your home yourself or hire a contractor? Unless you’re a licensed general contractor or a journeyperson in one or many home-related fields, you shouldn’t build your own house. You also can’t build your house if the state forbids you to act as your own contractor.
But even if you are qualified enough to build a house, opting for another general contractor is in your best interest. Builders have their own network of subcontractors, personal experience with permitting offices, can cash in on wholesale discounts, and plan out the process step-by-step.
However, If you take control of the project, you can save 10% to 20% in build costs. Use this real estate affordability calculator if you want to assess the total cost of a new home build.
Preparing the Site and Laying the ConcreteStart the project by clearing the site of brush and other debris, even if the landscaping is well-maintained. You can make your garden sanctuary later. For now, you need a land surveyor, order dumpsters, portable toilets, temporary utilities, and an electrician for the work ahead.
The building site will start taking shape when it’s excavated and laid with wooden planks. These planks allow the contractors to build trenches and pour concrete inside. Footing drains are constructed to drain water, and water-proof vertical foundation walls will rest on footings.
Rough-In Services, Framing, and SidingBefore the concrete is poured, plumbers and electricians will do rough-in services so pipes and electrical wires are easy to access. Next, contractors will install foam board insulation, a gravel base, a plastic vapor barrier, and wire mesh to reinforce the concrete for the entire building site.
In the next step, you’ll work up a framing order for lumber, nails, house wrap, and adhesives to frame the house walls, ceiling, floor, and roof. The same carpentry crew will install windows, doors, and skylights. Finally, roofers will install a new roof via roof flashing and shingles.
Installing Electrical, Plumbing, and InsulationNow that the home is closed on all sides, you can start the interior work. Call back the plumber and electrician to run the remaining wires and pipes through the home. Hire an HVAC tech to install ductwork. If you have a chimney, you’ll need a mason to work with brick and/or stone.
Inspections are made before insulation is installed in the walls and attic. With all this prep work done, you can hire someone to hang drywall throughout the home. Next, the interior walls and ceilings are primed to be painted using spraying equipment. So are all trims and castings.
Paint Walls, Install Floors, and Finishing TouchesAt this point, you should have a home you could actually live in, but it’s still missing the finishing touches. Walls are painted or wallpapered before the kitchen, and bathroom countertops are installed. Then, kitchen and bathroom cabinets are added, and light fixtures are connected.
The very last thing you need to do is finish the flooring. You can choose between vinyl planks, hardwood, carpeting, ceramic tile, and engineered wood flooring. Once finished, clean up the site and throw everything in the dumpster. Paint the home’s exterior, and you’ll be done.
Final Home Building Matter to Take Care ofContractors can decide if they want to plant trees, shrubs, or grass, and build a patio or walkway before calling the project “done.” You could even finish the basement if you have money left over. Be sure to remove the dumpster by calling the disposal company you borrowed it from.
Before you can live in the home, you need to arrange a final inspection from the permitting agency, schedule a walkthrough with the contractor, and book an inspection with the lender.
The social media movement features several inventive, eco-friendly home improvements from wall insulation to rain barrels which are saving Britons a few precious pennies as well as the planet.
Dealing with stakeholders takes a lot of practice and strong negotiation skills in order to produce the best outcome for both you as the construction project manager, as well as your team. Often, stakeholders have a tunnel-vision of how they want a project to be ran, whether this is keeping costs down whilst asking for a lot of work doing in return or demanding a quick turnaround time on a lengthy project.
If you have real estate located abroad, it is important to take care of it in the same way that you would take care of property located in your home country. There are a few key things that you need to keep in mind when caring for foreign property: climate, cultural norms, and legal considerations. In this blog post, we will discuss each of these factors in detail and provide tips on how to best care for your real estate investment!
Plants are good for the planet – everyone knows that! But did you know that some are better than others? If not, your garden could be making more of a positive difference to the planet.
No one ever thinks about their roof until there’s a problem – and by then, it’s often too late. A good roof is something that most people take for granted until it starts to leak or develop other problems.
Garage doors are an integral part of the home. Not only that but they can also be an embodiment of the homeowner’s personality thanks to the multiple designs available in the market.
Your roof takes a beating every single day—from the harsh sun to fierce wind to damaging rain and hail. And while most roofing materials are designed to withstand Mother Earth’s wrath and are manufactured to last for decades, damages are inevitable.
Higher energy prices and the worry that thousands of people will struggle to heat their homes this winter has led to more people trying to find ways to heat their homes for less. One of the most effective solutions to the energy crisis is creating an energy efficient home, or retrofitting your existing property to retain heat more effectively. In fact, studies suggest that across England and Wales, over £10bn could be saved in energy costs just by upgrading leaky homes to a higher standard.
Gardens never go out of fashion – they’re a hardy perennial trend! – and they also constitute a valuable asset. According to recent reports, around 70% of home buyers would pay more for a property with private outdoor space. In fact, a well-presented garden can add up to 20% to the value of your house. Among new-build buyers, a garden is the second most sought-after feature, topped only by private parking.
It’s not always the first thing on everyone’s minds during the colder seasons, but getting started planning your garden during the winter gives you enough time to really pull something special together in time for summertime.
Are you considering remodelling your bathroom? If so, you’re in for a fun but sometimes stressful project. There are many things to consider when remodelling a bathroom, from the layout to the finishes. This blog post provides some tips for a successful bathroom remodel project.
Every building is designed to accommodate different features that enhance its functions. For instance, gutters and downspouts collect rainwater and dispose of it away from your home to prevent the element from interfering with the structure’s integrity. On the other hand, vents and windows supply your building with fresh air to prevent damp and musty air from accumulating inside.
Your home’s roof is a crucial component. It shields your home from the elements and keeps you and your loved ones secure and dry. So if you notice any problems with your roof, it’s important to address them as soon as possible. Many people put off roof repairs, thinking that they can wait until later. But this is a big mistake. Here are four reasons why you should never postpone roofing repairs!
Electrical testing is the process of evaluating an electrical system or component to determine its compliance with safety and performance standards. It’s typically carried out by qualified electricians trained to use specialised equipment to test various aspects of an electrical system.
Are you looking for ways to keep your windows in good condition and ensure they last longer? Windows are a crucial part of any building, and keeping them in good condition is essential. Windows allow natural light into the building, provide ventilation, and can add aesthetic appeal. If you’re looking for some tips on window maintenance, you’ve come to the right place!
Commercial design and build fit out company Thirdway have shared insights into the hottest workplace trends for 2023. The firm is passionate about redefining the workplace to support teams’ creativity, happiness, and wellbeing. Their goal is to throw out the outdated concept of the of**ce as a place to simply sit and work, and instead design workspaces that promote engagement, collaboration, cultural inclusivity, and productivity.
Discover four things to consider before moving into your new luxury home – such as setting up internet and utilities and determining how to use floor space.
Most homeowners spend a lot of time and resources to perfect their home’s interior design but don’t give enough attention to the exterior design. While it’s inappropriate to mismatch design styles when revamping your home, choosing the right design elements can enhance your curb appeal and improve your home’s value.
We have all heard about drawer runners and we all know what it exactly is. Drawer slides are used for opening and closing the drawers inside your cabinet, bedside table, a dresser or wardrobe. But if you want to have really good drawer guides and be sure that they will last you a long time and that you will be satisfied with them and their work, you should pay attention to their production materials and how much weight they can hold – it is important, because if you want it only for your drawers in the kitchen, you will not need heavy duty drawer runners. You can just buy the standard ones and everything will be fine. You will spend less money, too. But if you need drawer slides for really difficult tasks – heavy duty drawer runners will fulfil those expectations. They are strong, durable and solidly constructed, so that your drawers will not break down due to overload, or will not be damaged in any other way. They are great at doing what they have been made for.
Home designs constantly evolve to keep up with the latest consumer behaviours and priorities. Sometimes these priorities are questionable, but that’s not the case as the new year comes around. 2023 looks to be a year of significant positive evolution, as these trends could reshape residential construction for the foreseeable future.
