What are the best type of home Improvements for your home…

What are the best type of home Improvements for your home …and should I believe what TV property shows say?

Hi, thanks for surfing in.

This short but interesting article explores the relationship between “property porn” (i.e. TV property shows, not rude ones!) and asks whether they are all they are cracked up to be, We also look at the essence of home improvement itself and what is the best way you can spend your hard earned money on home improvements.

so………..

“Are TV property related shows a good idea to watch or not?!

and………….

“What are the best value home improvements I can do on my home?”

Well, the topic of home improvements can be a bit of a nightmare so lets start with the basics, absolutely right back to the start……………

While the phrase HOME IMPROVEMENT mostly refers to building projects that alter the structure of an existing home or house, home improvement can also include improvements to external aspects of the home such as outbuildings, garages, sheds and of course, the Garden.

Home improvement projects on your house usually have one or more of the following goals:

1. Added features and beautification

The first topic here relates to mainly cosmetic home improvements such as having the exterior walls of the house repaired and painted, having new windows installed, having the roof coated with a coloured roof coating, having a smart new fence around the garden and so on. Some cosmetic home improvements also come under different categories, windows being a good example, which we discuss later in the article.

2. Maintenance and repair of existing aspects or features.

This is a very common home improvement and can encompass many different types of jobs or work around and inside the house. Some Maintenance type home improvements can be carried out by the individual such as painting a bedroom wall with emulsion paint, fitting new door handles, or maybe for the slightly more advanced DIY’er, work such as re-tiling a bathroom and so on.

The REPAIR type home improvement is either a repair to something existing to lengthen its life, such as fitting new kitchen cupboard doors to refresh a tired and dated kitchen, or something more urgent like repainting loose roof tiles or filling and fixing cracked walls.

3. Adding comfort

We all want to be comfortable in our homes, especially if one is retired, or perhaps just relaxing after a hard days work. This type of improvement could be something like buying a new heater for a room, or a new sofa, or perhaps the laying of lush deep pile fitted carpets in the lounge.

4. The creation of additional space or rooms.

An extension or room or loft conversion is a great way to add VALUE to your home whilst of course improving it at the same time. It is not a cheap home improvement usually, but can be a very effective one. Good examples would be installing Veluxâ„¢ roof windows in a loft to create a room in the attic and give the place a bit more natural day light?

Also many people get someone in to convert their garage into a room, after all, who keeps their car in a garage any more?!! There are specialist companies who deal solely in these types of home improvements, although most general building contracts would probably consider the work also.

A home improvement such as an extension can often be one of the best investments you could make in your home as, if done properly, in the right market conditions, you could actually make a profit!

(Look in your local estate agents window at the price of 3 bedroom houses, and then the price of 4 bedroom houses, there is a BIG difference!)

5. Energy and time/labour saving

In today’s world, the saving of time in our busy lives is often a very useful thing to achieve!

Time saving home improvements can be things like having an automatic gate or an automatic garage door opener, saving you having to do the thing yourself. It could also be an automatic garden watering or sprinkler system, or a timer to switch outside lights on, only at certain times, which can have positive effects on increasing home security too!

In addition, the watchword nowadays is “green”; how green can we be and how green can we make our homes? This would be another essay in itself, but we must all look after our fragile environment now and it could be suggested that the public are far better educated in green issues, so how do we improve our homes in a green way?

Well the thing that springs to mind 1st is energy saving and cutting down on wasted energy.

We can improve our homes through low wattage light bulbs, lagging and insulating pipes, having a damp proof course installed or an exterior wall coating to stop damp penetrating into the house through the walls, using recycled building materials, installing low water use toilets and showers, recycling rain water for the garden and so on.

We can also use nature to harness energy and solar power or small wind generators are now becoming more popular.

6. Additional or enhanced privacy or security.

This type of home improved is one of the ones that to be fair, has to be done PROPERLY by someone who at least has a good idea what they are doing. The fitting of a burglar alarm is by far the most common form of security related home improvements, however the fitting of window locks and a chain at the front door can also be cheap and effective home improvements that the novice can undertake with ease.

Additional privacy related home improvements are also often cheap and effective, such as window blinds, garden fencing, or creating a screened area on a terrace or patio for example.

There are 3 main approaches to any home improvement job, task or project and that is to either: …….

…….a) Hire a general builder or tradesman, …….

…………b) Hire a specialist contractor, for example using a wall coating firm to do the exterior walls, or ……

………..c) Doing the job yourself……….

Let’s briefly look at those options one by one……….

A) Hiring a general builder. You may already know a builder, but if not make sure you speak to friends and family and get a recommendation. Ask to see references and maybe some of the work they have done already. If its a big job you want doing, for example, the exterior walls re-rendering, make sure you know who you are dealing with and check them out thoroughly. Also while it is common to ask the customer for a deposit, often for building materials, dont pay the builder in full until the whole job is done and you are happy.

B) Hiring a specialist contractor. Specialists are exactly that; they specialise in whatever field they work in, so for example if you are wanting damp proofing for damp walls, then look online for a damp proofing company, and if you are looking for someone to replace the roof, then of course call a roofing company or roof coatings specialist.

C) DIY doing it yourself. DIY is a popular pastime for many people. It is also regrettably a popular reason to have to go to hospital.

“I saw a DIY property TV show and it all looked so easy!”

The various TV shows over the years that have encouraged DIY, making it look so easy and effortless but be warned, and this is from someone who has worked on TV shows 1st hand so please take it from me as truth!

Firstly, TV shows, even reality shows, are not reality.I am talking about shows like DIY SOS, Gutted, changing rooms, Extreme home makeover, A place in the sun, Grand Designs, Ground force, Homes under the hammer…………and so on.

“It’s all a lie!”

They are planned and premeditated and usually well funded.

When you see a property TV show and you have maybe 2 presenters and small handful of people, you are seeing just the top of the iceberg as to what goes into the making of a TV show as usually in the background there are hundreds of people involved that go into the making of a property related TV show.

TV home makeover shows have been very popular over the years and were directly related to the now defunct property boom, where people wanting home improvements would simply re mortgage their house to cover the cost, and then their improved home would rise in value as a result. The party is well and truly over now, which is maybe why you do not see so many TV shows about this on the Telly any more.

Many of these TV property related shows are filmed in a way that they misrepresent what is actually happening. Once the TV crew have it “in the can”, they drop you like a stone and suddenly youre NOT the centre of their attention. Can be a weird experience.

NPA has been involved in Grand designs and Gutted, plus we have quoted for BBC DIY SOS, another grand designs project, and a few other TV shows also which i cant be bothered to mention (!), but the producers of the shows promise contractors fame and fortune,

the only catch is,……….

the TV company want the builder or contractor to do the work for next to nothing. Be warned, this is a con! If you are a builder etc and are approached by one of these shows, get in contact with us as we could certainly tell you a few reason why you should be very wary about appearing on a TV show related to homes and DIY!

TV shows where the “contestants” have a limited budget and they can’t go over it and all that, let me tell you that in most cases, the production team blag free labour and building materials for the show and they normally help the poor hapless people keep within their budget as its good TV (A happy ending etc)

So in summary,

• Take what you see on the TV with a pinch of salt, and do your homework before starting any project.
• Carefully consider your budget and stick to it.
• Choose a home improvement that gives the most benefits to you and your family.
• And if you are unsure about what to do next, get in contact with us here at NPA today, we look forward to hearing from you.

NOTES: The above image of all round nice chap Mark Durden-Smith is a unique and original photo taken by, and copyright 2008, Guy Alexander Bell.

Remember you can contact us to discuss any aspect mentioned on this page or elsewhere on the site, or why not register on the site and leave a comment?

This article is an original article by Guy Alexander Bell, Published April 2010. This is copyright and you may not copy it for your own commercial reasons.

Guy works for “NPA Never paint again” who specialise in damp proofing, exterior wall painting, external rendering, pebble-dash and tyrolean coloured paint coatings, render repair and exterior wall coatings. They also offer a range of floor coatings, wall coatings, damp proof coatings, coloured coatings and weatherproof silicone and resin based exterior textured coatings.

Related posts:

1. Exterior Home improvements during autumn and winter?! If you are sat here reading this article now, you are probably wondering what on earth NPA are going on...
2. Spanish wall coatings villa painting and home improvements in Spain! Whilst NPA is well known throughout the UK for quality work, we may be less known to some of you...