10 ways to improve your property

If you are thinking of selling your property or simply want to give it an update but wish to add value to your property also, the following 10 ways to improve your property is a good start. They are in no particular order of importance, cost or value adding potential.

As with all improvements you need to decide the reason behind them, if it is to add value to your house you should always research the local area to find out if doing a job will actually add value. If you just want to update your house for you then it is less of a consideration but be careful not to do things to devalue your property.

Garden – Do you have kerb appeal

Is your garden in need of some work, is the grass up to your knees or does it resemble a jungle? The first thing people see as they come to your property is your garden. Simply by keeping it neat and tidy will increase the kerb appeal. Simple things such as weeding the borders, cutting the grass and having well planned all year round plants is maybe all you need to do. If you wish to go a stage further you could use weed control membrane and coloured slate, some coloured pots and maybe even block pave the driveway, this is obviously more expensive but will improve the look and initial appearance of your home.

Environmentally friendly house

Is your property Environmentally friendly? Many people are looking to buy houses that are Environmentally friendly nowadays, for example short flush toilets, double glazed windows, water collection devices such water butts to recycle rain water or condensing boiler. All these things could not only benefit you, the home owner, but also the environment and are all good selling points.

New kitchen?

The kitchen for most homes is the hub of the house, it is where you make meals, maybe eat, and often meet other family members from the household passing through, it can be the organisational hub also with notes stuck on the fridge. A kitchen is also a great selling point of a property, does your kitchen look old and tired, is it 20 years old? There is nothing wrong with an old kitchen, they will often last for years it’s just the fashion and trends that change but the carcass or the kitchen maybe nearly as good as new.

Instead of ripping the entire kitchen out why not consider either having it painted or just replace the doors and worktops to give your kitchen a modern look and feel. There are lots of companies offering replacement doors and worktops online. And you can save yourself a small fortune at the same time.

Bathroom

Everyone likes a nice bathroom, a nice suite and well heated. So if your bathroom isn’t that welcoming you may consider doing it up, especially before selling. You don’t, unless you want to, need to install an entire new suite, replacing taps and getting rid of that old wooden toilet seat and replace it with a new one or a plastic one could be an idea.

Adding a few tiles could brighten up a bathroom and make it easy for mopping up splashes, especially around the bath or basin. Re-grouting your existing tiles could make the bathroom look cleaner and more appealing to potential buyers.

Another consideration is flooring, carpet may seem a good idea and feel nice on your feet in the morning but if your selling your house people may prefer a tiled floor or a vinyl flooring as it is more hygienic and easier to keep clean.

Flooring – carpets or hardwood flooring

Flooring is a large expense so you have to make to right decision, do you go for carpet or a laminate or hardwood floor? If you have cats or dogs a laminate or hardwood floor maybe a better choice than carpet. A dark carpet rather than a light coloured one would be best in a high traffic area, such as by a front or rear door. Hardwood and laminate floors are quick and easy to keep clean, simply brush them over with a broom.

The expense has to be a consideration also, especially if you are thinking of moving. Saving that worn out carpet will not help sell a house whereby a nice hardwood floor may do.

Storage

Storage is always a problem in most households, there is never enough space to keep everything we have nowadays. If you can build storage space it will certainly improve your properties look as all the clutter can be put away. For example, can you make a window seat with storage under the seat? Maybe you can build cupboards under the stairs, or build a toy box for the end of the kids bed.

Any space that can be utilised for storage will make your home run better and could add value to it also, as people always look for storage spaces when viewing a property.

Build

If you have the money you could always build, either an extension or convert the loft maybe, but you don’t have to go for a full on build, simply re-thinking a house and altering it may make the house work better and add value, for example adding an en-suit. A garden room or conservatory is another way of extending and would make a great play room for the kids, or a nice quiet place to relax in an evening.

You could also consider a garage conversion if you don’t use your garage for a car, but consider this carefully as it could affect the selling price later on.

Redecorate -Interior

It may seem obvious but redecorating is a relatively cheap way of improving your property, all houses need to be decorated from time to time as the décor gets tired and may suffer from the knocks and scratches of everyday life. Buying a tin of paint and painting a room can transfer how it looks, bringing it up to date by using a fashionable colour perhaps.

Adding wallpaper, even a feature wall can make a room more sophisticated and doesn’t have to cost the earth.

Redecorate – Exterior

The exterior of your house is just as important if not more so to maintain. Keeping the exterior paintwork such as fascia’s and soffits, doors and windows painted will keep the weather out and reduce the risk of them rotting.

Masonry also needs to be kept in good condition to stop damp from getting in.

Having a well maintained house gives a property great kerb appeal and could help sell a house.

Insulation

Sounds boring doesn’t it? But a well insulated house will have smaller energy bills than those houses with minimal or no insulation. Cavity walls and loft insulation can be done at any time and you may even be able to get a grant to help with the costs. If you haven’t got cavity walls you could line the walls with a thermal liner to reduce heat loss.

Upvc windows and doors with special coated glass will keep the cold out, look for the highest rated glass when you have them fitted. Also adding Upvc windows and doors is nowadays a great selling point as not only does it reduce the energy bills but also noise and or course there is no maintenance except cleaning them.

Lining paper, what is it?

Lining paper has been traditionally used to produce a good, sound, smooth surface for wallpapering over, however it is now more popular to hang lining paper and emulsion over it.

Lining paper is used to remove any small imperfections on a wall or ceiling, it is not however a miracle cure, so preparation should always be done before hanging lining paper. It isn’t a substitute for plastering either.

Once all the holes and cracks have been filled, the walls or ceiling should be properly rubbed down and any filler should be sanded smooth and level. One this is done dust down the walls to remove any loose debris. You can seal any filler by either using a ‘size’ such as watered down wallpaper paste, or you can emulsion over the filler to help seal it off.

What thickness lining paper

Lining paper comes in different thicknesses, guages or grades, this refers to their weight. they start at 800 guage and go up to 2000 guage, it all depends on how thick you want it to be. Lining paper does offer some insulation qualities but there are also specialist papers for this.

A good mid-range lining paper to go for is 1200 or 1400 gauge, they aren’t too thin and not to thick to be hard to work with.

Can I paint lining paper

As mentioned above, lining paper is meant to produce a smooth background for wallpapering over, but yes you can paint over the lining paper once it is fully dried.

Cross lining, what’s that?

Cross-lining is where the lining paper is hung horizontally rather the vertically like traditional wallpapers, normally if you are going to be emulsioning over the lining paper you could hang it as you would wallpaper, vertically.

Once you have hung the lining paper you need to allow it to fully dry before you emulsion over it, this will take normally between 12 – 24 hours depending on drying conditions.

How to measure for lining paper

Before you buy lining paper or order wallpaper you need to know how much to buy, I have written an article on how to measure a room for wallpaper that explains how you need to do it. I have also written a wallpaper calculator so you can work out how many rolls of wallpaper you need to buy.

Cost of lining paper

With everyone having to tighten their belts these days, cost is a real factor when it comes to decorating, wallpaper can be very expensive if you plan to wallpaper the entire room, a way around this is to only do one wall, or a feature wall as it is known.
If however you wish to change the look of a room every couple of years, or you have pets or children that makes wallpaper not a viable option, lining paper and emulsion maybe the answer.

Once lining paper has been put up it can painted over and over again, saving costs in the long run as all that is required is a fresh new coat of emulsion. Also, if you then decide to wallpaper at a later date, you can do so over the emulsioned lining paper.

Spring clean – Cleaning your garden furniture

After the long cold winter we have just endured the garden looks a little worse for wear, but now we are getting some warmer spring like days it is the perfect time to get out into the garden. Apart from cutting back and pulling out the winter bedding plants and cutting the knee length grass, the garden furniture (unless kept in a shed or garage) will be in need of some tender loving care.

If you have plastic garden furniture you will have less work to do, if you have wooden furniture it does need looking after and the spring is the ideal time to do it, ready for the summer.

Plastic and metal garden furniture

If you have plastic or metal garden furniture all you really need to do is either pressure wash them off and dry them or use a bucket of warm soapy water and a sponge or cloth to wipe them over and remove the ground in winter dirt and grime. Check for condition, and check for rust on metal furniture and treat as required.

Wooden garden furniture

If you have wooden garden furniture you need to spend a little time cleaning and protecting them. A lot of garden furniture is simply oiled with teak oil to protect them from the elements. Some furniture may be painted or stained, but whatever they are protected with, a good clean is needed first.

Ideally a pressure washer is the perfect tool for the job, a quick blast from one of these and you will remove the grime, once you have washed the furniture down, let it dry before doing anything else to it. If you do not have a pressure washer, a bucket of warm soapy water and a nail brush and then a good rinse will do.

Check the condition of the furniture, has any of the seat slats rotted over the winter, if so you will need to replace them. The last thing you want is the mother-in-law to come round for a barbecue and sit on a chair and fall through it!

Once any repairs have been carried out you can get on with protecting the furniture, if you have stained wood give it a light rub down with sandpaper before coating it, if the furniture is painted a colour, with a gloss for example, you should treat this as you were painting any wood on your house. Give it a rub down, an undercoat and then a topcoat.

If you have furniture that is oiled rather than stained or painted, allow to dry after washing and rub it down to remove any ‘furry’ bits. Once it is smooth you can oil it with an oil such as teak oil, use a rag to apply the oil, leave to soak in and then apply another coat. Apply 3-4 coats for good penetration and protection. Allow 24 hours to dry before using the furniture.

Once you have cleaned your garden furniture you’re set for the summer. When it comes to the winter, if you have the space it is always best to put the furniture in a shed or garage but if this is not possible consider covering it up for the winter, it will mean one less job for next spring.