Addicted to Twitter!

I've been reading about this site for a while now and last night, finally decided to sign up.

In short, Twitter enables people to post their latest thoughts online within around 160 characters.

The site sells the idea of people being able to tell others what they are doing instantly and even by mobile phone.

I quite like the idea of Twitter as a super fast and condensed set of micro blogs from all over.

I see Twitter users getting better at expressing themselves with less words and detail compared to regular bloggers.

I'm thinking about whether we can post our latest reviews to Twitter making our list more and more accessible to a larger community.

Coloured plaster

Getting the right colour in a room is always going to be one of the bigger decisions you will make in decorating. Well it wont be if you're wall papering and that my friends is the subject of a completely different blog post all together!

The use of paints is one thing but to use plaster of colour is another proposition all together! Paint will always look like paint in comparison and once you realise the scale of variety on offer, you'll probably want to bookmark the website offering the selection below;

The Artful Plasterer really do offer this many colours of plaster. No pictures of finished walls I'm afraid. If anyone finds an example or 2 just send me a message. I'd love to see the finished result.

Why pay when you can DIY?

Some times you feel the need to quote from an original source. Today its actually a slogan from our friends at http://www.diyforums.net/;

'Why pay when you can do it yourself?'

Research from Direct Line shows that home improvements average at £7,340 a time but yet 1.1 million of us Brits have had to put up with the substandard installation of kitchens and bathrooms and unsatisfactory extensions. In my case it was the fitting of a boiler.

The research goes on to state that 1 in 7 of those unhappy with home improvements have been stung by tradespeople not honouring a contract.

More often than not people that pay for work in cash believe that cash payers do not have the same legal rights as those paying on the books.

This is not the case!
Homeowners who pay in cash and are unhappy with the work carried out have exactly the same rights as those who pay by cheque or credit card.

I recently spoke with a very helpful volunteer from the Citizens Advice Bureau by the name of Lorraine about this very issue and received 3 helpful fact sheets about how to dispute unsatisfactory work by builders, plumbers etc.

Leave a comment if you'd like me to forward them to you.

Safety First

A bare footed electrician standing on a metal ladder in a swimming pool...No!

Ethical Homes at the Ideals Homes Show

A little more on the Show last Saturday.

Lynch Architects created the shows central feature, which demonstrates the latest ideas in sustainable building techniques. Entitled ‘Sustainable living – a return to community; the central part of Earls Court had been turned into a snippet of a village with three houses - representing urban, suburban and rural living.

Since reading The Architecture of Happiness by Alain de Botton I dream of a time when we will be offered spacious modern living as offered by Lynch Architects in the UK as a popular alternative to those beige bricked pastiche designs we have allowed ourselves to tolerate.

Lynch Architects












Barratt Homes

Ideal Homes Show

Me and my brother were lucky enough to get hold of some complimentary tickets to the Daily Mail Ideal Homes Show at Earls Court today.

The last time we went was back in 1985 or there abouts. It was called the Ideal Homes Exhibition then.

All we remember of the event was a Volvo stand with an amazing plastic ball playground which we decided to live in for the duration. We were about 5 years old in 1985 by the way/ Oh yeah and there was a Volvo hat made out of card board that we got for free. Brilliant!

Volvo wasn't there this year. I'm not entirely sure why a car manufacturer gets to take a space up at a Homes show. This year it was Nissan but without the playground.

The Ideal Homes Exhibition has been running for absolutely ages. The first one was held was back in 1908. Wareham Smith, an advertising manager for the Daily Mail at the time founded the event as a marketing opportunity for the paper. There used to be strong theme of education at the event which has since been completely overshadowed by commercial products and services.
Not much change there this year. I did expect to see more innovation but didn't find anything of great interest apart from a cluster of Carbon neutral show homes. More on that later.

We paid for a guide which came with a goodie bag that amounted to a can of baked beans and a leaflet claiming to make us millions from property investment.

There was a great food area that resembled Spitalfields market exactly and flocked wallpaper absolutely everywhere!










I'll find a couple of independent reviews of the show and post them here in due course. I think I'll see about taking a stand next year.

The list is getting bigger and better and the more chance I have of sharing great customer reviews with others, the better for all of us.

Top value-adding home improvements revealed!

Estate agents have revealed their top value-adding home improvements, as well as their worst alterations in this survey.

Estate Agents' top three value-adding improvements were adding a downstairs extension (70 per cent), followed by putting in a new kitchen (65 per cent) and adding an extra bedroom or study (57 per cent). However, consumers thought these changes were on average 28 per cent less important to adding value to a home than agents.

However, consumers thought these changes were on average 28 per cent less important to adding value to a home than agents.

"Whatever we may think of them, estate agents are the experts when it comes to what helps or harms a sale," said Alliance & Leicester's Richard Al-Dabbagh.

"They conduct valuations of properties on a daily basis so they know that, while you may be proud of your carpentry attempts in the kitchen, they will deter most potential buyers."

Mr Al-Dabbagh added homeowners should be careful that their planned home improvements actually do add value to their homes.

The survey finds consumers also disagreed with agents on alterations that devalue a property.
Agents' top five improvement disasters were obviously home made cupboards or kitchen fittings, non-neutral external decorations, putting polystyrene tiles on a ceiling, removing period features and putting down patterned carpets.

By comparison, consumers thought these alterations were on average 18 per cent less damaging to a property's value than agents, with the biggest disagreement ranked as the removal of period features.

Estate agents' top ten value-adding improvements

1 - Extension to provide extra living space downstairs

2 - New kitchen

3 - Extra bedroom / study

4 - Garage

5 - Conservatory

6 - New bathroom

7 - Adding a new ensuite/shower room / WC

8 - Internal redecoration

9 - New windows / double glazing

10 - Driveway / additional parking space

B&Q do good

B&Q have ended up on my radar more and more of late and I'm glad to say it is for positive reasons.

Sticking on the subject of water the diy retailer has a handy calculator to saving water around the house.

Its really easy. Go take the test.

Throwing the baby out with the bath water

With sunnier and drier weather expected over the coming months and yet more warnings of a water shortage in southern England homeowners are being urged to save water.

I don't think anyone can beat my mate Tony who uses his bath water on the garden plants but here are a Top 5 water saving tips from B&Q;

1 - Install a water butt or underground storage tank to collect rainwater for use in the garden - it could save 2,800 litres of water, more than enough for gardens in the summer

2 - Think before you flush. Do not use the toilet as a dustbin - each flush can be as much as 11 litres

3 - Try washing vegetables in a bowl, rather than under a tap. Putting a lid on a saucepan will also mean you need to use less water when boiling vegetables

4 - Save hassle as well as water by plugging leaks and fixing drips - a dripping tap can waste 20 litres of water a day

5 - Keep a bottle of tap water in the fridge - running the tap until it is cold wastes five litres of water a time.

Halifax launch home improvement advice website

The UK's biggest mortgage lender has launched a new website offering householders free advice on home improvement.

The site from Halifax has been developed in response to figures showing rogue tradespeople wasted £1.5 billion of the nation's cash and generated 111,000 complaints in 2005.

"When you are looking for tradesmen to help with maintenance, repair and building work around the home it is essential that you invest time and effort into choosing the right tradesman for your home improvements. This will be fundamental to the success of your DIY project," said Mark Heaton, head of mortgages at Halifax.

Sounds like Mark took a leaf out of www.deepslist.com

=)

The site! Tell me what you think.

£1,400 cost of poor colour schemes

Making a poor choice over what colour you paint the interior of your home will devalue your property by an average of £1,392, new research reveals.

The survey from Privilege Insurance finds a third of estate agents say an "unfavourable" interior colour scheme would knock a minimum of £1,000 off the sale price of a home.

One in ten agents goes even further, saying a bad colour scheme would see a property lose £3,000.

At least you can paint over it...

More here

Choosing a good plumber

According to DirectGov, the first thing to do when looking for a plumber is ;

Ask friends/relatives/neighbours who they use.

Easier said than done if you don't have any friends. OK well everyone knows at least someone but not all of us have the luxury of friends that use trades people regularly enough to be able to recommend the trusted professionals over the fly by night cowboys.

This was one of the main reasons we started the list. If you don't know anyone that knows someone go see if there is anyone else that does at www.deepslist.com.

Simple really...

Footballer stealing from B&Q

£30,000 a week Portsmouth player Glen Johnson, was caught on CCTV allegedly trying to smuggle the objects out of B&Q.

Johnson, and fellow footballer Ben May, 22, were seen apparently putting the toilet seat in a box marked with a cheaper price, and hiding the taps under other objects before going to the checkout.

There are a lot of things you end up walking out with when you go to your local B&Q for a strip of sand paper but you dont not pay for them!

More here.

Stelios officially launches easyVan.com

Easyjet founder Stelios, is continuing to in his quest to bring better value to consumers with the latest easyGroup launch of easyVan.com.

The new easyVan.com business offers consumers low cost van hire with a range of five different sizes of vehicles to suit the requirements of most private customers.

UHaul is Americas main DIY van hire service and they're absolutely everywhere. I think its high time homeowners and the like turn to one cheap and trusted brand like 'Easy'. I like it.

More on this here

How to a replace a radiator

There are a number of occasions when removing the radiator would make life very easy indeed. Decorating, replacing the floor or skirting boards, flushing the central heating out.

DIY Fix it has great article with helpful pictures. Reading this helped me when removing old wall paper some months ago.

Full article here

Time to get even with British Gas

Consumers are turning the tables on the utility firm and are forcing it to court to get redress for its appalling levels of service.

About 1,000 people a week are complaining about the firm to Energywatch, the watchdog.

Some have spent months, even years, trying to resolve incorrect bills and reclaim overpayments.

Basil Herbert, 53, an airline duty manager from Sudbury, Suffolk, has decided to take matters into his own hands and is taking the firm to court after it failed to provide the boiler inspection service it promised.

Consumers are becoming increasingly confident about challenging the big banks and utility firms in the courts. It is certainly a reversal of roles for British Gas, which is more used to threatening consumers with court action for their refusal to pay incorrect bills.

The full story here.

Its great to hear of normal people like you and me standing up for our rights. Its a shame that we have to in such unfortunate circumstances. The more often we do this the more notice those bigwigs will take and do everything they can to give us a better level of service.

At the end of the day they need us more than we do don't they.

Make your own Febreeze

I never thought of doing something like this already. OK sure, I've tried my hand at making Kentucky Fried Chicken with that secret blend of 11 herbs and spices, who hasn't, but Febreeze!?

4 Homemade Febreeze recipes

Basically the ingredients to make homemade Febreeze is a mix of water and fabric softener.

Directions: Unless otherwise noted, place ingredients in a spray bottle and shake well to mix. Test a small unnoticeable area first before using to make sure no discoloration or damage occurs. Use as needed, shaking well each time before use.

Recipe #1
1 cup fabric softener1 cup white vinegar2 cups water
Recipe #2
2 cups water1 cup fabric softener
Recipe #3
3 cups water3 TBS fabric softener3 TBS rubbing alcohol
Recipe #4
2 cups water (warm)1/4 cup fabric softener1 TBS baking soda

Do you feel like you're watching Blue Peter?

Out with the old and in with the new

From The New Statesman;

"In the UK we throw away more consumer products, and faster, than anywhere else in Europe. The result is a shocking - and unsustainable - mountain of discarded hardware.
Just as Britain tops the European league for marriage breakdowns, so it also now tops the league for falling in love with consumer products and then throwing them away when newer models come out."

My dad came to mind as I read this. He's been through so many tools in my lifetime.

As a new home owner I've found myself back at my parents trawling through their garage (mass storage bin) looking for bits and bobs for painting and decorating, plumbing and so on that I'd remember seeing him with when I was younger.

Where on earth are they now?

I bet you all have examples of this type of waste. I don't think the main reason we splash out on something new is just because its new. Its either because we run out of room or we just cant bear to see the tools we so badly ruined parts of our homes with in such amateur style!

Your comments please.

DIY now stands for Don't Involve Yourself.

From the Daily Mail online;

An interesting episode about a man who decides to nail down his bathroom floorboards;

Trouble was, he lost his balance and fell over. He told me: "I heard the gun go off. I felt a pain in my chest, so I went to take off my jumper, but I couldn't because it was nailed to my chest."

For those of you attempting to lay laminate flooring don't bother with optional extras;

"What are the hairy bits around the edge?" It turned out he'd laid the flooring on top of his old carpet, to save money on underlay.

For those of you that just cant be asked, go to http://www.deepslist.com/ and find a decorator you can trust. We do list reviews. Every little helps!












Full story here
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/femail/article.html?in_article_id=433215&in_page_id=1879

More rubbish Plumbers

Flowline Services Limited, which now trades as Rapid-Flow Maintenance Services Ltd in Wiltshire, was convicted by Croydon magistrates last week after denying breaking the
Trades Description Act.

They were fined £2,000 which for me is a damn fine result. I think the turning point for them came when they failed to disclose that they were crap. Remember the name and remember the message;

RAPID-FLOW MAINTENANCE SERVICES LTD in Wiltshire are RUBBISH!

Anyone needing to review them just go to http://www.deepslist.com/ and post a review.

Full article at
http://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/search/display.var.145002.0.plumbers_fined_2_000.php

How many plumbers ...

Andrew Savory writes;

I'm working from home this morning, because I've been assured that a plumber is coming "first thing" to look at my radiator. Back in November, my spare room radiator sprung a leak. After calling around, the 11th plumber I spoke to was able to come out and do the emergency work required to stop the leak (removing the radiator and capping the pipes). Since then, it's been one long nightmare trying to get the insurance claim sorted out and a replacement installed. NatWest Home Insurance told me that I need to get a quote for the fix from a plumber, so I did that. It wasn't easy. I called five different plumbers. Two said they'd fax a quote and didn't. One said they didn't have anyone in Norwich that could handle it. One offered to do a quote, but wanted £25 for it. Finally, a plumber based just round the corner from me gave me a quote over the phone and then faxed it through to me. I dutifully added a cover letter and faxed it off to NatWest. After three calls to NatWest to chase it, they told me that they had received the fax and spoken to the plumbers, but needed proof that the leak was caused by either freezing or high pressure. Apparently, general every-day leaks aren't covered. I'm not sure what caused this leak - it wasn't freezing, but it could have been pressure, it could have been a duff radiator, it could have been rust. I'm no expert, but surely any unexpected leak is worthy of an insurance claim? If the heating system is maintained, it's not possible to tell whether there's a problem or not until the damn thing leaks, is it? Aaaanyway. I called the plumbers back, and they said sure, they could write to NatWest. I asked them to fax me, so I could forward it. And then I heard nothing. So I called them back, and they said they'd take care of it tomorrow. Nothing. So I called them back, they apologised, and said they'd deal with it tomorrow. Nothing. So I called them back. They said they'd try to get something done today. Nothing. Remember here that out of five plumbers, these were the only ones that responded to my initial request for a quote. I figured I was more likely to be successful by persisting with them than by switching to some other plumber at this point. And, of course, NatWest already had one quote from them, so I didn't want to confuse things by bringing in another player at this point. So I called them back. No reply. Well, getting close to Christmas now, they were probably down the pub. So I called them back. No reply. Well, we're into the New Year, but perhaps they are still hungover. So I called them back. Apparently the guy that needs to take care of it wasn't there, so they'd try tomorrow. Nothing. So I called them back. Apparently their computers have a virus, and they can't do anything right now. They'd try later. Nothing. So I called them back. This time, they explained that they couldn't really give me a letter saying the radiator burst due to high pressure, as it puts them in an awkward position. They could send a guy out to give me a free quote and to take a look at the radiator though, after which they could write the letter. Great. So the plumber made an appointment with me for first thing Monday morning, and they said he'd call before he arrived. Nothing. I'm pretty sure it doesn't qualify as first thing Monday morning any more, even by the most liberal of timekeepers. Time to phone again. So far, I have made 37 phone calls, including the initial emergency calls. 11 to one plumber, and 11 to NatWest. I'm amazed.
Update: I called them back. Someone decided it wasn't worth coming out to do the free quote. Someone else forgot to call me and let me know. They can, however, come out and quote for £50+VAT.
I called one of the other plumbers that failed to send a quote last time, and he should be here this afternoon. £40. Ouch.

Plumbing the right way

Some random blog in Seattle, USA

"Of course there are many plumbers to contact when you need a job done; however, you should contact someone that you trust. Although you can plumbers who only tackle drains and sewers, it is best to have one that can handle several types of problems. It might be very difficult to know what kind of professional help you were getting on your plumbing issue, when the plumber did not have professional credentials...."

I don't know about you but all of that stuff is kinda obvious isn't it? I see professional qualifications and memberships to all of the right trades bodies left right and centre but what I don't see if a 'TRUSTED' label next to their name.

Maybe our site should go ahead and develop a Label of Trust that we can all use for peace of mind. It could be like the London Taxi drivers 'knowledge' or that would takes years to master and pass. Of course all badge holders would have to resit the test every couple of years to be sure they havent fallen foul of any bad habits.

What would you say comes top of the list of best practice guidelines for plumbers?

I'd say no urinating in peoples sinks while they are making you a cup of tea. Its just not civilized is it?

Giving great customer service

A random customer service statistic I heard once;

Receiving bad customer service on average inspires you to tell 25 people about it where as good customer service inspires you to tell 5 people.

This could well be made up but if not, certainly a cultural form of customer virility.

If this is true the chances are that you will hear more bad things than good. Looking at the papers day in and day out I guess that hold true. Sometimes we do want to hear of good news. News that inspires us and helps us.

Now I want to hear of more people and places I can get a great service and experience from.



http://www.deepslist.com/ has a spot that visitors can leave some feedback about someone they like (or don't).

I'm going to call local trades people and tell them not to keep good customer feedback on themselves. Tell them about http://www.deepslist.com/ and get them to tell everyone else!

I'll tell you later how it works out.

Plumbers must read this!

I was reading about the trials and tribulations of starting out as a plumber for the first time on http://www.plumb-biz.com.

How on earth do you you go about advertising the simple fact you are available?

I set up www.deepslist.com in order to help good honest trades people spread the word in a genuine way - through word of mouth.

If you think you've come across a decent trades person just drop me a line. I'd love to hear about them and I bet lots of others too; its so hard to find someone you can trust.

Buying trends for Christmas 2008

Consumers will continue spending money they dont have on gifts people dont want.

Print media versus the internet

You cant read an internet on the toilet.

Print Media 1 - Internet 0

Afghanistani Plumbers

Its been the second day and I still don't know there names.

I'm wondering if that's so important though. I have his mobile number and he knows my name so if I did need a guy to fix something pipe based, I'd now know who to turn to.

I went on to GetClued to find a plumber to fit a boiler. This was after 7 phone calls including British Gas and a company right around the corner from me called Aspect.

The bottom line. Any combi boiler fitted takes a day and costs £2500. Boiler of the Internet £700. Labour and a little admin to Corgi, £1800!

I cant afford that but will afford it if means I get heat in my house and that, ladies and gentlemen is the reason they can charge so much.