Free-standing brick walls are widely used for boundary demarcation, landscaping, screening, security and noise barriers. When properly constructed, free-standing brick walls have proved to be extremely durable and pleasing in appearance.
There are many examples of brick walls which are hundreds of years old, and apart from occasional pointing and attention to coping require no other maintenance.
By modern standards, most of these old walls built by rule of thumb are clearly over-designed. However since the turn of the century and particularly after the Second World War, financial constraints and the phenomenal growth of mass housing estates produced some very unsatisfactory examples of free-standing walling.
As strange as it may seem, walls are not subjected to statutory control. An exception to this is within the inner London area where approval is required when the height exceeds 1.83m (6ft) above ground level. It is therefore not surprising that in the majority of cases, walls are put up rather than designed and all too frequently prematurely deteriorate or blow over.
Making sure your property has the right guttering is important. Gutters are essential for channelling rainwater and even help to maintain the buildings the structural stability.
Unfortunately many properties are installed with the wrong type of gutter, and its usually because installers simply chose the wrong gutter system for the specific property. In in a survey by one of the UK’s largest warranty providers, nearly a quarter of the owners of new build homes reported guttering problems that had to be rectified at a later date.
Fitting a system that’s too small could cause it to fail to cope with the quantities of water flowing off a large roof. Using an ordinary domestic system on a large building project such as a school, sports hall, apartment block or a large house, means that you will need to fit more downpipes which not only costs more, but also may not fit your customer’s aesthetic requirements.
A great way to value to an existing room, as well as added style and function, is to replace the existing windows with hinged awning windows. Also known as casement windows, awning windows are hinged at the top, allowing for the window frame to move inward or outward. (windows hinged at the bottom are known as hoppers).
They are primarily used singly or in pairs within a common frame, in which case they are hinged on the outside. The windows are opened with a crank, lever or a cam handle, which is placed approximately hand height for the average person.
Function, style, and security are major strong points of awning windows. You certainly wouldn’t be making a bad choice if you wanted to add awning windows to an existing room. High quality awning windows are a strong selling point and makes an estate agents job easier when showing potential buyers around a property.
Many landlords and estate agents often install adjustable electric beds into new homes in order to increase their value. While these beds absolutely do increase the interest in a property, especially if certain demographics fit the market for this. It is important to chose a bed that is right for that property.
Here are some tips for finding a suitable bed.
- Adjustable beds often have a great deal of features. Making a list of what is suitable will help you to avoid a bed that has too many or too few.
- If your target market may have potential health conditions, think about ‘future-proofing’ the bed purchase. It might not be necessary for them to need a fully adjustable bed now, but it could be worth it in the future.
- Look for the National Bed Federation mark of approval. Manufacturers belonging to this scheme have to meet certain standards and sign up to a code of practice.
When buying a new property, paying for it is going to be a prime concern. There are many ways of paying for property, when concerning a business premises, commercial finance is a popular choice used to acquire it.
Commercial finance encompasses a range of loans and payment plans that are used for business purposes. When concerning a property, the commercial finance that is most commonly used is a commercial mortgage.
A commercial mortgage is designed for people wishing to purchase commercial premises, expand their existing premises, invest in commercial property or develop a property. Most commercial mortgages have a term of 15 years or more and are given for substantial amounts, from £15,000 up to around £500,000.
The property is the asset used to secure the loan, much in the same as a domestic mortgage, and the lender retains a legal claim over the property until repayment of the loan is complete.