Tradesmen.ie Blog

Hello everyone and welcome to our new series of DIY tips

This week we will be looking at spring cleaning your garden!

With the good weather of spring finally here its time to get out into your garden and tackle the mess from winter! It’s a great time to get your garden cleared and tidy and ready for planting for a gorgeous outdoor space in the summer months that you and your family can enjoy.

First task is clearing away the dead plants from winter and getting that lawn mowed. Next is cutting back any plants that retain their leaves in winter such as evergreen or semi evergreen plants so cutting them back in the spring will encourage new growth.

Spring is the best time to tackle any weeds as the soil is still damp and the roots are easier to pull from the ground and all the dead plants, weeds and grass can be put into your compost containers.

For most plants spring is their initial growth spurt so add some compost to encourage the plants and now is the best time for dividing or transplanting as once the weather turns mild they will be quick to grow with the fine weather, nice rich soil topped up with some new compost.

For a clean finish you should edge the flower beds from the lawn, not only does it make the garden look clean and tidy but also prevents the lawn growing into your flower beds.

For advice or to install any of these recommendations please log onto www.tradesmen.ie and we can source the right tradesman for you.

Hello everyone and welcome to our new series of DIY tips

This week we will be looking at how to lay garden decking

Its that time of year again and with the dry weather it may be time to spruce up the garden and what better way than to create a decking area in your garden for all those summer days chilling out with friends and family

Creating a decking is easier than you think and with lots of help on the internet you can have your decking in no time. We have provided some help to get you started!

To create a decking the first thing is to clear the site for the decking and mark its position. Then you should level the site area and compact the surface. You can use concrete pads or paving slabs to support the deck. With your supports in place lay the joists on top of them making sure they are level, then lay your decking boards at right angles to the joists and secure the boards to the joists

Leave similar gaps between your boards and stagger the joints so there is no continuous break across the deck which would create a weakened space across the decking.

You should treat your decking with preservatives particularly those cut edges so they will be treated from weather exposure. You can also pre-drill holes in the boards for the screws to prevent the boards splitting. You can also add steps and spindles to add something extra to your decking!

For advice or to install any of these recommendations please log onto www.tradesmen.ie and we can source the right tradesman for you.

Hello everyone and welcome to the fourth article in our series of home energy savings tips! This week we will be looking at the wood pellet stoves and boilers:

Wood pellet stoves and boilers are devices that burn wood pellets to produce heat in the home. They are an advancement to open fires and stoves. They can be free standing or placed into an existing chimney insert. Wood pellets are a clean and dry fuel made from a mixture of sawdust and wood shavings. Unlike other fuels pellets are a high energy smoke free fuel that creates little amounts of ash.

Amazingly there are even fully automated pellet boilers with thermostats that read the room temperature and feed in the wood pellets when necessary and then cut off the feed when it’s not needed so the person only has to refill the wood pellet chamber when it runs out! Now there is even an attachment that can be added where a person can regulate the heat in their wood pellet boiler by their mobile phone!

Wood pellet stoves and boilers are also clean for the environment; other fuels such as gas and oil produce heavy amounts of carbon emissions which is responsible for climate change. Wood pellets are a renewable source of energy and are cleaner as they are a form of carbon neutral fuel. In Ireland grants are available for wood pellet stoves and boiler retrofits from the Sustainable Authority of Ireland.

For advice or to install any of these recommendations please log onto www.tradesmen.ie and we can source the right tradesman for you,

Hello everyone and welcome to the third article in our series of home energy savings tips! This week we will be looking at the various types of insulation for the home:

Many homes in Ireland are very wasteful of energy. Energy saving measures can make a house retain its heat better and eliminate draughts and waste.By conserving energy we can save money by lowering our heating costs and help the environment by reducing wasted energy and conserving fuel. Heat can be lost in the home through the roof and attic, the interior and exterior walls and windows. Sufficient and appropriate insulation all over your house will help reduce waste and fuel costs.

One of the easiest ways of reducing energy loss immediately is to insulate your hot water cylinder with a lagging jacket or if you are installing a new cylinder opt for a pre formed foam insulation jacket for better insulation. According to SEI Ireland “30% of your heat can escape through the roof and the fuel savings of installing insulation is approx €130 per year”

There are various types of insulation on the market for all types of roof sizes and shapes and a professional’s advice should be sought for what will best suit your roof type.

In a house half of the heat lost in through the walls and by insulating them two-thirds of this heat loss can be reduced. Insulation may be installed on the outside of the walls, in the cavity of the walls or on the inside of the walls. You should consult a professional to determine the most appropriate for you and your home. Fuel savings on cavity wall insulation is approximately €100-€150 annually, for internal wall insulation its approx €70 to €150 annually and for external insulation the savings are approximately €100 to €150 annually.

Another major source of heat loss in the home is through windows. The most recommended type of windows to reduce heat loss is double glazing but even more advances glazing systems are becoming available according to SEI Ireland “They include gas-filled double glazing and low emissivity glazing” There are some of the main insulation types that are available on the market to help reduce heat loss in the home and also help reduce your fuel expenses while been kinder to the environment.

For advice or to install any of these recommendations please log onto www.tradesmen.ie and we can source the right tradesman for you.

Hello everyone and welcome to the second article in our series of home energy savings tips! This week we will be looking at low energy lighting.

Low energy lighting is a simple and effective way of reducing your electricity bill and helping the environment at the same time. Low energy light bulbs or CFL light bulbs (Compact fluorescent lamps) can be found in most hardware stores and unlike before are now available in a wide variety of fittings, shapes and sizes for the home and business premises. They come in all shapes and sizes alike traditional light bulbs such as candle shaped and small and medium screws and even dimmable bulbs are now available.

Common low energy light bulbs use up to 80% less electricity than that of a traditional light bulb and it produces the same amount of light. Using less electricity means our homes produce less carbon dioxide which helps fight climate change as carbon dioxide is one of the main causes of climate change.

Traditional light bulbs are being phased out of the consumers market and eventually low energy light bulbs will be the only light bulb that can be bought. There are even some light fittings currently on the market which will only take low energy light bulbs. The Governments of many countries are in a battle to help reduce climate change and eliminate energy wastage and are now really putting pressure on producers to be more environmentally friendly and create a huge movement in the right direction for all our futures. For example in Australia there is such popularity by consumers for energy saving lighting that the Government is committed to phasing out traditional (incandescent) light bulbs from the market by 2010.

According to the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) “replacing 3 traditional light bulbs with low energy lighting can save a home €37.00 per year and €24 million per year who CO2 savings of 115,000 tonnes annually”. Low energy lighting can last up to 12 times longer than a traditional light bulb which will add more savings for the home owner in the long term!

Technology and the design and manufacturing of CFL light bulbs will continue to change and improve, but already low energy lighting is a great way of cutting down your electricity costs and helping the environment by saving money, energy and reducing waste for everyone now and for those in the future.

For advice or to install any of these recommendations please log onto www.tradesmen.ie and we can source the right tradesman for you 🙂