Inward opening windows
What? Never thought about which ways windows open? You are not alone, most people haven’t. In the UK we have a history of outward opening windows or the old sash. On the face of it there is nothing wrong with …
Year: 2012
DIY SOS comment
I watched with interest the TV programme DIY SOS this week. Working on a building in Cirencester for a family with a very allergic and depressed daughter. The whole build concept was stressing the need for a clean, dust free …
Should we insulate solid walls?
There are a wide range of issues associated with insulating solid walls and this has been illustrated by some of the results seen with the ARBED 1 programme in Wales. With our current obsession with energy and carbon we have …
Eco Home Centre E-Shop working again
Hi All, Just a quick message to say that the Eco Home Centre Shop is up and working again. An issue with cloud IP addresses or something. Ummmm.. Anyway, remember that prices are going up in Feb so best hurry …
How to buy a good door
People look at a range of factors when buying doors, but the principal ones are: materials (uPVC, wood or aluminium); type (glazed, solid etc.) and; price. Style can come into play as well as this dictates the look of the …
Fed up with paint bubbling off of stone work?
External stone work has a real habit of shedding paint. It peels, bubbles and dusts off. This is because masonry paint is designed to be waterproof. Stone on the other hand generally isn’t. The stone that we use for mullions, …
Passiv Haus, is there a better alternative?
Wales has been slowly moving towards using the Passiv Haus Planning Package to design and construct Passive Houses (Passiv Haus). The Ebbw Vale demonstration buildings used PHPP extensively to create very low energy homes. The Lime House and Larch House …
Black lime mortar and how to replicate it
Many buildings South Wales are famous, in the construction world, for their black mortars. Many a householder has drilled into Victorian walls to find a fine cloud of black dust emanating from the hole. People replastering and rendering walls have …
Claypaint prices to rise
Hopefully you will all be aware of the particularly good quality claypaint that is available from earthborn (via the Eco Home Centre E-Shop of course!). We have just had the heads up from earthborn that the prices will be increasing …