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Homebuilding & Renovating Show
The National H&R Show 18-21 March 2010 at the NEC in Birmingham

Houseplan for a new 2 storey home in the style of a traditional long house with 3 bedrooms

Specification advice

Sliding Doors - Advertisement Feature

With so many options on the market today in glazing, it is not only a difficult choice in which company to work with, but also what type of glazing to have. This advertisement feature from IDSystems shows how sliding doors can be used to great effect in a home.

The Jam Factory - Advertisement Feature

Robbens underfloor heating systems have helped turn an Edwardian factory in the heart of London into one of the capital most exciting residential developments.

Jam factory conversion - case study from Robbens underfloor heating

Wet or Dry? How to Plaster Walls

In our series examining key self-build decisions, Mark Brinkley compares the different plastering solutions on offer, including traditional wet plastering, dry plasterboard and some of the alternatives. Plus a cost comparison.

How to Build Quality into Your Home

The quality of your home is established not by high-end fixtures and fittings but, as Mark Brinkley explains, the way it is built.

Trends in Window Dressing - Advertisement Feature

Consumers have a multitude of different materials, colours and textures of blinds and curtains to choose from. This advertisement feature from Curtain Wizard advises of current trends in window dressing.current trends in window dressing.

Current trends in window dressing from Curtain Wizard

Choosing Curtains: Advertisement Feature

Fundamentally, curtains need to reflect the style and design of the interior and window casing. The colour and style are also key factors to ensuring curtains provide practicality and appropriate functionality. This advertisement feature from Terrys Fabrics explains how to choose the right curtains for your home.

Choose the right curtains for your home with Terrys Fabrics

DIY Decorating on a Budget

Alison Cork is the UK’s leading interiors expert on money-saving in the home. She currently writes for the Daily Telegraph and Evening Standard on the subject and founded money-saving magazine www.homesandbargains.co.uk. Here she gets to the nuts and bolts of DIY decorating on a budget and gives her top tips for great places to save money in your self-build or renovation.

Choosing Showers

Plan well if you want your shower to be a luxury experience — there’s certainly a lot to think about, from the type of shower to the shower tray, shower head and type of enclosure, as Natasha Brinsmead explains.

Triton’s Unichrome Thames Vertical Shower Pole

Rainwater Goods Explained

Whether installing new downpipes and guttering, or repairing an old rainwater system, take a close look at the various elements available with a comprehensive diagram detailing each individual component.

Outdoor Lighting

Outdoor lighting not only increases security and safety, it also extends your enjoyment of the garden – and your new home’s exterior – into the twilight hours, says Melanie Griffiths.

Folding Sliding Doors - Advertisement Feature

Folding sliding doors allow a 90% opening, as opposed to 40% with conventional systems, giving more flexibility to living and garden areas. This advertisement feature from Kloeber UK explains the benefits of folding sliding door systems, and the components and finishes available.

Window Frames: Timber or PVCu?

In our series examining the key decisions to be made when selfbuilding, Mark Brinkley compares plastic and wooden windows, weighing up the pros and cons to help you decide what type of frame is best for your project.

Flat Roofs: The Best Options

The mere sight of a flat roof can send people running in the opposite direction, but, as Natasha Brinsmead explains, modern techniques and materials mean there really is nothing to be frightened of.

Showering: The Modern Choice - Advertisement Feature

Showering technology has advanced dramatically over recent years, and now fashion, style and aesthetics are as important as the rudimentary operations of the shower itself. This advertisement feature from IQ Living gives advice on the types of showers available, enabling you to make an informed choice.

Showering: The Modern Choice from IQ Living

Building in the Countryside: Drainage and Water

Provisions for drainage and fresh water are essential in any new home, but a countryside plot can present complications which will require resorting to an off-mains solution such as a septic tank, cesspool or reed bed.

Installing a bio-digester sewage treatment plant

Sash Windows Explained

This detailed look at the inner workings of sash windows is a must-read for period self-builders and renovators alike. It explains how the sash window works and what each individual part is called and the purpose it serves.

Conservatories: How to Get Them Right

It’s no wonder conservatories are so much derided when over 90 per cent of them are simply picked out of a catalogue. However, designed correctly, they can be a tremendous addition to any house, says Clive Fewins.

All Hands on Deck: Advertisement Feature

In most instances a well built and designed deck will add the value of a property, and decks have quite often been marketed as a 'new room outdoors'. This advertisement feature from Q-Deck® gives advice on the types of decking available, and how to use decking effectively in your garden.

PVCu Windows: A Green Option?

Why recycled PVCu could revolutionise the window market

Building Clinic: Ventilation

Ventilation is a detail that is easy to overlook, but which can be complicated to get right, so its worth understanding why is it required and what it should achieve, as Mark Brinkley explains.

Smart Homes: Home Cinema Projectors

With the advent of HD well and truly upon us, no dedicated home cinema is complete without a high-quality projector. Melanie Griffiths explains.

The Bravia HD VPL-VW40 projector from Sony

Modern Essentials - Shadow Gaps

If you want to avoid fussy skirting and architraving in a sleek, contemporary style home what are the alternatives? Clive Fewins looks at how to create shadow gaps in place of skirting boards.

Register Grates

Essential for real or living flame effect fires, register grates are an 18th century invention which still have a practical application today. Clive Fewins finds out what makes a fire burn brighter.

Wooden Flooring

Fashionable, practical and a boon for allergy and asthma sufferers, wooden flooring, whether woodstrip or parquet, has a lot to offer self-builders and renovators. But although hard-wearing and comparatively easy to renovate, like any truly natural material, they are not cheap and to be long lasting they must be properly laid, as Clive Fewins discovers.