4 Cladding Services, the UK’s largest specialist supplier of vacuum lifting equipment for composite roof, wall and glass panels, is supporting aspiring professional golfer Lucas Skilbeck through a junior golf sponsorship worth up to £1,000 through to 2027.
The 14-year-old from North Yorkshire is already making his mark in junior golf and is working towards his long-term ambition of becoming a professional golfer.
The sponsorship will help Lucas with the costs associated with competing, including tournament entry fees, equipment upgrades and accommodation when travelling to golfing events.
Supporting Junior Golf Sponsorship
For young golfers looking to develop their skills and compete at a higher level, the costs involved can quickly add up. Competition fees, equipment and travel can all present challenges for families supporting an aspiring athlete.
The junior golf sponsorship from 4 Cladding Services will provide Lucas with additional financial support as he continues to compete throughout the 2026 season and beyond.
Lucas is currently the Leeds & District Junior Matchplay Champion and has already enjoyed a successful season. He recently progressed through the quarter-final of the Leeds & District Junior Matchplay tournament, where he is defending his title. The semi-final is due to take place at Scarcroft Golf Club in September.
He has also finished second in the Yorkshire Boy Championship this season, missing out on first place by just one shot.
Lucas Skilbeck is working towards his ambition of becoming a professional golfer.
Lucas Skilbeck’s Junior Golf Journey
Lucas first picked up a golf club with his dad when he was just two years old. Since then, he has developed a strong record in junior golf, including winning the regional Wee Wonders Open Golf Championships in 2018, the Leeds & District Match Play Championships in 2025 and the Leeds & District Junior Strokeplay Championship in 2026.
At the age of six, Lucas began competing on the Robert Rock Junior Golf Tour, giving him an early introduction to competitive junior golf. He has also competed on the British Junior Golf Tour, a UK series supporting young players through organised competitions.
His progress continued at 11 when he was selected for the Yorkshire Union of Golf Clubs Boys Squad. The programme provides coaching, development opportunities and talent pathways for promising young golfers.
Lucas has since represented Drax Golf Club, The Oaks Golf Club & Spa and Selby Golf Club, continuing to build his experience at club, regional and national level.
Competing at National Level
Lucas has also competed twice in the English Boys’ Under 14 Open Amateur Championship, The Reid Trophy, one of England Golf’s leading junior tournaments.
His experience at national level forms part of a wider ambition to continue developing as a player before pursuing a professional career.
Following his GCSEs, Lucas plans to attend a golf college in the UK for two years. He then hopes to secure a scholarship at a golf college in the USA, where he intends to continue his development over four years.
How A Junior Golf Sponsorship Will Help
The cost of competing in golf can be significant, particularly when tournaments require players to travel and stay away from home.
Phil Skilbeck, Lucas’ father, explained that the support from 4 Cladding Services has already helped Lucas purchase new clubs needed for the season.
“Golf is a very tough sport and is extremely difficult as the standard of juniors nowadays is amazing. Lucas has always wanted to play on TV and in front of crowds. With that dream in mind, we have been searching for sponsorship opportunities. 4 Cladding Services reached out after seeing our post on social media. Golf is an expensive sport and the help we have got from 4 Cladding Services has enabled us to purchase some new clubs which Lucas desperately needed for this season.”
The junior golf sponsorship will continue to provide financial assistance through to 2027, helping Lucas meet some of the practical costs of competing and developing his game.
4 Cladding Services Backs Young Yorkshire Talent
Tom Spence, Managing Director at 4 Cladding Services, said the company was pleased to support Lucas as he works towards his professional ambitions.
“We are delighted to sponsor a young Yorkshire talent like Lucas as he continues to develop his skill towards his ambition of becoming a professional golfer. To have achieved so much by the age of 14 is an incredible accomplishment. Lucas has shown great determination, drive and talent to go a long way in golf. We hope our sponsorship can provide some of the support he needs throughout the season, and we look forward to seeing what he can achieve next.”
The sponsorship forms part of 4 Cladding Services’ commitment to supporting young and local talent and helping individuals take the next step towards their ambitions.
For Lucas, the support provides an opportunity to continue competing, gaining experience and developing his game as he works towards his long-term goal of professional golf.
Discuss Sponsorship Opportunities
4 Cladding Services supports young and local talent through sponsorship and is interested in hearing from individuals and organisations looking to discuss potential opportunities.
To discuss sponsorship opportunities, contact the team at danielle@vaclifting.co.uk.
For golf enthusiasts inspired by young players like Lucas, a golf simulator room can offer a convenient way to practise and enjoy the game at home. Skill Builder explores what goes into creating your own indoor golf setup.
For many UAE families, the start of a new school year brings more than fresh routines and packed calendars. It also brings a familiar problem: where is everything going to go?
New school uniforms, sports equipment, books and projects quickly find their way into homes that may already be struggling for space. Meanwhile, last summer’s toys, seasonal decorations and furniture that is only used occasionally remain tucked away in cupboards, spare rooms and storage areas.
The result is a home that can begin to feel increasingly crowded.
That is helping to drive interest in managed storage, a service designed to take much of the work out of storing belongings while allowing customers to keep access and control over what they own.
What is managed storage?
Traditional self-storage is relatively straightforward. Customers rent a storage unit, transport their belongings there, fill the space and organise everything themselves. That can work well for people who want direct access to a dedicated unit, but it also leaves much of the work with the customer.
Managed storage takes a different approach.
Instead of asking customers to transport boxes and furniture themselves, a managed storage provider collects items directly from the property. Those belongings can then be photographed, catalogued and stored professionally, allowing customers to keep a digital record of what they have put away.
For households already short on time, that difference can be significant. Rather than spending a weekend loading a car, driving to a storage facility and trying to remember which box contains what, the storage process is handled as a service.
Why UAE families are looking for more flexible storage
Space comes at a premium in many homes, particularly as families grow and belongings accumulate. The problem is not necessarily that people want to get rid of their possessions. Quite often, they simply do not need everything within reach every day.
Throwing these items away is not always the answer. Keeping them at home, however, can mean sacrificing valuable living space.
This is where managed storage offers a middle ground: belongings can be moved out of the home without being permanently given up.
Belongings are carefully prepared and organised before being placed into storage.
Managed storage vs traditional self-storage
The biggest difference is the amount of work involved. With traditional self-storage, the customer generally has to pack, transport and organise their own belongings. They are also responsible for remembering where everything is inside the unit.
Managed storage is built around convenience.
With The Code, a technology-powered managed storage service operating in the UAE, items are collected from the customer’s door and professionally photographed and catalogued before being placed into secure, climate-controlled facilities. The stored items are then recorded in The Code app, giving customers a digital view of what they have in storage.
That means storage does not have to become a mystery box of possessions forgotten at the back of a unit.
Paying for what you actually store
Another difference is how storage is charged.
Rather than renting an entire storage unit regardless of how much space is actually being used, The Code says customers pay for individual items, with prices starting from AED 20 per item per month.
For families with a relatively small number of items to store, this offers a different way of thinking about storage costs.
Instead of asking, “How big a unit do I need?”, the question becomes, “Which items do I actually need to put away?” That can make storage a more targeted solution rather than simply renting more space than is necessary.
Storage without losing control
One of the potential drawbacks of putting belongings into storage is the feeling that they have disappeared from everyday life, but managed storage attempts to solve that through technology.
Because items stored with The Code are photographed and catalogued, customers can see what they have stored through the app. When something is needed again, it can be requested rather than requiring a trip to a storage facility.
The Code says items can be delivered back within 24 hours, whether that means retrieving a box of clothes or bringing back a piece of furniture. For families, that could make a difference between storage being a permanent inconvenience and simply becoming another service they use when needed.
A practical solution for the back-to-school squeeze
The timing is particularly relevant as UAE households settle into the new academic year. Outgrown uniforms, old toys and seasonal belongings can all be moved out of the way, creating room for the things that need to be used now.
The Code is offering UAE families up to 15% off bookings made before 30 September 2026 as part of its back-to-school promotion.
Alexander Stuart, CEO of The Code, said the service was created in response to people losing both space in their homes and time dealing with storage. The company’s approach is based on a simple proposition: belongings do not necessarily need to be discarded just because there is no room for them at home.
A The Code employee organises customers’ belongings inside the managed storage facility.
Is managed storage the future of self-storage?
The traditional storage model is unlikely to disappear overnight. For some customers, having a dedicated unit and direct access to their belongings will remain important.
But managed storage reflects a wider shift towards services designed to remove the practical work from everyday tasks.
The appeal is particularly clear for people who value convenience. Collection, cataloguing, storage and retrieval are brought together rather than leaving customers to manage each stage themselves.
For UAE families facing the annual September battle for cupboard and floor space, that could make managed storage an increasingly attractive alternative.
The idea is not really about putting things away and forgetting about them.
It is about getting those things out of the way – while still knowing exactly where they are and being able to get them back fast when they are needed.
Roger’s in North London with Dominic from GESS Renewables, watching a full Enphase solar and battery system go onto a multi-aspect roof. Instead of one big inverter in the loft, there’s a microinverter sitting under every single panel, and the whole system runs on AC from the roof down.
We get into why that changes the safety picture, what rapid shutdown actually does, why module level monitoring saves a return visit, and whether paying more up front really does work out cheaper to own. Wayne, who started out as a roofer, also shows us the bracket and rubber tile method that keeps the concrete tiles intact, and the trick of turning the mounting rails into a ladder.
– You don’t need a south facing roof. The technology used today will happily work across south, east and west orientations, and on a northerly pitch you can still pick up a bit in summer.
– A smaller house can get closer to off grid than a big one. The roof area matters, but so does the demand, and a three storey townhouse can draw far more than a bungalow with a similar sized array.
– With microinverters there’s no high voltage DC coming down the cables. It’s AC architecture, protected by the same devices that protect the sockets in your house, and a fault trips the circuit breaker which then shuts everything down.
– On a traditional DC system, turning off the DC isolator doesn’t stop the panels generating. The cables above that point stay live while the sun’s out, which makes a fire or a fault more of a challenge to deal with.
– Nobody’s saying a DC system is unsafe and there’s no UK legislation against them. Dominic and Tom are both clear this is an extra layer of safety rather than a warning about existing installs.
– Every panel is optimised on its own, so shading or cloud passing over one part of the array doesn’t drag the rest down. That’s where the extra annual yield comes from on a complicated roof.
– Wayne records the barcode of every microinverter and maps it to its position on the roof. That means module level monitoring, so if something fails later, they know exactly which panel it is without testing the lot.
– Because it’s microchip based, a lot of faults can be sorted with a firmware update from the office rather than a van turning up.
– The warranties are 25 years on the microinverters and 15 years on the battery, which is part of the argument that the higher purchase price still gives a lower cost of ownership.
– Keeping the inverter and the battery on one brand means one technical support team can see both ends of the system, so nobody’s arguing about whose fault it is.
– Batteries should ideally go outside the dwelling, following the PAS guidance, though there’s a fair bit of variation in what’s advised.
– Having solar changes how you use the house. On a sunny day with a full battery you put the washing and the dishwasher on, and with a tariff like Octopus Agile you can charge cheap and export or use it later.
GESS Renewables cover the south east, from Norwich and East Anglia down through Suffolk, Essex, Kent and Surrey to Brighton, and have been trading 14 years.
How Much Do Derelict Property Prices Vary Across Britain?
Derelict property prices do vary considerably, with buyers facing typical asking prices ranging from £67,500 to £237,500 depending on location. New analysis from LandSale highlights the significant differences in the cost of taking on a derelict property, as well as the potential opportunities available to buyers prepared to tackle a major renovation project.
LandSale analysed its current derelict property listings to establish how much buyers can expect to pay across different parts of Britain. The analysis found that the typical asking price for a derelict property across Britain is £122,500, with properties sitting on an average plot of 6.26 acres.
However, the national figure masks some striking regional differences.
Where Are Derelict Property Prices Highest?
The South East currently has the highest typical asking price for a derelict property, at £237,500.
Interestingly, properties in the region come with an average plot size of just 1.42 acres, suggesting that location is playing a significant role in the price buyers are being asked to pay.
The North West has the second-highest typical asking price, at £213,750. However, buyers looking in this region receive considerably more land on average, with derelict properties offering around 10.37 acres.
The East Midlands also sits above the national average, with a typical asking price of £200,000.
Meanwhile, derelict properties in Wales have a typical asking price of £195,000, followed by Yorkshire and the Humber at £150,000.
The figures demonstrate that buyers cannot rely on the condition of a property alone when assessing its value. Location, land and the potential of the wider site can all have a significant influence on the asking price.
Where Can Buyers Find the Cheapest Derelict Properties?
For buyers searching for a more affordable renovation opportunity, the picture changes considerably.
The South West has the lowest typical derelict property asking price in the analysis, at £67,500, while Scotland follows at £75,000.
That means the difference between the highest and lowest regional figures is £170,000, underlining just how much location can influence the cost of acquiring a property in need of substantial work.
Lower asking prices may make these regions attractive to renovators and developers, although the purchase price is only the beginning of the financial commitment.
Structural repairs, planning applications, utilities, materials and labour can all add significantly to the final cost of bringing a derelict building back into use.
Could Derelict Properties Help Create More Homes?
The findings come as Britain continues to face pressure to increase housing supply.
While new-build developments remain central to efforts to provide additional homes, making better use of existing buildings could also form part of the solution. Previous research has highlighted the scale of empty housing across England, while derelict properties represent another potential source of accommodation if they can be viably restored or redeveloped.
For some buyers, a derelict property could provide the opportunity to create a home in a location where purchasing a conventional property may be considerably more expensive.
However, buyers need to establish whether a building can actually be renovated or redeveloped before committing to a purchase. Planning restrictions, structural condition, access, services and the property’s history can all affect what is possible.
What Should Buyers Consider Before Purchasing?
Adam Morris, founder of LandSale, believes derelict properties can offer genuine opportunities, but says buyers need to look beyond the initial asking price.
“Paying close to £240,000 for what may essentially amount to a derelict shell or, in some cases, little more than a pile of bricks and a plot of land, certainly demonstrates just how valuable property opportunities remain in parts of Britain,” he said.
Morris added that the attraction can extend beyond the building itself, with buyers potentially gaining access to land in desirable locations and the opportunity to create a property suited to their own requirements.
Nevertheless, anyone considering a derelict property should approach the purchase with careful due diligence. A seemingly inexpensive property can quickly become an expensive project if significant structural or planning issues emerge.
Derelict Property Prices Show a Market Full of Opportunity
The latest figures provide a clear illustration of the wide range of derelict property prices across Britain.
From £67,500 in the South West to £237,500 in the South East, there are opportunities at very different price points. For buyers with the finances, expertise and appetite for renovation, these properties could offer an alternative route into the housing market.
But the cheapest asking price does not necessarily represent the best value. Understanding the land included, planning potential, renovation costs and location will be crucial for anyone looking to turn a neglected property into a viable home.
LandSale’s analysis is based on derelict property listings sourced on 1 September 2026.
Derelict Property Prices Aren’t The Only Concern..
Thinking of taking on a derelict property? Before starting work, it’s important to understand the problems that could be hiding beneath the surface. From damp and rot to structural issues, renovation projects can quickly become more complicated – and expensive – than expected.
Skill Builder offers practical advice for homeowners, renovators and tradespeople tackling building and renovation projects.
First Investment in Italy’s Growing Energy Storage Market
Leading renewable energy consultancy and service provider Natural Power has supported E Energy Invest, the investment vehicle of the Strioga Family Foundation, in acquiring a minority stake in a battery energy storage system (BESS) project in Italy.
The transaction marks the client’s first investment in Italy’s rapidly expanding battery energy storage market, as the country continues to develop the infrastructure needed to support a growing share of renewable generation.
Technical Due Diligence for Italian BESS Investment
Acting as technical due diligence advisor, Natural Power worked alongside Italian renewable energy consultancy Studio Rinnovabili to assess the project and support the Strioga Family Foundation’s investment decision.
Natural Power led the technical due diligence, reviewing the project design, underlying technical assumptions and financial model. Studio Rinnovabili provided specialist local expertise covering areas including permitting, land agreements and grid connection.
By combining international battery energy storage expertise with detailed knowledge of the Italian market, the two teams were able to provide an integrated assessment of the project’s technical and development readiness, helping the investor identify potential risks and opportunities.
Clare McDowell, Senior Energy Storage Advisor at Natural Power, said: “Italy has become one of Europe’s most exciting battery storage markets, attracting increasing levels of international investment as the country expands its renewable energy infrastructure. As the market matures, investors are looking for advisors who can combine deep technical expertise with an understanding of local market conditions.
“Projects like this demonstrate the value of bringing together specialist battery storage knowledge and in-country expertise to give investors the confidence to make well-informed decisions. We’re delighted to have supported Strioga Family Foundation on its first battery storage investment in Italy and look forward to continuing to support clients as the market evolves.”
Combining International Expertise With Local Knowledge
The project also demonstrates the complementary capabilities of Natural Power and Studio Rinnovabili, which have worked together since Natural Power acquired a 50% stake in the Rome-based consultancy in 2025.
Their combined expertise brings together an understanding of Italy’s regulatory and development landscape with Natural Power’s international experience across battery energy storage projects.
Olga Ivanova, Technical Due Diligence Lead at Studio Rinnovabili, said: “Every market has its own regulatory framework, development practices and stakeholder landscape, so understanding the local context is essential when assessing project risk. Technical due diligence isn’t just about reviewing designs and documentation – it’s about understanding how projects are progressing on the ground and identifying the factors that can influence successful delivery.
“Working closely with our colleagues at Natural Power enables us to combine detailed knowledge of the Italian market with international battery storage expertise, providing clients with a more rounded assessment that supports confident investment decisions.”
Battery Energy Storage Supporting Renewable Growth
As renewable generation becomes an increasingly significant part of the energy mix, battery energy storage has an important role to play in improving grid flexibility, resilience and reliability. Italy’s demand for energy storage is expected to grow substantially, with transmission system operator Terna estimating that 71.5 GWh of new storage capacity will be required by 2030 to support the effective integration of renewable energy. Storage technologies can help manage variations in renewable generation while allowing electricity to be stored and made available when it is needed.
Natural Power provides expertise across energy storage technology, consenting, contracting, construction, energy analysis and asset management.
The team has completed technical due diligence on more than 90 GWh of BESS projects spanning development, construction and operational stages. Over the past three years, it has also supported investors and lenders on approximately 65 GWh of BESS mergers and acquisitions and financing transactions.
Natural Power is an independent renewable energy consultancy and service provider employing more than 600 people across 13 international offices. Its work spans onshore wind, solar, renewable heat, energy storage and offshore technologies, supporting projects from initial feasibility and construction through to operations and transactions.
Monocouche render is everywhere now, on external wall insulation, blockwork and brickwork, and for good reason. It is a single-coat system; it is quicker to apply, and it needs less skill than a traditional two-coat render. But it has one very real weakness, and that is staining. Give it a few years on a north or west elevation, and you get that ugly green and black growth spreading across the wall.
The instinct is to reach for the pressure washer and blast it off. That is the worst thing you can do. Monocouche is a lime-based render, and it is relatively soft, soft enough to scratch with a fingernail. Hit it at full power and you will put grooves and dents in the surface, which holds more water and brings the growth back faster than before.
In this video Roger shows the method that actually works. Brush off the loose growth with a soft brush, apply Soluguard Multi Surface Biocide from Safeguard, leave it for at least 72 hours to kill the growth down in the coating, then rinse off with clean water. We used a Kärcher K4 Power Control Flex on its lowest setting to wash away the dead algae and lichen, letting the biocide do the hard work rather than the water pressure.
Once the wall is clean and dry we protected it with EWI Pro Render Shield, a clear breathable water repellent that sheds rain and dirt while still letting moisture trapped in the wall escape. It dries to a natural matt finish so it does not change the look of the render.
And before you touch any of it, check what is making the wall wet in the first place. Gutters, downpipes, joints, sill details, sealant around openings and vegetation shading the wall. If water keeps wetting that surface, you can clean it perfectly, and it will be green again next year.
Got EWI or monocouche render and you are fighting green staining? Tell us in the comments what finish it is, which elevation it is on and how old it is, and we will point you in the right direction.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
– Monocouche render is a soft lime based single coat system, so a pressure washer on full power will cut grooves and dents into the surface and make the staining come back faster.
– Green or dark green fluffy patches are usually algae, black spots in shaded areas are mould or lichen, and brown rusty streaks under sills or fixings are metal runoff or tannins.
– Find the water before you treat the wall. Check gutters, downpipes, joints, sill drip details, sealant around windows and doors, and any planting brushing or shading the wall.
– Soluguard Multi Surface Biocide is ready to use straight from the container with no mixing, applied with a garden sprayer, brush or roller on a dry day with no rain forecast for 24 hours.
– Leave the biocide to work for at least 72 hours before rinsing. That dwell time is what kills the growth deep in the textured coating rather than just on the surface.
– EWI Pro Render Shield is a clear breathable water repellent that becomes water resistant after about 4 hours, takes a second coat 2 to 4 hours after the first, and reaches full hydrophobic performance after around 7 days.
– The rules are simple. Do not blast it, kill the growth, fix the water that caused it, and expect maintenance rather than miracles.
The Hidden Safety Risks Behind Some Travel Adaptors
UK shoppers are being warned to check Travel Adaptors bought online after every device in a recent 14-product test failed basic UK safety checks, raising concerns about the risk of electric shock, electrocution and fire.
Family ski holiday specialists Ski Famille reviewed the findings alongside current official traveller guidance. The adaptors tested were purchased from AliExpress, eBay, Amazon Marketplace and TikTok Shop, with information on the listings suggesting that more than 10,000 of the potentially unsafe products may already have been sold to UK shoppers.
The investigation looked at eight universal Travel Adaptors, featuring retractable pins for destinations including the UK, Europe, Australia and the US, alongside six basic models designed for particular countries or regions. Universal adaptors sold in the UK should be designed so users cannot reach live components and, importantly, should generally prevent more than one set of pins being exposed at the same time.
Serious Safety Problems Found in Travel Adaptors
Six of the eight universal models allowed multiple sets of pins to be exposed and live while plugged into a socket, potentially bringing users into contact with up to 240 volts. In the most serious circumstances, contact with live pins could result in a fatal electric shock, particularly if the person handling the adaptor has wet hands.
Other problems raised questions about claims being made on product listings. Six universal Travel Adaptors were advertised as offering surge protection, yet internal examinations reportedly found no surge-protection device. All eight universal models also failed dimensional and mechanical-strength requirements, with testing finding that pins could snap inside a socket and leave a potentially live piece behind.
The findings demonstrate why the problem goes beyond a cheap adaptor simply failing while somebody is on holiday. Faulty electrical products can potentially damage expensive phones, laptops and chargers as well as putting users at risk. One universal adaptor sold through Amazon Marketplace had almost 9,000 reviews, including buyer reports that it overheated on first use and damaged a charging appliance, while a reviewer of another model sold through AliExpress alleged that it exploded during use.
Basic Travel Adaptors Also Failed Tests
Problems were also identified among the six basic Travel Adaptors. Inspectors found issues including missing safety shutters, absent fuses, oversized pin holes and adaptors capable of accepting three-pin plugs without providing an earth connection. These defects can expose users to live internal components or remove safeguards designed to reduce the risk of electric shock and fire.
One basic adaptor available through Amazon Marketplace had accumulated more than 1,000 reviews and carried an Amazon’s Choice badge. One buyer reported that the plug fell apart in their hands and said they feared they could have been electrocuted had it broken while connected to the electricity supply.
Fire resistance was another concern. Four universal and two basic adaptors underwent specialist laboratory testing of their plastic casings, and all six failed the glow-wire test. Sections caught fire rather than resisting ignition or self-extinguishing within the required period, meaning poor-quality casing materials could potentially contribute to the spread of a fire following an electrical fault.
The latest findings follow a similar investigation less than a year earlier that identified 15 dangerous travel adaptor models across TikTok Shop, Amazon Marketplace, eBay and Wish.com. All four platforms involved in the latest investigation said the products identified had subsequently been removed from sale.
What Should Travellers Check Before Going Abroad?
For consumers, the most useful response is to inspect Travel Adaptors before packing rather than discovering a problem after arriving overseas. Warning signs can include loose or damaged pins, cracks, scorch marks, signs of overheating, missing safety shutters, visible internal components and universal adaptors that allow several sets of pins to extend simultaneously.
Alex Dyer, Managing Director at Ski Famille, said: “Buy the adaptor before travel, confirm the plug type used at your destination and retire any unit with loose pins, cracks, scorch marks or signs of overheating. If the casing or seller details look questionable, do not take the chance.”
UK travellers should consider choosing Travel Adaptors from established brands and reputable retailers and check that products sold for the UK market meet the relevant BS 8546 requirements. Safety markings should not be treated as an absolute guarantee, however, as markings and certification claims can be copied onto poorly manufactured products.
It is also important to remember that a travel adaptor changes the physical plug connection but does not convert voltage or frequency. Travellers should check the electricity supply at their destination against the rating printed on their device or charger. Many modern chargers accept a range such as 100–240V, but equipment designed for a single voltage may require a suitable converter or transformer.
For families travelling with several phones, tablets and chargers, Travel Adaptors may seem like one of the least important items in the suitcase. The latest testing suggests they deserve a little more attention: checking an adaptor before departure takes only a few minutes and could prevent damaged equipment, electrical faults or a far more serious accident while away.
Sources: Electrical Safety First’s July 2026 travel adaptor investigation, current traveller safety guidance, BBC reporting and the Department for Business and Trade product safety consultation. Checked 5 August 2026.
Most of us turn on the kitchen tap without giving much thought to where the water has come from or what has happened to it before reaching our homes. Yet misconceptions about UK Tap Water remain surprisingly common, particularly around bottled water, filtration, hard water and changes in appearance or taste.
The UK’s drinking water supply is highly regulated, but that does not mean the water reaching every property is identical. Local geology, the original water source, treatment processes and even a home’s internal plumbing can influence its mineral content, taste and appearance.
British filtration specialist Doulton Water Filters has highlighted five common myths surrounding UK Tap Water, explaining what householders should understand before assuming something is wrong with their supply or spending money trying to change it.
1. UK Tap Water Is the Same Everywhere
Although drinking water must comply with regulatory standards, UK Tap Water can vary considerably between different parts of the country.
Supplies can originate from reservoirs, rivers and underground aquifers, and the naturally occurring minerals picked up along the way vary according to local geology. This is one reason someone moving from one part of Britain to another may immediately notice that their water tastes different.
It also explains the familiar divide between hard and soft water areas. Hard water contains higher concentrations of minerals such as calcium and magnesium and can leave noticeable limescale deposits around taps, shower screens and kettles.
2. A Different Taste or Smell Means the Water Is Unsafe
An unfamiliar taste or smell does not automatically mean UK Tap Water is unsafe to drink. Chlorine is commonly used during water treatment to help maintain drinking water quality, and changes to treatment or local maintenance can sometimes make its presence more noticeable.
Minerals can also influence flavour, while water left standing in household pipework overnight may taste slightly different when first drawn.
Joy Delaney, NPD & Technical Director at Doulton Water Filters, said: “There are plenty of misconceptions surrounding tap water, from believing all tap water is exactly the same to assuming bottled water is always the better option. Water plays an important role in everyday life, yet it’s something many of us rarely stop to think about until questions arise around taste, quality, or filtration.”
3. Bottled Water Is More Regulated Than Tap Water
Bottled water is often perceived as a more carefully controlled alternative, but it should not automatically be assumed to be more rigorously tested or of higher quality than UK Tap Water.
Tap and bottled water operate under different regulatory frameworks. In England and Wales, regulations do not prescribe a minimum sampling frequency for every microbiological and chemical parameter in bottled water, with producers responsible for meeting their wider food-safety obligations.
For households primarily concerned about the taste of their tap supply, filtration may provide an alternative to repeatedly purchasing bottled water, although consumers should choose a system designed and tested for what they actually want to reduce.
4. Cloudy UK Tap Water Means Contamination
Seeing cloudy or milky water coming from a tap can look alarming, but the explanation is often much simpler. Tiny air bubbles can become trapped in the supply following changes in pressure or maintenance work, temporarily giving the water a cloudy appearance.
In many cases, filling a glass and leaving it to stand will allow those bubbles to disappear within a few minutes. Persistent cloudiness, particularly when accompanied by an unusual colour, smell or taste, deserves further investigation and should be raised with the local water supplier.
5. All Water Filters Do the Same Job
Water filters vary considerably in both their design and purpose. Different filtration technologies target different substances, so buying a filter without understanding what it is designed to achieve can lead to unrealistic expectations.
Consumers considering filtration for UK Tap Water should check what a particular product has been independently tested to reduce, its cartridge lifespan and whether it carries appropriate recognised certifications. Standards and certifications such as NSF and WRAS can also provide useful information when comparing products.
The wider lesson is that unusual-looking or different-tasting UK Tap Water does not automatically mean there is a safety problem. Equally, bottled water and filtration products should not simply be assumed to be better without understanding what they offer.
Knowing where your water comes from, recognising normal variations and investigating genuine changes can help householders make better decisions about something they use every single day.
Want to know more about the water you drink at home? Read more from Skill Builder:
Not all water filters work in the same way. This guide looks at independent certifications, contaminant reduction, filter lifespan and the different filtration systems available for improving drinking water at home.
Roger looks at the installation of a Quooker Fusion tap, including its cold water filter, which allows users to switch between ordinary tap water and filtered drinking water.
Last week we looked at how internal wall insulation works and how to choose between the systems. This time Roger fits it, start to finish, using two of them.
Most of the problems people read about with wall insulation come down to installation rather than the product. Get the detailing right and it works. Miss one bit and that’s where the mould starts.
– The insulation behind the studs is doing two jobs. It evens out an uneven old wall because it compresses slightly, and it stops air circulating in the voids behind the studwork, which is where moisture gets carried to a cold surface.
– Going into masonry, mark up and drill all your fixing holes first, plug them, then feed the screws through. Trying to drill straight through the studs into the wall behind will jam the drill once it hits the insulation.
– A vapour open system still needs a vapour control layer. Those are two different things, and a random sheet of polythene is not a substitute for a proper membrane.
– Run the membrane horizontally rather than vertically. You get fewer joints to tape, and every joint, every staple and every service penetration has to be covered.
– Timber studs are a cold bridge, but tested systems allow for it. At 100mm or more of timber it stops counting as a thermal bridge. Go thinner and it becomes one, and that’s where you’ll see a line of mould appear.
– In tight spots like meter cupboards, under stairs and fitted wardrobes you won’t get the full depth in. Use a thinner board rather than nothing, because any insulation there is better than a bare cold patch.
– Reveals need an insulated board bedded on a full bed of adhesive, not dot and dab, so there are no voids underneath, then mechanically fixed as well.
– The airtightness sealant never sets. That’s deliberate, so it moves with the building rather than cracking.
CHAPTERS
00:00 Why internal rather than external
00:39 The hemp system
01:27 Studs and backing insulation
02:29 Fixing into masonry
03:06 Cutting the boards
03:33 Vapour control, the bit people get wrong
04:36 Taping and stapling
06:42 Airtightness sealant
07:25 The mineral wool system
08:27 Setting out at 600 clear
08:52 Timber studs and cold bridging
09:54 Working in tight spaces
10:22 Window and door reveals
10:51 Full bed of adhesive, not dot and dab
11:47 Interstitial condensation
13:53 Fire rating and the 11 metre limit
14:11 The finished cutaways
Ezy Fit offer free online training for contractors, audit your first job and supply the materials, which comes with a 25 year material guarantee.
Roughly a third of the houses in Britain have solid walls. No cavity, nowhere obvious to put insulation, and a heating bill that reflects it. If yours is one of them, insulating those walls is probably the single biggest improvement you can make to how the place feels and what it costs to run.
It is also the job that goes wrong most often. And when internal wall insulation fails, it fails quietly, behind the boards where nobody can see it, sometimes for years.
This is a guide to getting it right. What internal wall insulation actually is, the three main systems you will be choosing between, and how to work out which one suits your building.
How much it actually saves
Which? put the saving from insulating solid walls at between £150 and £550 a year on heating. Energy Saving Trust figures work out at around £310 a year for a typical semi and £450 for a detached house.
Treat those as the ceiling rather than the expectation. They assume the whole house treated by a professional installer, with a mains gas boiler and average occupancy. A DIYer doing one bedroom will not get near them.
The money is only part of it. A cold wall surface is where condensation forms, so warming that surface up removes the conditions mould needs. Done properly, internal wall insulation often fixes a damp problem rather than causing one. Your boiler also has less work to do, cycling less often and running at lower output for the same result, which tends to extend its working life.
Do you actually have solid walls?
Look at the brick bond. A solid wall shows header courses, which are the short ends of bricks appearing at regular intervals in the pattern. A cavity wall is stretcher bond, so you only see the long faces.
As a rule of thumb, houses built before the 1920s are usually solid walled, and by the mid 1930s cavity construction had become the norm. Between those dates it varies by region and by builder, so check the brickwork rather than trusting the date alone. If the wall is rendered and you cannot see the bond, measure the thickness at a window or door reveal instead.
The mistake almost everyone makes
People think insulation solves problems. Quite often it hides them.
Leaking gutters, cracked render, rising damp, blocked drainage, poor ventilation, existing mould. Board over any of those and you have not fixed anything. You have buried it, and the problem carries on out of sight in a wall that is now colder and slower to dry than it was before.
So the first job is not choosing a product. It is assessing the building. Are the gutters and downpipes clear and running properly? Is the render sound, with no blown or cracked sections? Is the pointing in good order? Is there a working damp proof course, and will the new insulation sit above it rather than bridging it? Is there any sign of damp, salting or mould on the internal face?
If any of those is a no, that is the job to do first.
Why moisture is the whole story
Warm air inside a house carries moisture, and warm moist air always moves towards colder, drier air. When it reaches a cold surface, it condenses.
Before you insulate, that cold surface is the inside face of the wall, where you can see it and wipe it. Add insulation and you move the cold surface behind the boards, where you cannot. Condensation forming inside the build-up is called interstitial condensation, and it is the single biggest risk with this kind of work.
This is why detailing matters more than product choice. A modest system installed carefully will outperform an expensive one installed badly, because every system on the market fails if warm moist air is allowed to reach a cold surface behind it.
The three systems
Every internal wall insulation system answers the moisture question in one of two ways. Either it stops moisture getting into the wall at all, or it lets moisture move through and dry out again. Both approaches work. They work in different buildings.
1. Vapour closed, rigid board
Typically a phenolic or PIR foam core with a foil facing, bonded to plasterboard. The foil acts as a vapour control layer, so the system works by keeping moisture out of the wall entirely.
This gives you the best thermal performance per millimetre, which means the thinnest build-up for a given result. That matters in small rooms where every millimetre you add is floor space you lose.
The trade-off is that it is the least forgiving of poor workmanship. Every joint, socket, reveal and perimeter has to be sealed, because one gap undermines the whole system.
2. Vapour open, fire rated
Usually high density mineral wool between timber studs, with a vapour control layer, plasterboard and sealant. Mineral wool is non-combustible, which is where the fire rating comes from.
Rather than sealing the wall, this works with it. Moisture can move and the wall can dry, which suits older solid walls that were built to breathe. It is thicker than option one for the same performance, but considerably more forgiving.
3. Vapour open, natural
Hemp or wood fibre. Breathable, moisture buffering, and with far lower embodied carbon than the foam based systems.
This is the best match for traditional and heritage buildings, and the obvious choice if the environmental impact of the material matters to you. Natural does not mean foolproof, though. Fitted badly onto a damp wall it fails exactly like anything else.
Matching the system to the building
There is no best system. There is only the system that suits your wall, your room and your budget.
Older solid brick, exposed to driving rain, generally wants a vapour open build-up so the wall can dry. A rendered or clad wall in a sheltered spot, with a proper ventilation strategy, makes vapour closed viable and gives you the thinnest build-up. Traditional, listed or conservation area properties point towards natural materials. Flats and anything with height or boundary restrictions need the fire rated option, and the limits checked carefully.
If there is any sign of damp at all, the answer is none of them until that is dealt with.
How much space you will lose
People underestimate this. What comes off the room is not just the insulation thickness. It is the insulation, plus the plasterboard, plus whatever holds it on the wall.
A rigid board with 50mm of insulation bonded to 12.5mm plasterboard is 62.5mm before it goes near the wall. Bed it on adhesive and you are at roughly 77mm off the room. Put 80mm on timber battens and you are close to 120mm, which is the best part of five inches. Do that on two external walls of a small bedroom and you have lost close to a square metre of floor.
More is not automatically better either. On a typical solid brick wall, going from 50mm to 80mm improves the U-value, but not in proportion to the extra 30mm of room you give up. Work out what the thickness is worth in that particular room before defaulting to the thickest board.
Remember the things that move with it. Window and door reveals need insulating too, in a thinner board. Skirting, architrave and window boards all come off and go back. Radiators, sockets and switches all move forward. And check critical dimensions in bathrooms and kitchens before you start.
Ventilation is not optional
Insulating and sealing a room changes how the building handles moisture. An old draughty house ventilates itself, badly and expensively, through gaps. Take those gaps away and the moisture people generate by breathing, cooking, washing and drying clothes still has to go somewhere.
A tighter room with the same moisture load and nowhere for it to go is how you end up with mould you never had before. Extract fans, trickle vents, airbricks and subfloor ventilation all need looking at as part of the job, not as an afterthought.
Where it goes wrong
Almost every failure traces back to the same five things. Nobody assessed the building first. The vapour control layer was punctured and not resealed. The insulation was not continuous, leaving cold bridges at reveals, corners and junctions. Ventilation was never upgraded. Or the wrong system went onto the wrong wall.
What that looks like, eventually, is mould growing behind the boards where you cannot see it, joist ends rotting in a wall that is now cold and damp, bathrooms steaming up worse than before, a musty smell nobody can trace, and black spots creeping out around the window reveals.
By the time it shows on the surface, the damage behind it is done, and putting it right usually means taking the whole lot out.
None of which is an argument against doing it. It is an argument for assessing the building first, because that single step prevents most of what goes wrong.
Watch the fitting video
In the follow-up episode Roger fits two of these systems start to finish, covering the studwork, the vapour control layer, taping, reveals and the detailing that decides whether it works: Internal Wall Insulation: The Bit Everyone Gets Wrong
Download the free guide
We have put together a free 13 page guide with the experts at Ezy Fit, covering all of this in more detail. It includes two printable checklists, one for assessing whether your building is suitable and one for preparing a room before the first board goes up. Walk round the house with a pen and be honest about what you find.
The biggest of Solar panel myths – Britain is simply too cloudy for rooftop solar has been around for years, but it is gradually losing ground. A 2026 consumer survey found that just 2% of people now believe there is “no point” having solar in the UK, compared with 9.6% in 2025. Separate YouGov research found that 62% of adults believed panels were effective at generating energy, although around a third remained unsure or unconvinced.
For homeowners considering solar, the bigger concerns now appear to be cost and confidence in the installation itself. Solar specialists at Recharge Renewable reviewed current consumer research alongside independent guidance on costs, output and installation to examine some of the most persistent Solar Panel Myths.
Cloudy weather remains one of the biggest misconceptions. Solar PV works with light rather than heat, so panels continue generating electricity on overcast days. Cloud, shorter winter days and weaker light will reduce output, but a grey sky does not mean a solar system suddenly stops producing electricity.
This sits alongside rapid growth in home renewable technology. MCS reported that UK homes installed a certified small-scale renewable system at a rate of one every 90 seconds during 2025, an increase of 34% on the previous year.
Solar Panel Myths Versus The Reality Of Your Property
National averages only tell part of the story. Whether solar works financially and practically depends on the individual property. A proper assessment should consider location, roof direction and pitch, shading from trees and chimneys, usable roof space and when the household actually consumes electricity.
A solar specialist at Recharge Renewable explained: “Solar PV uses light rather than heat, so a grey day does not mean generation stops. A cool, bright day can still be productive, but no installer should pretend cloud and winter make no difference.”
Cost is another area surrounded by Solar Panel Myths. Current independent guidance puts a typical system at around £6,100, with payback commonly estimated at around 10 to 12 years and potentially as little as nine years in favourable circumstances. Actual performance will depend on the property, system size, household electricity use and export payments.
Panels are not completely maintenance-free either. Current guidance suggests a solar system can last around 25 years with appropriate care, while the inverter will commonly need replacing after around 10 to 12 years. A typical inverter replacement can cost roughly £800, depending on the manufacturer and size of the system.
10 Common Solar Panel Myths And Misconceptions
Some claims about solar contain an element of truth but become misleading when applied to every home. The review identified ten recurring misconceptions:
The electricity generated can never repay the purchase and installation cost.
A solar system is permanently tied to one property and can never be relocated.
Fitting panels will inevitably damage the roof.
Solar is only worthwhile when spare electricity is sold to the grid.
Panels need uninterrupted direct sunshine to produce electricity.
Adding solar automatically increases buildings insurance premiums.
Solar electricity cannot be used after dark, so all night-time power must come from the grid.
Panels become obsolete before homeowners recover their investment.
Only a due-south roof can produce worthwhile results.
A household solar system is too difficult to install or manage.
A correctly installed system should not damage a sound roof, although poor workmanship or an unsuitable roof can cause problems. Independent guidance recommends choosing an MCS-certified installer and obtaining at least three quotes, while a standard installation will usually take one or two days.
Getting Past The Solar Panel Myths
Trust in the installation industry remains an issue. In YouGov research, 61% of adults expressed concerns about the reliability of solar installation offers and quotes, while 36% said dependable independent advice would make them more likely to consider panels.
Selling surplus electricity through the Smart Export Guarantee can improve the financial return, but exporting electricity is not the only benefit. Power used directly in the home reduces the amount bought from the grid, while battery storage can save daytime generation for use later.
The question, then, is not simply whether solar “works in Britain”. It does. The more useful question is whether it works for a particular house, roof and household. Getting beyond the Solar Panel Myths means looking at realistic annual generation, installation quality, electricity use and long-term costs rather than judging a system by a perfect summer day – or a typically grey British one.
Damp proofing a 16th century flint cottage starts with proving where the water is actually going, not guessing at the wall in front of you.
The damp in this lounge was never one fault. A gully in the corner was taking the roof water and looking like it drained away when it didn’t, external ground level sits six courses above the internal floor, the slab had no membrane under it and barely half an inch of screed over bare mud, and the whole outside of the building had been painted for decades so nothing could dry outwards.
Roger Bisby is back with Robert from Tiffin, the 330 year old restoration and damp proofing firm, walking through a full specification on a listed flint cottage. Drainage survey first, then air drain, tanking, Dryrods, a properly built floor, lime repointing and paint removal outside, and an eaves detail rebuilt from scratch. It is a masterclass in why a damp fix on an old building is a system, not a product.
– Prove where every downpipe and gully actually discharges before you spend a penny on the wall, because a blocked or unconnected gully will beat any damp proofing system you put in front of it.
– Where external ground sits above internal floor level, the floor build up and the wall treatment have to be designed together or you just move the problem along the wall.
– Stick to one manufacturer’s system throughout, because the products are designed to work with each other and mixing systems on an old building is where the failures come from.
– A sand and cement parge coat would seal this wall shut, so on a saturated old building you stay vapour open and let the moisture leave through the outside face instead.
– Sand and cement with a waterproofer often carries salts, and those salts migrate through to give you white efflorescence over an otherwise perfect job.
– Paint on old masonry traps moisture behind it, which is why the paint came off this cottage before any pointing work started.
CHAPTERS
00:00 A cottage with a very long snagging list
01:01 The corner gully and why the ground level matters
01:37 Full drainage survey: prove, don’t assume
02:34 Inside the lounge, six courses below outside ground
03:39 Why the whole system has to stay vapour open
04:02 Parge coat, spatter coat and tanking slurry in order
05:29 Renovation plaster and the hi-lime finish
05:40 Sand and cement, waterproofers and salt problems
06:07 The new floor: insulation, membrane and three coats of bitumen
07:09 Floor covering, radiators and chasing for electrics
08:07 Dryrods set below the air drain level
08:42 Bitumen dressed up the brickwork
09:46 Stripping the outside paint so the wall can dry outwards
10:18 Damp climbing above the magic metre line
10:41 Fibrous brickwork and stainless helical bars
11:17 Why a physical damp proof course is impossible in flint
12:37 Embedded bonding timbers and how they rot
13:17 Why the bricklayer knew every trade that followed
14:13 Outside: raking out and repointing in lime
15:12 Why all the paint had to come off first
15:46 The plinth and where the air drain goes
16:35 The oak porch and what gets rebuilt
17:38 Cast iron effect rainwater goods
17:47 Every skip tells a story
18:35 Deep flow gutters and the missing eaves felt
19:25 Insulating the eaves: the duvet effect
19:46 Ventilation over the top of the insulation
20:26 New build corner: the DPC one course off the ground
21:06 Splashback on a southwest facing corner
21:47 Stormdry and the air drain working together
22:53 Dry walls are warm walls, and how long drying takes
23:44 All masonry is draughty
24:21 The wet garage question
25:11 Cavity wall insulation guarantees and their caveats
Solar panels are now a familiar sight on UK homes, but understanding whether you need Planning Permission for Solar Panels can still cause confusion before an installer reaches the roof. For most ordinary domestic installations, a full planning application will not be necessary, although the location of the property, position of the panels and individual planning rules can change that answer.
For homeowners, leaseholders and anyone responsible for a property, the question is not simply whether panels will physically fit. Roof design, building status, conservation restrictions, ownership arrangements and even the part of the UK in which you live can determine whether additional consent is required.
Solar installation specialists at Recharge Renewable reviewed current guidance across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, including the rules affecting rooftop installations, listed properties and ground-mounted systems.
Do You Need Planning Permission for Solar Panels?
For a standard domestic rooftop system, Planning Permission for Solar Panels will usually not be required where the installation qualifies as permitted development and meets all relevant conditions. However, the rules differ across the UK, while flats, leasehold properties, listed buildings and homes where permitted development rights have been restricted require additional checks.
A spokesperson for Recharge Renewable said: “An installer can flag warning signs such as a listed property, a flat-roof array, an unusual wall position or a larger garden system, but only the local planning authority can confirm whether permission or prior approval is required, and leaseholders should also obtain any consent required by their landlord, freeholder or management company.”
Planning Permission for Solar Panels Across the UK
In England, panels fitted to a pitched roof must not normally extend above the highest part of the roof, excluding the chimney, or project more than 200mm from the roof or wall. Equipment on a flat roof is limited to 600mm above the highest part and can require prior approval on designated Article 2(3) land.
Wales also generally permits rooftop solar on houses where panels remain below the ridgeline and project no more than 200mm. Different conditions apply to flat roofs, including requirements concerning the distance between panels and the external roof edge.
Scotland allows attached solar equipment to project up to one metre, although additional restrictions apply to certain principal or road-facing elevations in conservation areas and to listed buildings. Northern Ireland has separate requirements, including restrictions on projection and height and tighter controls where panels are visible from a road within conservation areas or World Heritage Sites.
Because these rules differ, homeowners should check the requirements applying specifically to their nation rather than assuming Planning Permission for Solar Panels works identically throughout the UK.
Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas and Ground-Mounted Panels
Listed buildings and scheduled monuments require particular care. Depending on the property and proposed installation, permitted development rights may not apply and listed building consent can be required separately from planning permission. Article 4 directions and conditions attached to previous planning decisions can also remove development rights that would otherwise exist.
If permitted development is unavailable, this does not necessarily prevent solar from being installed. A homeowner can submit an application for Planning Permission for Solar Panels, while changing the layout, using a less prominent roof slope or positioning panels on an outbuilding may reduce their visual impact.
Ground-mounted panels are another option where the roof is unsuitable, but these installations have separate limits. In England, permitted development normally covers only the first standalone array and imposes restrictions on its area, dimensions, height and distance from the property boundary. Wales and Scotland operate different siting and height requirements.
Building Regulations and Grid Connections
Obtaining Planning Permission for Solar Panels, or establishing that it is unnecessary, is only one part of the process. Roof-mounted installations will normally also be subject to building regulations or building standards covering issues such as structural loading and electrical safety. An installer registered with an appropriate Competent Person Scheme may be able to self-certify relevant work and provide the necessary compliance documentation.
Grid connection requirements are separate again. In Great Britain, qualifying smaller installations may use the G98 ‘connect and notify’ process, while systems falling under G99 generally require approval before connection. Installers commonly handle this paperwork, but homeowners should confirm which process applies and retain the documentation.
Can You Install Solar Panels Yourself?
DIY solar kits are available, but permitted development does not remove responsibilities surrounding structural safety, electrical work, Building Control or building standards and electricity-network requirements. Missing paperwork can also create difficulties when a property is eventually sold.
Before proceeding, homeowners should establish whether the property is listed or within a conservation area, check whether an Article 4 direction applies, confirm that the proposed height and position meet local requirements and obtain any necessary landlord or freeholder consent.
Ultimately, Planning Permission for Solar Panels is straightforward for many conventional domestic installations, but it should never simply be assumed. Checking the planning position, building requirements and grid connection process before work begins can prevent delays and expensive alterations later.
Sources: Planning Portal, Welsh Government, Scottish Government and mygov.scot, Northern Ireland legislation and NI Direct, Historic England, and UK Government energy-device registration guidance. Checked 11 August 2026.
More Solar Advice from Skill Builder
Thinking about installing solar panels or already have a system at home? Explore more practical solar advice from Skill Builder:
Solar Panel Fires Are Rising – Here’s Why A closer look at common solar PV fire risks, including poor connections, isolators, battery storage and the importance of ongoing safety checks.
How to build railway sleeper steps up a steep bank, from setting out the rise and run to the final decorative chippings.
The short answer is that good sleeper steps are mostly groundwork. Get the overall rise and run measured properly, bed every box on a weak concrete mix, pin it with rebar, then build up a compacted sub base in thin layers. Do that and the steps stay level for years.
The bank on this job was a struggle for the client to climb, so Sam set out a full flight of sleeper steps to make it easy. Each step is a U-shaped box made from spruce railway sleepers ripped down to 177mm, cut into 1200mm fronts with 600mm side pieces. From there it is excavation, levelling, bedding, pinning, membrane, sub base and fill, one step at a time up the slope.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
– Set a peg at the top landing point and use a long straight edge and level down to the ground, so you have an accurate overall run and rise before you work out how many steps you need and how deep they will be.
– Build each step as a U-shaped box from sleepers, with a 1200mm front and 600mm returns, so it can be positioned, levelled and fixed as a single unit.
– Bed every box on a weak concrete mix at roughly 10 parts ballast to 1 part cement, which gives a stable base while keeping a degree of flexibility that suits landscaping work.
– Check every sleeper for level before moving on, because small errors early in the build become far more obvious as the flight goes up the slope.
– Use timber screws and rebar pins together, the screws for the structural connection between sleepers and the pins to anchor the steps into the ground and resist movement.
– Wrap the construction in a woven geotextile membrane so weeds are held back but rainwater still drains freely through the structure.
– Add MOT type 1 in 50mm layers and compact each one before adding the next, building up to about 150mm, which greatly reduces the risk of settlement later.
– Treat the timber before it goes in, including the buried ends with bitumen paint, because those are the parts sitting in ground moisture and they decide how long the whole job lasts.
00:00 Setting out the rise and run
01:33 Cutting and building the sleeper boxes
02:17 Excavating the steps
03:13 Bedding onto a weak concrete mix
03:49 Rebar pins
04:48 Timber screws, countersinking and dowels
06:15 Setting each step in place
07:06 Geotextile membrane
08:33 MOT type 1 in compacted layers
09:01 Protecting the timber
09:37 Filling the steps with chippings
10:02 The retaining wall that got added later
12:45 The finished flight
Would you have gone with a retaining wall from the start, or waited to see if the bank moved? Let us know in the comments, and tell us what you would like to see us build next.
Cutting PIR board straight is harder than it looks, and the reason is that you are cutting from the wrong side. Roger meets Jody Baxter on site to look at SlideGuide, a telescopic track system that runs underneath the board rather than on top of it, so the jigsaw blade cannot wander and the cut comes out square through the full depth.
Anyone who has cut Celotex or Kingspan by hand knows the problem. You follow the line perfectly along the top, then you turn the board over and the other face has drifted off by 10mm or more. The blade flexes, the cut tapers, and on a roof or between studs that gap is the difference between a tight fit and a cold bridge stuffed with expanding foam.
Jody has been testing blades as well as guides, and the Bosch blade used here is the one giving the least dust so far, a fine tooth pattern closer to a metal cutting blade than a wood one. A longer version is in development that should produce no dust at all. Because the track mounts on the underside, blade length is not the limiting factor, only how straight the blade stays.
We also look at the SlideGuide Mini, a single track version that opens to 1300mm and has 45-degree bevels built into the wear strips, aimed squarely at roofers cutting into eaves, ridges and under layboards where the waste is enormous.
• Mounting the guide on the underside of the board is what stops the blade meandering, because the cut is referenced from the face the blade exits rather than the face you can see.
• A tapered cut is caused by blade flex, not by a shaky hand, so a straight edge laid on top of the board will never fully solve it.
• A fine tooth metal cutting blade throws far less dust than a coarse soft material blade when cutting PIR and sandwiched metal roofing panels.
• The standard opening is 1118mm between the clamp pads, and releasing the thumb screws lets the telescopic rails extend to take a full length board.
• The Mini version cuts 45 degree bevels, which is where roofers waste the most board, and the clamp pads rotate so they can be set at an angle for bevel work.
WATCH NEXT
[Insulated roof panels video link]
[Loft insulation video link]
00:00 The problem with cutting PIR board
00:19 How the underside track system works
00:30 Choosing the right jigsaw blade
00:47 A longer blade with no dust at all
01:00 Dave, the millimetre perfect tradesman
01:20 Setting the opening and the clamp pads
01:47 Trimming off the damaged edge
02:02 The 40mm track saw rail
02:28 Squaring the board up in the guide
03:07 Marking 355 at both ends
03:40 The finished edge
03:57 Fitting the board between the studs
04:02 SlideGuide Mini, the single track version
04:55 Cutting a 45 degree bevel
05:39 The result and the limits of the blade
06:05 Where to buy it and the MKM rollout
Have you found a way of cutting PIR board that actually holds a line? Tell us in the comments.
Why Your Home EV Charger Could Cost More Than Expected
For UK households, a home EV charger sold as an £800 to £1,200 standard installation can end up costing more than £2,000 when the property falls outside an installer’s basic package. The increase in EV Charger Installation Cost usually comes from the route to the parking space or electrical work required inside the home, rather than the wallbox itself.
Home EV charging specialists at Recharge Renewable reviewed current UK installation benchmarks alongside government and electrical guidance, to identify five extras homeowners should ask about before accepting a quote. Energy Saving Trust puts a typical home ChargePoint installation at £800 to £1,200, while current market guides show that more complex installations can exceed £2,000.
The difference matters because headline installation prices are normally based on a defined set of conditions. A charger positioned close to a suitable consumer unit with an accessible cable route is one thing; an older property with a detached garage, long cable run or electrical work required before connection is another.
1. Longer Cable Routes Can Increase EV Charger Installation Cost
Standard installation packages commonly include a set amount of cable between the consumer unit and the charger, often around 10 metres. If the parking space is further away, the extra distance can increase both material and labour costs.
Current 2026 guides put additional cable at roughly £10 to £20 per metre beyond the standard allowance. The price can rise further where thicker cable is required or the route involves difficult access, drilling, containment or additional work through the building.
The physical distance is not always the only issue. A cable may need to pass around the outside of a property, through a garage or utility space, or follow a route that protects both the installation and the appearance of the building. Two homes requiring the same charger can therefore produce very different quotations simply because of where the consumer unit and parking space are located.
Before accepting a price, homeowners should ask how much cable is included and whether the proposed route is covered by the standard installation charge.
2. Trenching and Reinstatement Can Add Hundreds
Where the charger is fitted to the house or an attached garage, the cable may be installed without major groundworks. A detached garage, separate parking area or charger located away from the building can be more involved, because the electrical supply may need to cross a garden, path or driveway.
Published estimates put common groundworks at around £200 to £500. Checkatrade lists soft-ground trenching at approximately £30 per metre and a typical £300 minimum for digger hire.
The surface above the cable also needs to be considered. Digging through soil is very different from crossing block paving, concrete or an established driveway. Once the cable has been installed, disturbed surfaces may need to be reinstated, and that work is not necessarily included in the installer’s headline price.
For that reason, any quote involving buried cable should state who is responsible for excavation and making good afterwards. A lower EV Charger Installation Cost can quickly become less attractive if substantial groundworks have simply been excluded from the initial figure.
3. Consumer Unit Work May Be Required
A modern consumer unit with suitable protection and enough capacity may not require major alteration before a dedicated EV charger circuit is added. Older or already full units can present a different situation.
An EV charger introduces a significant new electrical load, so the existing installation needs to be assessed before connection. If the consumer unit is unsuitable, full or requires upgrading, that work can add hundreds of pounds to the project.
Current guides place consumer unit replacement work at roughly £300 to £800, depending on the board, specification and extent of the work required.
This does not mean that installing an EV charger automatically means replacing the consumer unit. In many homes it will not be necessary. What matters is that its condition and available capacity are assessed before the customer is given a final price.
A quote based solely on the cost of mounting the charger and running cable can therefore give an incomplete picture of the eventual EV Charger Installation Cost.
4. Load Management or Supply Upgrades
The additional charging load also has to fit within the electrical capacity available to the property. An installer needs to consider the home’s existing demand alongside the proposed EV charger, particularly where other high-demand electrical equipment is already installed.
Load management can help where available capacity is limited. These systems monitor demand within the property and can reduce the charger’s power when necessary, preventing the overall load from exceeding the available supply.
Some EV chargers already include load limiting or related technology, while others may require additional equipment. The quote should make clear which features are built into the charger and which are being supplied separately.
In less common cases, the incoming electrical supply itself may require alteration. IET guidance notes that EV charging can require load curtailment, an additional supply or another phase depending on the circumstances, while current cost guidance estimates that significant main-supply or capacity upgrades can add around £500 to £2,000.
These are not routine charges for every installation, but they illustrate why the electrical survey is an important part of establishing an accurate price.
5. Safety and Remedial Electrical Work
A home EV charger needs the correct circuit protection and earthing arrangement. Existing electrical defects or missing protective equipment may therefore have to be addressed before the charger can be connected.
Some modern chargers incorporate features such as open PEN protection within the unit. Where those protections are not built in, additional equipment may be necessary.
An isolator can also form part of the work. Checkatrade estimates a new isolator at around £100 to £200, while the cost of wider remedial work depends entirely on the condition of the property’s electrical installation.
Again, these costs do not apply universally. The installer should identify what protection is already provided by the charger, what the existing installation provides and whether anything else is required to make the installation compliant and safe.
A residential EV charging point installed beside a driveway for convenient home charging.
What Should A Standard EV Charger Quote Cover?
A standard package may include the charger, wall fixing, a defined amount of surface-mounted cabling, connection and circuit protection, testing, certification and DNO notification. Groundworks, unusually long cable routes, electrical upgrades and reinstatement are commonly outside that scope, although definitions vary between installers.
That variation makes comparing the headline EV Charger Installation Cost alone unreliable. One installer may include more cable, protection or administrative work than another, meaning a slightly higher initial quote could represent better value once every required element is taken into account.
With the final price driven heavily by the property’s cable route and electrical capacity, the survey should establish exclusions before the customer accepts the figure.
Recharge Renewable recommends asking the installer to state how much cable is included, whether disturbed surfaces will be reinstated, and whether load limiting, electrical protection, DNO paperwork and certification sit inside the quoted price. If the survey identifies extra work, each item should have its own cost and explanation so that competing quotes can be compared like for like.
How To Compare Home EV Charger Quotes
Homeowners should first make sure they are comparing the same charger power, model and tethered or untethered arrangement. They should then confirm the included cable length, proposed route and whether drilling, trenching or making good is covered.
The quote should also identify any consumer unit work, isolator, load management or remedial electrical work. VAT, electrical certification, DNO administration and warranties should be clearly shown rather than left as assumptions.
Grant eligibility and property permissions are worth checking before installation as well. Renters, leaseholders and people living in flats may need approval from a landlord, freeholder or managing agent before work can begin.
Government Support For EV Charger Installation Cost
From 1 April 2026, eligible renters and flat owners can receive 75% of purchase and installation costs up to £500, provided they meet the scheme rules and use an OZEV-authorised installer.
Households relying on on-street parking have a separate grant of up to £500 for an approved cross-pavement solution. An owner-occupier living in a house with private off-street parking cannot use the renters and flat owners scheme.
The grants are scheduled to run until 31 March 2027, so anyone considering an installation should check the latest eligibility requirements before relying on grant funding as part of their budget.
DNO Involvement And Home EV Charging
DNO involvement is a connection process and should not automatically be treated as a paid extra.
The Institution of Engineering and Technology states that if the whole property’s maximum demand remains below 13.8 kVA after installation, the Energy Networks Association must be notified within one month. Where demand exceeds that level, the DNO needs to be contacted before connection.
The installer should explain which route applies to the property and clearly itemise any network or supply work that genuinely carries an additional cost.
Understanding The Real EV Charger Installation Cost
The advertised price of a home charger is useful as a starting point, but it cannot account for every property. Cable distance, ground conditions, the existing consumer unit, available electrical capacity and remedial work can all change the final EV Charger Installation Cost.
These extras will not apply to every household. The important distinction is between work that is genuinely required by the property and work already covered by the installer’s standard package.
A detailed survey should establish that before the customer commits. Asking exactly what is included, what is excluded and why any additional work is necessary gives homeowners a far better basis for comparing quotes and reduces the risk of an £800 to £1,200 installation becoming a much more expensive job later.
As electric vehicles become a bigger part of everyday life..
Getting the charging setup right at home is only one part of the picture. Cost, range, charging time and how an EV performs in real working conditions all matter, particularly for tradespeople considering the switch. Skill Builder has also put an electric van to the test, looking at what it’s actually like to use one for day-to-day trade work and whether electric really makes sense on the road.
Solar panels are designed to be low-maintenance, but that does not mean they are completely maintenance-free.
Dust, bird droppings, leaves, pollen and lichen can gradually build up on the glass, reducing the amount of sunlight reaching the photovoltaic cells. For some households, particularly those with panels beneath trees or in dusty environments, that lost generation can translate into a surprisingly persistent cost.
But there is an important question homeowners should ask before reaching for the hose:
Is solar panel cleaning actually worth paying for?
At Recharge Renewable, the focus is not simply on keeping panels looking clean. With more than 20 years of experience in solar installation and aftercare, the team helps homeowners understand what affects solar performance and how to get the best long-term value from their system.
This guide explains how dirty solar panels can affect generation, how to spot genuine soiling losses, when cleaning makes financial sense and how to approach solar panel cleaning safely.
Can dirty solar panels reduce electricity generation?
Yes. Solar panels work by allowing sunlight to reach the cells beneath their glass surface. Anything that significantly obstructs that light can reduce the electricity the system generates.
This is known as soiling and can include:
Dust and airborne dirt
Bird droppings
Leaves and other plant debris
Pollen
Lichen and moss
Agricultural dust
Construction dust
Residue that collects along the lower edge of a panel
Not every dirty panel will suffer a significant performance loss. Light dust may be removed naturally by rainfall, while a stubborn deposit of bird mess or lichen can remain in place for much longer.
The Energy Saving Trust says solar panels generally require little maintenance and that rainfall can help keep roof-mounted panels clean, although homes exposed to trees, dust or bird droppings may need more frequent attention.
That distinction is important.
The aim should not be to clean solar panels simply because they are slightly dusty. The aim should be to identify when dirt is actually affecting performance.
How much money can dirty solar panels cost?
For a typical example, consider a 4kW domestic solar PV system generating around 3,800kWh of electricity a year.
Using the July 2026 Ofgem electricity price-cap rate of 26.11p per kWh, every unit of electricity that a household fails to generate may represent another unit that has to be purchased from the grid, assuming the household would otherwise have used that solar generation itself. Ofgem’s 26.11p figure applies to the average Direct Debit electricity unit rate under the price cap from 1 July to 30 September
The potential value of lost generation looks like this:
Estimated output lost to dirt
Electricity lost each year
Approximate value
3%
114kWh
£30
4%
152kWh
£40
5%
190kWh
£50
10%
380kWh
£99
15%
570kWh
£149
The calculation is straightforward: annual generation is multiplied by the percentage of output lost, then by the electricity unit rate.
So a 10% reduction in generation on a 3,800kWh system represents around 380kWh of lost electricity. At 26.11p per kWh, that is approximately £99 of electricity.
At 15%, the theoretical value approaches £149 a year.
These are illustrative figures rather than a guarantee of what any individual household will save. Actual generation varies according to the property’s location, roof orientation, pitch, shading, system design and weather.
There is another important consideration: self-consumption.
If a household exports a large proportion of its solar generation, the financial value of recovering that electricity will generally be lower than the cost of buying electricity from the grid. Export payments vary between tariffs, so homeowners should use their own import and export rates when calculating the potential return from cleaning.
Which homes are most likely to benefit from solar panel cleaning?
Some solar installations are naturally more exposed to soiling than others.
Recharge Renewable recommends homeowners pay particular attention if their panels are:
Beneath trees
Trees can create several problems at once. Leaves can settle on the panels, pollen can form a film over the glass and bird activity may increase around branches.
Leaves are particularly worth checking because they can become trapped along the bottom edge of panels, where rainfall may not remove them.
In areas with lots of bird activity
Bird droppings can create concentrated areas of obstruction rather than an even layer of dust.
A single small mark may have little practical effect, but persistent deposits across several panels deserve attention.
On shallow-pitched roofs
Panel angle influences how effectively rain can wash across the glass.
A shallow installation may be less effective at shedding accumulated material, particularly when deposits become sticky or embedded.
Near agricultural or construction activity
Dust from fields, roads and building work can settle on panels and may accumulate more quickly than ordinary household dirt.
Where lichen or moss is visible
Lichen is a different proposition from loose dust.
It can remain attached to the surface and create persistent areas of obstruction that ordinary rainfall is unlikely to remove.
How can you tell if solar panel cleaning is necessary?
This is where homeowners can avoid spending money unnecessarily.
Don’t judge your system on appearance alone.
A dirty-looking panel is not automatically an underperforming panel, and a sudden fall in generation does not automatically mean the panels need cleaning.
Instead, use two pieces of evidence:
1. Look at the panels.
From ground level, check for obvious deposits, particularly bird mess, leaves, lichen or areas of heavy dirt.
2. Check the performance.
Open your inverter or solar monitoring app and look at generation over several bright days.
A persistent reduction in output combined with visible soiling is a much stronger reason to investigate than either sign on its own.
One cloudy week is not enough evidence. Solar generation naturally changes with weather, season, shading and other conditions.
Recharge Renewable’s advice is simple: visible buildup and a lasting performance drop should point in the same direction before homeowners spend money on cleaning.
If generation suddenly falls or one section of the system appears to stop producing altogether, contact the installer or a qualified solar professional. The cause could be an inverter, wiring, monitoring or panel fault rather than dirt.
Does rain clean solar panels?
Sometimes – but not always.
Rain is useful at removing loose dust and surface debris, which is one reason solar panels generally do not require intensive routine maintenance. The Energy Saving Trust notes that rain can do a good job of keeping roof-mounted panels clean, particularly where panels are positioned at an effective angle.
However, rain is less effective against stubborn deposits.
Bird droppings, sticky pollen, lichen and material trapped around panel edges can remain even after repeated rainfall.
That is why “it rains a lot in the UK” does not necessarily mean every solar panel will stay clean.
The right question is not how much rain the property receives. It is whether the panels are visibly accumulating material and whether that accumulation is affecting performance.
Safe solar panel cleaning
Safety should come before efficiency.
Never climb onto your roof to clean solar panels
This is the most important rule.
Solar panels are usually installed in locations that are difficult and dangerous for homeowners to access. A relatively small improvement in electricity generation is not worth risking a fall.
For panels that can safely be reached from ground level – such as installations on a garage or single-storey extension – a homeowner may be able to carry out basic solar panel cleaning.
For anything on the main roof, professional cleaning is the safer option.
Use soft equipment
For safely accessible panels, use a soft brush on a telescopic pole.
Plain water is generally sufficient for light dirt. If necessary, a small amount of mild washing-up liquid can be used, followed by a thorough rinse with clean water.
Avoid anything abrasive that could scratch the glass or damage its surface.
Clean when the panels are cool
Early morning or evening is preferable.
Cleaning hot panels can cause water to dry quickly, potentially leaving streaks and mineral deposits. A significant temperature difference between cold water and very hot glass is also best avoided.
Never use aggressive cleaning equipment
Avoid:
Pressure washers
Abrasive pads
Metal scrapers
Harsh chemicals
Aggressive cleaning products
These can damage the panel surface, coatings, seals or frame.
If in doubt, check the panel manufacturer’s maintenance instructions or ask the original installer.
Is professional solar panel cleaning worth the cost?
This is ultimately a calculation rather than a rule.
The cost of professional solar panel cleaning varies according to the number of panels, roof accessibility, location and cleaning method. A whole domestic system may cost somewhere in the region of £80 to £150, although quotes can be higher or lower depending on the installation.
That means a homeowner should compare the cleaning quote with the realistic amount of generation they expect to recover.
For example, if cleaning costs £100 but the evidence suggests the system is only losing around £30 of useful electricity a year because of light soiling, the financial case is weak.
If the same £100 clean addresses heavy soiling that is plausibly costing close to £100 or more a year, the calculation looks very different.
This is why Recharge Renewable’s approach is about evidence rather than a fixed cleaning schedule.
A high-risk, heavily soiled array may benefit from professional attention. A clean-looking system in a rainy location may not.
How often should solar panels be cleaned?
There is no universal answer.
Some homes may benefit from occasional cleaning, while others can go much longer without intervention.
The Energy Saving Trust currently advises cleaning solar panels every 12–18 months, with more frequent attention where panels are exposed to dust, trees or bird droppings. It also stresses that roof-mounted panels can benefit from natural rainfall.
For homeowners, the most sensible approach is to combine that general guidance with the circumstances of the individual installation.
Ask:
Are there visible deposits?
Are leaves accumulating?
Is there lichen?
Are birds regularly fouling the panels?
Is the property near a dusty environment?
Does the monitoring data suggest a persistent performance issue?
Will the likely recovered generation justify the cleaning cost?
That gives you a much better answer than simply putting “solar panel cleaning” in the diary every year.
When should you call a solar professional?
Cleaning and fault diagnosis are not the same thing.
If the system’s performance changes gradually alongside visible dirt, cleaning may be a reasonable first consideration.
If output suddenly drops, one panel or section behaves differently from the rest, the inverter reports an error, or generation appears abnormal despite clean panels, contact the installer or a qualified professional.
Recharge Renewable has more than 20 years’ experience designing, installing and supporting solar PV systems, and provides aftercare alongside its installation services. The company is MCS accredited and also holds RECC, TrustMark, Quality Mark and NICEIC credentials.
That combination matters because the best solar advice is not simply about cleaning glass. It is about understanding the entire system and distinguishing normal variation from a genuine performance problem.
The bottom line: clean your solar panels when the evidence says to
Solar panel cleaning can be worthwhile, but it should not become another household chore performed simply because the calendar says so.
A little dust washed away by rain is unlikely to justify paying for a professional clean. Heavy bird mess, trapped leaves, lichen and persistent grime are different – particularly when monitoring data suggests that generation is suffering.
For homeowners, the best starting point is remarkably simple:
Look at the panels. Check the generation. Then calculate the potential saving before paying for cleaning.
And if the panels are difficult or dangerous to access, don’t take the risk yourself.
Recharge Renewable’s expertise is ultimately about helping homeowners get more from their renewable-energy investment, from the original system design and installation – through to understanding performance and keeping that investment working effectively for the long term.
For homeowners who are unsure whether their solar system is performing as it should, the sensible next step is to speak to an experienced renewable-energy specialist, rather than guessing.
A cleaner panel may generate more electricity. But knowing whether it needs cleaning in the first place is where the real saving begins.
More Solar Advice from Skill Builder
Want to learn more about looking after your solar installation and getting the most from renewable energy? Explore these related guides from Skill Builder:
Solar Panel Fires Are Rising – Here’s Why A closer look at the risks associated with solar PV systems and the steps homeowners can take to keep their installation safe.
Damp in an old house is almost never one problem. Roger Bisby walks through a 1900s renovation near Nottingham to work out where it is really coming from.
The short answer is that most of the moisture here is coming up from the ground rather than in through the walls. There is no damp-proof membrane under the floors, the clay subsoil is holding water even after weeks of heat, and hard sand and cement render is trapping whatever does get in. The cure is ventilation, a proper membrane lapped up the wall, and belt-and-braces damp-proofing rather than tearing out a damp-proof course that is still doing its job.
AJ went to auction on this place, watched it fail to sell, and bought a house that had stood empty for years. He is turning it into a multigenerational home for himself, his wife and his parents, with the old garage block becoming a self-contained side for mum and dad. Stripping out the ground floor turned up rotten skirtings, crumbling fireplace surrounds and a mystery black coating on one of the floors that turns out to be a piece of local building history.
• Dry rot draws moisture in from elsewhere with its roots, so cutting out the localised damage is not enough, whereas wet rot dies once you take the water away.
• If a house has an original slate or bitumen damp proof course, leave it alone. Drilling into it destroys it, so go above it or below it if you want to add chemical rods.
• Air bricks at the front only give you ventilation at the front. Without a matching route out the back you get no through flow under a suspended floor, and moisture just sits there.
• Clay subsoil holds water all year, which is why a floor with no damp proof membrane can still be visibly wet after a long dry spell.
• Strong sand and cement render with waterproofer in it does not solve damp, it just moves the problem into the wall and pushes the moisture somewhere else.
• Coal tar was used extensively as a damp-proof course and membrane material, and near an old colliery it is exactly what local builders would have had to hand.
• If you are fitting retrofit underfloor heating, get the drawings from the manufacturer and follow them to the letter. Ignoring them is where these jobs go wrong.
00:00 A 1900s house being turned into a multigenerational home
00:45 Dry rot or wet rot, and how to tell the difference
01:09 Suspended floor, solid floor and missing air bricks
01:40 The survey findings and no DPM under the fireplaces
01:56 Retrofit underfloor heating: gas now, heat pump later
02:45 The original damp proof course and why you must not drill it
03:20 How chemical damp rods actually work
03:57 Internal wall insulation on the external walls
04:43 Digging out the floor: clay, tiles and no membrane
05:24 Building a new slab the right way
05:55 Boiler position and following the underfloor heating drawings
06:39 1980s inset fireplaces and where the chimney damp comes in
07:13 Wood burners and a lifetime supply of wood
07:37 Three phase supply, EV charging and a future heat pump
08:14 Rotten skirtings: wet rot and woodworm
08:47 A quick word about the statue
09:41 Auction, trees and the condition it was bought in
09:59 The mystery black coating on the floor
10:53 Sealing the floor and lapping it up the wall
11:41 Hard sand and cement over an old damp problem
13:25 Wrapped joists and moisture under the newer floor
14:11 Cutting a channel through for ventilation
15:38 The tar smell and what it tells us
16:44 Coal tar as a damp proof course
17:55 Converting the garages for the parents
18:33 The gardens, palm trees and fruit trees
20:01 Follow the renovation on Instagram [HANDLE NEEDED]
Renovating something similar? Tell us what you found under your floors in the comments.
Correct natural slate fixing is essential for creating a durable, reliable roof that can withstand the conditions it will face throughout its service life. To make the specification process simpler, CUPA PIZARRAS has launched a new online Fixing Specification Tool for architects, specifiers and roofing professionals.
The free digital tool generates project-specific fixing recommendations based on factors including location, exposure, roof pitch and slate selection, helping professionals establish appropriate fixing requirements quickly and accurately.
Why is natural slate fixing important?
Natural slate is renowned for its durability and long service life, but achieving the best performance from a slate roof depends on correct design, specification and installation.
The fixing method must be suitable for the individual roof and the conditions to which it will be exposed. Factors such as roof pitch, geographical location and exposure can all influence the fixing specification.
Getting natural slate fixing requirements right during the design stage can help reduce the risk of problems later in the project and contribute to the long-term performance of the finished roof.
A new tool for natural slate fixing specifications
CUPA PIZARRAS’ new Fixing Specification Tool has been designed to simplify this process.
Rather than professionals having to work through the specification process independently, the online platform guides users through a straightforward series of steps.
Project information is entered into the tool, including key details such as:
Location
Exposure
Roof pitch
Slate selection
Using this information, the tool produces tailored fixing requirements that can be incorporated into project documentation.
This gives architects, specifiers and contractors a convenient way of establishing an appropriate natural slate fixing specification while supporting compliance with relevant industry standards.
Making roof specification quicker and easier
Time spent establishing technical requirements during the design stage can have a significant impact on how smoothly a roofing project progresses.
By bringing the relevant project information together within one digital resource, CUPA PIZARRAS aims to make specifying natural slate roofs more efficient while helping reduce the possibility of specification errors.
The Fixing Specification Tool can also be accessed at any stage of the design and specification process, making it useful for professionals working across different stages of a roofing project.
Julian Gómez, Marketing Director at CUPA PIZARRAS, said:
“Correct specification is fundamental to the long-term performance of any natural slate roof. Our new Fixing Specification Tool has been developed to make the process faster and easier for architects, specifiers and contractors, providing reliable fixing recommendations that support compliance, efficiency and best practice.”
Technical support for natural slate roofing
The new tool forms part of CUPA PIZARRAS’ wider range of technical resources for construction professionals.
Alongside guidance for natural slate fixing, the manufacturer provides technical documentation and expert services designed to support architects and contractors throughout the design, specification and construction process.
Its growing range of resources also includes BBA-certified façade systems and RIBA-approved CPD seminars.
By combining digital specification tools with technical guidance and professional support, CUPA PIZARRAS aims to make it easier for construction professionals to specify natural slate correctly and confidently.
The longevity of a natural slate roof depends not only on the quality of the slate itself but also on appropriate specification and installation.
Establishing the correct natural slate fixing requirements from the outset can therefore play an important role in creating a roofing system capable of delivering reliable long-term performance.
CUPA PIZARRAS’ new online tool provides architects, specifiers and roofing professionals with a quick way to generate project-specific fixing recommendations while supporting efficient project planning and best practice.
The Fixing Specification Tool is available free of charge through the CUPA PIZARRAS website and can be accessed throughout the design and specification process.
Summer brings warmer weather, longer evenings and more time spent outdoors. It also brings increased insect activity, with wasps becoming a common concern for homeowners as nests develop and colonies become more active.
Wasps are an important part of the natural environment, helping control other insect populations and contributing to biodiversity. However, when they build nests close to homes, gardens or regularly used areas, they can become a genuine nuisance and, in some situations, a safety concern.
For homeowners looking at wasp nest removal, understanding where nests appear and having the right treatment solution available can make managing summer pest problems much easier.
This is where Safeguard NOPE! Wasp and Hornet Killer provides a practical solution.
Why Wasps Become A Summer Problem
Wasp activity increases throughout the warmer months as colonies grow. While a nest hidden away from people may not cause an issue, problems can arise when wasps choose locations close to everyday activity.
Common problem areas include:
Roof eaves
Loft spaces
Garages
Sheds
Wall voids
Chimneys
Outdoor structures
Why Wasp Nest Removal Is More Common In Summer
Summer brings warmer weather, longer evenings and more time spent outdoors. It also brings increased insect activity, with wasps becoming a common concern for homeowners as nests develop and colonies become more active.
Wasps are an important part of the natural environment, helping control other insect populations and contributing to biodiversity. However, when they build nests close to homes, gardens or regularly used areas, they can become a genuine nuisance and, in some situations, a safety concern.
For homeowners looking at wasp nest removal, understanding where nests appear and having the right treatment solution available can make managing summer pest problems much easier.
This is where Safeguard NOPE! Wasp and Hornet Killer provides a practical solution.
Why Wasps Become A Summer Problem
Wasp activity increases throughout the warmer months as colonies grow. While a nest hidden away from people may not cause an issue, problems can arise when wasps choose locations close to everyday activity.
Common problem areas include:
Outdoor structuresnce, helping improve control while keeping both feet firmly on the ground.
Roof eaves
Loft spaces
Garages
Sheds
Wall voids
Chimneys
Safeguard NOPE! Wasp and Hornet Killer provides long-range targeted treatment for wasps, hornets and hidden nests around the home.
A 5-Metre Spray Range For Safer Application
Access is often one of the biggest challenges when dealing with wasp nests.
A nest hidden beneath roof eaves, inside a shed roof or within a difficult-to-reach area can make treatment challenging.
The extended reach of Safeguard NOPE! helps overcome this problem by allowing targeted application from further away.
The precision spray can be used for individual flying insects or directed towards nest entrances where appropriate, providing flexibility depending on the situation.
Users should always follow the product label instructions, check wind direction before spraying and avoid treating nests if they may be at risk of an allergic reaction to stings.
No Messy Residue For Easier Clean-Up
When treating areas around the home, the effectiveness of a product is only part of the consideration. Ease of use and clean-up also matter.
Unlike foam-based products that can leave behind visible deposits, Safeguard NOPE! Wasp and Hornet Killer uses a high-strength liquid formula designed to leave zero residue.
This makes it suitable for practical areas around the property where homeowners want effective treatment without creating additional cleaning work afterwards.
More Than Wasp Nest Removal: Protecting Your Property
Small gaps, overlooked openings and sheltered spaces can provide opportunities for insects to enter and establish nests.
Simple maintenance checks can help reduce potential problems:
Inspect roof edges and eaves for gaps
Check sheds and garages regularly
Seal unnecessary openings around service routes
Maintain external areas around buildings
Look for signs of insect activity during warmer months
A well-maintained property is easier to protect from a wide range of potential problems.
Responsible Pest Management For Homes
While wasp nest removal may sometimes be necessary, it is important to remember that wasps have an important role in the ecosystem.
The aim is not to remove insects unnecessarily, but to manage situations where nests are located close to homes, workplaces or areas where people regularly spend time.
Safeguard NOPE! Wasp and Hornet Killer provides homeowners with a targeted solution when action is required, combining long-range application, effective treatment and practical ease of use.
As summer insect activity increases, having the right product available can help homeowners protect their properties while taking a responsible approach to pest management.
Explore More From Safeguard’s Pest Control Range
Protecting your home doesn’t stop at wasp nest removal. Safeguard also offers targeted solutions for other common household pests.
🐜 NOPE! Ant Killer – For fast treatment of ant trails and nests.
