General faq

If you own tools that are essential to your job or business, then tool insurance can be a good idea. It can protect you in the event of damaged, or stolen tools.

In order to claim on your insurance, you will need to prove that your claim is valid, and then you will usually need to pay an excess. Following this, if everything checks out, the insurance company will pay out the value of the tools that are missing. This will also be influenced by the total amount of cover you have.

A common problem in construction is tool theft. For any qualified tradesman, their tools are a vital asset to carrying out their daily tasks.

Whether you are a joiner, an electrician, a plumber, or any other trade, it is likely you have an expensive set of tools, that you have probably built up over several years.

Many power tools used in construction are not cheap. However, they are usually well worth the cost, as they allow you to do your work much faster and more efficiently. There will also be jobs where an expensive power tool, or an expensive bit of machinery is essential.

Having these types of tool stolen, could mean you are unable to complete jobs you are working on. As a result, you are not only losing all the money invested in your tools. But you are also making a further loss in earnings until you can replace them.

How do you insure your tools?

Tool insurance can usually be added to an existing policy. This could be a work vans insurance policy, or even your business insurance. There are also specialist companies who provide standalone tool insurance. All of these will have different rules and requirements and policies will also vary from one supplier to another.

In construction, insurance is often required for tools left in a van. However, there may be certain strict rules for a claim to be valid. For example, the following may be required:

• An alarm on your van
• The van may need to be stored off-road. This could mean behind a locked gate or even a locked garage.
• Tools may need to be stored securely inside a locked storage container inside your locked van.
• Some policies may not allow tools to be left in a van overnight.
• Etc.

For this reason, it is really important that you ask lots of questions, to ensure you are getting the cover you need.

It is often very wise to shop around, as different policies will have different rules. The two main things you should be concerned with are

1. The circumstances you are covered in – For example, are tools insured overnight in your van? This is just an example, but you also need to consider all the situations where your tools may be stored or left unattended. you should also find out what type of damage you are covered for.
   
   
2. What proof do you need to make a claim – This can be a sticking point, and many insurers will require receipts for your tools. Obviously, not everyone will have receipts, so this can cause problems. In other examples pictures may be sufficient.

When is tool insurance worth it?

Tool insurance is going to be worth it when you have a lot of expensive tools. If your tools are only worth a few hundred pounds, then it may not be worth it. The cost of insurance, coupled with the excess payment, could mean it doesn’t make sense.

In this case, unfortunately you have to just take the hit and replace these lower cost tools yourself. Tool insurance is worth it when you have a considerable value in your tools.

For example, a joiner having over £5000 worth of power tools stolen, would be a big problem. This is a large amount to pay out for new tools, and most people won’t have this lying around.

Paying something like 10% excess would still sting a little. However, it would certainly be preferable to the full amount.

When it comes to high value tools, having them insured will give some peace of mind. Basically, you know if they are stolen, you should be able to get your claim through, and get back to work relatively quickly.

Without the insurance, this could result in a much larger outlay for new tools. Plus the potential inability to carry on with the jobs you are currently working on.

personal anecdote of claiming on tool insurance

When I worked in construction as a qualified joiner, I have to admit, I didn’t always have tool insurance. However, I was once in a situation where I was able to claim back for several stolen power tools.

This was via an employer’s tool insurance, and it covered items stolen from a site lockup. Following this, I always had my own insurance, as I realise the value it provided.

This instance was very lucky. The company we were working for, had a large lockup where tools and materials were stored. This was a secure lockup, within a building site, that had a security guard. However, thieves managed to get in and cleaned out a large amount of power tools.

For me this included:

1. 1 x DeWalt cordless drill
2. 1 x Makita circular saw
3. 1 x Paslode nail gun

This was pretty devastating for me at the time, and I honestly didn’t think I would get these back. However, the site manager told me and some other people, that we could claim through their business insurance.

A lot of lads on site had gear stolen, and I think the employer realised this would slow the job down. So this actually went through really quickly, and we all ended up with brand new power tools. Also, because this was through someone else’s insurance, there was no excess to pay.

Obviously this was very lucky, but it did teach me an important lesson. At the time, I didn’t have the £700-800 needed to replace my stolen tools, so this would have really sucked without the pay-out.

Following this incident, I did get my own tool insurance, which coincidently I never ended up using. However, I do still think it was a wise precaution.

Conclusion

Tool insurance can definitely be worthwhile, especially if you rely on expensive tools to do your job.

What you really need to do, is whey up the pros and cons. This will mainly look at the cost of a policy and the excess you will need to pay, versus having to buy all your tools outright if they are stolen.

You also need to be very thorough when choosing a policy. The terms should suit your own personal circumstances. You don’t want to find your not covered in a certain situation, where you really needed the cover.

The average garage is usually a decent size, but at the same time they are often wasted space. It is very common that they are not used for storing a car. Instead, many people will use them as storage for garden equipment, tools and even clutter from the house that they don’t have space for.

In many cases, the garage is a very underutilized space, that could be used much more efficiently.

One common use, is converting a garage to a utility room. The advantage of doing this, is it removes white goods, such as your washer and dryer out of the main house. This can be beneficial for many reasons, including:

• Less noise
• More space
• Removing moisture from the main house
• Etc.

For these reasons, it is very popular, and you don’t even need to convert the whole garage. You could take a section of the garage and convert this into a utility room. Then leave the remaining area for other uses. Such as storage, and even the car if your garage is big enough.

The size you require for your utility room, will depend on what you want in there. For example, a worktop with a washer and dryer under it, wont need that much space. But what about other things, like:

• Storage
• Areas for ironing
• Perhaps you want to add a fridge or a freezer
• Relocating a boiler
• Adding a sink and washing area.

All of the above will require additional space. Therefore, you need to carefully plan what you want in your garage utility room. As well as the space required for any remaining uses of the garage. This will determine the exact size requirement when undergoing your conversion.

Does converting a garage to a utility room require planning permission?

In most cases you won’t need planning permission to convert a garage. However, you will likely need to run things past building control. This is especially true when it comes to things like new drainage, installing a heating system, and any structural work, such as creating access to an adjoining garage from the main house.

Building control will also be able to advise on any requirements for fire protection, sound proofing, and thermal insulation.

There may also be separate considerations, depending on whether your garage is adjoining or detached, as well as whether it has plumbing, or electrics already installed.

Is a DIY garage conversion possible

Whether you can do the work yourself, will depend on the scope of the job and your own personal skill level. Things like drainage, gas, and electrics, will almost always require a professional. However, there are plenty of jobs that could be done by a reasonably good DIY’er. For example:

• Dividing the garage – This will usually involve building a stud wall to add a separate area. Whilst this is a relatively skilled job, it is still achievable for most decent DIY enthusiasts.
  
  
• Adding insulation – Adding insulation is not a difficult job and this will just need adding to any stud walls. Building regulations may be able to advise on the thickness required.
  
  Also, you may want to insulate the other walls in the room. This can be done in several ways. A couple of popular methods include More internal studwork and insulation, or Insulated plasterboards, which are fixed to the solid walls.
  
  
• Adding a door casing and door to stud wall – Again this is a skilled job, but it is something a keen DIY’er could attempt and do a decent job of.
  
  
• Installing plasterboard – This is hard work but not that difficult from a skill perspective. It is just a case of measuring and cutting the plasterboard to size. Once cut, you can easily screw the boards to the timber studwork.
  
  
• Decorating – This is usually straight forward, and most people can operate a paint brush.
  
  
• Other joinery work – Things like adding skirting and architrave, as well as any worktops fitted above white goods.

As you can see there is a lot you could potentially do yourself. However, certain things will require professional help, and you will need to liaise with trades whilst you do your jobs. Things like electrics, plumbing and drainage may need running through studwork and external walls.

Hiring a professional

This is a big project, so if you’re not used to managing trades, then hiring a company can be a wise choice.

In many cases, you can hire someone who will run the entire project and manage the individual trades required on the job. This can be far less stressful, and you only have one company to deal with if there are any issues.

The cost of Converting a garage to a utility room will depend on the scope of the work. Some garages will already have plumbing, electrics, and drainage, with existing access from the main house. In this case, the work will be much cheaper.

If all these services need running into the garage, it can get more complicated and expensive.

Regardless of the complexity, there are good ways to save significant amounts of money when doing this type of conversion.

One thing you should always do, is get multiple quotes. The cheapest won’t always be the best. However, if you stick to reputable local contractors, you should avoid “cheap” low quality work.

Another option is to get online quotes. This is often a better way to compare companies, because you still access the same local talent. However, if they are members of online comparison sites, they will usually be reviewed by previous customers. Also, they will be verified by the website. This can further increase your confidence when hiring.

Probably the best benefit of hiring online is the price. These websites are competitive marketplaces, and the companies often pay membership to receive enquiries. This can result in very competitive quotes, in order to win jobs.

Savings of 20-30% are not uncommon for this type of work.

To compare local garage conversion experts click here

Conclusion

Converting a garage into a utility room can be a fantastic use of space. It is also possible to do a good amount of the work as a DIY project. However, there are certain jobs where you will need a professional.

This is especially true for any work involving gas and electricity. You should also consider building regulations throughout the project. It is a good idea to talk with building control, to ensure you are doing everything by the book.

There are occasions when you may consider drilling into a lintel. If this is the case, you may be wondering if this is OK, and also the best way to do it.

In this article we will be looking at whether you can drill concrete lintel. As well as the different types of lintels and whether they can be drilled.

We will also look at whether this is a good idea, and if there are any alternative options.

Different types of lintels

Lintels are a structural beam found above openings, such as doors and windows. They can be made from several different materials. These include:

• Wooden Lintels – These are more common in older buildings, although you will still find timber lintels in some modern timber frame construction. These are usually timber combined with steel, to support the outer leaf of masonry.
  
  
• Concrete lintel – The use of concrete lintels started in the 1930’s. This type of lintel is made of pre-stressed concrete with reinforced steel running through the lintel. This improves the lintels tensile strength.
  
  Due to their wide use, and lower cost compared with modern steel lintels. Concrete lintels are the most common type of lintel you will come across.
  
  
• Steel lintels – In more recent years, steel lintels are more common, they are generally much lighter to work with, and compared to concrete, they also have a considerably higher load bearing strength, in relation to their own weight.
  
  
• Brick lintels – This is not common in modern properties. However, up to the1950’s, some homes were constructed without lintels. Instead, bricks were fitted on end (soldier course brickwork).
  
  At the time, the opening was often partially supported by the windows. There were usually made from wood or metal and were much sturdier than modern UPVC windows.

Can you drill into concrete lintels

There aren’t many cases where you will need to drill into a lintel. However, you may want too in some instances. For example, if you are fitting curtain rails or some blinds. This will mean you are fitting to the internal side of your lintel.

As we mentioned previously, the most common type of lintel is made of concrete. Drilling a few small holes in to a concrete lintel is not going to cause any issues.

This is especially true for a few small holes. For example, something like an 8mm drill bit, for some red plugs, and small screws shouldn’t be any issue at all.

It wouldn’t be advised to drill lots of large holes all the way through a lintel, as this could weaken it. However, I can’t think of a scenario when this would ever be needed.

So, in most normal situations, such as hanging some blinds or curtains, drilling small holes is not an issue.

The main issue you have, is concrete lintels are tough. So you will need a decent SDS drill and masonry bits. The concrete is far more dense than something like drilling into a breeze block.

One other problem you may face, is hitting the steel reinforcement inside the concrete. If you do this and keep drilling, it will completely destroy the end of a standard masonry SDS bit. However, you can buy specialist SDS bits designed for drilling into reinforced concrete.

You can see some decent SDS bits for this job by clicking here

Drilling into steel lintels

If you need to drill into metal lintels, you will need to use a steel drill bit. This is designed specifically for metal. It can be relatively tough to drill through, and will take a while, but the right bit will do the job.

However, if you are fitting curtains or blinds and you have a standard cavity lintel made from steel. You will not need to drill into any metal.

In this type of lintel, the inner leaf is generally around 100mm wide, and only around 5mm or less in thickness. Brickwork or blockwork is laid on top of this. Therefore, you won’t be fixing into steel. Instead, you will be fixing into the masonry. In this case, you would just use a standard masonry bit.

If the opening is large and some type of RSJ has been used, this will usually have a void behind the plaster. There may also be timber fixed into the steel joist, originally used to fix plasterboard too. This could be a solid piece, or it could be timber soldiers. So you could try and fix into these. Alternatively, if there is a void, you could just opt for a decent drywall fixing.

The only time you would need to drill a steel lintel for something like a curtain rail, would be in solid wall construction, where something like a box lintel has been used.

Alternative ways to fit curtain rails and blinds

In this article I am assuming that most people are drilling lintels to fit curtain rails or blinds. This is certainly the most common reason.

For those who are doing something different, and just wanted to know if you can drill into a lintel. Then hopefully we have answered that question for you already.

For those who are fitting something like curtain rail. This is a good alternative that requires no drilling

The way to do this is to fix a wooden board to the wall, in order to provide a surface to fix too. To do this, I recommend a piece of 150 x 20mm timber or MDF. Either one will do the job.

For a nice finish, you should take the sharp corners off with a plane and then sand. This will give you nice, smooth, rounded corners.

You can use a standard grab adhesive, such as no more nails, to fix the timber to the wall. However, you may need some kind of prop to hold it in place.

Alternatively, if you have access to a 2nd fix nail gun, this is the perfect tool for the job. Simply apply your grab adhesive and pin the board to the wall.

Obviously, nail guns aren’t cheap. However, if you do a lot of DIY, they do come in very handy. A budget option, such as the Ryobi Airstrike nailer, is actually a very good quality tool for the price.

You can read more about this nail gun and see lots of customer reviews by clicking here.

Once your grab adhesive is dry, you can fill any gaps round the edges with a decorator’s caulk, and paint to match the rest of your timber in the room. For white woodwork, this will usually mean a standard gloss.

Conclusion

So there you have it, you can usually drill into lintels without any issues. However, regardless of material, they are generally pretty tough, and this can make the job a little more difficult.

If you are just fitting something like a curtain rail. Then attaching timber to the wall, in order to fix too, is a common and aesthetically pleasing alternative, that requires zero drilling.

Ceiling heights can vary throughout the country. However, in general, an average height for ceilings in new build properties is roughly 2.4 meters. With a recommended minimum of 2.3 meters.

With that said, there are examples where house builders are installing higher ceilings. These can be between 2.5-2.6 meters, and even up to 3 meters in certain higher end developments.

Building regulations for minimum ceiling height

Currently there are no building regulations for minimum ceiling height. This was removed in 1985 when the building regulations were simplified. The only regulated area, that does have a minimum ceiling height, is over staircases. The minimum here is 2 meters.

This measurement is from the pitch of the staircase to the ceiling and should be at least 2 meters for the entire staircase.

Whilst there are no explicit regulations, there are guidelines. These are part of the governments national space standards. These are not statutory regulations, but they are a recommendation that is optional for local planning departments to consider.

Therefore, if you are planning a new development, an extension, or something like a loft conversion, ceiling height should be considered. It is definitely something that could affect your plans.

The national space standards, recommend a minimum ceiling height of 2.3 meters for 75% of the gross internal area.

In areas that have fully adopted the minimum standards there won’t be much wiggle room. However, it isn’t a mandatory regulation. Therefore, if a local authority has not fully adopted the standards, they may be more relaxed, and inspectors may accept ceilings as low as 2 meters. Especially in areas like loft conversions, which often tend to have less head room.

Another reason 2.4 meters is a standard height

One of the most common reasons for 2.4-meter ceilings is plasterboard size. A standard plasterboard is 2400mm x 1200mm. This means for tapered edged drylining boards, there are no cuts required, as they are stood upright.

Alternatively, if standard plasterboards are fitted on edge and skimmed, this will also equal 2.4 meters. Which again means less cuts required and less waste, which translates into lower costs. Obviously over a large development this can really add up.

For ceiling heights between the minimum of 2.3 and 2.4 meters the waste will be minimal.

Anything above 2.4 meters will require an additional strip of plasterboard, which adds to both materials and labour costs.   

Are lower ceilings more energy efficient

Lower ceilings are more energy efficient. This is due to something known as the stack effect, which is essentially air movement in the room due to thermal differences.

When heating a room, hot air rises. This is because it is less dense than the colder air in the room. When this happens, it creates an area of low pressure at the bottom of the room and an area of high pressure at the ceiling.

The high pressure pulls cold air from below, mixing it with the warm air. Over time, this results in the entire room becoming warmer. When the ceilings are lower, this process happens quicker. Hence less energy is required to heat the room.

When this is combined with regulations for insulating new build homes, it can result in a very energy efficient space. The combination enables rooms to heat up more quickly, and hold on to heat for longer.

Conclusion

The standard ceiling height for new build properties in the UK is around 2.4 meters. This is not set in stone, and in some cases it can be higher. However, 2.3 meters would be the absolute minimum for most new build properties.

This is in line with the nationally described space standards which require a minimum of 2.3 meters.

Quote: “the minimum floor to ceiling height is 2.3m for at least 75% of the Gross Internal Area”

You can read the entire document on the government website by clicking here