North Leeds Plumbing & Heating – Home Improvement and DIY Advice

Archive for September, 2009

Underfloor heating systems were initially designed and used by the Romans. In fact, since much of the Roman Empire suffered from more extreme winter conditions, underfloor heating was popular in both public and private buildings during this time. Moreover, this technology spread to other areas of the world, and underfloor heating systems were utilised in Asia and Europe for many centuries. This form of heating has been seeing a popular revival as homeowners today search for the best solutions to warm their houses during the winter. New technologies now offer more efficient products and results.

For most homeowners who wish to install an underfloor heating system, there are two main options to choose from. Homeowners can opt for the warm water system; alternatively, they may prefer the electrical system. Both the hot water and the electrical underfloor heating can be installed using either the wet system or the dry system. During the installation of the wet system, the underfloor heating is placed when the masonry mix is poured. Hence, this is also known as the poured-floor system. On the other hand, during the installation of a dry system, the mechanisms of the underfloor heating are connected right onto the sub-floor. Hence, this is known as the sub-floor system.

In the hot-water system, water is circulated under pressure through the network of pipes that have been installed in the floor. Pipes such as Alupex, PEX and polybutylene (copper is rarely utilised for this use) are available for hot-water underfloor heating systems. The quality and size of the pipe affect not only the initial cost of setting up an underfloor heating system, but also influences the costs of running such a system.

The bathroom is one of the most well used places in the entire house and therefore it is a must to accessorise it. It’s beneficial to install shower enclosures in the shower area because they can make it look extremely stylish like a hotel room.

Shower enclosures contain various items like body sprays, benches, shower heads and seats.  Shower enclosures are a great idea for any kind of house that has its interior design themed as quite urban. There are a large number of designs, styles and sizes of such enclosures available in the market now. The price of shower enclosures has reduced a lot during past years and hence they can now be bought on any kind of a budget. You can buy a fantastic glass shower enclosure design for a low price. You have to make a careful assessment of your own bathroom space before purchasing such shower enclosures.

These glass shower enclosures have four glass sides when they are stand-alone needing nothing to cover an open side. They are quite exotic looking and can make the bathroom look bigger. Three sided shower enclosures are getting quite trendy. These three sided enclosures can be curved and angular. Corner styled or angular enclosures take up a smaller space. You can get a great shower enclosure at a small price only from an online store. 

You can also go for renovation if your current shower enclosure has seen better days. This process only takes a small period of time. However, you can find a company in the market willing to do this revamping for you in a single day. The Internet is a great way to find companies that are adept in carrying out this process.

The soap dish is, of course, a lavatory must have. Whether holding soap at the sink or in the bath, there is a diverse range of soap dishes and dispensers choose from. Elegant and hovering above it all are wall mounted soap dishes. A variety of brands make a diverse variety of mounted soap dishes. The following are some of Smedbo’s most elegant and distinctive.

The Cabin Holder with clear glass soap dish has clean lines and a seamlessly fused chrome wall unit. The Home and Loft soap holder wall bases are more segmented: two circles meet to support square, frosted dishes.

The Smedbo Igloo glass soap dish is fairly distinctive in design. The rounded, rectangular wall unit is joined at the base by a thin arm. This arm juts outward to support a clear glass dish. Likewise, the Studio soap dish wall unit supports a lowered dish, but in this case, the drop is nowhere near as dramatic. The wall base is circular, and the connection between dish and wall more immediate.

Like the Cabin and Loft soap dishes, Smedbo’s Moon soap holder wall unit is formed by two circles. However, unlike them, the Moon elevates the dish above the line formed by the soap holder. True to its name, it seems to be offering the soap upwards.

Smedbo also has a range of soap dispensers, tumbler holders, and even candle holders. All these pieces come in designs similar to those of the mounted soap dishes, which means that bathroom designers can harmonize all their lavatory accessories.

Heating systems nowadays are necessary during the winter season. These provide people with a luxurious and convenient feeling of warmth inside their households. There is a variety of heating systems provided by Warmsolutions Floor Heating, one of which is Laminate Floor Heating.

Laminate Floor Heating generates a warm temperature on the floor’s surface, removes freezing spots, and lessens unpleasant cold areas by creating a constant heat throughout the house. This is used for all kinds of surfaces, such as glue-less click-on floors, glue-down floors, and groove floors. Laminate Floor Heating controls the temperature using the floor surface probe sensor, which can be utilised as primary and secondary sources in providing warmth all over the house.

It also offers three kinds of floor heating thermostats, such as the manual thermostat, the programmable thermostat, and the home automation thermostat. The manual thermostat allows adjustment of the air and floor sensors using its controls, with an on and off switch, maintaining a steady temperature. The programmable thermostat arranges a digital seven day cycle that allows the on/off switch timing of the temperature at any time. The home automation thermostat is a compatible system, which is established in the middle of the switchboard. It also comes in a laminate kit with ultra-thin underfloor film, which completely fits beneath the surface. These floor heating systems do not raise the level of the floor and they run on low energy.

Laminate Floor Heating is undoubtedly the appropriate piece of equipment for addressing the difficulty of cold temperature, and protecting the floor’s surface as well. The attributes of this new system will reduce the feeling of inconvenience caused by the cold.

One of the most important accessories in bathrooms is the basin tap. Besides the shower, a bathroom basin tap is the most commonly used accessory in people’s vanity zones. People select the best quality and time-tested durability of basin taps because they are often used and, if not good quality, they can easily be worn out.

There are numerous brands available in the market and most of the time they are already included in the bathroom accessories package. It is ideal to visit online for basin tap choices that best suit your taste, needs, and lifestyle. These bathroom accessories found online should be studied well to see if they suit the qualities mentioned and provide better selection and convenience, as well as ample savings, rather than to buy directly from shops.

The modern styles of basin taps include those which are metallic in colour and match any colour of the current bathroom interiors, as one of the considerations to be made is the tile and wall colour of the bathroom. The colour combinations of the basin taps can match different themes and colour schemes like the forest, rock star, rainfall, and spring inspired bathrooms. Commonly, brightly and strongly coloured basin taps, such as green, purple, and red, are used in children’s bathrooms to stimulate their senses and create a happy child-friendly atmosphere.

Modern basin taps comes in numerous designs, which are suitable to match the design of new and modern houses. Some even provide a distinctive advantage of providing both cold and hot water from the same spigot by merely twisting the basin tap lever in opposite directions.

Regarding colour and how toilets match with the rest of the features in the bathroom, the majority of toilet manufacturers also manufacture bathroom sinks and bathroom basins with similar colours and appearance. But it is important to note that a white colour from manufacturer A is not necessarily the exact white colour from manufacturer B. So it is crucial that toilets, bathroom basins and bathroom sinks are purchased from the same manufacturer.

To make a bathroom even more aesthetically appealing, there are firms that specialise in making bathroom accessories such as flush handles that can match everything else in the bathroom from soap dishes to towel bars to the bathroom fan.

Toilets come in different shapes and sizes. There are the round front bowl toilets as well as the elongated bowl toilets. In terms of cost, round front bowls are more affordable than then elongated bowls. There are also different flushing mechanisms in use ranging from a gravity flushing mechanism to the pressure flushing mechanism. Round front bowls are mostly installed in bathrooms where space is at a premium. Elongated bowls provide more comfort and are suitable in roomy bathrooms.

But aesthetic appeal of a bathroom can not only be achieved by having a uniform decor. One other way is by installing concealed toilet cisterns. With a concealed cistern the water closet unit, where the cistern is hidden, the hidden plumbing results in an extremely neat bathroom. And because access to the concealed cistern must be provided, the majority of the concealed toilet cisterns possess a front panel that is easy to disassemble and assemble.

The Imperial shower collection offers a world-class range of shower enclosures, valves, and shower sets that radiate luxury and fashion. Consumers would be hard-pressed to find a more luxurious or diverse set of shower goods anywhere on the market today.

Imperial’s Rouen Enclosures are faced with solid timber, giving them an organic feel. Three finishes are available: Natural Oak, Wenge, and Cherry. Finished with glass and hand-stitched leather pulls, the Rouen collection is available both as a corner unit and as a recessed, in-line pivot-door unit.

Imperial’s Luxury Shower line offers homeowners a range of innovative shower heads. The Isis and Cisne showers curve elegantly toward a large, round, flat head reminiscent of a tea saucer. They come in both exposed-pipe and concealed-pipe versions. The Victorian exposed shower valve merges decadent styling and porcelain accents while the concealed version offers a more minimalist feel.

Imperial’s collection of shower heads presents a diverse range of options, from the hub-and-spoke Starburst to the rounded, bulbous Victorian-inspired Flowmaster. Their Aqueous, Energiser, and Asteroid fixed shower heads float a round disk above the bather, allowing him/her to shower as if under a cloud burst. Their Breccia fixed heads operate similarly but have square nozzles. Like a spyglass attached to a pipe, the Slimline fixed head is, like the Starburst, among the most unique shower heads one can imagine.

Imperial also offers elegant hardware – curtain rails, towel rails, slider rail kits, and thermostatic shower valves – to complete your unique bathroom design.

Underfloor heating is generally safe when installed properly, so if you have never used it before then you need to make sure you take the right steps to making your floor as safe as possible. One of the main benefits of underfloor heating is that the system does not need to be hot to warm up the floor, so once installed properly you will have no worries about overheating.

Using thicker cables can reduce the risk of any damage or overheating. You may prefer to use thin cables if you do not wish to raise your floor level, but thicker cables are much safer and will also allow your underfloor heating system to be maintenance free, meaning that it will last for years.

Underfloor heating systems come with installation instructions, but you will need to help of an experienced electrician to be able to make the proper connections. If you have problems with the installation instructions given, then be sure to seek advice before continuing to make sure that you install the system properly, otherwise there is a risk of your system being unsafe.

Certain types of underfloor heating may not suit a particular floor. Laminated floors need a system that will allow the temperature to remain at a certain level. A thermostat can be used to control the temperature. Electric underfloor heating may be more suited to concrete floors or other solid floors as it heats it up more slowly. This reduces overheating and will also allow you to save money.

Roman at Home is a new range of bathroom accessories from the Roman Brand. The range encompasses stylish everyday essentials that will fit nicely in your design-led bathroom, to lavish, luxury products to add a unique focal point to your room.

Roman has long been known for their expertise in designing quality bathrooms and they have now transferred their design skills to this range of accessories to enhance the bathrooms of the UK. You can now take advantage of the complete Roman experience to transform your bathroom into a stylish haven of tranquillity.

Competitively priced wall art will transform a basic bathroom by adding some colour and design around which the other accessories can be chosen. The quirky ‘Splish Splash’ or ‘Tub-o-Fun’ by Jane Claire is an ideal choice to lift a basic room, while Michael Mandolfo’s ‘Snail Shell’ Sepia will find a perfect home within a minimalist bathroom decorated in muted tones. The Bevelled Pewter Frame Mirror is a classic design that will fit into any bathroom, no matter the theme or colour scheme.

Their bathroom linen range is available in creams, beiges and blues to suit the most conventional bathroom décor. The range encompasses hand and bath towels, bath mats, pedestal mats and even dressing gowns. The family friendly range even has colour co-ordinated hooded baby towels. Oh and don’t forget their range of bath toys to keep the little ones amused. This sophisticated range has thought of everything.

Finishing touches are achieved with tidy units, modern black glass scales or for the ultimate in extravagance, why not splash out on the corner champagne cooler and glasses to turn your bathroom into an indulgent, romantic hideaway.

A bathroom vanity is not only functional in and of itself but it can also be used to enhance the look and feel of a bathroom. Bathroom vanities can be traced to the beginning of civilisation where ancient societies such as the Egyptians and the Greeks were known to use them both for practical and aesthetic purposes. While they were previously the preserve of those in the upper echelons of society, they have become more affordable and accessible to a large proportion of the population.

Just like other pieces of home furniture, bathroom vanities come in a variety of designs and styles ranging from traditional to contemporary to country. A bathroom vanity in the category of traditional design will most likely have a dark wood grain finish while sporting carved metal details evoking a sense of grandeur and elegance. A bathroom vanity in the category of contemporary design has a sleek appearance sporting a smooth finish with clean lines and an open style in what is essentially a minimalistic design. A bathroom vanity classified under the country design category has a relaxed, almost casual look. It will most likely resemble the architecture of the countryside in France.

Bathroom vanities come sporting a variety of features and it is up to the buyer to decide what they want the bathroom vanity for. Some vanities come equipped with a jewellery armoire, a stool, a mirror and so on. A bathroom sink vanity could also be shipped with a marble top. Bathroom sinks with a marble top have the advantage of being resistant to staining and scratching or chipping.