Rated People Blog

Summer home improvement projects

Posted May 16, 2012 in Home Decorations | By |
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Double glazing for energy saving

The thought of replacing windows during the winter is not a happy one, making it our number one summer home improvement job.

Windows are responsible for the majority of the heat lost from your home. Heavy curtains help, but, replacing single glazed windows with B-rated double glazing could save you around £165 per year on your energy bills and should last around 20 years (figures from The Energy Saving Trust). Aluminium, steel and uPVC window frames can be recyclable and require little or no maintenance, unlike wooden frames which will need to be painted every 10 years to protect them. In many cases these can be used in conservation areas where windows need to be replaced with like-for-like wooden frames.

double glazed sash windows Summer home improvement projectsSash windows by Mumford and Wood (more…)

 

A report from Grand Designs Live 2012

Posted May 14, 2012 in Featured, Trade News | By |
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We’ve been to plenty of trade shows and there are certain stalls that have become only too familiar. Animal figures carved out of driftwood, flip flops, Asian-inspired garden gazebos and of course the magic mop. You can pretty much sum up home improvement shows in three words: the good, the bad and the ugly.

Interior by Sacha Petrie A report from Grand Designs Live 2012 (more…)

 

How to improve your Rated People website

Posted May 10, 2012 in How To, Trade News | By |
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Every tradesman who joins Rated Peoples starts out without any ratings. So if you’re new to the service it’s important that you concentrate on selling yourself (and your company), especially if you don’t have any recommendations yet. That’s what your personalised website is there for.

There are four sections you can tailor to promote your business to the fullest. In ‘Services’, ‘Recommendations’, ‘Qualifications’ and ‘Gallery’ sections you have the chance to include all the necessary details you feel a homeowner would like to know about your company.

Your experience

Homeowners want to know about your company and what services you offer. You should include plenty of facts to strengthen your case so you have a better chance of winning the homeowners’ jobs.

  • What are your specialities?
  • Have you undertaken any special projects worth mentioning?
  • Why should homeowners hire your company?
  • Do you offer any guarantees?

It’s a good idea to include a photo of yourself (and/or your employees), and perhaps share why you enjoy working as a tradesman. Jim from Decor-wise, a Rated People member, has created a great example, below.

screen grab of decorwise1 How to improve your Rated People website (more…)

 

How to invest in buy-to-let – interview with Fiona Fullerton

Posted May 10, 2012 in Guest blogs, How To | By |
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Fiona Fullerton admits that investing in buy-to-let these days is quite a science and not as easy as when she started out with her property portfolio in the 1990′s. However, it’s a long term investment and if you do the sums it can turn out to be a successful deal, indeed.

 

My top 10 mistakes – guest post by Fiona Fullerton

Posted May 8, 2012 in Guest blogs, House Dilemmas | By |
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Over the years I have made some prize-winning mistakes with my rental properties. When I started out in 1994 it was all trial and error but I was given some great advice along the way. Here then, in all their glory, are my Top Ten Mistakes, which hopefully will prevent you from being as daft as I have been, if you’re thinking of investing in the rental market.

Fiona at her home My top 10 mistakes guest post by Fiona Fullerton

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Rated golf – we tee’d off with some of our Rated tradesmen

Posted May 8, 2012 in Featured | By |
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We do a lot of research at Rated People, it helps us learn more about our customers – homeowners and tradesmen. It’s our research guru Chris’s job to find out what people like about our service, what they don’t like and what they want. So Chris found out that our tradesmen like golf, 21% in fact – we have 30,000 tradesmen so that’s a lot of golfers. Us lot at Rated People like golf too, therefore it wasn’t a difficult decision to decide to hold a golf event.

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Top 10 questions first time home buyers should ask – guest post by Phil Spencer

Posted May 4, 2012 in Guest blogs, House Dilemmas | By |
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Before you set off buying your first house there are plenty of questions you need to ask, to find out if you are ready to become a homeowner. Are you aware of the commitments involved in being a homeowner, and are you willing to make them? Are you getting on the property ladder for the right reasons? Buying your home is one of the most expensive purchases you will ever make, so it’s important you make the right decisions before you settle on your new property. Happy house hunting!

Phil in the telegraph e1336133491400 Top 10 questions first time home buyers should ask guest post by Phil Spencer (more…)

 

Stamp duty: why it’s better to make your home bigger! – guest post by Jonnie Irwin

Posted May 3, 2012 in Guest blogs, Trade News | By |
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So a month has passed since the Chancellor delivered his budget, and we shouldn’t be surprised that we are no longer discussing its long term implications for the housing market. In times of such austerity, few were shocked that it would include measures to add to the exchequers coffers. And by increasing the upper level of stamp duty for those breaching the 2 million pound threshold, from 5% to 7 %, he has done just that.

Jonnie Iriwn Stamp duty: why its better to make your home bigger! guest post by Jonnie Irwin (more…)

 

Top 3 gardening tips for May – guest post by Toby Buckland

Posted May 1, 2012 in Gardening News, Guest blogs | By |
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May might well be the busiest month in the gardening calendar, so make sure you get a head start and know what projects to tackle first. Toby Buckland, our ambassador and expert gardener, knows a plant to plant each month of the year so obviously he has some handy tips. The plants in the video are from Toby’s newly opened nursery at Powderham Castle in Devon. Don’t you like the green house?

 

What profession do you trust?

Posted April 30, 2012 in Featured, Trade News | By |
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At RatedPeople.com we’re all about trust. We want reliable tradesmen on our site and homeowners to be able to trust them and their quality of workmanship. Therefore, we conducted a survey and asked 2,054 adults what trade they consider the least trusted profession in the UK. We wanted to know if builders and electricians have such bad ‘cowboy reputations’ as the media likes to portray.

 iStock 000015148403Small What profession do you trust? (more…)

 
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