The problem with wood flooring can sometimes be sound transference between floors, especially if it is glued down onto the sub-floor. To overcome this problem the wood planks are installed over a slatted sound absorbing underlay, as can be seen in the picture to the right. The cutouts in the underlay are then filled with adhesive, allowing the wood planks to be fixed directly to the subfloor, thus creating a solid feel underfoot but with minimal sound transference to the room below.

Now for something a little different:

How about pushing the boat out and creating something a little more intricate and aesthetic such as this parquet wood floor with marble design as depicted in the picture on the right? Our skilled designers create the patterns using a CAD program. The inserts are then lazer cut and individually laid by our skilled floor installers.

Challenging the boundaries of design & installation:

Now, if you’re feeling really adventurous we can take pretty much any intricate design you can throw at us (such as the one on the left) and create a natural wood floor using exactly the same process.

Virtually anything is possible with the modern technolology at our disposal and our skilled craftsmen to produce and install it.

Take this beautiful floor for instance, a bespoke design pioneered by Italian craftsmen in Italy, which is manufactured from two species of wood, olive & teak, black marble and polished nickel. It can be made up in our workshop and installed in your home by our skilled wood floor installers, giving you the ultimate in quality, individuality and class.

And remember, this isn’t the only design available to you. In fact, the only limit to what can be produced is how far your imagination will go. Let us have your ideas and we’ll turn them into reality by first making up an actual sample that you can touch, smell and walk on.

Then, if you’re satisfied with the product we’ll make it up in under four weeks and install it.

So don’t think you have to stick to the status quo when it comes to designing and refurbishing your home. The sky is literally the limit.  If you don’t believe it, give us a call or better still send us your designs.

At Diamond Refurbishment we can make your dream become a reality.

If you know what you want but you’re out of your depth and don’t know how to go about it you’ll need to get advice from someone who does. Don’t always choose a company because they have numerous trade accreditations attached to thier website. These accreditations quite often amount to nothing more than paid for PR. If you’re told it will cost for someone to come round and do a quote for you, don’t bother. Find someone who will give you a free, no obligation estimate. When they do eventually show up at your door you’ll know within the first minute or so whether they’re the right person to do the job (or not) as the case may be. Never do business with someone who doesn’t inspire confidence within the first few minutes of talking with them, whether it’s a single tradesman who will do the work themselves or the representative of a company, i.e. an estimator or a salesman. Any uncertainty you have, even if it’s just a gut feeling that something isn’t right is enough to cut the meeting short and say goodbye. Classic indicators that indicate you’re wasting your time with this person are: too many ”Um’s or er’s”, or “Not sure about that. I’ll have to get back to you,” or “Blimey! never seen that before.” A professional should know what he’s talking about in his field of business, it’s as simple as that. That’s why you’re  going to pay them to do it for you! We’re talking human interaction here, something that’s becoming more scarce in this age of computers, games consoles, facebook and MSN. For many people, interacting  and negotiating with complete strangers is an alien concept and they can quite often feel intimidated. So, here are six simple points that may be of use to you, the punter, in the preliminary stages of discussion and negotiation that will give you a good indication as to whether the person you are dealing with is going to ensure you get a good professional job done:

Affinity: Are they genuinely friendly? Can you easily strike up a rapport with them? In other words, to put it simply, do you like them. If that’s a yes, you’re on the right track. Even if there are problems with the work later on, a friendly rapport with the person doing the work, or responsible for it being done, can iron out things a lot quicker than if you’re at loggerheads with them from the off.

Reality: Do they actually duplicate what you’re saying, and vica-versa? If that’s a yes then it’s unlikely there will be disputes later on. If not, you could come back from work one day to find your fireplace has been blocked up when you asked for it to be opened up, the kitchen door removed completely when you actually wanted a new one fitted and your bedroom painted bright red instead of pink. It’s happened to others. Don’t think it wont happen to you, especially if your instructions are not clear of the person recieving them didn’t understand what you wanted in the first place.

Communication: Is it easy to speak to them and also listen to what they’re saying, or do you keep getting inturrupted mid sentence, bamboozled with technical jargon or just generally don’t feel acknowledged. In fact, does the person actually speak or understand proper English in the first place? You’d be surprised how many people say yes to a question or instruction they didn’t actually hear properly, usually because they don’t want to appear stupid. Which leads us on to the next point:

Knowledge: Does the person appear knowledgable about the job at hand? Can he give you clear and concise answers to your questions that actually sound like he knows what he’s talking about, not just a load of PR or blarny that just doesn’t sound right to you? Although you may not know the technical intricacies of whether a wall should be lined or plastered or whether it’s better to have a floating wood floor or a fixed one, most people usually know when they’re having the wool pulled over thier eyes.

Responsibility: Does this person look and sound genuine and is he going to see it all the way through to the end product, or do you get the feeling that somewhere down the line he’s going to do a runner and leave you high and dry? Again, instinct comes into this. You actually do know. Don’t invalidate your intuition.

Control: This is a key factor- How easy do you think it will be to control what happens next if you agree to the work being done by this person or their company? It’s an extremely important point. Let’s face it, you’re the boss here. You’re giving the instructions and you’ll be paying for the work to be done. You should at this point feel that your discussions about the work you want done have been friendly and amicable and feel confident the person has duplicated what you want and that it will be easy to get hold of and communicate to them as things progress. You should feel secure that they know what they’re doing and are of good character and will actually keep thier word once given. Most of this comes under the heading of trust. If however, you still get the slightest feeling that you’re going to lose control of what’s about to happen give it a miss, because you invariably will. The agreed payments schedule will likely be altered and brought forward. The schedule of works can begin to lag behind the agreed target dates, and before you know it you’ll be paying more for less.

If you’ve ticked all those six boxes and you’re confident you’ve chosen the right person, team or company to do the work, you probably have!

Now to the job at hand:

Get a written quote on letterheaded paper. It should be an itemised quote that covers in detail what’s to be done and it should be for a fixed price. Ideally, the cost of all materials needed should be included in it unless you specifically want it otherwise. It should also show a start and completion date.

If a deposit is requested, that’s not unreasonable, but don’t pay it until work has actually commenced and ensure you get a written receipt or invoice for it on letterhead paper, signed by whoever takes the money from you. Same goes for interim payments.

Final payment should only be made when you are wholly satisfied with the work.

Getting work done in your home needn’t be stressful. It’s not rocket science. It’s just common sense.

This building in Battersea, London SW8 was in an awful state, virtually derelict in fact, having not been inhabited for several years. It was originally a shop on the ground floor with a studio flat situated at the rear, a two bedroom flat above on the first floor and another two bedroom flat above that.

The owner inherited this property in Battersea London SW8 and was keen to renovate and modernise it, retaining its original dual use as a commercial and residential building. Because there were no major structural changes needed nor change of use intended, it was simply a case of stripping out the interior and remodernising it from the ground up. Sounds easy in theory but bear in mind this place was an absolute tip!

When we started, the first thing we did was to remove three skip loads of rubbish and debris. Only then could we actually move around enough to make the place safe so the actual refurbishment work could begin. Any floor joists that looked suspect or rotten were replaced and then securely boarded over by our carpenters to ensure there were no holes or gaps for anyone to fall through. Our electrician then hooked up a temporary supply for the workers to power their hand tools with and to create light by which to work with and our skilled labour force got to work stripping out all the internal partition walls and all solid walls back to bare brick.

Now that we could actually see what we were dealing with, our interior designer drew up plans to make the most of the space available. The shop layout was left as it was originally but the internal layouts of the three flats was completely redesigned.

All the sash windows and external doors throughout the building  were in dire condition, either rotted through or pieces missing, glass broken or not there at all and most of them in-operational. They were all taken out and replaced with new thermally insulated, double glazed argon gas filled glass units made by our joiner in the workshop.

The rear facing ground floor studio flat was designed with a separate W/C, a kitchenette and living space.

The first floor apartment already had south facing french doors that opened out on to a balcony area overlooking the main street of Queenstown Road, Battersea, London SW8. The balcony was upgraded with new decking and balustrades by our carpenters.

The main living space incorporated an open plan living space & kitchenette, separate W/C & bathroom, hallway lobby, storage cupboards and two bedrooms at the rear. The second floor apartment was designed in much the same way though it didn’t have the luxury of french doors or a balcony.

Our carpenters then installed the internal wall and false ceiling stud partitions in accordance with the new design layouts. Working in tandem with the carpenters, our electricians installed the first fix wiring.

To comply with the latest British Building Regulations, sound insulation material was also installed between the wall stud partitions, between the joists and above the ceilings to alleviate sound transference between floors and rooms.

These were then clad with plasterboard and our skilled plasterers got to work plastering the ceilings and walls.

Once dry, the new plaster was given a “mist coat” by our painters, sealing the plaster and making it ready for the final coats of paint.

New soil drainage pipes, plus hot and cold water supplies were installed by our plumbers. There was no gas supply so each apartment had 300 litre electric hot water tanks installed to supply hot water to the kitchens and bathrooms.

Our electricians installed separate mains supply, meters and fused consumer units for each flat. They also installed a state of the art, Italian designed aluminium eco friendly electric radiators. These radiators use a third of the electricity and pump out twice as much heat that a routine electric radiator would and each one can be independently controlled by its own built in thermostatically controlled digital mini computer.

Our floor installers laid engineered wood flooring as a “floating floor” over another layer of sound deadening underlay. The communal stairs and all bedrooms were carpeted.

Our scaffolder erected scaffolding front and back and our roofers then replaced any broken tiles and renewed the lead flashings to ensure the roof was now watertight. Our plumbers replaced the guttering and rainwater and soil downpipes. Our bricklayers repointed the brickwork, hacked off the loose and crumbly render around the windows and doors and our painters repaired and painted all the woodwork and smooth render.

This renovation of 3 self contained flats in the sought after area of Battersea, London SW8 can categorically be described without doubt as ”a pigs ear to a silk purse” project.

The building had been neglected for several years and was in a drastic state of disrepair.

However, in only eight months it has been transformed into a smart multi occupation property incorporating three self contained flats and the client now has prospective tenants queuing up to rent them.

We at Sterling Home Improvements wish our client the best of luck and a flourishing and prosperous future.

For home or flat renovations in Battersea, SW8 or surrounding areas of London please contact Sterling on 0208 144 3061.

We recently recieved a call from a chap had just moved in to a 50 metre sq. one bedroom flat in Wimbledon, just off Wimbledon Park Drive. He was currently living out of suitcases as all his furniture wasn’t scheduled to arrive for a few weeks. The problem was that the place had been badly decorated previously and he was keen to get some painters and decorators in, and the place fully refurbished as soon as possible so he could move in properly.

After finding our website on the internet he called us. He needed someone to visit him sooner rather than later so we booked in an appointment with our estimator to visit him the next day. This client had a fixed budget but he also wanted to completely revamp the place and not only that, he needed it done pretty much immediately. A list of his requirements was noted down. These consisted of new engineered wood flooring installed to replace the rather tatty and badly laid wood floor, radiator covers to be fitted over the existing rads, the artexed ceilings and exposed brick chimney breast plastered and a full redecoration of all the ceilings, walls and woodwork. Our London decorators would have to remove the skirting boards and fit new ones in if new engineered wood floors were to be laid so as well as doing this we also suggested boxing in the exposed central heating pipes that ran around the perimeter of each room, a neat way of insulating them and also hiding them from view.

All the internal doors were the flat panel type, so rather than replace them we suggested simply rubbing them down and decorating them. The power points and light switches were all in good working order but were extremely grubby and covered with excess paint. These would be replaced with new satin chrome fascias. The tatty and unusable storage cupboards needed shelves fitted into them and a spruce up inside. The copious amounts of telephone cables that ran around the door frames and along the top of the skirting boards would also be removed as he had a cordless phone and a broadband router which eliminated the need for them.

The final touches were new light fixtures, a new toilet and shower screen, satin chrome door handles and hinges, new window blinds and a simple but effective colour scheme consisting of brilliant white ceilings, eggshell white woodwork and pastel cream coloured walls that complemented the new oak floor .

A detailed and itemised specification for all the work was then drawn up and emailed to the client the very next day. After a few amendments to the spec were agreed, a price for all the work was negotiated. Work commenced three days later.

This is how it looked after the first day of work. The old and tired wood flooring was taken up and the walls stripped of paper. The artexed ceiling was scraped back to the substrate and one of the door frames removed to create an opening between the hallway and lounge.

The walls and ceilings were then rubbed down, filled and prepared. The old surface mounted power points and light switches were taken out and recesses dug out ready for new flush plates to be fitted.

The walls, ceilings and woodwork were then painted. New skirting boards were made up. The previously exposed central heating pipes were boxed in and a new engineered wood floor laid.

Satin chrome power point and light switch fascia plates and new light fixtures were fitted, skirting boards installed,the toilet and cistern replaced and window blinds fitted. Radiator covers were cut and installed over the existing rads and a full clean up done. 

This is how it looks now.

In total, the whole process from the client calling us to job completion took only two and a half weeks.

Decorating & Refurbishment London

For more information on our painting and decorating services in London, or for visit to discuss a full home refurbishment, contact us today.

Tags: painters and decorators London, decorating London, full home refurbishment

Planning permission was still extant this. However, our client contacted us after he had recently bought the property wasn’t happy with how it would look and  requested we redesign it to suit his tastes. Our architectural and design team immediately got cracking. They took the initial approved planning design and amended the external look of the proposed building to something he did like but that didn’t compromise the original planning approval. Here you can see 3D renderings of the proposed design

The interior of the proposed new building was then designed from the bottom up. After consultations with the client his approval was gotten on each aspect of how it would look and feel. Everything from the type of underfloor heating, the kitchen layout, appliances, spiral staircases, wood floors, down to the intricate details of the exact style of door handles and the type of bulbs to be used was specified and approved in painstaking detail.

As soon as the party wall awards are secured demolition will begin! Watch this space for progress as the project unfolds.

The existing kitchen was in working order but it was old and tired and the client was keen to install a new, bigger and more modern one which our skilled kitchen fitters duly installed.

A huge structural wall and chimney breast separated the kitchen from the conservatory which had to be removed to accomodate the extended layout of the new kitchen units, replete with a central island and adjoining solid walnut breakfast bar.

This required major demolition work, undertaken by our highly skilled demolition workers, steel installers and construction team. The walls above were first supported using what are called in the trade as ”tall boys”. The brickwork beneath was then carefully removed. After that came the insertion of a large steel box frame, the size and dimesnsions of which had been meticulously calculated by our structural engineer.

Once the steels were in, the support struts were removed and the steels encased in bricks and fireproof plasterboard.

Two of the main living rooms were divided by an arched wall and folding doors. The folding partition doors were removed and the middle wall section was opened up, supported above by a steel beam to create one large lounge area. A new set of wooden doubled glazed folding patio doors were made and installed by our carpenter to replace the existing single glazed ones. Our tilers laid new marble tiles on the floor throughout the extended kitchen area over electric underfloor heating mats that were laid out by our electrician.

All the ground floor living rooms still had vitually all the original decorative plaster cornices still intact but these had been coated with so many layers of paint over the years the detail in them had all but dissappeared. These were stripped using an extremely caustic substance called ”peel-away”. Some of the cornices came away during this procedure so they had to be remade by our specialist plasterer by creating a resin based mould, pouring new plaster into them and forming exact replicas. These plaster replicas were then carefully inserted into the wall and feathered in with plaster.

Once the stripping was complete they had to be “neutralised” to remove all vestiges of the caustic stripping agent. The cornices were then brought back to their former glory by our painters.

 Every foot of original electric wiring was removed and a full rewire was carried out by our electrician including the fitting of all new satin chrome classic style power point and light switch fascia plates designed to blend in with the period style feel of the interior decor.

The existing central heating system was retained but new classic style column radiators were installed to replace the rather old and plain radiators by our plumbing and heating engineer.

The top floor bedroom ceilings were thermally isulated using therm-board tacked on to the underside of the ceilings

All the ceilings and walls throughout the entire house were stripped of wallpaper, sealed, prepared and skim plastered by our plasterers. They were then coated with a “mist coat” by our painters

Two new walk-in-wardrobes for the main bedroom and another bedroom were created, one of the existing 4 bathrooms that the client decided would no longer be required and the other from a study room that was also deemed superfluous to requirements.

The existing sash windows were in rather poor shape. They were rattling and very draughty. The cost of replacing 28 sash windows was rather excessive so rather than replace them our carpenter took them apart one by one and restored them.

New fumed engineered wood floors were laid throughout the ground floor and basement living areas by our wood floor installers and our carpet fitters then laid new carpets to all stairs, landings and bedrooms.

Our landscaper redesigned the front driveway. The two entrances were widened by approx 400mm each to allow easier vehicular access. Some of the shrubbery was removed, new planters and borders created and shingle laid down. In the rear garden we created a new sun patio using flagstones. This was situated in the corner of the garden that catches the most sun during the day.

The rear patio doors were old, draughty and single glazed and the  surrounding external brickwork had been painted over with white masonry paint, presumably to hide the spalled and damaged bricks underneath. The doors were due to be replaced with new wooden folding doors which required the two central brick pillars to be taken out. 

This white painted brickwork was out of character with the rest of the red brick exterior so it was decided that we would strip it off and reclaim the red bricks.

Not as easy as it sounds. There were at least three coats of paint to remove and the bricks were in terrible condition once they had been exposed to the light of day!

In the process of stripping the walls we had to use copious amounts of Nitromors paint stripper and an acid based solution then powerwash it off to remove the majority of the white paint. However, despite several attempts, some ingrained paint still remained.

Once the stripping had gone as far as it could it became apparent that approx a third of the bricks were badly pitted and eroded. They had been previously filled and repointed. To restore them back to their natural state was going to require some thought.

The solution was to seal all the newly exposed brickwork with PVA, fill the damaged bricks with Toupre, a high quality external masonry filler. The mortar joints were then repointed.

Our skilled painters then etched the entire exposed wall with masonry paint, matching it exactly to the colour of the original brickwork. This was then rag rolled into the face of the bricks. A similar process was done on the mortar joints. The end result was as you see in the picture to the left. 

The house now has the following upgraded specification:

• A new basement dry storage room, utility room & media room
• New extended kitchen integrated with the conservatory
• Full electrical rewire
• New classic column style radiators
• Refurbishment of all sash windows
• New folding patio doors & external doors
• Two new walk-in wardrobes
• New fumed oak wood floorinand carpets
• Fire upgrade to all internal doors
• Restoration of the external render brick work and paint work
• Extension of the front driveway
• New rear garden sun patio and garden pathway
• Internal & external painting and decorating throughout

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The property is a 5 storey, luxury town house in Chelsea. Full internal and external refurbishment was carried with special features such as a bespoke kitchen (pictures above):

                               * Glass enclosure surrounding cast iron staircase and walnut wood flooring

                     * Marble flooring throughout the reception hall and open plan kitchen/conservatory

                                                               * Glass and stainless steel stair balustrades

                                                                           * New driveway & electric gates

Every effort was made to repeat the style. Simple wooden tops add some modern touches. I like the kitchen island with a space for wine bottles very much. One more special thing about this kitchen is the jars of glass and porcelain for rice, sugar, oils and many other products. The kitchen has a rustic touch, it combines very well with simple wooden chairs and table and looks very cozy, modern and sweet. That’s the place where you can sit in the evening, have a meal and talk to your parents or friends.

Kitchen Fitting Services

Sterling provides professional kitchen fitters in London. Whether a bespoke kitchen installation, Victorian kitchen, Georgian kitchen or contemporary kitchen installation. The sequence is the same, we will come plan your kitchen with you, build and fit it to your exact requirements.

Kitchen installations can also be done as part of a full home refurbishment.

There are many benefits of 3D modeling and rendering to an architectural project:

Identification of Design flaws: A building is a sophisticated piece of workmanship and so it is often difficult to visualize completely through just 2D drawings. When one generates a 3D model of the design, one gains the opportunity of viewing it from every angle. Hence many design flaws that could otherwise have been overlooked can easily be identified and rectified well before construction begins. This will help to reduce unnecessary costs and also save on the time required for construction.

Effective communication to client: It is very important for an architect to deliver to their clients exactly what they wish for from their building. Often a gap is noticed between the client’s needs and an architects understanding of it which leads to the proposal being in some ways different from what the client was actually looking for. This is eliminated when 3D rendering tools are adopted. When a 3D interior or 3D exterior view is presented to the client, he gets a better understanding of the materials and architectural features used in the building and is able to judge the overall effect they have on the aesthetics of design. Incase of any discrepancies with his requirements, changes can be easily made at that stage rather than after it has been constructed.

Improves salability of the design: 3D interior and 3D exterior views are doubly advantageous when it comes to the salability aspect. For one it helps the architect to be able to convince the client of his abilities in delivering good work to him. On the other hand real estate developers depend on them to secure the interest of prospective stake holders and get them to invest in the project. Besides that it is indispensable while marketing the projects (apartments, condos and villas) to customers.

It is not just snap shots of the building or interiors that can be developed through rendering, but to get a better understanding of the final product a whole new concept is in vogue nowadays- that of walkthroughs. A walk through is a type of movie made from a series of rendered images that allows one to move through a building and study it as if he was actually present within it. This technology has more or less revolutionized the industry since nothing except experiencing the building in reality could give one a better sense of the scale and feel of a design than a walkthrough.

With such advantages as these one can understand how 3D rendering has become an indispensable tool for architects everywhere and as architectural design becomes more and more dependent on computers with every passing day, it is likely that the future will see it becoming even more so.

Image Credit to Architetti Roma

But wait, did we just hear you cringe from the thought of having to fill your sleek, modern home with chintzy and cheap holiday décor items just so people won’t ask you why you’re being a scrooge?

Fear not. There are plenty of ways to get yourself and your home into the holiday spirit without resorting to cheap cardboard cutouts of Christmas trees and plastic cornucopias. We’ve got six easy (and quick) ways:

Impress from the start Give guests a gust of holiday spirit before they’ve walked into your door by hanging a friendly wreath and some holiday lights on the exterior of your home. A simple wreath of greenery (you don’t have to do anything garish, we promise) is more than enough, and clean white lights will do the trick, too.

Stick to color Just incorporate the colors of the holiday you are going for with accessories and items that you know you love. There is no need to use decorators but maybe it’s some solid-colored throw pillows, or you switch out your living room run for a deep red one. Maybe you find some cute red and green accessories that have nothing to do with Christmas except for the color.

Sweet candle light Don’t underestimate the effects that simple pillar candles can have when grouped together (modernly, of course) and lit when guests come over. If you’re feeling really festive, choose some in the colors of the season (though not necessary if you’re already feeling overwhelmed by all the holiday hues).

Nature is abundantly inspiring Poinsettias, evergreen boughs and even winter branches (plucked from your very own backyard) create an instant feeling of nature, the wintertime and the holidays, and can be sprinkled around your home tastefully (and removed easily when the holidays are over).

Food stuff on pretty serving items You like to cook or bake? Odds are any guests you have come over will enjoy eating the food you cook and bake, so make it something festive and display it adorably on some modern serving ware. Or, utilize some tasty holiday-colored candy in clean, modern display jars that you can use year round.

Smells they can take with them Give in and buy some holiday-scented hand soap for the guest bathroom. It’ll pay off when that holiday cheer smell follows your guest around your home.

How do you keep a modern home and decorate for the holidays? Share your own tips in the comments below.