Thatched roofs have a lot of character and look gorgeous. No wonder chocolate box photographers loved them. The pictures would always depict a scene of a tranquil country cottage with a thatched roof and roses around the door.  Pure romance.

Most of the thatched roof houses situated in the UK are in the County of Devon in the West of England. And the only thatched roof you’ll see if you visit London is on the Globe Theatre on Bankside. Shakespeare’s theatre has a thatched roof made from Norfolk reed with hazel spars.

Looking to replace your boiler and do you want to know if a Baxi boiler is the right choice for you and your home? As a general rule, you should replace your boiler every 10-15 years. When you have an older boiler, you’ll find that your utility bills go up, you have to call a serviceperson out more often, your radiators aren’t quite as warm as you’d like them to be, and the hot water that comes out of your tap just isn’t as hot anymore.

Home emergencies can happen anytime, leaving you without electricity, heating, or water. If you don’t have home insurance or can’t add home emergency cover to an existing policy, a standalone plan could put your mind at ease since you’ll know who to call for assistance if something unexpected occurs. Independent insurance providers, utility companies, banks, and other companies offer home emergency cover, and we outline the best plans from the top providers below.

Below we compare the 8 most popular faraday bags & pouches that can help you block signals from your car keys and mobile phone.

When something goes wrong with the plumbing in our homes, you and every member of your family feel it. Whether it’s a faulty boiler, a blocked drain, and a toilet which, no matter how patient you are, doesn’t flush properly after umpteen attempts, we know that these are the types of household emergencies that need the attention of a skilled and experienced plumber immediately.

In this article, HouseholdQuotes has contacted many of our plumbing contracting partners around the UK so that we can provide you with guide budget ranges on the following:

• plumbers price list
• new central heating system

If you’ve ever caught a few minutes of The Chelsea Flower Show on television, or happened upon a Homes & Gardens magazine, then you’ll no doubt have craved one of those gorgeous landscaped gardens.

There’s a growing popularity for indoor outdoor living, and this means we’re taking more care of our gardens than ever before. So if you’ve got a rather weedy lawn and some sad looking flowerbeds, you might be thinking of getting a little help.

There are times when ferrying rubbish back and forth to the dump just becomes tiresome, and hiring a skip would be easier. In other situations – completely renovating a house, for example – having a skip delivered is a no-brainer.

The great thing about getting a skip is that, other than filling it, most of the hard work’s done for you. However, there are a few tricks of the trade you need to abide by if you’re to avoid hidden expenses and keep the cost of skip hire as low as possible.

Comparing Quotes Could Save You Up To 40%:

Click To Get Quotes

Is this the year for your household to invest a brand new combi boiler? Across the UK, well over one million homes and apartments will benefit from the warmth and from the hot water a new environmentally-friendly combi boiler will deliver this year. With the government proposing to ban all new gas boiler installations by 2025, the time you have to get one for your home may well be running out.

But, today, with so many different types of boiler and so many companies wanting to install your boiler for you, how do you compare boiler prices to get the best deal for you and your family?

What is the cost of new windows? What type of frame should your new windows be made from? And what style would suit your home and provide you with the flexibility, the ease of operation, and the noise & heat insulation properties you need?

Three very big questions for what is, in most cases, the most significant investment you’ll make in your home for the next few years – brand new windows.

In this article, Household Quotes considers:

• what is the cost of new windows for your home?
• should you choose uPVC, aluminium, or wooden frames?

When it comes to renovating the rear of your property, patio doors are going to be a key feature. Not only do they provide convenient access with great security, they open up the room with natural light and a garden view.

The term “patio doors” is often for any kind of door that opens onto a patio, terrace or garden area. Traditionally it referred exclusively to sliding doors, but now it often includes bi-folding and French doors too.

The type of patio door you can use will be dependant on the size of an opening, design preferences and budget.

Replacing your boiler is a significant investment most homeowners have to make at some point. Choosing the right boiler can be a challenge because of the variety of deals available on the market today.

Homeowners often face a hard decision selecting a cost efficient and reliable boiler. What types of boilers are there? What are the pros and cons of each and what is a fair price to pay for a new boiler? This article will provide these answers, as well as provide you with some help in choosing the right boiler for your home.

So you’re thinking of getting a loft conversion? Great idea – not only will that extra accommodation provide you and your family with more breathing space, but your home should also fetch a better price when you come to sell-up (around 20% more, in fact, according to the HomeOwners Association). In other words, adding a loft conversion is a win-win – provided, that is, you get the renovation right from the start.

For, as in most areas of life, cutting costs or rushing in without doing proper research always results in regret. So it’s important to take days – and even weeks – to get your head round subjects such as:

Solar roof tiles provide homeowners with the chance to benefit from the savings that can be made with solar panels but who don’t want traditional solar panels on their roofs.

There are advantages and disadvantages to choosing solar tiles over solar panels. The average solar panel installation is a 3kW system costing £4,000-£6,000. Replace solar panels with solar tiles and you’re looking at a cost of £10,000-£12,000 instead. Is it worth the difference?

In this article, we’ll look at:

• how solar tiles work,
• what they cost,
• what sort of money you can save by using them, and

How much do electricians charge per hour in the UK? Every electrical contracting company has its own electrician prices list for the range of services they offer. Your electrician, once they’ve qualified and they’ve undergone a number of years of on-the-job training offers you and your family a wide range of services which not only make living in your property more comfortable but which also protects them against real risks of fire and electrocution.

But the problem for many of us is that we have no idea how much an electrician will charge us for an individual job – many of us don’t really know what a fair rate would actually be. In this article, HouseholdQuotes looks at:

Whether you’re a landlord or you’re simply interested in the electrical safety of your own home, having a regular electrical safety certificate inspection visit carried out provides you with the peace of mind that your tenants or your family are safe. Electricians also undertake a lot of other types of work around residential properties – we’ll be covering some of the more popular jobs later on in this article together with providing you with guideline quotes for each type of job.

In this article, we consider:

• why landlords should take note of the new law on electrical installation condition reports (previously called Periodic Inspection Reports)

Damp within the house is not to be taken lightly. For a start it can be tricky to diagnose the exact cause, then you need to tackle the root of the problem.

Simply treating the symptoms is only going to mask the issue at best. Dampness is not a problem that should be neglected; it spreads and slowly deteriorates everything it works through.

If your walls are showing signs of moisture or staining, rising damp is the likely culprit. It occurs if water rises up from the ground and travels up through the wall material.

Wall rendering is a wall covering method applied to external walls to protect the brickwork. There are different styles of render and plasterers will be able to advise on the options available, and the best solution for your property. This article discusses these different types of render and the prices for rendering different types of UK homes.

The differences between plastering and rendering

The biggest difference between plaster and render is the simple fact that plaster is applied to internal walls, and render to external surfaces. The ingredients that go into making render are cement, sand, and water. Often lime is often added to the mixture. Different proportions of cement, sand and water are used in rendering and plastering. The main differences are as follows:

One in five Brits don’t take out insurance when they go abroad and that’s despite the sizeable number of benefits and safeguards that these policies offer to both travellers and holidaymakers.

One reason behind that might be best summed up in this Financial Times headline – “travel insurance: so complicated, you’ll need a holiday”. So, how do you choose the best travel insurance policy or best holiday insurance to suit your needs and your budget?

Best travel insurance – guide prices

Each travel insurance policy varies in both price and coverage. The current leading companies in the insurance market include: