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The National Home Improvement Council (NHIC) are calling for VAT to be removed from all Home Improvement work.

The NHIC claim the 20% rate is proving a deterrent to many homeowners when it comes to employing workmen. They will soon set up a petition to gauge public reaction to this proposal, and we will keep you informed when they release details.

In DIY Doctor’s opinion this would stimulate the building industry; even if the rate of VAT was cut to 5% for Home Improvements it would make the cost of legal works more affordable. This would help to stop the trend of the unsuspecting public employing rogue traders who often carry out cash jobs to evade paying VAT. Customers avoiding VAT are exposing themselves by effectively signing away any guarantees on materials and workmanship when they pay this way.

The other consequence of a lower VAT rate would be that reputable builders would be operating on a more level playing field, so that the many honest and responsible builders are not excluded from the bidding by homeowners who are cutting corners in this way. This could help squeeze out Rogue Traders from the marketplace entirely. Mike Edwards from DIY Doctor says “It is much easier for a homeowner to see that paying a little extra for peace of mind is good value for money, a Cowboy Builder offering to save them nearly a quarter of their bill in taxes sometimes proves too much temptation, especially in the current economic climate”. For links to reputable tradesman through Trustmark please click here, and read more about the Trustmark scheme.

It must be preferable for the government to collect more taxes at a lower rate than to accept the current black market which is costing the country in non-payment of taxes; honest builders in employment; and the public who are unwittingly employing the Cowboys to save money.

You can find out more information on how to avoid Cowboy builders by clicking through to the DIY Doctor Home Improver Protection Solution (HIPS).

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Summer is the time to trim most hedges so we have reviewed these two hedge-trimmers to help make light work of the task. Always assuming of course that you can find a dry spell to do it in, as we have one of the wettest summers on record.

If you are unsure when is the best time to trim your particular species of hedge, then check out the Royal Horticulture Society’s site which helpfully lists the most common types of hedge and when is best to trim them.

Mountfield Hedge Trimmer, click here for the full review

 
Ryobi RHT2660DA Hedge Trimmer, click here for the full review

There are many more tool reviews coming on the site, please click here to see the full range.

When you are doing work in the garden it is important to make sure that any electrical equipment is protected with an external socket that has an RCD, this will cut the power if you damage cables or if there is a surge in power. See more about that in our blog on RCD external socket.

To have your home improvement product reviewed by DIY Doctor click here

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Building workers make up between 5-10% of the labour market in most countries around the world. Their work is vital in creating the infrastructure of our societies. Interestingly little formal research has been carried out on this sector of our industry and so we were interested to see a new book by Sociologist Darren Thiel, Builders.

Thiel is a lecturer in sociology at the University of Essex. Before taking up this position, he worked in a number of different occupations including construction, agriculture and the military sector. He comes from a family of builders and also worked as a painter and decorator for some seven years.

His book is a result of his research carried out on a building site in London, which was a renovation of a large existing building for the NHS, managed by a large contracting company. His report makes some interesting observations.

Some of his findings are unlikely to be a surprise: builders act in a macho way when in groups, although they tend to be much more approachable and open individually; The building site is a male-dominated society; common interests included football and socialising in the pub; social backgrounds often included a lack of engagement at school. Other findings are perhaps less obvious.

Thiel examined how most workers found their positions, and they were often engaged by word-of-mouth, utilising their contacts with family, friends, and other social networks to find work and gain training. For instance on this site the carpenters were all from a group of Indian immigrants whose families had originally come from a close group of villages in India and now all lived in Harlesden, whereas all the labourers were of Irish extract and lived in South London

He compared the levels of autonomy that workers experienced in their jobs as opposed to other manual labourers, such as factory workers, and concluded that they were much more able to set their own schedules. This led to a feeling of pride and independence. They were much less likely to respond to harsh authority than civil requests from management.

Having said that, of course, most were subcontracted and so they did not benefit from sick pay, pension schemes or holiday pay. When weather prevents exterior work, affected trades don’t get paid, unless they can find alternative indoor work. In addition poor performance would be likely to prevent them being rehired. Thiel concluded that working conditions were less favourable on the building site than they had been in the 1950’s.

He determines that the building site is one of the last bastions of manual work for uneducated working-class men. This is not to say that all builders are not educated, and neither does it mean that workers are not skilled even if they lack formal education. Rather his point is that where young men have no formal training they can often get it on the job, if they are willing to work.

He also noted that despite the received wisdom, most builders are not wealthy. When the flexible nature of their earnings and lack of other benefits are taken into consideration, their rate of pay was actually quite low.

Darren Thiel’s book is available from Amazon, visit our bookstore for this, and other titles, including many books to help you with your Home Improvement projects.

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If you are working with garden equipment that is plugged into the mains you should always use an external RCD to protect you against electric shock.

We also recommend an external socket of this type if you have an electrical supply to the shed or other outbuildings.

In this video review DIY Doctor Mike Edwards gives his opinion on the Nexus Performance RCD External Socket

 
Nexus Performance RCD External Socket, click here to see the full review

 For more information on fitting an external socket with RCD protection – see our project and video on installing an outside socket.

To find out more about having your product reviewed by DIY Doctor click here

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The Hamptons is one of the most affluent areas of New York,  so it’s not the most obvious place to find a house made of shipping containers! But wait, this is no ordinary house, this is a 2,000 square foot beach house with four bedrooms, huge decked area, outdoor swimming pool and is 600 ft from the sea. It is also one of the most sustainable homes in the area with the most renewable materials used for the interior and most energy saving appliances. All made from 6 recycled shipping containers!

The Beach Box is up for sale and could be yours for a mere $1,395,000 (about £900k)……..

If you fancy building your own version in the UK, then visit our project pages to find information about self-build, and you could find a plot to put it on by clicking through to the Land for Development project.

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