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House buyers will make up their mind whether to love or hate your house before they get past the garden gate

Are You Selling a House?

If you have a House for Sale or you are planning on selling a house soon, you had better concentrate on making a good first impression because 85% of British people make a decision on whether they will buy a house in less than two minutes.

This may seem like an astonishing statistic however it is widely known in the Estate Agency market that buying a house is an emotional decision, and not just a logical transaction, for most people.

The survey was carried out in the UK by Saint-Gobain Glass, who make energy efficient glass, Planitherm. If you read our earlier blog about what features a home buyer is looking for you will know that energy efficiency is a major factor in the next stage of decision making that takes place after the first impressions, while the buyer weighs up the comparative merits of the properties they like.

Two thousand people who are presently house-hunting or who have moved house in the last two years were asked to answer a range of questions about their decision making process when it came to choosing a home. The survey throws up some really useful information if you have your house on the market at the moment or are planning to sell in the near future.

The most important factor was a quiet street and good parking.  You may not be able to change the noise level in your street, but you could always make sure you have a well maintained drive, and to help you do that DIY Doctor has a couple of drive projects including how to Gravel your Drive, and we also have some tips and advice for you, if you need some inspiration, in our Driveways Ideas and Suggestions Project.

Half the people surveyed also mentioned that they wanted to see large double-glazed windows, which allow lots of natural light into the house, so make sure your windows are clean and that drapes and blinds are fully drawn to allow the daylight in.

The next most appealing features were a well-maintained lawn, followed closely by a well-maintained neighboring house. While you don’t necessarily want to get involved in DIY projects on your neighbours’ house, you might offer to mow their lawn to make is look superficially tidier. Be tactful, tell them you have a new mower that you like using, or if you have one why not get your teenager to do the work and see if the neighbours will pay?

So with 63% of house hunters admitting to making snap decisions before they set foot in the house, you should make sure the exterior looks smart and well-maintained. This is slightly more understandable than it seem at first, because buyers take the view that they can easily make alterations to the interior decor but the external features of the house are harder to change.

10 Quick Do’s and Don’t's When Selling Your Home

According to the Planitherm Survey this is a round up of of what those questioned were looking for in a home and what is a definite turn-off for house hunters:

TOP TEN FEATURES THAT MAKE A HOUSE APPEALING TO HOUSE HUNTERS
1.    A quiet street
2.    Good parking
3.    Large double-glazed windows
4.    Neighbours house looks well maintained
5.    Neighbours seem friendly
6.    Well-maintained lawn
7.    Conservatory
8.    Patio
9.    Flowers and hanging baskets in the garden
10.    A swing in the garden

TOP TEN FEATURES THAT MAKE A HOUSE UNAPPEALING TO HOUSE HUNTERS
1.    Security bars on the window
2.    Long or untidy lawn
3.    Sheets in the window instead of curtains
4.    Caravan in the garden
5.    Caravan in the neighbour’s garden
6.    Untidy overgrown bushes
7.    Beware of the dog sign
8.    Bins left out
9.    Garden gnomes
10.    Fading or broken exterior lights

If you are involved in buying a house or you are thinking of selling your home shortly then do make use of our new property guides on DIY Doctor which include help with selling a property and what you should know if you are a first time buyer.

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Your garden makeover could include paving, formal planting and a seating area. You could even add a pond or water feature, use an existing hedge for shelter and privacy.

Win a grand for your garden

The Garden Makeover competition to win £1000 is open to any gardener who is in need of a money prize to kick-start their garden landscape ideas, rather than a Chelsea medal
If your garden is a bit of a disaster and you are planning a garden makeover you can head over to

DIY Doctors Gardening Section for some ideas.When you have your plan for your dream garden

you can enter it into MyBuilder.com’s £1,000 garden makeover competition, which will then go to the public vote.

Ryan Notz CEO of MYBuilder.com explains
“At MyBuilder, we’re passionate about helping homeowners find the right tradesman. It’s upsetting when we come across homeowners who don’t have the means to hire a tradesman, so we feel it’s our duty to help out when we can. The hardest part is choosing a winner, which is why we’ve enlisted the public to vote.”

If you want some gardening ideas DIY Doctor has planting ideas for modern gardens, vegetable gardens and gardening for wildlife in our Gardening Section, and here are some ideas to get your creative juices flowing:

For the contemporary garden how about building your own home Cinema, which is a great idea if you like to use your garden for entertaining.

Or if you are considering a landscape garden project what about a rockery? There are ideas for building and planting your rockery garden. Alpine plants are generally easy to care for and building the rockery will help to overcome problems with garden drainage. Some thing competition hopeful Lisa Marie from Sandbach, Cheshire reconises all to well, following the floods last summer.

“Ever since the bad rain we had at the end of last year our garden has been a mud bath. We have 3 children under 5 and as we live on a main road they can’t play in the front garden. We have run out of cash to do anything with it…” Lisa Marie – competition hopeful

If you want a productive garden our gardening section also explains how to build raised beds which are great for vegetable gardening and for gardeners who have reduced mobility.

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Every gardener knows when the evenings get longer and summer approaches, there’s one important task to be completed, to maintain the health and appearance of trees and shrubs. This task is trimming. Trimming reduces overgrowth, increases the number of healthy branches and the amount of sunlight shrubs and trees get. It’s vital to approach this gardening task in the correct way, with the appropriate equipment.

Using Power tools for larger trees and shrubs

For medium and larger sized trees and shrubs, branches and cover are thick and heavy. Manual tools are not powerful enough for this work. Hedge trimmers and chainsaws are required instead. They have to be sharp and in good working order. This means power tools such as chainsaws need proper storage, so they can carry out heavy-duty trimming effectively, when they are required. There are many chainsaws on the market from electric models to petrol driven ones. Pick one that you can easily handle and will be powerful enough to suit the tasks you want to undertake and you can find chainsaws to buy here.

A tree or shrub is wounded each time a branch or limb is cut. These wounds eventually heal, but it’s important to make a clean cut on the branch side of each branch collar, with sharpened tools. This prevents snags or rough surfaces on branch stub’s, which are prone to disease, and can affect the health of a shrub or tree.

Let the chainsaw or hedge trimmer do the work. If these tools are sharpened properly, you won’t need to apply too much pressure, to ensure clean cuts.

Trimming large branches

To trim large branches, it’s important that you don’t damage the rest of the tree. The following steps avoid this problem:

Step 1: Make an initial wedge shaped cut with a chainsaw, below the branch, at the point you want to trim the branch. This prevents the branch breaking past this point, after you make a second cut.

Step 2: The second cut should be made further out on the branch, than the first wedge shaped cut. This should be a complete cut. If the branch breaks due to its weight, during the second cut, it will only break as far as the wedge shaped first cut. This break won’t damage the main part of the tree, which would have occurred if the first cut was not made.

Step 3: Make a third smooth cut, which is parallel to the branch collar, on the branch side. This reduces the length of the branch stub, without damaging the remaining bark or trunk of the tree.

How much to cut?

As mentioned earlier, every branch trimmed, is another wound inflicted on a tree or shrub. Trimming away fifty per cent or more of a tree or shrub, puts their life in danger. Planning the appropriate amount of trimming before undertaking this task, lowers the risk to trees and shrubs, when they are being trimmed.

Safety Note

You should always make sure you use proper protection when you are using chainsaws. There is more information in the main website about using a chainsaw safely.

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With summer just around the corner, many of you may already have begun your garden renovation projects. In fact, the intermittent good weather has meant that the past few weeks have been a great time to perform some basic tasks, such as weeding, mowing the lawn and replenishing your flower beds.

But gardens aren’t just there to look pretty; they’re also there to be put to good use. Well kept gardens are a great place to spend time in, whether you’re playing outside, relaxing in the sun or hosting a fun get-together for friends and family.

Perfecting Your Outdoor Space
Ideally, your garden will be able to perform many functions. This is why planning is essential when designing the look of your garden, in order to fully maximise the available space and light.

If you’ve got entertaining in mind, you may wish to consider allocating a section of your garden specifically for that purpose. Some people lay flagging, others use pebbles. But if you really want to impress, a well built deck will be a great addition to your garden.

How to Build a Deck
Building a deck is easier than it sounds. Begin by measuring your space and draw a plan of the area, to account for any obstacles. You can use this plan to calculate the area of your deck, so you will know exactly how much decking you will need to buy. At this stage, you should make sure you are wearing the right protective gear, e.g. gloves.

• Your ground can be prepared by clearing all vegetation and laying a deck fabric. The framework for your deck should be laid onto concrete slabs, so use a level to make sure they’re level.
• Build your framework from the outside in, fixing the joists together with rustproof screws. If your deck is against your house, you may wish to secure it to an outside wall. Long joists fill the outer framework, spaced at regular intervals, and short boards can be used to strengthen the frame.
• Lay your decking boards at a right angle to your house. Doing so will make your garden seem longer. Use stainless steel screws to prevent rust and staining, and fix the ends of your boards first.
• Voila! You are now ready to entertain guests on your beautiful, hand-built wooden deck. Install some rattan outdoor furniture for your guests’ comfort, and don’t forget the Pimms!

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So you’ve decided to take the plunge, start saving the environment, make your lawn easy to maintain, green all year round and invest in an artificial lawn. Far from Astroturf, good quality artificial grass is now almost indistinguishable from real grass. The difference is that you never have to cut it, trim it, water it or feed it. Ever. The only maintenance that it requires is the occasional hose down or hoover. Nowadays, you can choose the ultimate in artificial grass and go for a lush spring grass with three different colours in it and the feel of real grass.

How to Install Your New Lawn
What you need:
Spade
Hand Roller/Vibrating Plate
Hammer
Nails
Wood for the border
Spatula

When you receive your new lawn, you can begin the installation process straight away.

For Gardens:
First, you need to prepare your garden. Remove any vegetation and any rocks, so that only soil remains. Then, a layer of sand must be installed. Spread the sand as evenly as possible, either by using a hand roller or a vibrating plate. You should wet this layer a day before you lay the artificial grass. Then, nail a textile weed barrier to this base (having a border of wood helps this part of the process).

If your grass has direction, then make sure that every roll faces the right way. When you’ve laid out your rolls of grass, fold the edges in on themselves. Use the seaming tape to secure the rolls together. First nail the seaming tape to the base, making sure that it is laid centrally between two rolls. Apply adhesive to the seaming tape with a spatula and fold the edges of the grass rolls down and press together so they bond. For the borders, nail the edges to the wooden beams.

For Hard Surfaces:
If you’ve decided to install artificial grass on a hard surface, then all you have to do is give the surface a good clean and remove any surface imperfections. The rolls can be laid loose or secured with a small amount of adhesive.

Brush the grass so it looks its best and sit back and admire your work. Artificial grass can last up to twenty years, so though artificial grass prices may seem a lot up front, they will actually give you great value for money for very little effort.

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