A portico is more than just a porch; it's a statement. It's the architectural flourish that adds grandeur, character, and a welcoming focal point to any property. While traditional materials like stone and timber have their charm, Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP), also known as fibreglass, has emerged as a superior choice for modern porticos. GRP offers the classic look of traditional materials with the modern benefits of durability, low maintenance, and ease of installation that make it an increasingly popular option for homeowners looking to enhance their home's curb appeal.
But with so many styles, sizes, and considerations, how do you choose the best GRP portico for your home? This complete guide will walk you through everything you need to know, from the benefits of GRP to practical installation tips, and crucial dos and don'ts.
Why GRP? The Unbeatable Benefits
Before diving into the specifics of choosing a portico, let's understand why GRP is such a fantastic material for this application:
Pergolas are a fantastic addition to any garden. Visually they provide a stylish outdoor feature which can be customised with furniture and accessories to make a fabulous dining area or a comfortable and relaxing sitting area.
While a pergola will create partial shade and serve as the perfect spot for relaxing or entertaining, they can have more practical limitations. The biggest one homeowner’s face is that traditional pergolas, with their open-roofed designs, offer little protection from the elements. This leads to the pergola being less practical should the weather change, which the British weather is well known to do. The rafters can provide the perfect perching point for birds which can produce a lot of mess on your furniture below it. The good news? You can easily and economically upgrade your pergola by adding a roof which will make it more versatile, weather-resistant, and usable all year-round.
In this blog, we will explore the benefits of roofing your pergola and walk through
Is there a benefit to adding magnetic secondary glazing to your windows in the summer? People often leave getting their secondary glazing until the winter months when the cold is already beginning to bite. The addition of secondary glazing in the summer however offers several key benefits. Here are the main advantages during warmer months:
People often associate Secondary glazing with reduces solar heat gain by creating an insulating air gap between the original window and the secondary pane. This helps to keep indoor temperatures cooler making rooms for comfortable during hotter times
The improvement in comfort you can achieve by reducing room temperatures makes it less likely that you will need to rely so much on fans or even air conditioning devices.
This will in turn lower the energy charges for these electrically powered devices.
A gazebo roof is the perfect solution, whether you are looking to create a sheltered sitting area in your garden or perhaps a cover for your hot tub.
Generally, the gazebo would have a wooden frame and whether you are going to construct the wooden framework yourself or order a pre-made one, the gazebo roof is a very simple DIY job. Properly done the Gazebo roof will keep out the rain year-round, and the heavy sun’s rays in the summer!
Multi-wall polycarbonate from the Glazing shop is the most popular choice for glazing your Gazebo roof for many reasons:
Light weight and easy to fit
Cut to the sizes you need so no messing about on site
Great value for money – why pay more for quality sheets
Range of colours – looks great
Will last for years and years
What thickness polycarbonate will I need?
10mm twin wall polycarbonate or 16mm triple wall poly are the best for this sort of Gazebo roof. The structure is open underneath so there is no point in spending extra on thermally insulating 25mm
Choosing between 10mm and 16mm polycarbonate sheeting depends on the specific requirements of your roofing project. Both thicknesses offer excellent value for money and durability, but they have distinct differences that make them suitable for different applications.
10mm polycarbonate sheeting v 16mm polycarbonate sheets, in this blog we will take a look at them in turn.
Better light transmission: Clear 10mm polycarbonate sheets allow more light to pass through than 16mm sheets, making them ideal for applications where maximum natural light is desired.
Lower Cost: 10mm sheets cost less per square metre than 16mm sheets making them perfect for jobs where the budget is the major concern, and where other conditions are met.
Lighter Weight: 10mm polycarbonate sheets are lighter than 16mm sheets making them easier to handle, transport, and install.
Greater Flexibility: 10mm polycarbonate is more flexible and easier to cut and shape
Known for their durability, light weight and ease of handling, polycarbonate sheets are an essential material for the DIY roof builder and tradesman alike. Whether you are planning a new roofing project or looking to update an older structure, polycarbonate is ideal for the job.
Polycarbonate Sheet 101
In this beginners guide we will take a look at the different types of polycarbonate sheets, their composition, production, structure and more!
What is a Polycarbonate Sheet?
Polycarbonate is a high-performance thermoplastic material, derived from polymerized carbonates. It is lightweight, strong, and can transmit light, making it a popular roofing material for a wide range of projects. Polycarbonate sheets are made from these polymers and extruded into versatile sheets that can be used for a wide range of projects that offer a range of optical clarity and insulation. For interesting information on the history of polycarbonate sheet, or more technical aspects like chemical resistance,
When it comes to making a great first impression, your home’s exterior plays a crucial role. The simple addition of a door canopy can enhance your entrance, adding style without major upheaval or building works. Better still it won't break the bank. Whether you’re looking to boost the value of your property, impress your friends or simply want to make it more welcoming, a well-chosen door canopy can be a game-changer.
Enhance Your Home’s Kerb Appeal with a Stylish Door Canopy
In this blog, we’ll explore how adding a door canopy can significantly enhance your home’s kerb appeal.
1. A Welcoming Entrance
The entrance to your home is the first thing visitors see when they arrive, and a door canopy instantly adds character and charm. It creates a focal point that draws attention to your front door, making your home look more inviting. A well-designed front door canopy can make even a modest entrance feel grander.
Get some protection for you and your front door before Autumn approaches and the weather gets worse.
A door canopy is more than just a decorative addition to your home. It is a practical and stylish solution that offers you a range of benefits. Whether you're looking to improve your home's curb appeal or looking for protection from the elements, door canopies are a great choice.
Invest in a door canopy for shelter and shade
One of the primary benefits of a door canopy is the shelter it provides from various weather conditions. Imagine arriving home during a heavy downpour, with your hands full of groceries. A door canopy helps to shield you from the rain, allowing you to find your keys and unlock the door without getting soaked! In the summer it will offer welcome shade, keeping the entrance cooler and more comfortable.
Door canopies also offer some shelter for your front door and surrounding area, helping to protect them from weather-related damage. Constant exposure to rain, snow, and
Autumn is here - Save money on your heating bills by installing secondary glazing
As the summer has gone and the days are getting cooler and shorter, thoughts are turning back to those awful heating bills we had last year!
If you live in an older property with single glazed, or inefficient double glazed, windows you will be losing a large amount of the heat you are generating, literally straight out of your windows. Unfortunately, not all of us can afford to replace these windows with new double glazed ones. So, what can we do to make our homes warmer and cut our heating bills without breaking the bank?
The answer is Ecoease secondary glazing. This neat and discreet magnetic secondary glazing is a fraction of the cost of new windows. Also, as it is easily removable and doesn’t permanently change the fabric of your windows, you won’t need planning permissions even if you have a listed property.
Ecoease works by creating an air tight seal between your cold glass window and the warmer
During an earlier period in my life, I lived in a house that had a glass conservatory. It was one of the things I liked best about the house. I would spend hours lounging on the sofa with a book in my hand gazing out into the garden. I used it throughout the Spring and Autumn and even during the hot summer months of the year.
People often complain about heat build-up in their conservatory, but my conservatory had a unique feature, it had the ability to raise the ridge, (the highest part) of the roof, to let the hot air out. Warm air rises and in a conservatory it gets trapped. My conservatory got over this problem by releasing all that hot air and sucking in cooler air through the windows and doors at the bottom.
Now that conservatory must have cost someone many thousands of pounds when it was first put in and most conservatories are nothing like it. That ability to raise the ridge was a game changer. Most conservatories installed in the late 20th Century were modular (supplied in set
