4K Constructions Builders Talk

This is something that has made me think a little after receiving a call today from Stephen Cousins, from Construction Manager Magazine. The magazine of the Charted Institute of Building www.construction-manager.co.uk

It suddenly occurred to me that there may be many avenues in marketing that builders or perhaps other tradesmen may not be employing to keep ahead and ensure a steady workflow.

Traditional marketing techniques for builders may be by way of classified advertising in let’s say the Yellow Pages or local newspapers. Flyers through letter boxes and business cards in shop windows are also a popular method to drum up interest.

The biggest shop window however, maybe completely overlooked by many builders and that is of course the Internet. With the many millions of surfers browsing the Internet, every minute of the day, it seems only right that builders should have some sort of online presence with the hope of capturing potential customers and job leads. Remember! people are searching the Internet for information and usually for the solution to a problem.

Here at 4K Construction, Liverpool and Merseyside Building Contractors, we have developed our own little online strategy and one of the key things we concentrate on is communication with our customers or even potential customers.

One of the simplest things to achieve a good level of communication is by creating a blog which can be done in a matter minutes and can be absolutely free by going to any of the free blog hosting site such as Blogger or even Wordpress.

By having your own blog, you can effectively keep your readers constantly updated and also aware of what your company is currently up to. Further to this you can create a high following of readers as people will soon start to recognize you as a reliable resource and your blog  posts will begin to carry weight.

If you have a company website, you can also provide a link to this which will also help the search engines find your main ‘pitch or sales’ page. Also remember to keep your blog posts keyword rich with any particular phrases that will help promote your business.

There are numerous other ways to help you promote your blog or site and in the past, having a My Space or Facebook page was a great way to do this but the trend now seems to be Twitter as it allows you to send ‘Tweets’ to let people know what you’re doing or planning for the day. Here at 4K Construction, Liverpool Building Contractors, we have a good number of followers on Twitter whom we regularly keep updated with what we are up to. I can’t say that Twitter has been tremendously successful in drumming up great business, however, we do receive more readers and visitors to our blog from it and that can only be a good thing.

So there you are! a few tips on how you as a builder, may be able to create a higher online presence and grab a few more customers at the same time.

Many thanks to Stephen Cousins from Construction Manager Magazine.

Until next time!

Kirk Smith

4K

As a team of dedicated builders from Liverpool, we take on most aspects of building and plastering contractor works and cater for an array of clients, offering quality work and excellent after service every time. As plastering contractors North West we specialize in all areas of plastering work including float and set, dot and dab, external rendering, screeding, dry lining, skimming and even patch repairs.

4K Construction take on building and plastering projects on  all levels and it really doesn’t matter how big or small a job is. We sometimes get enquiries from customers who think that we won’t be interested in quoting for a job because the work involved is very small. Please be assured that this is certainly not the case and we are happy to consider all building, construction and plastering contractors work in the North West.

We don’t just do the work we do for the sake of doing it, we also have a great passion for construction and enjoy the challenges that every new job presents. Don’t forget that we do not charge for estimates and we will give you a free written quotation for your records on any job we see. Our services are first class and we have a wealth of happy customers as part of our portfolio

Give us a call today to discuss your building or plastering requirements.

Damages sections of boards should be cut out and replaced, or a new board fitted if the damage is substantial. First check that there are no gaps or cables running below the damaged section, otherwise you will have to remove the entire board in case you cut into them by accident.

To cut a section of board, first find the edges of the joists at each end. Do this by sliding a knife blade along the gap between the boards. If the boards are tongue-and-grooved, you will have to cut through the tongues by drilling a starting hole and using a pad saw or with a circular saw set to the depth of the board.

Drill a starting hole for the pad saw just in from the edge of each joist and cut through the board at each end in line with the joist edges. Lift out the  damaged section; If it is nailed to intermediate joists, lever it free using a bolster and chisel and a stout length of wood. Lever the board upwards at the fittings with a chisel until you have lifted the end enough to be able           to slide the wood below it, while resting it on the tops of the boards on each side.

Pushing down on the end of the board will spring the fixings from the joist. Continue in this same fashion until you have freed the board. A complete floorboard can be removed in the same way. Screw or nail lengths of 50mm batten to the sides of the joists flush with the undersides of the old boards. Then nail a new section of floorboards in the tops of the battens.

Timber as a building material has a lot to offer: it’s readily available, cheap, light and easily worked - and it is ideal for flooring. However, timber does has its drawbacks, due mainly to the fact that it was once a living material and is affected by damp or dry atmospheres, by insect attack and by rot.

Over the years a timber floor can suffer considerably from wear and tear. The joist may warp or sag, boards may shrink to open up gaps through which draughts whistle, or they may become loose or damaged. The whole structure may be weakened by woodworm or rot. Fortunately, many of the minor problems can be cured easily, although serious rot or insect attack may mean complete replacement.

Creaking Floorboards.

Probably the most common fault with a timber floor is creaking floorboards due to the fixings working loose. The cure is simple: either drive the nails back in or replace them with longer nails or screws. Punch nail heads below the surface and countersink the screw heads.

Curing Gaps Between Boards

Gaps may open up between square-edge floorboards if the timber shrinks after it has been laid. A few narrow gaps can be filled; if, however, there are fairly wide gaps between all the boards, it may be more satisfactory to lift them all and relay them closer together, adding a narrow filler board at one side of the floor.

Gaps of less than 6mm cam be filled with paper-mache, which you can make yourself. Half fill a bucket with small pieces of torn, soft white paper, adding boiling water gradually while you pound the paper into a thick paste. Allow it to cool and stir in wallpaper paste, adding plenty to make a thick mixture. You can also add wood stain at this stage to match the colour of the boards.

When the paper-mache i s cold, force it between the boards with a filling knife, leaving it slightly proud of the surface. Leave this for at least 48 hours then sand it smooth. Fill wider gaps with softwood fillet: cut the fillets fractionally  wider than the gaps they are to fill, using a circular saw if you have one, if not a hand saw. The fillets should be fractionally deeper than the floorboards: that is, about 25mm.

Plane the fillets so that they taper slightly at the bottom then tap them into the gaps with a hammer and block of wood. Use a plane to shave the  top edges of the fillets flush with the floorboards. Make sure the ends of the fillets meet on a joist: secure them to the joists with panel pins.

These techniques work well in older houses and can save a lot of time and money by way of correcting common flooring faults. In some cases however, floorboards may be in such a bad state that the only sensible option is to replace them. I will continue this article in further detail tomorrow, where we will discuss how to replace and repair damaged boards.