Pro Installer April 2015 - Issue 25 | Page 28

28 APRIL 2015 PRO INSTALLER PRO NEWS www.proinstaller.co.uk Let in light and open-up space with sliding doors UK homes are being built smaller than ever and homeowners are demanding new ways to optimise the space available. However, trade professionals can help to maximise space in a property with careful planning and a little creativity. Wayne Lysaght-Mason, managing director of the UK’s largest online supplier of ironmongery products, IronmongeryDirect discusses how sliding doors can be used to open-up homes and create space. Recent research has found that UK homes are some of the smallest in the whole of Europe with the average home measuring a meagre 85 square metres compared to 115 square metres in Holland and 137 in Denmark. The UK is the only EU country not to have minimum-space standards for its homes suggesting this current trend of modestly-sized houses is unlikely to change any time soon. There are, however, ways to think outside the box and recommend ways for homeowners to optimise the space available. By looking at a house from the inside out it is possible to find ways to increase its functionality. Wide-open floor plans are a great way to open up rooms and remove any visual clutter. This can be achieved by removing walls and traditional hinge doors and replacing them with sleek sliding doors that conserve space and are a more sophisticated choice. For instance, sliding doors can enable two separate rooms to be turned into one large space. A compact kitchen can instantly become part of a much larger living room while a small dining room can be transformed by opening up access to the garden. As well as in doorways, sliding doors can also be used on cloakrooms, kitchen and bathroom cupboards and wardrobes to create streamlined storage space. These fittings help to integrate the storage units into the design of the rest of the house and help to create overall fluidity. Sliding door systems have many benefits as not only do they help to maximise space they are great at injecting more light into a property, are easy to assemble and can work for various rooms in the house. There are a number of designs available on the market in different sizes and options, with glass designs proving to be particularly popular at the moment as they are great at creating the perception of space. For example, the Klug Vero Gero Glass Sliding Door Gear; a top hung glass sliding door kit for glass doors up to 100kg, 8-12mm thick. Its unique construction of the clamps eliminates the need to cut troublesome holes in glass panels, allowing the door to be held in place securely and neatly without using any bolts. The runners in this kit are made from high quality nylon with superior ball bearings for a smooth and quiet operation. Another benefit of this kit is that it includes a soft close mechanism for slow and easy closing of the door. When a soft close mechanism is incorporated in a sliding door kit, it allows users to simply slide the door towards the close position and at a certain point the door takes over and closes itself. This is particularly useful for households with young children as the mechanism increases safety by reducing the risk of trapped fingers - The Vitris Portavant 60 Soft Close & Soft Open Sliding Door Kit is one of the best for this purpose thanks to its built-in self-closing mechanism. Fitting on a 8-10mm thick and up to 60kg glass door, it fully closes the door in both directions once the door has been gently and quietly slowed down by the innovative cushioning system. What’s more, this Made-in-Germany mechanism keeps the door in position and prevents the door from opening by itself or bouncing back offering comfort, silence, pleasant warmth and privacy as required. It’s also easy to install without glass cutout. Sliding door systems can be placed in a variety of areas around the house and are a modern space-saving solution. They provide a much-needed element of flexibility and offer a contemporary design choice. For installers looking for an affordable solution there is a wide selection of very reasonably priced products that will help to keep building costs down. Whatever the budget and brief there is a varied selection of products in a range of materials and finishes that will look great in any home. Shaking up the UK home improvement market www.Solvari.co.uk is a new home improvement social website set up to give homeowners a chance to review not only new products, services and designs, but puts them in touch with the tradespeople who can give them the exact look they’re looking for. The unique website was launched in March and offers homeowners the chance to be inspired by reading the sites news articles, adding their comments or opinions to the blog area and viewing images before seeking a quotation from a specialist tradesperson. All homeowner enquiries are then matched to the criteria set by the registered tradesperson, who receives the enquiry free of charge. Companies and tradepeople can sign up to appear on the website, getting their own fully comprehensive profile page which includes their company description, a list of all their products, a library of images and a customer rating and review area. Registering with the website allows users to find the a company through either the Solvari platform or through google search. The site offers tradespeople an option to recieve homeowner enquires as they come through or to disable this feature in busier periods. Dutch co-founder Dennis van den Bos commented: “We expect our service to revolutionise the UK home improvement market, because unlike our competitors, we connect the homeowners to businesses providing sales leads for free. The Dutch based business saw its first website launch five years ago in 2009, and quickly became a successful independent company and market leader in the Netherlands and Belgium. UK Country Manager, Ian Hanton explains: “Solvari provides homeowners the motivation and information they need to request a quotation. Solvari’s aim to provide UK homeowners with relevant information ratings and reviews on a database of tradespeople but also to help tradespeople grow their business, for free.” For further information visit www.solvari.co.uk