Winter Price Freeze on VAT on Hardwood Orangeries & Conservatories

ORANGERY & CONSERVATORY WINTER PRICE FREEZE ON VAT!

For a limited time only, Realwood Sussex are offering a freeze on VAT at the current rate of 15% on all hardwood Orangeries and Conservatories.

Hurry before the VAT is raised in 2011, to take advantage of this special offer please quote realwoodblog007 at your time of ordering.

Please note this offer will expire on 31st March 2011.

Something a little different

Bespoke oak windows with a difference!

Our job takes us to many different properties but sometimes a few stand out from the crowd. Recently you may have read our blog about bespoke windows for a converted church.


Well finally, I visited the site in Kent on a rather snowy afternoon to see how the job was progressing. The snow had hampered the team slightly and due to the changeable weather timing was of the utmost importance, for example once one of the old oak windows had been removed then the team were committed to fitting the new window and leaving the client water (and snow) tight.


The property concerned was once a Victorian Baptist church but now it has been converted to a private residence, much of the original features have been retained including a beautiful round stain glass window at the front of the property. The windows due for replacement were triangular in shape and it was vital to ensure a perfect fit. The original joinery was matched as was the material used, in this case oak, once fitting is complete then they will be stained to match the original colour.

Something that the old windows did not benefit from is that the new replacement windows are also double glazed with 24mm sealed units which provides an extra amount of insulation from noise and drafts, a vast improvement from the original. Of course some prefer us to match exactly that of the original so often our oak windows are single glazed as per the original.

At Realwood we love working on all types of properties but we have a soft spot for historical listed buildings and it is fascinating replicating the joinery that was utilised all those years ago.

We look forward to sharing some new exciting projects very soon!

Thanks again for reading.

Realwood Admin

Realwood improvements

We hope everyone had a good Christmas!

Despite the credit crunch 2009 has been a very busy year for Realwood Sussex and we hope that 2010 will be even better! We have been flat out working on a range of projects including orangeries, conservatories, bespoke windows and doors, oak porches, oak garden offices to name but a few!

The snow caused a few minor delays out on site although it did not effect production in the workshop as we managed to battle our way through the snow. Over the Christmas break, we undertook a substantial upgrade to our existing tools and machinery. This will greatly increase production for 2010 which is great news.

And yet more snow!

This week has been another challenge with another belt of snow effecting the region but I am glad to say that once again our gallant crew has made their way through. As soon as it clears, I will be out on site to gather some rather overdue photographs of completed projects and I look forward to sharing these with you soon.

Thanks once again for reading and we all wish you a happy New Year!

Realwood Admin

A Summer House with a diffrence!

"Quality" is the keyword in summer house design

There are a lot of summer house suppliers out there, each offering a "quality" product, but is it really? we recently took a look at several competitors garden buildings and was a little concerned at what is described as "quality". Here at Real Wood when we say quality, we mean quality! this is not only achieved by using the best possible materials but also in build quality. If you are looking for something to throw the mower in then a Real Wood Summer House is probably not for you!

We specialise in manufacturing here in our own workshops true "quality" summer houses of distinction to create a focal point to your garden. Some of our clients have even had picnics in their gardens using their summer house as a place to sit and admire the garden. Others have used them as an ideal place for a hot tub providing somewhere to get changed before taking a dip after a long day. Whatever you choose to use your summer house for, we are sure you will not be disappointed with the Real Wood product.

We use Western Red Cedar in the construction of our summer houses which is a soft red-brown timber and is valued for its distinct appearance, aroma and its high natural resistance to decay. Combine this with Real Wood's quality build and you end up with a building that will last for many decades to come thus protecting your investment.

Our Summer House range
We manufacture a range of summer houses including: The Ashdown Summer House which is a corner style building, the Dean Summer House which is a traditional square building, also the Sherwood (6-sided) which is an octagonal style building and lastly the Sherwood (10-sided) Summer House. In addition to our range of set designs we also provide a bespoke design service which means that we can create a completely unique garden building perhaps for use as a garden office?

We can also manufacture our Octagonal designs so they are capable of rotating on a rotating platform allowing you to follow the sun around whatever time of day it may be. We also supply our summer houses with a cedar shingle roof creating that rustic look to grace any style of garden design.

Here at Real Wood we like people to know what to expect, we are therefore dedicated in demonstrating the benefits of a Real Wood summer house, compared to the "others" you might see lurking in your local garden centre or "shed city"! Our buildings are unique and are designed to be a real focal point of the garden.

Below are a few photographs of the interior of the Ashdown summer house and the Sherwood 10 sided summer house. We hope that when compared to our competitors you will see the difference for yourself.

Why choose a wooden conservatory?

Below are a few good reasons why choosing a wooden conservatory is actually better for the environment than that of a UPVC conservatory or orangery.

So why should you choose a wooden Conservatory or Orangery?

When we mention the word "hardwood" people automatically envisage the felling of our rain forests and huge scenes of devastation. Thankfully today the reality is vastly different from popular belief. So lets look at the facts, timber is the ONLY building material known to man that is completely renewable. For example Realwood only source timbers and hardwoods that come from a company that is a member of the 'Forests Forever' campaign and have signed a rigorous environmental and purchasing policy agreed with the World Wildlife Fund. In a nutshell this means that our timber only comes from specially managed forests, in simple terms for every tree felled another is re-planted. Often only trees that are considered to be suitably "matured" are selected and felled, this enables younger trees to benefit from the increased light.

Another good reason to choose a wooden conservatory is that to grow one tonne of timber it has been calculated that a tree uses 55 kilos of CO2 (the greenhouse gas) and gives off 40 kilos of oxygen. In one year an average tree consumes 9.1 kilos of cCO2 (the amount emitted by a car over 11,500 miles), and exhales enough oxygen to keep a family of 4 breathing for a year!

Other building materials i.e. PVCu, aluminum, steel and concrete are a great drain on the Earth's resources. The production of these other building materials involves the use of finite resources. Aluminum and steel-ore has to be dug out of the ground before it is smelted. PVCu-oil is pumped out of the ground and processed to produce plastic and for concrete and aggregate the base material has again to be mined from the ground. The processing of these materials uses vast quantities of fossil fuels all of which produce carbon dioxide.

Furthermore, timber extraction is beneficial to the environment. Planting trees for timber harvesting actually helps to reduce the greenhouse effect. When seedlings are planted they absorb carbon dioxide and expel oxygen in the growing process. There is a lot of concern about the amount of CO2 (carbon dioxide) in the atmosphere, but if more timber was used, more trees would be planted and more carbon dioxide would be soaked up.

The benefits of using hardwood in the manufacturing of wooden conservatories or orangeries are second to none! If a hardwood conservatory or orangery is looked after and maintained every 5-6 years or so there is no reason why it should not last 40-50 years plus!


About our Hardwood Conservatories, Orangeries, Windows & Doors:

Our commitment to the environment is highlighted by our use of carefully selected timber hardwoods from renewable sources, with the use of environmentally friendly water-based paints and stains.

Our factory sprayed finished 3-coat micro porous application builds a highly durable surface finish which will give a long service life of up to 5 years for translucent stains and 7-10 years for opaque colours under average conditions before the need for re-coating.

The final and most obvious benefit of using hardwoods is that it is not only a traditional material (critical when dealing with listed properties) but it also has a beauty all of its own.

I hope this has been helpful when considering your proposed conservatory or orangery.

Specialist Hardwood Windows for a unique listed property

Work is well underway on some specialist hardwood replacement windows for a listed property in Surrey. This particular property was once a Baptist church and features some quite beautiful joinery. In recent times it has been converted into a unique private dwelling, but many of the windows are in need of replacement. This is where Realwood step in, we were able to carry out a full site survey of the existing materials used and could match the joinery used in the original windows. The unique thing about these particular windows is that they are triangular in shape! This creates its own set of problems compared to more traditional window shapes but it is nothing that could not be overcome.

Realwood of Sussex are specialists in dealing with listed property planning consents and can provide the local authority with a detailed specification and drawing of the finishing project. Whether it is for a Conservatory, Barn Conversion or hardwood windows and doors then the diversity of Realwood comes into its own.

Remember, if you are considering any improvement works on a listed property then it is very important that you speak to people who are experienced in dealing with such matters and who are sympathetic to the original building or structure. At Realwood we understand the primary concerns and goals that the local planning authorities adhere to. It may be worth taking advantage of our free site survey, this will allow us to see your project in detail and will enable us to give you an accurate proposal for your consideration.

If you think it can't be done on your listed property, then it most probably can!

As always thanks for reading.

New Oak Porches

This month has been a busy month in Oak Porches, we always enjoy working on these structures and Oak is a lovely but sometimes challenging timber to work with. Both porches have been constructed from hand selected green oak and the end result is very satisfying indeed. Both clients have opted for a medium oak stain which really does make the best of the grain.

I will post some photos once the jobs are completed and I can get out on site, however the recent wet weather has made live all the more difficult in terms of fitting them! hopefully this wet weather will soon pass, we certainly cannot complain about the rain compared to some parts of the country which are completely under water.

The next projects in the pipeline are some bespoke hardwood windows for a grand listed property and also an oak garden office as well as an Orangery!

Thanks for viewing and I look forward to our next post.