General Improvements

Increasing the Power Points

If you're having electrical work done, then it's worth thinking about how you may be using different rooms in the years ahead, and have extra power sockets installed now. Bear in mind that adding extra ones later will be far more expensive and disruptive.

Having eight or ten power points in a room is not excessive. Even a modest home office area is likely to need a computer, printer, scanner, and fax machine. Then allow for a desk lamp, perhaps a music system - and you still need somewhere to plug in the vacuum cleaner.

Fitting Insulation

Insulation is one of the most cost-effective home improvements and, with planning, can be installed as you carry out other work.

Draftproof gaps round doors and windows with foam or rubber strip, but don't seal the room completely - ventilation is essential.
Lag cold water pipes and insulate cold water tank to prevent condensation and freezing.
Lag hot water pipes and tank to prevent heat loss.
Roof insulation can be bought as rigid sheets, fiber rolls, or loose granules (which are useful for awkward spaces). Install it after all other work requiring access to the attic - plumbing, wiring, roof repairs - has been completed. Make sure the insulation material does not impede ventilation round the eaves.
Double glazing is most effective at preventing heat loss if the gap between the panes is between 1/3 in) and 3/4 in.

Replacing Windows

Ill-chosen replacement windows can seriously devalue a property. Generally, however, a house with double glazing is attractive when it comes to selling, as double glazing reduces drafts and cuts out some noise.

If your windows are of architectural interest, consider secondary glazing instead of double glazing.
If your windows are beyond repair and must be replaced, try to replace like with like. A local joiner will be able to make exact replicas - or even sympathetically designed double-glazed windows.
Even if the new windows are the same size as the old, internal plaster will need to be made good round the frames.

Roof Repairs

A well-built roof will last for decades - if not centuries. Unless the roof structure has been seriously weakened by rot or woodworm, or the tiles have started to disintegrate, most roofs can be repaired. If problems warrant a complete re-roofing job: