Category Basement Renovations

Interior design trends over the years have grown and developed. Though classic design will never go out of style, the modern and sleek look of contemporary interiors has largely dominated the industry. There is also the introduction of cross-cultural influences that widened the interior design field even more.
With the variety of styles to choose from, antique furniture sometimes looks and feels out of place in a home. Heirloom pieces, in particular, could be difficult to part with, especially if inherited from relatives and holds a particular sentimental value for the family. The dilemma is this: how do you make antique furniture a part of your overall look and design? Is there any way to make an heirloom piece blend in with your contemporary home? Before you decide to sell your antique piece or bury it in storage, consider some ways into making that one-of-a-kind and special piece a part of your home.
Some pieces do not hold any real monetary value at all, but more of a sentimental and memorable piece for the owner. If this is the case, consider giving it a refurbished look with a simple paint job to match the rest of your home’s color scheme. You could also strip down dated pieces to modernize its design. For pieces that hold an investment and historical value, you could use the design of the antique furniture and make it the centerpiece of the room. Ornate pieces can be balanced with and highlighted by keeping the rest of the room simple in order to draw attention the careful detail that went into the crafting of your antique furniture.
Another way is to use antique pieces in surprising ways. Pair an ornately carved chair with a simple wooden desk and use it in your office. Use a chandelier in your powder room to make for an interesting space for your guests. Breathe contemporary design into an old lamp with a quirky lampshade for a unique and eclectic addition to your living room. Use your grandmother’s antique china for everyday meals and make each day an elegant and special dining experience.
Aside from their value, the craftsmanship of antique furniture is without question, incomparable. Antique pieces are worthwhile investments and their seemingly unsuitable design can be creatively incorporated into your home’s design with a little creativity and imagination. Take care of your antique furniture and they will continue giving a distinct touch to your home for many years to come.…

Solid bamboo flooring is one of the most environmental choices that is becoming popular these days. Before you decide to make an investment on this new flooring, consider what may affect their prices.
Finished or Unfinished Wood?
When choosing the material for your bamboo floors, you may find the unfinished type of wood cheaper at first glance, because they normally run for only about $1.50 per sq. ft. However, check how much extra labor would you have to hire in order to improve the floor finish. This may cause the price to skyrocket, making unfinished wood not an economical choice. If you do decide to do the finishing and installation yourself, there will still be some additional costs that you have to consider, such as the tools you may need to smoothen the wood, stain and coat it.
You can instead consider buying standard finished bamboo flooring which may range between $1.99 to $4.99 per sq. ft. Prices vary on the length of the warranty, the quality of the finish and whether the boards are snap types or simple plank boards.
Coating
Another thing that can make bamboo flooring prices go higher is the coating. For instance, if the boards use Klumpp coating, the price will be higher, because it has lower formaldehyde, which is considered a toxic substance. This type of coating, however is more expensive to manufacture, thus the price is higher.
Installation Type
If you choose the floorings with snap lock joints, they will for sure cost more than ordinary boards planks. The easier it is to install the floorings, the higher the price will be. You will, however, save some money from labor cost, because snap on floors take a shorter time to install.
Warranties
Warranties differ, ranging from none to lifetime guarantees. You may choose to buy boards with extended guarantees, in order to protect your investment. When making your choice, check if you are still saving money even after paying lifetime guarantees.
Luxury Flooring
If you choose to buy high end designer’s bamboo floors, they will for sure be more expensive. There are boards that are hand finished and demand higher bamboo flooring prices than the mass produced ones. Such specially designed planks may cost more than $12 per sq. ft.
Prices for solid bamboo flooring will vary, but it still boils down to durability, which can only be achieved with proper care and maintenance.…

Water butts for Septic Tanks are containers used as storage for rain harvesting. It is 200 liters in capacity and made of lightweight material. It can be carried easily anywhere you would want to place it. Most often it is situated at the back of the house near the garden where stored rain from the butts is used for gardening. Instead of using hose getting water from the main water line water butts are useful source of watering the garden. You can install one or more containers connected together by storage connector available at the hardware store. Connecting five 200 liters water butts is much cheaper than building 1000 liters storage tank capacity.
Water storage are useful especially in arid areas for storing rainwater and used for domestic purposes. Rainwater from water containers can be used for washing the clothes, watering the plants, flushing the toilet, cleaning the cars and other household use. Butts must be covered to prevent it from breeding ground for larvae since any clean water is what mosquitoes prefer for their breeding grounds and also to prevent it from being contaminated. Water are usually installed above the ground and the material is usually opaque to prevent sunlight exposure thus decreasing the bloom of algae.
Butts have been around for some time. They are durable and dependable. Installation of butts in other areas is mandatory especially if there is a community wide program for conserving water. Since it is affordable and simple to install any household can easily have it. They position the butts in houses’ downpipes for collection of rainwater. Water butts are provided with taps and they will give you direct access to all the rainwater you harvested. The complete kits for water butts include water butts itself, stand for water butts and rain diverters. These are all easy to fit and once the butts are connected to your downpipes they are ready to use and to collect rainwater right away.
Water storage is really essential for small to medium scale storage for rainwater harvesting. They are compact and will not require a large space. They are also durable since water containers are made of high grade quality materials and can be used for long life. This is a good remedy if you have a small patio and you need to save on water. Recycling water for future use is a great solution when there is shortage of water and butts is the simple obvious answer. Water butts are hard wearing and resilient that is why it is most desirable for storage of rainwater.
Water butts for Septic Tanks are a good way to save money. People nowadays are aware of the importance of saving and you can start it by saving water by means of butts. This is very practical approach and also time and energy efficient since you will only need to place the water butts from the source of your rainwater. This is also a very good solution in preparing especially if …

Design efficiency is often overlooked and not discussed very often by buyers and builders alike. Over years of home design and building I have had to review countless house designs in order to economise the building to achieve a target budget. There are a few simple rules when going through this review which I have outlined below.
Economise wasted space
This is the most simple step for someone with a high level of spatial awareness. A quick overview of a floor plan will highlight areas that are larger than required or excessive. Examples may be significant lengths of passageways, odd sized areas where rooms don’t connect or flow properly or simply oversized rooms. Last year a client came to me and showed me a house plan he had designed through a so called architect that had a master bedroom 8.5m x 3.0m and the client didn’t identify the room as being odd until I pointed it out. If you’re familiar with viewing architectural plans this process is quite simple, however for most home buyers it’s very difficult to visualise space just by looking at a scaled drawing. A simpler way that I recommend to buyers is to take a blank piece of paper and cut out scaled sized furniture that they have in their current home, then position it on the home design plans where they think it will go. This will then help them to assess proportions of room sizes in relation to their furniture.
Remove excess engineering costs
When designing and building two storey homes the main factor in price efficiency is with engineering costs. Large spans of open space on the ground floor could cause the engineer to increase the depth of the suspended slab from 172mm to 257mm, which adds significant costs. Keeping enough structural walls beneath the slab in key positions will remove the need for this cost and can still mean you have a fantastic open space.
Minimising suspended slab extensions is also critical, something that an experienced architect or house designer will do automatically, but often overlooked by novice designers. This poor design feature will make a house have a concrete slab where it is underutilised, and hidden in the roof space which just means it’s a very expensive ceiling.
Reducing the need for structural columns is also a factor. Since the supply and installation of a structural column can cost $400-$500 each you want to reduce the number used in a house design. Clever use of internal walls can easily save $3,000 – again a cost that will never be seen once the home is completed.
This step by step analysis was performed recently on a cheap two storey home design that highlights changes made to the elevation and style of the home saved significant building costs.…

Cars are a very important part of our modern lifestyle – we use them to go to work, to visit our loved ones, to go to the grocery, to spend leisure time. Our hectic days are very dependent on our means of transportation, so it is very important to make sure that our cars are in tip top shape and always running well.
The car battery, of course, is a very important part of car maintenance. There is no definite time span when you should change your car battery, but if you buy car battery of high quality and the right kind, then it should last for a very long time and serve you and your car for many miles. Here is a simple checklist for things you should remember before you go out and buy car battery again:
Check the size that your car needs. Consult your vehicle’s manual so that you would know what size of battery it requires. Car batteries come in four basic sizes: 37, 75, 34/78 and 65.
Check the shelf life – it is better to buy car battery that hasn’t been sitting on the shelf for a long time (this greatly reduces its warranty and actual life span on your car). Get one that has been there for at least twelve months. (tip: to know when the battery was manufactured or delivered, check the label on the bottom for the shipping date code. The letter stands for the month is was manufactured, and the number stands for the year. So a battery with a M8 label means that it was manufactured on March 2008).
Check if the auto battery comes with a good warranty. Warranties for car batteries will usually have two warranty periods: the free replacement period and a warranty coverage period. The warranty information on a battery usually comes in the form of two numbers, i.e. 24/84. The first number is for the number of months for the free replacement period, and then the second number is for the warranty coverage. It is usually better to buy car battery that has a higher free replacement period.
After you have purchased your auto battery, it is up to you to take care of it and prolong its life. Most people make the glaring mistake of leaving their headlights on in the garage, and then coming back to a dead battery and a car that would not start. You can install an alarm in your car to prevent these kinds of mishaps. Also, check if the car battery you buy is designed for extreme heat or extreme cold, so that you can choose one according to your usual driving conditions. Buy car battery with these things in mind and you can enjoy longer trips and a safer ride on the road.…

With its many benefits and overall beautiful appearance, cork flooring should either: be high on your list of upgrades to your current home, or be one of the options for your soon-to-be-built home. The bottom line is that natural cork flooring, although not as well known as other floor materials, is fast becoming one of the most popular wood floors being installed today; and for good reason. The remainder of this article will discuss the many advantages of cork; from cork flooring tiles to floating plank patterns and other variations in between. Thankfully, there are many cork flooring reviews you can consult regarding many of the features and benefits of a cork floor. Let’s begin with a few advantages of discount cork flooring.
Durability and Cushioning Effect:
One of the primary benefits of cork as a flooring material is its ability to be long-lasting under years of use as well as its capacity to cushion the feet while being walked, run, or hopped upon. Let’s face it. Sometimes landing on a solid wood floor is not the most comfortable of situations. With cork as your base, that landing is much softer and safer. Even though you might relate cork such as lisbon miro, as being too soft, it’s just the opposite that is true. A real cork floor, when applied and finished correctly, is extremely durable and strong; and only requires routine maintenance to keep clean, such as a gentle whisk broom.
Cork Flooring is Warmer and Safer:
By reading various cork flooring reviews, you will come to realize just how happy thousands of cork floor customers are in two primary areas: warmth and safety. It’s true. A cork floor, due to it intrinsic structure, is a top insulator; which subsequently means a warmer floor. In addition, cork is one of the best materials available for the reduction of certain types of allergic material. Cork floors are hypo-allergenic and better yet, powerfully mold resistant; a pair of features that only increase the benefits of cork. And if you are concerned about the environment and how cork wood is harvested, take ease because cork wood is harvested primarily from the bark of trees which themselves are highly sustainable and replenishable.
To conclude, cork floors are being seen in more and more homes due to its beauty, durability, mold and allergy resistance, and lessened impact on the environment. It’s also available at a very reasonable price, usually costing as much as cheap laminate flooring. Read the latest reviews about cork floors and you, too, will fall in love with the natural beauty of cork floors.…

It is critical that each homeowner educates himself on proper home security. It can be overwhelming, however, to wade through reams of information on the topic. The article below is intended to help distill the most important concepts and assist you in developing a home security strategy that really works.

Does your dog like to play in your yard? This pet may be an excellent storing spot for your spare key. You can attach your key to your dog’s collar in order to keep the key hidden. This is especially useful if the dog does not take kindly to strangers.

Buy a safe to keep all of your valuables in one place at home. You would hate for your expensive jewelry, personal family belongings, etc. to be stolen in case a burglar breaks into your home. Hide the safe in a very hard to reach place like the attic or a closet in the basement.

See what your local police department offers in terms of home protection programs. There are lots of different programs, like home inspections, that will help you take the proper steps to make sure your home adequately protected. Your police department will be able to help you find out what is available in your town.

Put motion sensor lights around your house. These lights will turn on if anyone walks too closely to your home. These lights will not only let you know when someone gets too close, they will also stop potential burglars from breaking in. After all, burglars don’t want anyone to know they are there. Make sure you regularly change the light bulbs to ensure they continue to work properly.

When it comes to securing your home, start by changing your locks. Not everyone who leaves your house will leave happy, and a fresh set of locks will protect you from both former residents and acquaintances of your own looking to cause mischief. This is a very easy process that you can complete within a day.

Go with your gut when choosing a home security company to install a system. If you don’t feel comfortable with the technician, don’t allow them access to your home. You should not hesitate to ask if you can work with a different representative or find a different company if you are not comfortable. Ultimately, the whole point is for you to have peace of mind.

Those living in rural areas often don’t worry as much about intruders compared to city dwellers. On a different note, some people believe homeowners in more rural areas are more likely to experience robberies because of the lack of nearby neighbors. Then again, others think rural areas are not as much of a target.

A secure hiding place can be created in a wall. Small valuables fit nicely inside walls. Use an old switch plate, outlet or phone jack. If there are no unused plates, you can easily install fake ones.

Every homeowner needs to learn about home security. It will take …

Pest control is usually left to someone that’s an expert, but it doesn’t have to mean you aren’t able to try something first. The following tips will give you some strategies to try before you call the exterminator. Keep reading so you can find out more info.

Vacuuming the carpets inside your home can reduce pests. Vacuuming will allow you to suck up the bugs as well as the crumbs that are attracting them. Dispose of the vacuum cleaner bag in an outside receptacle as soon as possible.

Make certain to check local ordinances and codes to find out which types of pest control are allowed in your area. If you are trying to sell your house, you might not want to spray pesticides that are illegal. Though this does not happen often, it does indicate a need to do your research.

Does your home have brown recluse spiders? If so, trap them with sticky traps. Such poisonous specimens hide easily and can be tough to kill with chemicals. However, during the night, they come out to find food. Good places to put these traps are behind furniture and along baseboards.

Consider using a perimeter spray outside your home to keep bugs at bay. Spray the foundation and all other outside areas near the home. Look for cracks and small holes through which pests could enter your home. Use a filler such as caulk to seal the area.

Be cautious when trying to eliminate bed bugs. Bedbugs can remain dormant for up to a year. You need to plug all holes in the home. It can prevent them from hiding there.

You should fix screens around the house if you have flying insects. Screens are effective at keeping out both flying and crawling pests. Fix or replace any holes or tears in your screens to seal off pests.

Is your home overrun with ants? Borax and sugar can help you eliminate them. While they are attracted to the sugar, they will be killed by the borax. To create the mixture, get a jar the size of a quart and mix one cup borax and one of sugar. Poke holes through the lid to allow you to sprinkle it around the foundation and baseboards.

Look around your house for standing water. This can attract many pests, including mosquitoes. Check thoroughly regarding any leaky pipes, and make sure you clean house plant trays. Without water sources, pests will not thrive in your house.

If you have any plumbing leaks, immediately fix them. All pests need a water source to survive. They can end up finding water in the most obscure places. You do not want to be invaded by pests in your home. Inspect your plumbing regularly and contact a professional if you notice a leak or need help with inspecting the plumbing that is not easily accessible.

Having reviewed these tips, you should have a few good ideas about handling your pest problem. There are many methods for dealing with pest …

Is your yard so ugly that even the birds won’t land there? There’s many people like you who, thanks to new landscaping technology, are beginning to beautify their yards too. This article contains lots of tips that will make your yard the envy of friends, family and even local animals.

If you want to transform your yard, try re-edging your flower and rock beds using a soft, curved design. That is more modern than having sharp corners and/or straight lines. The fresh edges are a cost effective way to improve the look of your yard and flower beds.

Make your yard look beautiful all year by creating a garden that incorporates all seasons. Select different plants that flower in different seasons, paying attention to what will grow well in your area. You might also consider planting unusual trees or evergreens as a way to make your yard stand out.

People often forget about the many online options when shopping for landscaping materials or equipment. However, online shopping is more convenient and cheaper; you can also be lucky to find various rare landscaping plants that cannot be found the local nursery or any large retail store.

When planning your landscaping, experiment by planting a variety of plants. This is key to protecting the yard from disease or bacteria. If you use identical plants, all of them will die if this happens. The health of plants is dependent on diversity.

You don’t have to pay a designer or landscaper for your projects, regardless of what many people believe. You will spend a lot of money in the long run that you do not need to. Consulting with a landscaper or designer is not a bad idea, though, if you would like some tips and guidance before undertaking a project.

Before you develop your landscape plan, be sure to make note of any existing structures in your yard. Make sure you’re aware of where components of your home such as gutters, cables, and air conditioners are positioned so that your landscaping modifications don’t infringe upon them. To protect yourself, call your city to find out if there are any cables located where you will be placing your landscape designs.

If you are looking for more color in your garden, try wildflowers if you’re on a budget. Purchase wildflower seeds at your local garden center, and simply scatter them over problems areas in your yard. The end result will be gorgeous flowers of many varieties in a rainbow of colors. Wildflowers make gorgeous bouquets.

Your yard will look great continuously with different evergreens and foliage plants. Many plants blossom for brief periods, so you may get a dull yard at times. Interspersing evergreen plants into your flower beds will ensure that your yard is never without greenery.

Regardless of who you are trying to attract, this article will give you all that you need to start. Use the tools provided here to assure your success at creating a plan and starting your project soon.…

Sophos Home protects as much as 10 Mac and Home windows computers from malicious software, inappropriate web sites and nasty viruses. You possibly can add reminders, check your calendar or the weather, set alarms and timers, and schedule recurring alarms. I have an echo, an Android telephone, an ipad and a Home windows COMPUTER so I can swap between assistants because the mood takes me. I feel google has the nicest voice (can I simply say google please give your assistant a real name?).

The Google Chromecast Audio , when plugged into a powered speaker or audio receiver, can act as another audio gadget in a multiroom system. A wireless access point is required for connecting wireless gadgets to a network. ZigBee makes use of mesh networking to beat the gap limitations associated with traditional WPAN so as to set up a single community of addressable units unfold throughout the complete building.

From the charm of a cosy rustic cottage to a spacious modern residence or a formidable household house, our friendly bespoke service is available to discover a vacation home that is best for you. It will take some work, however you need to use Alexa to manage most of the gadgets in your house by the sound of your voice.

Enabling MAC Tackle Filtering in order that the precise community access card is probably not addressed straight and possibly accessed maliciously. Amazon added multiroom music functionality to Alexa in August 2017 Within the app you may create teams with custom names, comparable to upstairs, downstairs, or zone A, however you possibly can’t add an Alexa speaker to multiple zone.

Tie: Better for Google companies, together with YouTube. We’re completely happy to report that the brand new Ecobee4 boasts all the identical options as it predecessor, and more, because of the addition of constructed-in Amazon Alexa voice service capabilities. For individuals trying to heat their homes in this extreme chilly, firefighters are urging proper set up and procedures for sure home heating units.…