House
Top Tips For Outdoor Decoration
A lot of people are fond of outdoor activities. For that reason, it gives way to the popularity of patio, decks, gardening and so on. Recently, houses are in constant renovation and upgrades to improve their exterior such as their lawn or yard. Almost all of the homeowners want to beautify and increase the function of their outdoor area that is why patio decks were also in demand. Decorating your lawn will surely make your guest and visitors attracted and stunned with your charming designs with the latest fashion and style. Though there are so many tips that can help you in decorating your yard, here are some of the best ideas in town for outdoor decorating. You might consider applying these ideas to your home as soon as you are done reading it.
Since winter is fast approaching, it is certain that spring and summer will follow. It is best to install a patio in your backyard wherein you can rest and enjoy the breeze of fresh air. It is very interesting and exciting to prepare for the sunrise. Your kids will definitely love some outdoor activities with the best patio decks in town. With that, you may start searching for the appropriate patio for your lawn and make sure that the materials used have good quality. Maximize the availability of your outdoor space and turn it to a more fun and exciting place that everybody could enjoy.
Consider planting some trees that will cover your yard from the direct heat of the sun. It is the best solution if you think that your outdoor area is sunny. Trees give natural shade and fresh air. You can also have another option to make your place comfortable and convenient by placing a tarp to produce a good quality shade that will protect you from ultraviolet rays as you will do your outdoor activities with your kids.
Place some decorative lights that will look best especially during night hours. You can choose different colors of light bulbs to make it more attractive and appealing. There are so many kinds of lights in the market that are appropriate for outdoor use. You can also place some candles with a handle or jars beside your patio to create a more romantic ambiance for your loved ones. Enjoy a starry dark night and throw all the tensions and pressures you had at work. Relax and feel the beauty of nature.
If you wish to make your outdoor area more functional, it is best to find outstanding furniture that will complement your outdoor design or home exterior. There are several sets of umbrellas with corresponding colors of chairs and tables in the market. Try browsing the Internet so that you can gather different ideas that will make your outdoor great. Aside from that, fire pits are also good as one of your outdoor decorations especially during winter season. There are so many latest designs of fire pits in town nowadays. Always consider your theme or …
5 Ways To Refresh Your Home On A Budget: Buy Laminate Flooring And More
Day in and day out, your home serves as sanctuary, pit stop, storage facility, and entertainment venue. It can also get stale, outdated, and even threaten your health. Drapes, pillows, upholstery, and carpets can harbor dirt, dust, grime, and insects that cause respiratory and other health-related problems. These textiles can also cause bad odors to persist. Refreshing your home, both literally and figuratively, is easier and more affordable today than ever before with cheap Pergo laminate flooring, inexpensive accent pieces, live plants, a few buckets of paint, or some new curtains. Each of these redecorating activities can be done by the homeowner with a minimal investment of time and money.
Instead of hiring contractors and disrupting your home and bank account, refresh the appearance and improve the healthfulness of your home by replacing old window treatments, adding new accent pieces, or buy laminate flooring. Painting walls and replacing cabinet hardware can also result in an affordable, do-it-yourself home improvement project with lasting benefits.
Give Hardware A Hand
Cabinet hardware is easy to replace, affordable, and there are many styles from which to choose. Your kitchen and bathroom cabinets can go from dreary and damaged to smooth and elegant with just a few turns of a screwdriver. For a bigger effect, the faces of the cabinets, drawers, and doors can be refinished or painted at the same time. Very often, stripping off old paint reveals beautiful natural wood grain that has been well preserved and looks lovely with nothing more than an application of sealant!
Strike A Pose
The artwork and accent pieces found in a room can completely alter its personality. Throw pillows, live plants, statuary, and art can turn a chaotic mess into a stylish showplace without breaking the budget. Family photographs in simple frames, layers of colored stones in a glass vase, or a living aquarium can provide affordable renovations to the look and feel of practically any room in the house.
Coat With Color
Painting the walls of a room is an inexpensive way of changing the decor and creating a completely different atmosphere. Painting does, however, require an understanding of the risks of lead found in old paint. Keeping safety issues in mind, the colors selected can generate any mood or style the homeowner chooses.
Window Wonders
Homeowners can also redecorate a room affordably with window treatments, such as drapery, shades, sheers, and blinds, just to name a few. There are many online sources available that offer a wide range of window treatments, allowing homeowners to select or create their very own style using materials that suit the interior decor of their liking.
Build A Solid Foundation
A home’s foundation is its primary source of strength and stability. In the same way, flooring protects us from the outside world, it provides a smooth surface for feet and furniture, and it sets the tone for the style of the room. Flooring also plays a major role in a family’s health. Ratty, old carpeting can harbor dust mites, …
Repairing Gouges in Terrazzo or Polished Concrete Floors
There are a few tips and tricks that you can follow in order to repair any minor marks or gouges in your polished concrete or terrazzo floors.
Cracks in flooring:
There are a few methods depending on the size of the crack in your polished concrete. If you have a pneumatic needle scaler for cleaning up small cracks with a little dust it can be beneficial to help repairing cracks in your polished concrete floors. Another method is with your own do it yourself “sand” formula.
For small cracks
A� aluminum oxide
A� local fine washed river sand
For larger cracks
1/3 aluminum oxide
1/3 local river sand
1/3 local fracture rock
Gouges:
Repairing gouges in your concrete flooring is really pretty easy. However you want to make sure the old concrete bonds to the new concrete or your repair could last you less than a year. There are a few necessary steps to follow in order to repair gouged concrete flooring.
Make sure you clean out the noticeable gouge. This means you will want to remove all the dust, stones, and dirt. You will need to do a good portion of this by hand. Once you have the larger stuff out you can use a bristle brush to clear out the remaining.
Mix up concrete paint. This is really considered to be watered down concrete. Mix a tiny portion of concrete in a 5 gallon bucket. Usually you will keep adding in water until it is very thin.
Make sure the surface is lightly damp. Paint the inner portion of the gouge and the area that is located around it with water. Just get it damp, don’t try to soak it.
Paint the inside of the gouge and around the outer edge with the concrete paint. This will create something for it to attach to.
Mix up your concrete using the 5 gallon bucket. You will want to add in water and stir it up.
Fill in the gouge with the concrete. The concrete mix will stick onto the concrete paint which creates a firm seal between the new and old. Spread it evenly with the original concrete.
You can see that the entire process of repairing gouges within polished concrete is really fairly easy and can be done with a few ingredients and tools. Polished concrete flooring is really beneficial all around, and requires little to no upkeep.…
How Does Laminate Flooring Stack Up Against Real Wood?
There are both advantages and disadvantages when comparing laminate flooring with hardwood flooring. Both of these materials are excellent for any home, however they are also very different. First, let’s examine wood floors and why you might want them in your home. Wood floors are classic, traditional, beautiful and with the right maintenance, can last a lifetime. The problem is that wood flooring requires buffing and refinishing to maintain its beauty.
On the other hand, laminate flooring does not require this kind of maintenance. And, when compared with how difficult it is to install wood floors, laminate definitely comes out on top. The majority of laminate floor choices can be snapped together like puzzle pieces, without the need for glue or nails. Even if you’re not handy with tools you can lay one of these floors in a matter of hours. And, you can walk on your new floors immediately after they are put down, you don’t have to wait. These floors are durable, and are coated with space age crystal clear finishes for strength and shine.
You’ll be amazed at how authentic these floors appear when made to look like wood, stone and other flooring materials. Some laminate is textured and even sounds like the actual material it looks like when walked upon. And with a good installation job, no one but you will realize your floor is laminate, it might for example look identical to exotic teak or sophisticated mahogany.
There are just so many different choices. Whether you like wood, stone, cork, bamboo or some other material, your floor can look exactly as you like. Many flooring choices are made to appear seamless. Some are tiles, some are strips and some are planks. What you should choose depends upon your particular household needs.
Laminate flooring is easy to clean and care for. All it requires is a sweep and damp mop. There are affordable cleaning products made for this type of material. Another benefit is the vast selection you’ll find when shopping around for this type of floor. There are hundreds of different laminate flooring choices from numerous manufacturers, many of which are household names.…
Green Home Plans Save Money and the Environment
Join the latest trend in construction with green home plans that are good for the environment, better for your health, and easy on your pocketbook. With an increase in demand for eco-friendly and energy efficient homes, more builders are becoming educated in this area and offering a variety of green options that will help you do your part in preserving the planet without compromising quality or style. Recycled and environmentally friendly products are more aesthetically pleasing than ever before so it is easy to build your dream home while also saving money, conserving natural resources, achieving energy independence, and ensuring a safer and healthier world for future generations.
Whether you are building a new house or renovating an existing one, green home plans offer many benefits that make them a wise, responsible, and stylish choice.
1. Energy cost savings.
Build your house with energy efficient windows that are made from recycled glass and tinted to help regulate indoor temperatures in every season. Also, incorporating the use of active or passive solar concepts will decrease energy costs by using the sun to reduce dependence on costly and toxic fuels. Passive, or climatic design is a natural way of generating energy and allows the residence to store heat in the winter and release it in the summer so you can use the weather to your advantage and enjoy maximum cost savings. You can even purchase appliances that operate on solar generated energy, lowering electricity bills while protecting the environment.
2. Conservation.
Green homes are usually built with sustainable design in mind, using materials that are non-toxic, recycled, or quickly renewable. Also, systems can be installed to prevent soil erosion and focus on water conservation. Installing low-flow fixtures, collecting rainwater, and using filtration systems that allow water to be reused for non-drinking purposes such as laundry and cleaning are features that can be included in your green home plan and will help you save money as well as the environment.
3. Health benefits.
Our homes are often filled with toxic materials, chemically treated or finished wood, products that contain formaldehyde or other dangerous substances, and heating and cooling systems that emit unhealthy by-products. Wouldn’t you like to know that you are protecting yourself and your family by providing a healthy environment that uses natural energy, non-toxic materials, and ventilation and purification systems that ensure pure water and good air quality? Look into the options and find out how green homes can make you happier and healthier.
4. Mortgage savings.
Many banks and lending companies are now offering “Green Mortgages” for homes that are built or improved using energy efficient or environmentally friendly products and systems. Such things as solar panels, wind turbines, water conservation features, and high quality windows can translate into greater borrowing power or a discount on rates. Some areas even offer tax incentives for eco-friendly construction. Building a green home can offer better resale value, reduced utility bills, and lower mortgage payments while also giving you the peace of mind …
How To Design A 21st Century Kitchen
The demographic
The first thing an outstanding designer does when putting pen to paper on a home design is find out exactly who is going to live in that home–the exact demographic of the inhabitant. This is specially true about the kitchen which is often the most lived-in space in the house and around which many more activities occur any more nowadays than just cooking. Luckily, today’s demographic in the kitchen ‘mass market’ is easy to define–it is mostly ‘baby boomers’ aged 55-65, followed by ‘leading edge GenX’ers’ aged 45-55 years old. These two demographics between them make up the bulk of the folks looking to design a kitchen as opposed to simply taking what comes with a new house. People older than 65, the ‘seniors’, are no longer the dominant home owning demographic and don’t spend as much time in the kitchen while those younger than 45 are considered entry-level homeowners and are also not as numerous as the first two.
Activities in and around the kitchen
A baby boomer’s kitchen is very likely to have a large flat screen TV as part of it that is easily visible from several activity areas surrounding it. The kitchen is no longer a ‘room’ but a space around which a lot of family activity revolves. This activity could be video games, watching the news, searching for data and even doing homework with access to outdoor grilling and a deck just a step or two away. The common factor is that it all revolves around the kitchen. This often manifests in a ‘living room’ or ‘family room’ area complete with sitting or lounging furniture joined to the kitchen with an informal ‘dining’ area, both divided and united by a cabinetwork peninsula, perhaps with a sink and cooktop on one side and an open area on the other with tall stools for the kids to do their homework on or simply help make dinner.
Baby boomers are no longer willing to risk a back injury by bending down to open an oven door and will likely have wall ovens installed at a carefully measured height. Similarly, the efficiency-demanding boomer will insist on having the pantry close at hand at most 3 or 4 steps away, not in another room and certainly not behind another door. This can manifest as another ‘area’ adjacent to the cooking areas, perhaps with a dividing wall of overhead cabinets and counter spaces open to both areas.
The GenX’er is even more tech savvy and may have several appliances hooked up to the internet with sensors and alarms to remind and warn of upcoming events, like a “cake is ready” message flashing on TV screens all over the house. She may switch on the oven with her phone on her way back from work and set the temperature for baked fish when she is 10 minutes away. Her priority is “get it done quick” and therefore all appliances will likely be electric with a few being dual fuel, all …
Saving Energy – It’s All About the Heat
First, some basic science:
A. Heat naturally flows from warmer areas to cooler areas. Its speed of movement depends upon how much a difference there is between these two temperatures. The greater the difference, the faster the flow.
B. Heat flow can be reduced by insulation.
C. Heat can be artificially made to travel in the opposite direction – from cold to hot. This is done by any device that “pumps” heat. Air conditioners pump heat out of the home. Pumping heat costs about one third the cost to create heat.
D. When heat enters your home, during the summertime, it must be removed by the air conditioning system.
E. Radiative heat, from the sun, can easily flow through glass. It heats up whatever it lands upon. Because of certain physical characteristics (called “black-body” radiation) that heat can’t pass back through glass. It is effectively trapped. This is called the “greenhouse” effect.
F. When you install or provide something which operates without need for additional energy, this is called a passive operation.
Okay – so based upon these simple rules, here are 10 basic actions that will improve a home’s energy efficiency which will save you money. I’ll mention the rule and then what you can do:
1. Rule B – Insulation is likely one of the best investments you can make. There are few actions that can give you a better cost to benefit ratio. This is passive in that it takes no energy to operate (rule F).
2. Rules D and E – Increasing the size of your eaves and other overhangs will reduce sunlight entering your home which just has to be removed by your air conditioner (costing money). This is also passive (rule F).
3. Rules D and E – Windows on the west side tend to bring in the most heat from the sun. It is best to limit western exposure either by design or by blocking the windows with shrubbery. This is a passive action (rule F)
4. Rule E – Using reflective glass can be extremely helpful. Curtains and shades do not work because by the time the sun light hits them it has already entered the home (remember greenhouse). Any time something heats up in your home your air conditioner will have to remove that heat. Sunlight must be stopped before it goes through the glass. This is a also a passive method and will save both energy and money during the summer.
5. Rule A – Place foil on the bottom of the plywood roof sheathing of your home. This is easiest to do while building a new home. If your home exists, then consider a radiation barrier in the attic. This will keep the attic cooler. This is also passive (rule F)
6. Rule A – Ventilate the attic. This can be passive or active. It reduces the attic temperature which slows the flow of heat into your home. The active, but effective, way is with a powered fan system …
Australian Cypress Flooring Is A Great Choice For Your Home!
These days as people are trying to make their home a very valuable investment, many people are thinking about updating their flooring and making the switch to hardwood flooring! My husband and I purchased our first home a few years ago, and the number one requirement on our list was hardwood flooring. You may have purchased a home without this type of flooring, but installation is a snap, and today we will discuss a popular flooring choice that is a great investment – Australian Cypress Flooring!
Australian Cypress flooring is a unique looking wood that many people adore. This type of flooring will add a lot of value to a home is quite durable! Australian Cypress flooring is composed of stunning wood that has a variety of tones to it. This makes it very unique and in a category that is a bit above the rest. This is the type of flooring that will get noticed and you will find your friends and family will probably be quite envious of. This is also a great investment if you are planning on selling your home and you want to up the value of it.
The interesting thing about Australian Cypress flooring is the unique tones of which it is made up from. This is a very stunning wood with a variety of shades and hues, ranging from cream to honey brown. I have seen a few homes with this type of flooring and really love how the tones range from a rich creamy shade to the glorious honey brown that so many people love and adore. This makes for interesting contrast in colors and shades of the flooring.
The details of this type of wood flooring are mind-blowing. The intricate grain and beautiful dark knots make it a great choice when you want to create a homey and rustic feeling to your home or office. This is perfect if you are looking for a touch of cabin-class to your everyday home. It adds a warmth and dimension to the flooring that is truly an interesting feature to a home.
Finally another great feature to this type of flooring is its durability and hardness! This is the perfect choice for high-volume areas such as a living room or anywhere you get a lot of foot traffic. This is the type of wood that can stand up to the kids, the dogs, and whatever life throws at you!…
Building an Eco Friendly Home
You may be thinking of building your first dream home and might be considering going down the Eco Friendly route. Then the questions emerge, like where do you start? What is an Eco Friendly home design? Is using the majority of building materials that are renewable enough to call your new home Eco Friendly? Are the building codes in my area open enough to build the way I’m wanting to?
These are all valid questions! The best place to start is to consider how you use your home. Do you spend most of your time in a living area, a dining area, or an office area? Are you entering and exiting the home a lot i.e. kids running inside and out to a garden. Doors being opened create the biggest loss of heating or cooling which could be reduced with the use of an enclosed patio area at the entrance that is most used. Does your family sleep in or are they early rises? These factors will impact the direction you face your home, as you may prefer bedroom light in the morning and living area light in the evening. What is your local climate like? Can you utilise the sun for heating in winter and make adjustments like using directions shutters for protection from the suns heat in summer.
With these things in mind it’s now time to talk to an architect. Finding an architect that specialises in eco friendly home designs is a great idea as they often have some unique ideas specific to your location. If you cant, you will need to give your architect clear criteria. Here are some important considerations you may wish to discuss:
Water Conservation: Capture and use and reuse of water
Energy Efficiency: insulation, natural heating/cooling, and Solar energy
Building materials: Recycled, recyclable, renewable and toxicity
Appliances: Energy efficient and conservative with water
Remember, The most important factor for your design is how it fits you, your family and your activities. Your home must fit your families’ physical and emotional needs to ensure you live happily in your new environment.
Being Eco Friendly should not just be a home design choice, but a lifestyle choice. Use Eco friendly soaps and detergents; if you’re recycling your grey wastewater, your garden will thank you. Minimise your use of plastic bags when shopping, reusable bags can be obtained from most grocery outlets. Eat healthy, minimise consumption on foods with non-natural additives and flavourings. Keep active and enjoy your new home.…
The Truth About Home Protection Plans
In some cases, a seller may offer you a home protection plan in lieu of an inspection. Before you get excited about a home warranty plan, make sure you understand what you’re getting, and what you’re not getting.
Home Protection Plans Provide Limited Coverage
The coverage you get with a home protection plan is limited. Home protection plans typically restrict you to a specific provider or one of a few providers, who have agreements with the home warranty company. Generally, you make a co-pay when someone comes out to your home to inspect a problem, and you may also have to pay a portion of the repair cost, depending on the terms of the plan.
Unfortunately, home protection services provide limited coverage. They may include many exclusions that prevent the plan from covering common home issues. For example, a protection plan may not cover damage to the structure of the home, or may only cover damage if it occurs in a specific way or during a limited time period. Realistically, these plans have as many exclusions as possible to avoid paying out. These businesses only make money if they pay out less than they take in, so they generally overcharge for these plans and do what they can to avoid making payouts.
Even if a specific repair is covered, it may only be covered up to a certain dollar amount. That means that you’d have to pay any costs over that dollar amount, or accept a less optimal repair just to qualify for the coverage. Over the long term, this can cost you far more than doing a repair properly in the first place.
Never accept a home service plan in lieu of a property inspection. Some sellers or home builders offer home warranty plans as a token of ‘good faith’ to demonstrate to buyers that there is no problem with the property, and that buyers are protected if a problem should occur. Unfortunately, because home plans cover such a limited range of issues, buyers may not have the protection they think they have if a problem should occur. Buyers should never accept a home protection plan in lieu of a property inspection. Buyers should insist on a property inspection, and if the seller isn’t willing to grant one, buyers should walk away from the property.
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Let us help you find your next Great Deal!…