DIY Home & Garden

By Albert Bruce

Home improvement return is not always monetary, but also shows in a quality structure and living environment for you and your family which benefits you for the years you spend there. This is the biggest intangible return that is taken for granted that needs to be considered. If you put money and effort into your home, you want to be able to enjoy it at least for awhile.

After paying on a home year after year you expect some sort of return at some point, it may even be your children or others that benefit after you are gone. At the time of this writing, one wonders if values will ever return, but I am figuring at some point they will. Maybe you were hoping to move elsewhere and now you’ve got to sit tight. You have realized you need to work with what you got.

Irregardless of you home’s age, at some point you need to keep the place together, If you let things go, you’ve got to get to them before problems get bigger. As I have mentioned in other articles and it is a basic to remember, water is a home’s biggest enemy, especially exterior roof runoff and drainage, along with siding, trim and keeping it caulked and painted. Keep this up.

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By Violet Ebert

Are you thinking about remodeling your kitchen space? You really should for several different reasons. To begin with is a great way to upgrade the space where you and your family spend so much time daily. Also a remodeled kitchen greatly increases the overall value of your home. According to leading real estate professionals, a simple kitchen remodel project can generate an eighty to ninety percent return on investment.

Even if you don’t foresee yourself selling your home soon, a brand new kitchen makes a lot of sense. Just think of how nice your home will look with new kitchen cabinets or even soapstone counters. Enjoy all the benefits of a remodeled kitchen, and maybe make a little more of a profit when you are ready to sell.

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By Sam Dicousta

A naturally occurring, highly durable slate stone can be cut into many shapes, sizes, thickness and texture to create a extremely beautiful floor designs. Smaller sections can be installed in a way similar to ceramic tile while larger sections create a more intense floor pattern. You can design your floor either with slate tiles cut to your own specifications or opt for the one’s available in market.

A key feature of slate flooring over other natural stones is stain-resistant qualities. Slate is a unique mixture of fossils, sand grains, and crystals. This combined structure prevents liquids from permeating the surface of the stone, thus the floors surface as well, and makes slate flooring an excellent choice for areas where all kinds and types of liquids are a constant factor.
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By lee101

Home lighting is an important aspect of home decoration which is often ignored. You need to have the right kind of lighting for the interiors of your home to enhance its beauty as well as for illuminating a display area or showcase. Home lighting is no child’s play; you need indoor lighting which is compatible with the furnishings, colour scheme, and the mood of the room.

You can look for modern indoor lighting supplies at various electronic online stores or can order the lights from electronic manufacturers. If you are looking online, you can get to choose from a wide range of home lighting options. You can even have an idea about the prices for installing a particular kind of indoor lighting.

Different home lighting options for different rooms

Not all rooms need the same type of lighting options. Your bedroom, living room, study, kitchen, and bathrooms all require different types of lighting. It is important to understand this before you start looking for ideal home lighting options.

You could start with the living room; the most important part of your home. It is advisable that you opt for general lighting in the living room. The living room usually has a large space, so you can have general lighting from one or more ceiling fixtures. You can also choose to have many indirect lighting fixtures. In the living room, you can also use decorative wall lights to enhance the beauty of paintings, photo frames and the fireplace.

For the bedroom you can have a general lighting fixture; this will illuminate the whole bedroom. You may need to have specific task lighting to cater to the dressing table area. Having ornamental lampshades, reading lights or bedside light fixtures is also very essential. Install wall lights wherever necessary in your bedroom.

The kitchen requires enough lighting for the purpose of cooking meals. Proper lighting ensures that you are able to cook safely. There is no place for dim lighting in this area. It is advisable that you have a large ceiling fixture coupled with energy-efficient fluorescent tubes which will provide enough light. It is also a good idea to have strip lights under the cabinets; this will illuminate the countertops and the work areas.

For the bathrooms in your house, you need good amount of lighting. There are specific lighting needs of the bathroom. Have proper lights installed at the sides of the bathroom mirror. There can also be task lighting in the bathroom for reading, near the wash basin, or near the toilet paper dispenser. A recessed light could be installed above the shower or the bathtub.

General lighting with task lighting in different parts of your home should serve the purpose of perfect indoor lighting. General indoor lighting options are not enough to highlight every corner of your home. If you have good furnishings and lots of showpieces to display in your house, flaunt them all with proper indoor lighting. A well illuminated home is a picture of mirth, warmth, and cheer.

Lighting can transform your home. See some great home lighting examples at: Home Lighting

Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/Home-Lighting-to-Illuminate-The-Indoors-Of-Your-House/1174228

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By Tommyrocks311

Marble Countertops

Natural stone countertops are being widely used as the optimal product for the kitchen due to their natural beauty, stain resistance, acid resistance, and ability to be cleaned up quickly.

Marble has been used for thousands of years in the old world because it was soft enough to be worked with hand tools, and yet durable enough for several generations of users.

Marble is not as user friendly in a kitchen environment as most granites are. The homeowner must know that most marbles are dolomitic or calcium based and can be worn down by mechanical and chemical measures (sanding, scratching, and etching).

Day to day living with a marble top would include:

• Always using a cutting board
• Always using coasters under glasses
• Hiring a fabricator to completely seal the top, instead of a single coat that is the industry standard.
• Cleaning up spills as they occur
• Thoroughly cleaning the counter once a day with a non acidic stone cleaner.
• Never allowing acidic based cleaners into the kitchen (grout cleaner, CLR, toilet cleaner, tile cleaner, and some hand soaps (especially with citric additives), etc

The homeowner is advised to purchase the best (frequently the most expensive) penetrating stone sealer available and applying once every 12 months. Even sealers that are designed to last a lifetime on granite, can and will be removed by mechanical abrasion and acid etching. Penetrating stone sealers are not designed to thwart these forces, but will provide more protection than untreated stone.

Since marble is softer than many other stones used for countertops, the homeowner must be made aware that it will scratch with use. The most common sources of scratching include: abrasives in ceramic tableware, dirt or abrasives being left on the countertop and then dragged across surface while cleaning, etc.

Marble is more easily “stunned” than harder materials. “Stunning” occurs in the mines, at the polishing plant, on the boat ride, by the importer, the fabricator, the installer, and sometimes by the homeowner. “Stunned” stone exhibits “whitish” micro fissures where the stone has been damaged or hit by something as hard as or harder than the marble. There is no known way to completely repair or hide the “stun” marks.

Marble can be fabricated and installed with either a full polish or a honed (satin) texture. Fully polished tops will show acid etching much more readily than a honed one.

Marble tops are very popular in the Mediterranean where the owners expect the tops to show use and develop a “patina” or “Old Mediterranean look” (it is said that the patina indicates a dedicated cook). One of our customers wanted honed with no sealers and once we installed, she went to work with some knives, coffee and wine, she was Syrian. Honed tops will develop this look much quicker.

http://www.akropolismarble.com

Article Source: Marble for the Kitchen countertop?

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By Rob Ferrall

If you live in an area with variable weather, or just have a high-traffic home, it can leave your tile and grout looking dirty, faded and dull over time. Normal scrubbing and wiping are not enough to penetrate the ground in dirt that clings to grout. Unsealed, or untreated, tile and grout needs to be deep cleaned on a regular basis to maintain a fresh appearance. Here are a few ways you can clean your home’s tile and grout.

Cleaning Bathroom Tile and Grout

Use a large sponge to wipe down the tile surface with warm water. Dip a stiff bristled toothbrush into the water and scrub the grout. This will remove any loose debris and dirt. Mix ½ cup of baking soda with ¼ cup of warm water. Smear the pasty mixture onto the grout and let it set for a few minutes. Begin scrubbing the grout vigorously with the toothbrush. Use a circular motion to drive the dirt out from the tiny crevices and indents in the grout. Rinse well with clear warm water and give the surface an hour to dry.

Cleaning Kitchen Backsplash Tile and Grout

Kitchen backsplash tile and grout is renowned for harboring minute amounts of cooking grease and oils that attract dirt and dust. Grease removal is a necessary step in cleaning. Mix ½ cup of a liquid dishwashing liquid to one bucket of warm water. Scrub the backsplash wall with a soft scrub sponge soaked in the detergent mix. Allow the soapy water 10 to 15 minutes to soak the grease loose. Mix ½ cup of oxygen bleach power with a bucket of warm water. Scrub the grout and tile with the mixture and rinse with plain water.

Cleaning Floor Tile and Grout

Floor tile and grout will typically be the toughest areas to clean. Sweep the floor with a broom to remove all loose dirt. Divide the floor into small sections and damp mop one section at a time. Scrub the grout with a small stiff cleaning brush and warm water. Mix ½ cup of oxygen bleach powder into a bucket of warm water. Use the small brush to scrub the floor grout and tile. Continue using a circular scrubbing motion to release the dirt and grime that burrows into the grout. Wear safety glasses to avoid splashing the cleaner into your eyes.

Making the Job Easier

Cleaning tile and grout is a physically demanding job, and for some people, it can quickly become overwhelming. When cleaning, you should take frequent breaks to minimize the possibility of back or other muscle strain. If you want to make future cleanings easier, consider hiring a professional cleaning company to come in and clean your tile and grout for you. Professionals with professional-grade tools can oftentimes do a better job on your tile floors and countertops, and some companies will apply a sealant to your grout, which will make future cleanings for you as simple as running a damp mop or cloth over your tile floors and counters.

Saniglow provides professional cleaning services to Howell, Brighton, Fowlerville, and all of Livingston County, Michigan. Read about their tile and grout cleaning services and carpet cleaning services in Pinckney on their website.

Article Source: How to Clean Tile Floors and Grout

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By Carrol Wagner

Today’s shoppers are much more savvy than they have been in days past. Perhaps this sophistication when it comes to learning about the products we spend our hard earned money on is the result of instant information at our fingertips through the Internet or a deep desire to know more about where our money is going. Whatever the reason, we are taking the time to learn as much as possible about our investments and carefully planning how we spend our money before it leaves our wallets.

In many ways this is wonderful news. You really can’t go wrong as a consumer my educating yourself about the products you are considering purchasing and this holds doubly true when it comes to electronics. More and more consumers are opening up to the idea of home theaters. In fact, this is becoming a selling point in many homes across the country. It is a great idea to research the products you will purchase and the individual components of your home theater system but how much time have you invested towards the planning and design of your home theater?

You may have the room in mind, but do you have the wiring you need? Are outlets in the correct location in order to provide the extra outlets you will need for your components? Do you have the wiring for speakers in place or is this something additional you will need to consider? Will you go with wireless speakers in order to avoid the hassle? There are so many questions you will need to ask yourself when planning for your home theater.

What, of your existing home entertainment equipment will you be keeping and which pieces of equipment, if any, will you be replacing? I always recommend buying one component at a time and building a home theater system rather than simply going in and purchasing a box off the shelf that has everything in one place. While you can get a very nice system by doing this, I think you will ultimately get more bang for your buck if you build your own system one piece at a time and select each piece for the individual qualities your prefer. That being said, once you get the components home you need to be able to install them and incorporate them into your existing home theater.

Will you be adding special home theater seating or going with a big comfy couch? This matters when planning the layout for the room in which you will be watching your movies and television favorites. You want the seating to be comfortable or no one will want to spend too terribly much time in the room, no matter how large the television screen is. We like to be comfortable as we watch 24 hours of non-stop action or the nearest planet in a far off solar system explode. Do you have a plan for providing that comfort in your home theater?

Do you have all of the connecting wires? How about a reliable method for disguising the wires so that they do not provide a distraction during your movie and television viewing time? Are you going to add gaming equipment to your home theater system? If so, this opens up an entire new ball game when it comes to wires, as you will be bringing even more cords and wires and controllers into the mix.

The next question is how do you plan to hide all the equipment? While built in entertainment centers may seem like a great idea, they are killers to your bottom line should you need to some day sell your home as they eat up floor space and not everyone will appreciate your home theater. For this reason, I recommend a floor-to-ceiling entertainment center with doors that can be closed around the features you aren’t using at any given moment.

While there is no right or wrong when it comes to designing a home theater for your family, there are practical matters that are well worth considering. I hope this has brought to mind a few of those and that you are brimming with wonderful ideas for your current or future home theater.

While there is no right or wrong when it comes to designing a home theater for your family, there are practical matters that are well worth considering. I hope this has brought to mind a few of those and that you are brimming with wonderful ideas for your current or future home theater.

Information on pittosporum crassifolium can be found at the Gardening Central site.

Article Source: Home Theater: Practical Considerations

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