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Home Improvement Information
Imported Tools vs. Brand Name - Are They As Good?
So you are looking for hand or power tools on the Internet or in a "brick & Mortar" tool store, and you keep running into tools imported from China, Taiwan, Korea, Germany and various other countries. A lot of these tools seem to be priced well under the comparable "name brand" tools you are used to? are they as good or better, or are they just cheap knockoffs.
Making a Pen with Your New Wood Lathe
So you just purchased a wood lathe but do not know what kind of project you should start out with. As soon as the right amount of skill is obtained, beautiful pieces of woodwork can be created with a wood lathe. However, before you get too over your head, it is best to start out with a basic woodturning project. My recommendation would be beginning by carving your very own pen.
Home Automation Enhances Your Lifestyle and Saves Money - Exciting Home Automation Applications
Wouldn?t it be nice to have your home take care of things for you, automatically, without you having to lift a finger? You bet it would. That is the promise of home automation. There are many different systems, especially in larger homes, that can benefit from being integrated. Some of these systems include security alarm, HVAC, audio / video, and lighting. Home automation integrates these systems together, enabling them to function more efficiently, improve functionality, conserve resources and enhance your lifestyle.
Top Ten Remodeling Tips
My husband and I just completed our first remodel. It was a period renovation of a Victorian Gingerbread Craftsman. (I'm so thrilled I can talk about it in the past tense). We haunted architectural salvage houses for just the right windows, bid on eBay for period-correct light fixtures, spent an entire afternoon driving all over L.A. for a screw that they stopped making in the thirties and generally worked to the point of insanity. Tiptoed up to the line but never crossed it.
Lakeside Patios ? The Water Makes Decisions For You
If you are putting in a new patio on a lakeside, you have unique considerations that other homeowners do not have when it comes to purchasing patio furniture.
Glass Sinks ? 4 Unbreakable Rules of Buying a Glass Vessel Sink
1. Know your sinks
How durable are these sinks? These sinks are tempered. Tempered glass is regular glass that has been heated to a very high temperature, and then quickly cooled. This procedure strengthens the glass, making it 5-7 times stronger than regular glass.
Chimney Cap Checklist: Four Quick Ways to Evaluate Your Existing Chimney Cap
While you are cleaning leaves out of your home?s gutters, dealing with Christmas lights, or adjusting a satellite dish, don?t forget to check on your chimney caps while you?re on the roof. Chimney caps are those mesh-sided enclosures (usually made of stainless steel, copper, or galvanized steel) atop your chimney to prevent water, animals, bird droppings, and leaves from entering your home. A once-a-year assessment of your chimney caps? condition can be well worth your time for protecting your house. Here are four things you can easily check on your chimney caps:
Useful Home Products Will Help Your House Sale Profits
Even if you?ve never been involved in the sale of house before and yours is about to go on the market, you probably know enough about the process to be able to repeat, like a litany: clean it; paint it; fix it. But do you find yourself asking: How clean does the house have to be and how do I tackle the job? Do I really have to paint? What are the best colors to choose? What do I need to repair?
When considering these questions, it?s good to remember that most prospective home buyers are an unimaginative lot. Your house may be immaculate but if the rooms are cluttered, crowded, and dark, they may appear to be less clean and much smaller than they really are. Picture this: an old, seven-piece mahogany dining room suite plus a rocking chair and seven boxes of books packed in anticipation of your move are wedged into a dark green room with a brown rug and a window covered by heavy velvet drapes. Why is this decorating scheme a mistake? It?s because most people are unable to imagine how big and beautiful the room would look if painted off-white, everything removed but the dining room suite, a pastel tablecloth and a fresh flower centerpiece on the table, curtains stripped from the window, the rug removed, and everything spotlessly clean. In the words of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, you must "make it so"; otherwise, it might take you a very long time to sell your house and the offers to buy will not only be slower, but lower.
Clean, Clean, Clean
Your best friend when cleaning your house for resale will be tri-sodium phosphate (TSP) or its equivalent. TSP is one of the home products that top the list of must-haves, and it?s not expensive. Roll up your sleeves, put on your rubber gloves and scrub your walls and ceilings, and anything else that needs your elbow grease. Unless you can afford professional cleaners, there?s no way out of this one.
Carpet cleaning is another must and there are home products for the do-it-yourselfer or you can hire a cleaning company to take care of this job. If you have shabby rugs scattered throughout the house, forget cleaning them; it?s probably better to remove them altogether.
There are home products to clean things that require special care ? ceramic tile, porcelain, stainless steel, wood cabinets, aluminum siding, etc., and you can find whatever you need at your neighborhood hardware store. Ask questions and read labels. When using commercial cleaning products, wear gloves and a mask. It?s wise to be careful.
Paint for a Pristine Finish
As thorough as your cleaning job is, it won?t have much impact on sagging, faded wallpaper, gouges in the walls, or cracked and peeling paint. Repainting is the solution, and interior painting jobs start with stripping off old wallpaper, attacking cracks and gouges with filler, and then getting to work with your roller and brush. This is also the time to do all the small repairs that need your attention: hammer in nails; repair the broken step; replace the broken glass.
When selecting paint, the best colors for your walls and ceilings are white, off-white, cream, creamy off-white ? you get the picture. A light, cool, neutral color can fit into everyone?s decorating scheme. (You want that young couple to see your home as the perfect setting for their red plush love seats.) If you have recently painted one or more rooms in quite dramatic colors, leave them as they are. As long as the walls and trim are clean and fresh, prospective buyers won?t mind a bit of repainting if they want to change the colors ? the main thing is not to overwhelm them.
If you need to paint the outside of your house, it?s not necessary to restrict yourself to neutral colors for exterior paint; however, a bright color is not a good choice. Something fairly subdued is better, but be creative when painting the front door; a dramatic touch might be needed to make your house memorable. It?s easy for a buyer to repaint a door if he or she doesn?t share your love of Christmas red or purple passion.
Remove the Clutter
It?s time to say goodbye to your high school chemistry notes, the clothes you outgrew five years ago, the playpen your twelve-year-old no longer needs, and everything else your family will never use again, read again, or wear again. Be tough! Do it! Take it to the dump; hold a garage sale; donate it to your favorite charity. Don?t let it take up any more of your storage space ? you?re going to need it all to store the things that are currently stacked on shelves and floors and cluttering up counter tops throughout the house.
Important home products that can help you deal with this part of your preparation are closet organizers. They come in every size and style imaginable, and you are sure to find something suitable. When you have everything neatly stored in your closets and cupboards, walk through the house and pick up and put out of sight everything else on your counters and table tops that don?t need to be there. "Clutter-free" means clutter-free and it won?t kill anyone in the family to have to reach under the counter for the dishwashing detergent or the toothpaste for the next few days or weeks.
You probably don?t think of furniture as "clutter," but clutter is anything that unnecessarily crowds a room, a doorway, or a hall. If your home has very small rooms and you can manage without some furniture items for awhile, arrange to use a friend?s garage or basement to store them. It will "open up" the rooms and make your house appear larger and brighter, and that?s a good thing.
Let There be Light
Sunlight is a friend to the house seller, and you should try and let as much of it into the house as you can. Wash windows inside and out and wash or dryclean the window coverings: curtains, drapes, and blinds. Before showing the house to a prospective buyer, replace burned-out light bulbs, turn on the lights, open the windows, lift the blinds, and pull back the drapes.
Final Touches
Ask a non-smoking, non-pet-owning friend to come into your house when you have finished cleaning and painting. Are all the pet odors and smoking odors gone? If the house passes the sniff-test, place some potpourri in open dishes to add a fresh, clean scent; otherwise, get back to work.
Finally, step outside and see what a prospective buyer?s first impression of your yard is likely to be. Mow the lawn, trim the hedges and bushes, weed the garden, edge the flowerbeds, and sweep and clean the walkway, deck, or patio. Your yard is another selling feature of your house, and must be clean and tidy, too.
Home products can help make your house appear big, bright, clean, and ready for a prospective buyer to move right in, which is exactly what you want.
The Ultimate Comfort - Top 5 Reasons For Getting an Awning
Awnings are an economical and efficient way to shade a deck or
patio from the hot glaring sun or cold winds and rain. The
great thing about choosing an awning is that you could go with a
design whereby the awning is out all the time or if you prefer a
retractable awning that can be pulled back when you want to
enjoy sunlight and open air. As you will discover in this
article, there are many reasons why you should buy an awning.
To get you started, we will provide you with the top five!
Is a Hot Tub for You? Top 5 Questions You Need to Answer
As a way of relaxing, more and more people are adding a hot tub
to their home. Not only are hot tubs relaxing but they also
offer tremendous benefit for people of all ages. Today, the
number of sales for hot tubs has skyrocketed. Made from
redwood, cedar, and teak, hot tubs are attractive and designed
to accommodate two to twelve people. In addition, you can
choose from a stand-alone unit or one that can be moved from
home to home. The following are five of the top reasons why you
might consider a hot tub!
Tips on Ladder Safety
PLACEMENT
Portable Air Conditioners Ensure Economy And Convenience
Small is beautiful and convenient and so is the portable air conditioner as it can be shifted from one place to the other very easily. Read on to find out all the other advantages.
Solar Energy Advantages Disadvantages
Many of us know that solar energy is a good thing, but few really understand why. Therefore, I compiled a comprehensive list of solar energy advantages and disadvantages that will enable you to make an educated decision whether on not Solar Power is right for YOU.
Employ Passive Solar Energy and Start Saving Electricity Today
1. Orientation, layout and positioning of your house on the land
Orientate your living areas to the south side of the house, which receives most of the sun throughout the day (north if you live in the southern hemisphere).
The Versatile Reciprocating Saw: The Power Tool of Your Dreams
A reciprocating saw is simply one of the handiest tools you can own. These tools are great for applications in the home or the jobsite. Milwaukee actually invented the first reciprocating saw and is still considered one of the best saws on the market. The Milwaukee Sawzall is the ?Zerox? of reciprocating saws. Just go to your local hardware store and ask for a Sawzall, the salesman will know exactly what you need. These versatile tools are fabulous for cutting holes in drywall, plaster, metal pipes and through nails.
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