Tips for Designing with Hardwood Floors
August 21, 2008
Hardwood floor styles come in strips, planks and parquet, and are available with numerous edge treatments such as square, micro, and beveled edges. The state-of-the-art technology and almost limitless choices of today’s stains, finishes, styles and designs makes hardwood flooring one of the most practical and versatile floor coverings available.
The shade of hardwood flooring you choose can dramatically change the look of your room. You can compliment the other design aspects in the room, bringing continuity and balance to the overall design. Lighter colors of hardwood help small rooms appear larger, while rich, dark tones add drama to larger rooms to create a warmer, more intimate feel.
One of the most popular attributes of hardwood flooring, is its’ natural coloration. Natural flooring adapts to any style, now or in the future. For rooms with plenty of natural light, you may want to consider some of the darker tones available. If the room doesn’t have natural light, you can lighten it up considerably by choosing a floor with a lighter color. Just remember, you can avoid being tied to a particular scheme by choosing natural colors.
Bamboo Flooring for the 21st Century
August 20, 2008
Bamboo flooring has emerged as a new material for the commercial design market. It’s unique look and earth friendly properties have made it popular for flooring and panels. Although bamboo has been used as a construction material for centuries, it has only recently emerged as an engineered flooring product.
Here are some important facts you should know before selecting your bamboo flooring:
Bamboo is a grass not a wood. As a grass bamboo regenerates faster than wood. In fact, bamboo is typically harvested within five years of sprouting, making it a truly renewable resource. Its use can provide a positive impact on the environment. Harvesting bamboo serves to stimulate the growth of very extensive underground root systems, which develops fast growing sprouts the following spring. Sprouts breaking through the soil can grow as much as 2 feet the first day.
Bamboo flooring’s hardness varies. While northern red oak’s characteristics are the same regardless of where it is grown, the same cannot be said for bamboo flooring grown in the different Provinces in China. Although bamboo used for flooring is always the same species, there are significant differences caused by environmental conditions. Where it grows, what time of year it is harvested, the age of the bamboo, the soil chemistry and the amount of rain are all variables that will affect the hardness and stability of bamboo flooring.
Non Slip Maintenance Of Honed Interior Marble
August 18, 2008
A honed finish is a satin surface with relatively little light reflection. It is specified for floors, thresholds and other locations where the presence of water might make a polished finish slippery, or where heavy traffic would wear off the polished finish.
As a rule, honed finishes are more susceptible to soiling than polished finishes, because a honed surface is slightly more porous and absorptive than polished finish. However, the honed finish is easier to restore because it will sustain harsher cleaning efforts.
Normal maintenance of honed finishes involves as-needed washing with clean water and mildly abrasive cleaners, which retain a pumice-type finish, while the cleaners remove soils. There are thick liquid cleaners and chlorine-bleach type scouring powders commercially available.
The marble should be wet with clean, hot water. Then using a mildly abrasive alkaline cleaner and stiff bristle brush, wash in overlapping, swirling strokes. Suds can be left to stand for several minutes to permit the bleaching agents to work on the stains and dirts. Rinse thoroughly and dry with cotton, cotton flannel, burlap or chamois skin. Wipe well to avoid streaking.
If You Want to Bring Your Bathroom Up to Date, Consider Fitting a Shower Stall
August 17, 2008
Modern shower stalls look sleek and stylish. If you have the space, adding a shower stall in addition to your bathtub can be a great way to improve your bathroom. As much as people enjoy relaxing in the tub, with the time pressures of everyday life if can be very convenient to just have a quick shower, without having to wait for the tub to fill up. It can be a real luxury to have the choice!
There’s a wide range of different designs to choose from, depending on your personal preferences and your bathroom’s style. These days shower stalls made from tempered glass are a favorite choice. Glass can let light through, which can help create a fresh and open feel in a small room. Acrylic shower stalls are another popular option. Shower stalls are designed to be leak free and easy to keep clean. A well made model should provide many years of performance.
Improving Your Bathrooms Appearance can be as Simple as Changing Your Bathroom Cabinets
August 17, 2008
Your choice of bathroom cabinet can affect the look and feel of your entire room. If your bathroom could benefit from a fresh new look, then consider replacing your old storage cabinets with stylish new ones. This is a relatively easy way of giving your bathroom a facelift, compared to the work involved to install a new shower stall or bathtub. Cabinets can easily be fitted to your wall without the need for messing about with your plumbing!
When it comes to choosing a style for your new cabinets, the possibilities are huge. It helps if you have a vague idea of the sort of look you’re after. For example, would you prefer a modern, country or old fashioned look? But if you don’t know where to start, the internet is a great place to browse a wide range of products from different manufacturers, without the inconvenience of visiting the stores in person. You are sure to find loads of inspiration and handy hints online.
With A Stylish Bathroom Vanity You Can Take Pride In Your Bathroom?s Appearance!
August 15, 2008
An easy way to instantly improve your bathroom’s image is to buy a stylish new bathroom vanity set. Bathroom vanity sets come in a huge range styles and finishes. They typically include a sink cabinet, a mirror and a stool or a chair. A vanity unit can become a stunning focal point of the room and also has a practical function. Combining practicality with elegance and style can be a surefire winner in any bathroom!
Your choice of vanity set can reflect your personality and individual style, as well as being a perfect fit with your bathroom’s character and design. There are so many different types of vanities out there that it helps if you have a general idea of the style you’re after. Perhaps you want a continuation of the theme from the adjoining room, be that a modern, antique or country look.
If your house has period features an antique vanity unit can add to its charm. There is a huge variety of vintage vanity sets available on the internet these days, including genuine Victorian sinks. If you are looking for a quintessential symbol of a bygone age, then the beauty and quality of an antique vanity can be a wonderful way to achieve this. Alternatively, there are many brand new vanity cabinets made in an old fashioned style and finished to suggest an aged look. Furniture styles with design features such as Queen Ann legs or decorative toe kicks are a popular choice.
Keeping Stone Floors in Tip Top Condition
August 14, 2008
I had a customer call me to make a complaint about the Limestone floor we had restored and sealed for them. The building is a state of the art facility in the heart of Covent Garden, in London. The problem was as an up market serviced office block the tenants were complaining that the Limestone Floor was resoling very fast and looking extremely dirty even immediately after the contract cleaners had washed the floor.
I was somewhat surprised by the complaint as we had only restored the floor a few weeks prior to the complaint. I know the floor would take quite a bit of looking after and the right guys with the right cleaning machinery and detergents should be able to keep the floor in great shape.
I had to find out exactly what was being done to maintain the floor. I enquired to my client and he promptly told me that the cleaners where using a strong “washing up” liquid in a warm bucket of plain water to perform the cleaning. I felt that I had found the root of the clients problem and realized he wasn’t going to like what I was about to tell him but I soldiered on regardless.
Asphalt Paving Driveway Maintenance Tips
August 13, 2008
Asphalt paving or Hot Mix Asphalt is typically what one thinks of when installing driveways of new homes. It is by far one of the least expensive methods for paving a surface in new home construction sites. Properly installed asphalt paved driveways have a life expectancy of about thirty or more years.
These asphalt paved driveways consist of rock particles, sand, and asphalt cement, which make it flexible and durable at the same time. New asphalt is by far the most flexible because it still retains many of the lighter hydrocarbon oils that make up its DNA structure. Crushed gravel makes up the foundation on which the asphalt is laid, to promote stability of the asphalt structure. By laying five to eight inches of gravel beneath the asphalt you are ensuring a greater life expectancy for your asphalt driveway. Also by having your asphalt paving company install your asphalt finish at least one foot before the asphalt covers the gravel, you are allowing your asphalt driveway to not crack when visitors drive to the edge of the finished surface. This will give greater flexibility and allow your asphalt driveway to look as nice as it can for as long as possible. The next step is to seal your asphalt driveway after about six to nine months.
How to Install a New Toilet in 5 Easy Steps
August 12, 2008
If your toilet is old and in need of repairs, it is cheaper to replace it by installing a new one. This is quite easy to do and can be completed in an afternoon. However, if you plan to install a toilet in a new location, you will have to extend supply pipes and drainpipes to the desired spot, a job you may want to leave to a plumbing contractor.
Most toilets are sold with the necessary gaskets, washers, and hardware for fitting the tank to the bowl. However you might need to buy a few parts. Here is a list of what you need to complete this task:
Parts: Toilet bowl, Toilet tank, Toilet seat, Two 1/4″ bolts for bowl to flange, Wax ring, 20″ water supply with fitting at valve or floor connection and Tools: Pair of channel pliers, bucket, screw driver.
(Many of these can be ordered online at any DIY website such as DIY Tips UK: http://www.diy-tips-uk.com/plumbing/)
1. Shut off the water to the toilet, use a bucket and a cloth or a sponge to remove the water left in tank and bowl after you flush the toilet.
Repairing Putty Window Glass
August 11, 2008
Have you ever thought about fixing a broken window in your house, but didn’t think you could do it because nobody ever taught you how to cut glass? Well, you really don’t have to know how to cut glass in order to repair your window. If you knew how to remove the frame, you could order a replacement piece of glass from your local glass shop already cut to the proper size. Then, it’s just a matter of installing the new glass into the frame. But, there are so many different kinds of window out there, there is no way i could explain them all in one article. So, this is going to be the first in a series of articles describing the repair procedure for each type of window.
