Replacing Your Sliding Glass Door Rollers
July 23, 2008
If the sliding glass doors in your home are more than 10 years old, you might notice that they are becoming harder to slide open. This problem is even more common on aluminum frame dual pane doors. The reason is because the doors are heavier due to the dual pane glass, but many of the aluminum units did not use stainless steel rollers. So, in many cases, the rollers get rusty from moisture and they start to bind.
In order to replace the rollers, you have to remove the sliding panel from the opening. In most instances, the fixed panel must be removed in order for the sliding panel to come out. There is a simple way to determine whether or not your fixed panel has to come out as well. If the slider is on the inside track and the fixed panel is on the outside track, you have to remove both panels, because the slider will only come out from the outside. There is a lip on the bottom of the track inside your house. That lip keeps water from coming in. Unfortunately, that lip is also too high to lift the sliding panel up and over. So, you have to remove the fixed panel first, then lift and swing out the slider from outside. If you are one of the few people who have a slider on the outside track, then you can lift your slider out without removing the fixed panel.
Professional Asphalt Paving Contractors In California
July 22, 2008
Choosing an asphalt paving contractor can be a major event if you don’t take cautionary measures to ensure proper work to be conducted. First, you must review your service provider’s credentials and make sure that they have a well known history of success in the asphalt paving industry. Consequently, make sure they are licensed and or bonded before any work is conducted. Furthermore, get proposals from different companies to make the best choice that meets your needs and price specifications.
Be sure to conduct your own research on the asphalt paving company’s work that has already been done for other consumers like yourself. Lastly, you want to get a written agreement of the final job costs to ensure that you have a binding legal agreement between the asphalt paving contractor and yourself. At least this way you will have plenty of ammunition against the contractor if things get out of hand and have to go to court. A professional asphalt paver should have nothing to worry about when asked to submit references and a paving license. If so, you should be wary of conducting business with such companies.
Buying House Plans Online
July 21, 2008
The Benefits of Self Building
Investing in property had always been very popular - and for many very productive and lucrative. However, as the prices on property begin to soar, it is difficult for many to even get their foot on to the property ladder. The alternative is renting, which usually means paying extortionate sums of cash each month to a wealthy landlord - not something that many people particularly want to do, but something that they feel they have to do in order to enjoy their own living space and independence.
However, there is a cost effective alternative for those that really want to get on to the property ladder but feel that they can’t afford it. Self-building with house plans has become an increasingly popular solution for prospective homeowners, enabling them to get the home of their dreams at a fraction of what it would cost to buy a ready built home of the same style and calibre.
How do house plans work?
House plans are designed by top professionals - architects and designers that know exactly what constitutes a high quality, desirable home. These house plans are designed to be as simple to follow as possible, enabling purchasers to see construct their homes with ease and speed.
How to Control Deer in Your Garden
July 20, 2008
Deer are the most difficult of all pests to deter from a garden. They love many different plants. Flowers, vegetables, trees and shrubs are all on their menu.
The best way to keep deer out of a garden is by using a fence that is at least 6 feet high. If it’s a small garden that may be feasible but for large gardens or yards, the cost is prohibitive, or possibly not practical.
So the only other choice is deterrents.
Deer don’t like the smell of raw eggs, fish products, kelp, or ammonia. Any spray made from these products can be used. Just mix the product of choice in water and spray the plants to be protected.
Deer don’t like the smell of soap either. Some gardeners have especially found success with Dial and Zest brands.
Blood meal scattered around the garden is another good deterrent.
Since deer don’t like capsaicin, the ingredient that makes peppers hot, a spray made from chili peppers deters deers.
Hang fragrant fabric-softener strips, and small nylon bags filled with human hair on trees around the garden.
Planning Permission Tips UK - Garage Conversions - What Value Do They Add?
July 19, 2008
Most conversion works to an existing structure is often more expensive than having it knocked down & rebuilt. The main reason for this is the VAT element that is exempt for new dwellings. There have been numerous examples where extensive extension & conversion work has proved more expensive than rebuilding the scheme a-fresh from the ground up.
However, where VAT is still applicable even for new build within an existing residential curtilage, the conversion route is often still less expensive. This can also have the added benefit of retaining the sites character & charm where as a complete new build can often stand out like a sore thumb.
Garage conversions are a case in point. Converting a domestic garage (normally integral or attached to the main dwelling) is a growing trend that I cannot see declining in the coming years.
Peoples desire for additional living space is by far more important than the the requirement to store a motor car or general household storage which is more often the case.
WIth the general superior build quality of most modern day cars the need for undercover parking in order that they start in the morning has now diminished. This combined with the relative cheapness of cars makes that valuable garage area look very under used.
Planning Permission Tips UK - Is Todays Popular Quest For Contemporary Design The New Bad Taste
July 18, 2008
Can you remember when people used to install slatted louvre windows as replacement units in their Victorian semis or the stone cladding revolution of the 1980’s.
We look back & ‘tut tut’ at these blunders with a comfortable glow of self satisfaction that we would never make such obvious design & development errors in our own projects - we have a far greater sense of good taste haven’t we?
Trends in the residential development world seem to go in huge swings of about 7 to 10 year cycles and it is often not until the end of one cycle we realise what the mistakes were which is usually triggered by the complete abandonment of the previous trend or methodology for another system.
We surge from brass to chrome light fittings, UPVC to aluminium & then back to real wood again for the windows. Carpets to laminates back to real wood block flooring back to laminates again when the real stuff shrinks, warps or splits.
The same is happening in the overall design & refurbishment of whole homes inside & out. We used to be conservation mad but now its total revamp of properties to something akin that we used to aspire to in the 70’s with simple glazed panels, uncomplicated detail and simple finishes.
Planning Permission Tips UK - Free Design Advice In The UK - How And Where To Get It
July 18, 2008
Isn’t it funny how people shelve projects for the new year - perhaps the new year feels like a fresh canvas or something - I don’t know. Many potential clients I saw in Q4 of last year our now coming through as confirmed commissions - it’s a funny old world with no rhyme or reason…
Providing advice to these potential clients is always a dilemma. On the one hand you want to be helpful & prove your metal in order to gain their trust but on the other hand you are also giving away the family silver without any prior commitment from them that they will actually be engaging your services. Ideas & suggestions on how to achieve a clients building objective is often all we have to offer. Sure there is the technical & craftsmanship element of your service but that’s often taken for granted. The creative element is often the bit that actually makes a good development work.
Fortunately, residential development isn’t exactly within the realms of Richard Rogers stature especially when developing an existing dwelling with well needed extensions.
Fleur De Lotus: Purity in a Sullied World
July 17, 2008
Rising from a muddy pond, a lotus flower blossoms. Such epitome of purity in a turbid environment has sparked off much inspiration in ancient oriental literature and Buddhist teachings, shaping a repertoire of odes to the graceful demeanour and refreshing fragrance of the lotus.
History
The lotus has played a vital role in the creation of the world, according to Egyptian mythology. Before the universe came into being, there was an infinite ocean of inert water which constituted the primeval being named Num. Out of Num emerged a lotus flower and when it blossomed, the self-created sun god, Atum, stepped out as a child. In fact, the lotus flower is featured extensively in the artwork of ancient Egypt.
Ecologically, the first stirrings of life in the world arose in water. Premised on the botanical understanding that the lotus is one of the world’s first flowering plants, it is conceivable that lotus is a living fossil.
In Indian culture, the lotus is symbol of rebirth and a manifestation of truth, ideals, beauty, peace and enlightenment.
Since ancient times, lotus has always been a gastronomical delight in Chinese cuisine, with recipes ranging from rice wrapped in lotus leaf to lotus roots soup.
Planning Permision Tips UK - 6 Common Design Mistakes When Extending a Residential Property
July 16, 2008
Don’t you just love the design of some of these alpine chalets??!!**??
One year we were given a loft bedroom that you couldn’t stand up in with no wardrobe space and another chalet only had 2 bathrooms for 18 occupants. Still, skiers are the kind of people that can ruff it for most times so its no major hassle. But what if these kind of deficiencies were commonly found in ordinary homes in the UK? Surely no one would make such glaring mistakes on comfort and amenities when extending or developing their own homes would they?
OK, setting that little seed of doubt lets explore 6 of the most common design mistakes people can make when extending their homes. Most professional developers understand their market and fail to make these errors but most ordinary homeowners on the other hand have a totally different set of criteria and motivations when developing their own homes which can lead to some costly mistakes.
When Is It Time To Call The Professional?
July 15, 2008
For most Do-It-Yourself (DIY) home project managers, the most difficult decision is to know when to give the professionals a call to come complete a task and when to complete it yourself. The reason we like to do our own home upgrades or an addition is always a pretty internal and selfish reason. We want to save money and we want to be able to say, "I did it myself." How many times have you been to a friendly dinner party and the topic of home improvement projects come up? Ultimately, it becomes a barrage of sentences that all contain these simple statements, "I did it myself." or "We did it ourselves." I must confess that I am also guilty of this. This is why we always have the more informative conversations with people at the local hardware and supply stores. Both parties in the conversation understand the need to DIY and the communication process flows without any issues.
Have you ever had complications with a project and wished you had called someone instead of finishing it yourself? I have, here is an example:
