Chimney Cap Checklist: Four Quick Ways to Evaluate Your Existing Chimney Cap
November 30, 2008
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:
1. Are the chimney caps there? If there have been high winds in your area, your chimney caps may have blown off. Properly secured chimney caps withstand most high winds, but exceptional winds can do damage, including blowing chimney caps off.
2. Are the chimney caps securely attached? Time, wild animals, or high winds can degrade the security of your chimney caps’ attachment to your flues or chimneys. You can retighten screws or reapply a sealant if your chimney caps are no longer securely attached.
Light Up Your Garden And Brighten Your Life
November 30, 2008
Extending Your Living Space
The garden is fast being considered to be an extension to your living space and homeowners are putting as much effort into creating a harmonious environment outside as they are inside. A beautiful garden is also considered to be one of the biggest selling features of a home and can certainly help to add value and appeal.
As the short days of winter recede, many of us will be starting to think about our gardens and dreaming up projects and schemes that we plan to undertake when the days become longer and the weather warmer. For many traditionalists this will mean planting borders, manicuring the lawn and cultivating a myriad of blooms that will add colour and life to their gardens throughout the summer, whilst others will view their garden purely as an area in which to relax.
Glass Sinks ? 4 Unbreakable Rules of Buying a Glass Vessel Sink
November 29, 2008
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.
Sink glass is fairly thick. Typical thicknesses range from ½ inch to ¾ inch. You can go about your normal grooming habits such as brushing your teeth, combing your hair, shaving, applying make-up, etc without worrying about breakage.
Like the look of these above the counter glass sinks, but don’t want glass? Consider a porcelain vessel sink. You’ll get the look without the worry.
2. Know your space The most popular bowl sinks are 15-20 inches in diameter, about the width of your keyboard. They’re about 5-8 inches deep, about the length from the base of your wrist to your ring or middle finger.
Make sure that you have the appropriate amount of space to accommodate the sink and accessories, plus maintain ample space away from the edge of the counter and the wall so that the "fear of leaning on it" factor is no longer a factor. 12-15 inches around the entire sink will do.
Lakeside Patios ? The Water Makes Decisions For You
November 28, 2008
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.
We built a new patio on a 700 acre lake and I had to look around for just the right outdoor furniture. It can get very windy on the lake so you don’t want furniture that will blow right into the water. That leaves out PVC, plastic, lightweight aluminum etc. My choices were wrought iron, or any of the hardwoods. Our lake is located in the North woods so I thought wrought iron would be too fancy. The look of scrolled wrought iron did not match our wide timber stairway leading down to the lake and patio. The timber stairs and trim are rustic cedar that fits our setting perfectly. Wrought iron would be lovely in a urban or suburban setting or backyard, but it just didn’t match our house. I don’t think wrought iron is very comfortable and not good for lounging on a lazy weekend. We entertain a lot and I wanted furniture that people would feel comfortable to sit around in and relax while enjoying the action on the water.
Top Ten Remodeling Tips
November 27, 2008
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.
So here, ripped from the headlines so to speak, are my Top Ten Tips for Remodeling. Read ‘em and weep.
1. There is a solution to every situation. But it’s not necessarily yours. You go where the solution is - it doesn’t come to you.
2. There is no medicine for whatever ails you quite like hard, exhausting, purposeful work.
3. Chew your own food. Don’t make your problems other peoples. They’ve got their own.
4. I’m not psychic. Maybe you are. Guesstimates of time and money are just that. Reality has a way of intruding. When in doubt - go with Reality. (I don’t know when I’m going to die either).
Metal Outdoor Furniture - Explained
November 26, 2008
Mention metal patio furniture and you probably think of the light, fly-away aluminium loungers of your youth or that half-ton cast iron table and chair set on your neighbour’s lawn.
But metal outdoor furniture has come a long way. Here’s a quick primer on the available types and their care.
Construction Methods
Metal is fashioned into furniture in one of three main ways: extrusion, casting, and welding.
Extrusion forces melted metal through long pipes and forms long narrow tubes of metal, sometimes solid, but often hollow.
Casting metal involves a form, or cast, shaped like the finished product. The molten metal is poured into the form and then the form is removed when the metal has solidified. Cast pieces are almost always solid.
Forging, a process in which metal is heated and hammered into shape produces the type of furniture known as “wrought” metal. It uses pipes and various solid pieces of the metal and joins them together by welding or bolting.
Common Materials
The most common metal outdoor furniture is made from iron or aluminium, although the use of steel, especially stainless steel, is growing.
Home Automation Enhances Your Lifestyle and Saves Money - Exciting Home Automation Applications
November 25, 2008
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.
That’s the name of the game; an enhanced lifestyle. Everyone can benefit from a better life and modern electronic systems can help provide it. In addition, as the cost of resources continues to rise and the price of electronics continues to fall, home automation systems will prove to be even more cost effective. The combination of the modern consumer’s thirst for convenience and increasing economic advantages will propel home automation more into the mainstream.
So, what are some of the fun things a home automation system can do for you? Here are some common applications:
Making a Pen with Your New Wood Lathe
November 25, 2008
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.
Pen turning is a common hobby or past time. These homemade pens can make excellent gifts for any event. Pen turning is a fun yet practical project that can help you get a taste of the capabilities of your wood lathe. The following are some tips in preparing your wood for the lathe that will help you make your first wood lathe experience successful.
1. Pick an interesting wood blank. One of the great things about pen turning is you can use any sort of wood you want, including scrap pieces from other projects. Pick out a piece of wood with interesting figuring. Be aware that some wood changes appearance with light and air exposure and will begin to look dull with time, such as Paduak or Purple Heart wood. If you are not comfortable using a scrap piece of wood there are numerous wood blanks that can be purchased in all sorts of exotic woods.
Imported Tools vs. Brand Name - Are They As Good?
November 24, 2008
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.
A larger percentage of these tool deserve a better look, they are in many cases as good as, or better, and usually a very good bargain when compared side by side with their “brand name” counterparts.
In the last few years the quality of tools produced in many of the Asian countries has increased significantly…they are no longer the “knuckle busters” of the past. This is really the same path that the Japanese tool producers followed in the sixty’s and seventies, we all recall the rather poor quality of Japanese products coming to the US…cars, tools, electronics were all of dubious value. As these producers learned more about our market, our expectations and started making money…the quality of what they produced and offered for sale became very good. Today many of the products from Japan rival the quality of anything produced anywhere in the world.
What to Look For in a Drill Press
November 23, 2008
A drill press, also known as a pillar drill, is the stationary form of a hand-held drill. The advantage of the drill-press over the hand drill is the tool’s accuracy and power. A drill press is a very valuable tool with several different types and models of drill presses to choose from. Here are a few things to consider when purchasing your own drill press.
Floor vs. Bench-Top Model
A floor model is set directly on the floor while the bench-top model of a drill press is set on a table top. The floor models are typically better buys with more accessories and attachments and are able to handle larger projects than the bench-top models. The floor model is always a good pick unless you are looking for something that is a bit more compact to save space for a smaller shop.
Multiple Spindle Speeds
If you plan on using your drill press for woodwork and metalwork, it is important that your drill press has several speeds to suit the project you are doing. When working with metal you will want to use lower speeds while wood projects need to be in the medium to high range of speeds. For maximum versatility, look for a drill press that can operate between 500-4,000 RPM (a machine that only reaches to 2,000 is suitable if you will only be using it for drilling and not for other projects).
