Painting and Decorating Your Home

Growing up, I had a good friend named Reggie who lived in a house that was always clean, always well decorated. Due to this fact, painting and decorating has always come easy for me.

His mom liked to do a quick re-paint of their whole house every spring. She and Reggie (his dad died when he was young) would take a whole week to give everything a fresh coat of paint. His mom was a very clean women. She was raised on a farm and I guess people back then farm kids were raised well.

Because my best friend and his mom would take a few days to go throughout the house painting, no doubt this made an impression on me. I would come into the kitchen or go through their house and everything was nice and new. A nice lifestyle. Something painting decorating is all about - it adds flavor to our lives.

As I got older and found a wife, I moved into one of my grandfathers apartments. I noticed that he was a good painter also. He painted white ceilings with pastel color walls and the woodwork trim was enameled white also. So from these two experiences alone I learned how to be a good painter decorator.

Basically if I was to do a custom interior paint job, I would get custom color charts from the paint store. Paint stores have historical custom color charts with three-color schemes. This helps to take the guesswork out of matching and choosing colors as well as planning out a color scheme for each room.

From there all you have to do is pick your curtains, bedspreads, carpeting, rugs etc. and match them to your new paint job. That's basically all there is to doing interior decorating as far as I see it. Then comes the talent. Some people have a knack for putting colors together that it looks really good.

If you just moved into a new house and there is existing carpeting that you don't want to change, tile floors, stained woodwork or painted woodwork that you plan on keeping the same, you simply have to match up new colors to those existing items.

I painted for an interior decorator off and on for a few years until they moved to another city. I painted most of her house inside and some of the outside. She had a real knack for pictures, wallpaper and furniture. She also had the money to do it all.

Painting decorating the outside of your home can be mentioned here also. There are exterior custom color charts that show three-color patterns or scenarios, even historical colors.

It can get rather pricey to live life at its best when it comes to painting and decorating your home. If you do a little bit at a time it can be a fun hobby. One thing that I highly recommend as a painter decorator is to use quality paints and wall coverings. Never skimp on these things. After all, why waste your precious time and resources on inferior materials? Especially if you have to live with it.

I like to see people put different colors in every room so that every room that you enter is a treat to the eyes and the emotions. I like to see colors that gradually flow from one room to the next gracefully. It's the little things like that that create the nicer lifestyle. There is power in color. Colors effect our moods.

Some people that I have painted for will put the same drab color in every room throughout the house as if they got a special deal on the paint or something. And some people never paint any rooms until they move out. They never get to enjoy the paint job.

Now I'm not all that good at choosing colors. I remember a friend in school that had some of those doodle art pens and was coloring a psychedelic VW Beetle. All his colors he chose were amazing. They all went together so well and they were bright.

As long as I use a custom color matching chart from the paint store I can do a pretty good job when painting and decorating houses. Nonetheless some people have real knack for making awesome colors flow.

Lee Cusano has owned his own successful painting decorating business since 1991. He has also helped many others to start their own painting business with his "Paint Like a Pro Estimating and Advertising CD-ROM". Lee also offers a new free report titled "How To Quit Your Day Job This Week and Double or Triple Your Income". To get it please go to http://www.painting-business.com

Fixings Squeaky Stairs - Home Repairs

Oh yes the common problem of squeaking stairs in an older house. This could become very frustrating and annoying as you walk up and down the stairs. There seems to be one or two stair treads that are always squeaking. That annoying sound as you walk as softly as you can on your way down to the kitchen in the middle of the night to grab a quick snack.

The number one cause of squeaking stairs is when the nails used to fasten the stair tread to the stair strainers has worked its way loose. Over time as the lumber shrinks in the stair treads and the stairs stringers. You will start to develop a separation or a gap between the stair tread and the stair strainer.

The stair stringer can shrink as much as 3/8 of an inch in just a few years. I was building a home and went to measure the stair stringer that was 11 1/2 inches wide originally. Then I measured it after two months outside in the summer sun it now measured 11 1/16". I was amazed that the lumber could shrink that much in such a short period of time.

As the stair stringer shrinks it starts to pull away from the plywood or hardwood stair tread. As it starts to separate from the stair tread the nail will stay in its original position until the stair tread starts to put pressure on the nail eventually lifting it up a little bit higher than its original position.

As you step on the stair tread the squeaking sound you hear is the nail rubbing against the stair tread. There are a few ways to fix a squeaking stair tread. If you have access to under the stairway you can apply some adhesive along with a 10 inch 2 x 4 under the stair tread and attach it to the stair stringer.

First apply adhesive to two sides of the 2 x 4. The adhesive will be used to glue the stair tread to the stair stringer. You can use screws to screw the new 2 x 4 onto the side of the stair stringer.

If you cannot access the underside of the stairs and you have carpeting you can actually locate the stair stringer and drive a 2 inch screw through the carpeting in to the stair stringer. This will pull the stair tread down and will not allow it to rub up against the nail making that awful sound of a squeaking stair case.

If you have a finished wood stair tread you will not be able to screw through it into the stair stringer without damaging the finish on tread itself. It will be easier to access the stair stringer from below somehow and apply the 2 x 4 with the adhesive to stop the stair squeak.

You can apply these methods to as many stair treads that are squeaking without taking apart the entire staircase and rebuilding it.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He is currently working on more building stairs books and adding useful content to help solve problems created by the lack of construction knowledge in the building industry.

Stair Building

Mold On Oak Door Jamb

Gutter De-Icing Systems

Builders rush to finish the homes they build. One of the key milestones is in getting the building covered with a roof. As soon as the builders finish the roof, they quickly realize that a roof is not complete unless the rain gutters are installed on it.

Gutters not only serve a functional purpose. They also provide a decorative element to the home. A Gutter system protect walls as well as the foundation, which may not be as water resistant is the roof. The reason being is that the materials used to make them are different which - brick, wood, concrete, cement and siding, to name a few examples. When the walls and foundation of a residence become water logged, they lose their heat protection quality. They can also suffer from liquid infiltration. As a result, owners can be subject to a wet basement and underground. The reason is because water goes directly from the roof into the ground immediately near the residence. This is brought on by lack of a sufficient gutter and downspout solution. The addition result of an inadequate solution is the reduction in the life of the foundation and the overall property. There is also the strong possibility of a health hazard as mold loves to grow in cold, damp and dark places with the basement being an ideal breeding ground. Getting rid of mold can be a difficult proposition, once it is established.

During the winter time, gutters go through extreme temperatures changes including extra weight strain from ice buildup. These combined stresses test the durability of them. The fall of large masses of snow from the roof onto gutters may also stress the brackets used to keep the solution attached. Under such circumstances, they can easily be broken. What is worse, when the snow melts, water flows into the gutter solution and produces layer upon layer of ice, also known as an ice dam. Pressure and weight is distributed unevenly in this situation. When one part of the system fails, the entire system loses its ability to adequately protect the home.

One of the ways to prevent ice dams from forming is the use of de-icing cables. These gutter de-icing systems, which can start at $100 and up, melt the snow into liquid before it touches the gutter system. The melted water stays in liquid form long enough to allow it to successfully drain through the downspout and away from the property. One of the drawbacks of using this system is its reliance on electricity to operate. Some solutions come with a timer, precluding it from being on all the time. This can cut down on the costs of operation. Otherwise, they will need to be on throughout the winter. For areas of the country that get cold weather but infrequent snowfall, the better alternative is to go out and manually break up the ice yourself. If you get snow more than once a week, or do not want to spend the time regularly maintaining your gutters, the de-icing system is the way to go.

For more information about Gutters, please visit Gutter Guards.ws. You can reach it by clicking on the following link: http://www.GutterGuards.ws

If you want to learn more about gutter maintenance, you should read the article entitled, Gutter and Downspout cleaning. You can reach it by clicking on the following link: http://www.gutterguards.ws/Gutter-and-Downspout-Cleaning.html

Get The Best Estimate For The Cost Of A Remodel

The cost of your remodel depends upon several factors such as the cost of materials and fixtures, the extent of your remodeling plans and whether you choose to hire a general contractor or do it yourself.. Finding the right general contractor and subcontractors can be a big challenge. You can save time searching by getting free quotes from prescreened contractors.

There are several ways to get an estimate for the cost of a remodel project:

Cost per square foot

This is the most common way to do a quick estimate. This method simply assigns a cost per square foot of area that will be remodeled. The cost can vary between $100 to $700 per square foot.

You can quickly see that this estimate has little value since the range of potential costs is so great. While $700 per square foot is unusual and it is unlikely you could spend that, $100 per square foot is unrealistically low unless you make great efforts to minimize the cost.

The RemodelEstimates.com calculator gives a more accurate estimate by considering information about the rooms that will be remodeled, the level of finish that you want, and how you will manage the project.

Estimate from a contractor or an architect

With a general idea of the rooms that you want to remodel as noted above, you should be able to get an estimate of cost from a contractor or an architect. They will likely use a cost per square foot to calculate an estimate, but they will not use a range as broad as $100 to $700. Find a great contractor fast and for free. To ensure the quote from the contractor is accurate you need to give the complete information about your project. To make these tasks easier and your whole remodeling project run smoother you should invest in a good organizer like The Complete Remodeling Workbook and Organizer.

While this estimate will be much more accurate than an estimate based strictly on the square footage, you will not have the ability to change your preferences and get a new estimate very easily from a contractor or architect. The remodelestimates.com calculator uses the same types of information as an architect or contractor would, and because it is fully automated, it allows you to create estimates for different combinations of materials and room changes for free.

Stopped Losing Your Car Keys

Safe Stair Construction - Stair Building Tips

As a general rule of thumb in stair building the sum of the tread and riser should equal around 17 1/2 inches. This is a general rule of thumb for a comfortable, easy to walk up and down set of stairs.

For example if your stair tread is 10 inches and the stair riser is 7 1/2 inches you have a comfortable stairway. Walking up and down a stairway using this formula creates a comfortable set of stairs. The next time you walk down any uncomfortable set of stairs measure the stair tread and riser. You will be amazed at what you'll find.

For public stairs or heavily used stairs this method will become one of your best friends. On public stairs you have liability issues and of course lawyer issues if you are the owner of the building. If you are not building a safe set of stairs that meets your local building codes standards you could be in for a whopping financial nightmare.

Building safe stairs as a contractor is your obligation to society. I don't know how many times I come across a loose stair tread or a broken hand rail. One of the biggest problems I find is in the poorer neighborhoods you come across some major construction problems and safety hazards. I never have been able to figure out why a building owner would not want to protect himself financially and the people that occupy and use his buildings safety.

Here's something you need to avoid when using the stair building general rule of thumb. This rule of thumb does not apply to good to an 8 inch tread with a 9 1/2 inch stair rise. You don't want to be building a latter you want to be building a safe set up stairs.

The maximum stair rise you can use for most building codes is 8 inches. You will not find the stairway to comfortable with a 9 1/2 inch stair tread and an 8 inch riser. If you have no choice and are cramped for space and you can't redesign this stairway to fit in the house or building then at least make sure you have a nice sturdy grip able stair hand rail.

This formula works great when you are working with exterior landscaping and you have a long run of stairs with a small rise. For example: if you have a 14 inch stair tread and you use a 4 inch riser this will lead to a comfortable step.

Look for stairs in your neighborhood or around some apartment complexes that don't follow these rules and have 16 inch stair treads with 7 inch risers. You will find yourself taking two steps on the stair tread on every other step and it is not a real comfortable stairway.

Happy stair building and keep this formula in mind for a nice comfortable set of stairs in your building future.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He is currently working on more building stairs books and adding useful content to help solve problems created by the lack of construction knowledge in the building industry.

Last Stair Riser Problem

An Overview on Hot Tubs

A hot tub is like a small pool with seats and is filled with heated water in which you can soak for therapeutic purposes. There are small tubs for only one or two people and larger models with seating capacity for ten or twelve people.

The jets in the tub help the water pulsate so that you can enjoy a massage. The larger models are usually places outdoors in areas where you can have shelter from the elements of the weather. Simple tubs made of wood are generally used for soaking, while the larger fiberglass models are often referred to as spas and can be used for many different therapeutic uses.

Soaking in a hot tub or for about 15 minutes before you go to bed will help you get a good night's sleep. The hot water and the pulsating motion caused by the jets can help alleviate the aches and pains of sore muscles. The soothing effects of the heat and the pulses help to relax the muscles taking away feelings of stress. Infrared saunas will produce a similar effect on the body.

When you install a hot tub, you need some way of heating the water. You can attach either an electric or natural gas heater to the tub, but you can also use a wood-fired heater or a solar water heater. Keeping the water sanitized is essential because the warm environment is the perfect place for many organisms to thrive. You do have to be cognizant of the chemistry of the water so that it is healthy for you to soak in.

A wooden hot tub looks very much like a barrel. At one time all such tubs were constructed from redwood, but today you can have tubs made from cedar or oak as well. These tubs are deep and are constructed in such a way that you can easily have one as an insert on your deck to make it easy to get into the tub. The inside usually has one seat built around the ring of the tub or there may be two or three separate seats.

The plastic or fiberglass hot tub has molded seats with each seat having its own set of jets. You can arrange the jets so that they point at specific parts of your body. The jets can also be fine-tuned so that they rotate automatically providing a massaging effect on the body. These tubs are not as deep as the wooden varieties and are narrow enough to fit through normal doorways.

When you purchase a hot tub, you will also receive a starter kit that contains everything you need to take care of the water, once you have it in the tub and heated. This kit contains chlorine or bromine tablets or granules, a pH balancer and an agent to prevent the water from foaming because of the motion of the jets.

You do have to make sure you clean the tub on a regular basis, just as you do with your regular bathtub. If left unclean for a while, you will notice a buildup of organic materials on the inside. This doesn't mean that you will have to forgo that long soak you were looking forward to because there are shock treatments you can purchase that will clean the tub in a very short period of time.

You also need to use sparkling agents in a hot tub to keep the water as clear as possible. The regular use of these agents along with products that prevent chemical scaling on the inside of the tub will let you enjoy its benefits for many years to come.

Sarah Martin is a freelance marketing writer based out of San Diego, CA. She specializes in landscaping, home improvement, and installing infrared saunas. For various hot tub ideas and other spa accessories, please visit http://mybath.biz/.

Floor Framing Insulation

Constructing a Balcony, Deck, Or Porch

Your balcony, deck, or porch is possibly one of the most important places in your home. You or your family may possibly use them as frequently as your living room or television room. They are great places for having breakfast or dinner in the spring and summer, perfect for sitting out to read, play games, or sew, wonderful for hosting parties and barbeques, and even work well as a romantic location for you and your loved one to spend time together. These places deserve a lot of attention, and intricate planning. Oftentimes they are overlooked in building, remodeling, or decorating. You can possibly walk away from this guide with a fresh outlook on your outdoor living spaces, and with some great idea for their potential revival!

First, and foremost, clear away the clutter that is often thrown onto your back porch or deck. Beyond furniture, outdoor toys and items, and grills, your backyard does not need to be home to trash, junk, or storage items. Sift through everything in your outdoor living spaces, throw away what is unneeded, sell or donate the things you don't use, and you've got yourself a great start!

Once you have a clear space on your outdoor balcony, porch, or deck, divide it up into different areas. You can put a hammock or swing on one side, set up an umbrella, and add a nice dining area with table and chairs on another. If you have the means, install a screen over an area so as to create a separate porch. You can keep couches in a breakfast nook, or perhaps set up a table and chairs there for a more covered and weather-proof dining area. With summer comes summer storms, and having a screened porch is a great way to spend time outside while staying protected from the rain.

Make use of a blank space by planting a garden around it, decorating it with tall and leafy plants, or growing vegetables. Not only is it visually appealing, but it creates a useful and positive area to spend time in. Many people plant bamboo to differentiate between different parts of their balconies and deck. If you have a Jacuzzi in your backyard, consider using bamboo as a privacy shield around it. You can hang up lanterns, string or rope lights, and paper lights to produce a beautiful and sultry ambiance. Candles can be used all around your deck or balcony as well. Don't forget, you can purchase candles infused with citronella for a beautiful look with a useful effect- keeping the bugs away! Adirondack chairs are also popular. They are frequently seen at beach houses and in southern homes, and are a beautiful touch for any backyard furniture.

Mr. Oliver is a marketing agent of LifeStyle Builders. The new home builder provides custom home building throughout the Richmond Virginia area. For more information on their New Home Contractors please visit their website.

Concrete Patch Next To House