All Entries in the "HOME IMPROVEMENT" Category
Ice Damns: Getting Rid of an Annoying and Dangerous Issue
Although the ice dams may look pretty during the winter, you should also consider that they also represent danger to certain parts of the house. This is because they could make the water pour back in the house, peeling the paint down, sagging and staining ceilings, and so on.
How do they form?
In order to be able to prevent them, first you should know how these dams come to life. At the beginning the heat from the attic warms the roof but not the eaves. Because of the warmth the snow melts on the rooftop, but it freezes again at the eaves which are cold.
This is how the ice is formed at the eaves. There is more water coming from the melting snow, building up. The water could get under the shingles and go right back in your home.
How to Get Rid of them?
There are many options to get rid of them like:
1. Heated cables
One of the options you have in order to take care of the problem is to use heated cables. You should secure them to the edge of the roof in order to equalize the temperature inside and outside the roof. In case you would like to use this method, you should make sure to install the cables before the cold weather hits.
The Top Things to Remember with DIY Home Improvement
Most people think about doing some DIY home improvement to give them something to do in their spare time but you have to realize that these kinds of projects usually take a lot of hard work. You get a lot of satisfaction at the end of the project when you see everything you’ve accomplished and how hard you worked, but the actually job of getting it done can take a good amount of time.
Sometimes a little home improvement cannot be ignored because your house is becoming to fall apart from the inside.
You have to keep your eyes and ears open when you are doing some DIY home improvement because you can get some good tips from the places you’d least expect. Plenty of people have dealt with doing their own home improvements in the past, so these are the people you will want to talk to when you need some help.
Most people will be willing to help a newcomer to the world of home improvement because they know all about the hard work that is involved with the entire process.
When Your Adult Child Moves Back Home
In these difficult economic times, more and more young people are relying on their families to help them find their feet. Moving back in with a parent can be great – not only does it save money, but also you’re living with someone who knows how to work the washing machine. However, it can also lead to arguments, personality clashes and misunderstandings.
So if your son or daughter is thinking of moving back home, think carefully about the best way to help them and be prepared for a few rocky moments: they’re all grown up now with a will of their own. Below are 3 things to consider:
1. Do the math
Extra people under your roof doesn’t just mean you’ll be paying out more for water, heating and gas – everything from your weekly grocery shop to your home insurance is going to be affected. Draw up a budget which includes every monthly outgoing and work out how your finances are going to fit together – would it be cheaper for you to make a contribution to their rent in another house?
Pipe Insulation Tips and How to Do It on Your Own
You might be one of those people who like to handle things themselves DIY style; and so you may be interested in tube insulation that you can do on your own. The best course of action is to buy especially created foam tubes that are easy to install. In case the pipes are exposed, installing the insulation is very simple, but things get more complicated in case they are embedded in walls.
There are some aspects that you will have to pay attention to. When you are buying the foam, you should choose those sizes that allow you to have to throw away the least amount of foam. It is also very important to match the diameter of the pipes with the diameter of the foam.
The capacity of the insulation foam is measured in R values, and this varies between 2 and 4. The higher the value is, the better the insulation is, but the price also rises according to the R value.
Usually there is a slit made along the length of the foam that is created by the manufacturer. If this is not the case then you will have to use a utility knife to create it.
Solar Power Integration into the Modern Lifestyle
If you stay in an area with plentiful sunshine, it is a shame not to incorporate solar power into your daily life in some form or fashion. Heating and cooling solutions, electrification of the home at least in part, can be quite effectively accomplished by using solar power.
Stories about homeowners going solar and making a considerable saving are now a rising trend. Many experts have opined that solar energy is the way forward, not only because it is non-polluting and environment friendly, but because it is cheap (after the initial purchase and installment of the panels) and is virtually inexhaustible (as against depleting reserves of fossil fuels).
Solar power not only makes sense because of energy savings today, but also adds to the resale value of your home, so that at least some of that investment can be recovered at a later date.
Solar power is catching on in a big way, as evidenced by stories such as the one about the Hawaiian island of Oahu –
a community consisting of 2000 military families will now be powered by solar energy and is slated to become one of the largest solar powered communities in the United States.
Know Your House and the Parts You Didn’t Know How to Name
It might have happened to you that you have been talking about a house and you find yourself looking for your words, not knowing what the name of certain parts of the house is. This may be a bit weird, especially in case you are talking to someone who really knows his self around houses.
(photo credit: www.thisoldhouse.com)
Enfilade
Do you have any idea what that is? Well, it is a series of doors placed in a row, without any interruptions. Such elements are quite common in case of larger homes.
Haunch
Do you have a haunch? You may have, but it is possible that you don’t even know about it. In case you have an arch, most probably it has a curving part bookened by the peak and it could be a molding or capital abutment.
Inglenook
It is possible that you have never heard about such a thing, and the truth is that quite few homes have it. It is nook found besides a fireplace that in the majority of the cases it used for seating.
The Beginner’s Guide to Home Improvements via Solar Panels
One of the most popular topics in our days is ‘going green’. This is something that affects not only the adult generation, but seniors and children as well.
When people talk about ‘green’ homes, they usually refer to energy, but there are also some other aspects of life that can be turned green, and such examples are hybrid cars, wind energy, reusable bags, eco-friendly clothing, and recycled home décor. All these represent a part of the defense line for the safety of Earth.
Mankind has come up with alternative options for fuel, and in our days people are talking more and more about saving energy.
There are two major types of plans for solar houses. One of them is the ‘Passive Solar Plan’. This refers to trapping the solar energy and using it as part of the design of the house.
This kind of plan could be effective or not, based on where the house is located; the climate could be cooler, such as in the case of the Northeast, or the climate could be warmer, like in the case of Southwest.
Budget Upgrades for a Refreshed Home Décor
Renovating or upgrading your home need not be an expensive project. Small inexpensive changes and additions can go a long way to give your home a new and fresh look. One of the easiest ways to save money while contemplating renovations is to look for easy to do DIY projects.
Wall paints and floor paints are one of the easiest ways to give a room or a home a completely new look. Get yourself a can of wall paint and bring life to a drab room. All you need is a weekend to transform a home. Use of bold lush colors can help bring in life.
(photo credit: thisoldhouse.com)
Floor paints too can uplift a room. They can be used on most surfaces and you can paint the floor in a pattern or go wild with colors to bring more vitality to the room.
Add elegance to any room with the help of crown moldings. They are now available in easy to install styles that help you add plenty of charm to a room or an entire home. The new generation of crown moldings is made of polystyrene and can be easily cut with a hand saw.
The Smartest DIY Fix for the Little Things at Home
If you have a house, you can be sure that things will go wrong from time to time, but if this happens, you shouldn’t panic: there are some repairs that you can do on your own, without having to spend too much money.
In case a tile happens to break, the first thing that you have to do is to remove the grout around it with the help of a grout saw that you can find for a couple of dollars at every hardware store. Remove the entire tile that has been affected in case it already started to chip.
If about half of the tile is still intact, make a hole in with a masonry drill that will break the tile and remove the pieces from the center outwards. Get the new tile and glue it with and adhesive. In the end all you have to do is to apply the new grout to the edges.
If you have vinyl in the house, after a time it might get torn. In this case you should apply some silicone-base seam sealer that fills the tear and wipe the excess off with the help of a piece of dry cloth. Another solution that you may try in case of it is a no-wax floor and if the tear is small, rub soap bar sideways until the soap fills the cut.
From Garage to a Cozy Corner for the Afternoons
There are all sorts of rooms in a house, and a lot of people think that they can only be used for the purpose they have been built. In case you feel the need of something, what do you do? You get it, right? So in case you need another room in the house, you will start looking around and find some space that isn’t used optimally.
In the end you might see that you have a garage that you could turn into something else, like a cozy room to spend some quality time there with your family.
For this little project you will have to redo the ceiling, add insulation and wallboard to the walls, add an insulated subfloor, and you should also throw in some custom add-ons like a beverage fridge and media equipment to help you enjoy the afternoons.
The under-counter fridge is a great idea, especially in case you are planning on using the room during parties. Even though you’re not really a big party fan, the family members could always need something to drink. This way you won’t have to run back to the house every time you need a glass of water.
