Home Improvement Articles

Almost without exception, planning a new kitchen is a daunting and challenging task. This is why no matter where you are in your life, it’s always a good idea to take account of the resources you plan to draw from before you start. This includes trusted friends who may have had work done in their own homes, a list of showrooms that you like to frequent, and professional contacts that you can consult along the way. A good, organized approach is your key to making your kitchen remodel an enjoyable process that will yield satisfying results for many years.

You should be prepared to think about this project from a number of different angles. Giving yourself the luxury of pulling ideas from different sources will be a major asset as you piece together a working plan. Create for yourself a folder to contain all of your clippings, taken from your favorite magazines, books, and even websites. Then determine if you are going to consult design professional and keep all the information related to that in a separate folder. Being able to contrast and compare the two sources will give you a more well rounded view on the process, and the realities of the project at hand.

At this point you might be ready to start thinking about the size of the project itself. Think about everything going on in your life, and then try to envision how different scales of projects will fit into that reality. You should ask, “how much can I feasibly bite off at this time, both financially and physically?” Take into account that remodeling can be a time consuming and mentally taxing endeavor. And thinking about your goals in light of this will help you to determine if your goals and expectations are in line with your budget.

For your assistance, I have outlined a number of different scenarios to help you to determine how different types of projects will impact your current situation:

A simple facelift: This type of project can pay off well in both the short and long term. With this type of plan most changes to be made are only cosmetic and can be completed in under a week. Your existing structure remains, but will receive a restoration to their former luster. You could easily make a move like this and have countertops and cabinets refaced, giving you fresh, new surfaces for between $500-$2500 dollars, depending on the materials in your kitchen.

An upgrade: This will usually happen without a lot of inside electrical work or changing of your utility scheme. But you will be trading in your old features for brand new ones, sometimes implementing an entirely new color palette. With this you will be going for new cabinets, counters, and possibly even flooring, and it you should expect it to run from $5000-$13000.

A re-configuration: With this your existing kitchen space will be redone in order to give you a new and better setup. You will likely have to move plumbing lines, electricity and HVAC in order to accommodate your changes, so it can take up to a month to complete. But what you end up with is more or less a brand new kitchen space that in no way resembles the former. You might be moving structures out, or adding an island to better utilize space, but you wont be knocking down any walls. Again, this could easily take up to a month, and costing between $10000-$30000.

Structural work: With this you will actually be removing walls in order to expand your existing space. Creating a kitchen “great room” is quite common these days, with kitchen walls being replaced with beams, and thus creating a large, open kitchen space that flows directly into a living room. This also could help to flood the room with abundant natural light, by adding windows and doorways where they were not before. On the very high end of this spectrum would be an entire room addition, which would be a new, separate structure adjacent to what you already have. For the low end of these types of project expect a budget between $20000-$50000, and on the high end over $100000. With the number of different trades that will be called in to complete this, the work can be relatively slow, taking over a month in many cases.

Let these different categories serve as a guide for the varying level of complexity that you will encounter in your project, but remember, these categories are not hard and fast divisions. They should serve to illustrate the varying levels of complexity that homeowners find themselves addressing. As a side note, in my experience a homeowner with some basic home improvement skills could probably pull off categories one and two. Category three will require a bit more skill, and four to five will certainly require other professionals such as architects, structural engineers, and contractors to pull off successfully.

Los Angeles contractor Marc Jannone has been in the homebuilding and real estate field for over a decade, working primarily in the westside communities of Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Westwood, and Venice.

The busiest place in the kitchen is at the sink, so it is not surprising they get their fair share of knocks chips and cracks, and over the years can become stained, and discoloured. The thought of replacing your kitchen sink yourself, if you are not a DIY enthusiast, has probably never crossed your mind. In fact if you are not a DIY type of person, it is probably as far from your mind as it can probably get. A daunting thought maybe but surprisingly it is a lot easier than you may think.

There are two types of sink you can install. A drop-in sink (or self-rimming sink) and an undermount sink. In this article I am going to concentrate on the former, as the undermount sink can only be installed in a solid, natural or on an engineered surface counter tops such as marble.

The drop in sink like the name suggests is manoeuvred into position by dropping the chassis into the hole which has been cut into the kitchen top. Luckily sinks tend to be made to a set size (unless your kitchen sink also has a drainer as part of the mould). Even double sinks tend to keep to the regular size of 22 inches by 33 inches by 8 inches. Of course, do not take this for granted, and double-check by measuring your sink before going out to buy a new one.

The first step is to take out your old sink. Before you start, as with all plumbing jobs, turn off the water at the main valve. Check there is no water in the pipes by letting the water run for a short while. You now need to disconnect the water supply lines from the tap. This pipe is found under the sink. Unscrew the central nut with an adjustable wrench. Have your bucket ready to catch any water that may have been left in the lines. Don’t worry about removing the tap from the sink as this can now be removed as one and replaced later.

If you do not have a rubbish disposal unit or a dishwasher attachment that is all you need do (be sure to follow manufacturer’s instructions for removal of the above items) as far as primary plumbing goes. You can now set about releasing the old sink. The drop-in sink is partly held on to the kitchen top by clips which are found under the sink unit. Undo the screws to release the clips.

Now returning to the top of the sink, look to see if there is a bead of sealant or caulk around the edges of the sink and the kitchen unit. If so you can remove this using a Stanley knife. Then you need to give the sink a bit of a nudge from underneath to release it. Depending on its size, you may need a friend to help you lift it out of the unit. Before installing your kitchen sink, give the unit top a clean where the old putty and sealant has been, so the new model will have a clean fit.

After ensuring the new sink fits snugly into the kitchen unit, turn it upside down and attach the clips as per the manufacturer’s instructions. The next thing to think about is the drain. Add a bead of putty to the top of the sink where the strainer will be fitted. Press the strainer firmly against the putty. Remove any putty from the rim of the strainer. Turning the sink over, add the gaskets and the threaded flange to the underside of the strainer. Add silicone sealant to all the edges of the sink. It is now ready to be set inside of the kitchen unit. You need to get this right first time, so ensure a friend is available to help maneuver the sink into the correct position.

After wiping away any excess putty or sealant, you need to tighten the screws on the clips under the sink and hook up your drains and water supply lines that you undid earlier. To make doubly sure you are not going to suffer any leaks, it is often useful to put an extra layer of sealant around the edge of the sink.

Now turn the water back on and check for leaks. Simple. And now all you have to do is do the washing up as you were asked to do in the first place.

Kitchen Sinks, Kitchen Taps and Kitchen Waste Disposal Units

When completing your kitchen remodel, one of the last purchases you will make before installing the kitchen island, Overhanging Countertop or the beautiful Shelving, will be Angle Brackets. Some people refer to them as Corbels, or Wall Mounting Braces.

The hardware that is essential in supporting these surfaces comes in various materials. Wood, metal, cast Iron and Wrought Iron, to name a few of the materials used today in support hardware.

If you didn’t bother to research these items you probably would think there isn’t much to an Angle Bracket, in the way of function, style and design. But, since your taking the time to read this article, it shows you have an interest in this topic, and you are learning that you don’t have to settle for the ordinary Angle Brackets your local hardware store offers.

The internet has become a great resource for finding some of the newest products in building materials. Hand Forged Wrought Iron Angle Brackets/Corbels have fully developed in design, function and beauty, and is a great product for interior and exterior use.

There’s more, to an Angle Bracket, than the ordinary wood corbels, in home improvement. You’ll find some of the most creative heavy duty support in Wrought Iron products. Arches, Scrolls and Wild Coil Bars are creating a stir in the industry.

A support bracket should measure close, in depth, to the depth of the surface you are supporting. If you are looking to support a 12″ overhang of granite, you will be able to use a 10-11 1/2″ Deep heavy duty wrought iron bracket. You would not want to put a 12″ Deep metal bracket under an 18″ or 20″ countertop. The bracket would be too small. It would not give proper support and it would also look disproportioned in size.

Heavy Duty is referring to the gauge of the metal or Iron used in the bracket. A thin flimsy metal bracket will not do a good job in supporting a heavy surface, such as granite or stone. And, always look for quality and craftsmanship when shopping for a support bracket.

Don’t hesitate to step out of the box and find extraordinary Home Improvement products. Look for unique products that are not carried in the local hardware store. Find products that your friends and neighbors will say, “Where did you get that?”

If you take the time, you’ll find the Right Angle Bracket for the Right Support in your kitchen remodel.

Quality in Hand Forged Iron Products that provide style, design and quality have put this company, http://www.shorelineornamentaliron.com at the top in online shopping. This company has found a niche in Quality and Craftsmanship and commitment to customer service. Products, such as, Iron Angle Brackets, Candle Sconces and Wall Decor are designed and handcrafted in their studio.

What is electric underfloor heating? This type of heating can save the homeowner a lot of money, because it not only saves energy in the home, but is affordably priced and is not hard to install in any room.

Many types of heating for a room can waste energy and are hard to install, but not electric underfloor heating. It is much less difficult to install than water-based underfloor heating, and has become a popular way for heating a room, especially for someone that lives in a cold climate.

It is clean and can be much healthier not to have to breathe in smoke from a stove or open fire, or anything else that is harmful.

The system consists of installing a special type of mesh wiring under the flooring of the room where you want your heating system. Before installing the wiring under your floor, call a flooring professional to make sure that you are able to install an electric underfloor heating system under your type of flooring, as some types of flooring are not be suitable.

When your system is installed, and wired up to the main electricity it will heat up quickly to warm the entire floor. It is a very simple way to get the heat that you need in your home without the fuss.

Electrical underfloor heating is one of the best kinds of heating for any home. It is a safe system for the home and can cause fewer allergens to circulate, making the air healthier for people to breathe. It is easy to install and can be installed under most types of flooring. It is one of the better choices in heating on the market today.

Most floors in a home are cold to walk on with bare feet. Once you have underfloor heating, walking on the floors in your home will make you want to go around barefoot because it feels so nice and cosy.

This heating system for the floor is durable and long-lasting and will save money for the homeowner. When it comes to your home, you should not cut corners on your heating solution with the price of electricity being so high. An electric underfloor heating system is cheap to run by comparison with other electric heating and will do a great job of heating your home from the floor up.

If you’re looking for a new heating system – consider electric underfloor heating for all the benefits that it will provide over the years for you and your family.

If you want to find out more, click the link for lots more information about electrical underfloor heating from a website which offers an excellent independent guide to the subject.

Sarah Clark is a freelance author who writes for many popular home & garden publications.

Retrofitting underfloor heating is not only possible, but it comes with a serious array of advantages. As you may already know, this type of heating represents the peak of modern heating technology. Even when retrofitting, the costs of installing an underfloor heating system can be lower than those of a traditional heating system – especially if you choose electric underfloor heating. You won’t need to spend a lot of habitable space on radiators, fireplaces and so on and so forth. Furthermore, the amount of dust produced in the house is dramatically reduced, and that will improve the air quality in your home.

The problem with retrofitting wet underfloor heating is that it does not come cheap and it is not particularly easy. However, that does not mean it is not possible. It would be best if you choose to retrofit with good reason. For example, if you are renovating a property that you are planning to sell and you want to get more profit out of it or sell it faster, installing a system would be a great idea. Any buyer with enough sense will choose a house with underfloor heating over one with traditional heating. You may be able to increase your asking price by a lot more than you invest in the new heating system.

If you do not plan on selling the property, you should think about a valid reason for the expense. If you plan on redecorating the house and changing the floor finishing, it would represent the perfect excuse to install underfloor heating in your existing house. Also, if something happens to your current heating system and it’s beyond repair, it would also represent a valid reason. Finally, if your current heating system just doesn’t cut it anymore and you want to increase the comfort and quality of your life, go right ahead and retrofit.

The warmth will be delivered by pipes going through your floors, or by electric wires or mats beneath the floor. You will have to make very sure that the pipes or wires are well insulated from the lower part of the floor. Otherwise, a heat exchange will occur and you will lose energy.

Speaking of energy, retrofitting a system would be absolutely useless if your house is not properly insulated. Before you think about underfloor heating, you should make sure you have double glazed doors and windows. What is more, more than 30 percent of all heat is lost through the walls, so you also have to make sure that they are properly insulated. If you don’t have all of these things, you should forget about a new heating system, at least for the time being.

So can you retrofit underfloor heating? Of course you can, but you should go about it in a wise way. This type of heating system is all about efficiency. It gives the most heat for the least amount of spent resources, so it would be a pity to lose all that heat through below standard window and wall insulation.

If you want to find out more about how to retrofit underfloor heating just click the link which offers an excellent independent guide to the subject.

Sarah Clark is a freelance author who writes for many popular home & garden publications.

Few cathedrals and churches can currently meet heating costs with ease

Only buildings such as York Minster (a Gothic cathedral in York, and one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe alongside Cologne Cathedral), and Canterbury Cathedral in Kent (one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England) receive enough visitors each year to comfortably bear heating costs.

Other cathedrals and churches struggle with finding the correct balance between keeping the building at an appropriate temperature without having to pay eye-watering fuel bills. And that’s when the heating system is working well.

Very few churches across the UK are newly built. Most are old buildings with a fixed heating system that has probably been in place for decades. Because of their age, many of these are faulty and prone to breaking down. Being dated systems with poorly working controls, parts can be difficult or even impossible to source, meaning that an entire system may need to be replaced, at considerable expense.

Hiring heaters is a flexible option

During heating system maintenance, servicing or replacement at a small, medium or large-sized church, the option to hire heaters from a heater hire specialist can prove cost-effective. And rentable heaters can also be used to temporarily relieve severely cold/freezing conditions where heating systems simply do not have the capacity to heat a church, where heating in the main hall needs to be topped up at certain times of the week in an intermittently-occupied building.

Leased heating can also be a longer term solution when smaller parts of a church premises are used individually: for regular parent/toddler groups, prayer meetings, brownie/scout groups, or church committee meetings, etc.

In addition, the current economic crises has impacted negatively on church funds across the land, and so many churches are renting out their premises (or parts of it) for other more ad hoc activities, such as: children’s parties, exercise groups, art classes, or to musical groups for rehearsals. it is much more economical and energy efficient to heat one part of the building in these situations too rather then turn on the entire building’s heating system. This is because, often in older buildings the central heating system is not divided into separate zones as is currently required by today’s building regulations, and so heating one small room required the entire building to also be heated.

Why only heater hire specialists should be used

Heating a church is a complex affair and the cost of getting it wrong could be disastrous in terms of the building fabric and church finances. A wealth of experience and vast expertise is something churches should seek out in a heater rental specialist.

Hired in heaters – so many benefits

Renting heaters from an established specialist is generally quick, affordable and hassle-free. At their depots across the country they will have a large and comprehensive range of electric, gas and oil-fired heaters. Churches can be provided with the safest and most effective heaters for their specific location and to reflect the activities and events they host.

Portable heaters for hire are energy efficient, environmentally-friendly, and can be:

Used immediately
Easily stored
Rented on a short contract basis

And as we have seen:

The perfect stop-gap between the removal of an existing (fixed) heating system at a church, and the installation of a new one
Hired during planned servicing or maintenance work to a fixed heating system
Added to an existing church heating solution when extra heating is required

Finally, a specialist heater hire company will also supply and manage all the fuel a small, medium or large church needs (gas or oil), at competitive rates.

Article submitted by Steve Reeve, Sales Director at Andrews Sykes. With over 25 years’ experience, Andrews Sykes provides heater hire for churches, using machinery sourced from the world’s top manufacturers.

As a homeowner we often want to increase the value of our home. You know it is a smart investment because while even though the economy is currently down, a home will always grow in value with each improvement that you make. But because the economy is in the dumps, it is no longer wise or practical to take out a home equity loan and frivolously invest. As a homeowner in this tight economy you have to be smart about how you spend your money and where you spend your money.

There are dozens of options on how to invest your money into your home and to improve your home’s value and, just as important, your home’s aesthetics. One way that you can invest into your home is often forgotten about because you walk on it every day. Investing in the floors of your home seems simple and doesn’t seem to be a profitable investment, but it is. The example we will use is adding wood flooring to your home. Wood is often overlooked as an investment option because we think of it purely as an aesthetic improvement. This is why wood floors are more than just a floor.

Wood is coming back into prominence as a flooring option for many different reasons; the first may be the most important if you are ecologically minded. Wood is now being harvested sustainably because of new practices that are environmentally friendly. Clear cutting is a form of harvesting that is dying out because it kills the land and is economically unsustainable. New harvesting methods have been created and now there are now more trees in America and Canada than there has ever been since the recording of such stats. Lumber companies realized that while clear cutting brought in huge amounts of wood, they were quickly killing the future of their industry. New methods have been created that are similar to what hunters use, if the tree isn’t old enough or grown enough it is left to be until a later date. Harvesting companies also plant trees in the areas that they just cut.

Now that you know that the wood floors you want are not killing the environment you can also take to heart the fact that wood can increase the value of your home by up to 20% or even more, depending on the quality of wood and how much of it you use to floor your home. Why does wood add all this value? The answer lies in the length of life wood has. Because of modern wood treatments and the quality of wood selected, on average wood floor lasts 40 years! This is 4 times longer than the longest life expectancy of carpet flooring! High quality wood has even been known to last over 100 years. Wood flooring if properly treated and maintained can last a long time and this is one of the biggest reasons wood adds value to your home.

Though the most important reason of all is the aesthetic value of wood and how it can make a house a home. With so many different types of timber to choose from, a home owner can design a floor that fits their needs and their sense of style. From choices like a dark rich Maple wood floor, to a beautifully light Cherry wood floor, the options are numerous and the styles are almost unlimited. In the end choosing a wood floor not only improves the value of your home, it also creates beautiful floors that can last decades. For more information, we recommend visiting your local flooring installer and finding out how an investment in wood floors more than pays for its self over the years.

Jesse is a professional Internet Marketer based in Phoenix, AZ. Jesse is an author for a successful Online Marketing Company. To learn more about Wood Flooring and Wood Floors please visit http://www.brandicarpet.com

Ceramic tile flooring is lovely to look at, but if it is not maintained properly, most will soon find out that their flooring will not only have a hazy appearance to it, but also experience problems with the grout in between the tiles, which could get rather dirty. In order to properly take care of this type of flooring, here are some tips you would do well to follow.

Make sweeping a habit.

No matter what type of flooring you have, whether it is marble or laminate, you have to remember that daily maintenance is key to preventing damage. You should therefore make it a habit to sweep your ceramic tile flooring every day. Since dirt can adhere easily to the tiles, you have to be diligent when it comes to cleaning or you could be facing more work later on. It is highly recommended that you sweep rather than vacuum since the latter can scratch and affect the sheen of your ceramic tile flooring relatively fast.

Mop on a weekly basis.

If you want your ceramic tile flooring to always look like you just had it recently installed, mopping on a weekly basis is a must. Do not forget to use a damp mop (tip: lukewarm water will give you the best results) and lightly sweep the tile, taking care not to use a lot of muscle or you may unintentionally damage your flooring. If the grout in between the tiles is starting to look spotty or is starting to have a dirtier appearance, pick up a good grout cleaner and clean it with a sponge or cloth.

Prevent scratches with a mat.

Each home has its own share of high traffic areas, where floor damage is most likely to occur. These areas usually include the kitchen, hallways, and even the living room. If there is ceramic tile flooring installed in any of these areas, it is best to prevent damage by using protective materials such as a doormat near the front door or even a hallway runner throughout the halls. These will not only prevent dirt from damaging the tiles, but also prevent scratches from happening as well.

Some quick tips

- Make sure that when there is a spill, you will not delay cleaning your floors.

- Remember that no flooring type is indestructible. With enough force, tiles can crack or even chip.

- With furniture, try to place protective guards on the bottom of the legs to prevent surface scratches.

Ryan Garcia writes for L & S Carpet Inc. offers premium laminate flooring los angeles.

Although we are deep in a recession, and by all accounts it looks as if it is only going to get worse, there are some business that thrive in a recession and expand rapidly.

The problem for these business is sometimes with all the doom and gloom on the news it can hinder the companies growth because the negative propaganda plants a seed in the business owners mind. Should i take on more staff? should we relocate the business to a larger premises? Ill wait to see how things pan out…

This article is for all the companies that have run out of space at their existing premises but need to expand. Ever heard of a mezzanine floor?

A Mezzanine floor is a steel structure that is designed with the idea of creating another level of workable space within your building. If you have any head height in the building a mezzanine floor can allow you to double your floor space at incredibly low prices.

They are really affordable, amazingly fast to install and such a great product you will wonder why you didn’t get one sooner.

Constructed from steel with a 38mm chipboard deck which acts as a platform they can be used for storage, office, production or retail purposes and can hold up to a ton per square metre.

Mezzanine floors are suited to companies of all sizes. Some mezzanine floors are small and allow local/ small business the ability to get say for instance 2000 sq ft of useable space out of a 1000 sq ft unit, whilst large companies can use mezzanine floors for large production areas, staff canteens, office space or plain old storage.

You will also notice them on virtually every shopping trip you take to a retail park. That’s right the second tier that you are walking on is a mezzanine. Made from Steel, independent of the building structure with a chipboard deck. You would never know, because if it’s designed properly it will be a rock solid structure.

If your company is looking to expand, before you start looking for a new place, walk out into your warehouse and take a look above your head. If you have head height, then use it for a mezzanine floor. You don’t have to pay business rates on it and for around £70 per square metro you can give your business back the freedom to grow and develop once again.

David Newsome is Sales Director at one of the North of England’s leading mezzanine floor and office fit out companies.

Question: I am looking at an application where I need to protect holes in precast concrete structures from filling with water. Will self adhesive films stick to a very smooth concrete finish?

Answer: If you were to try to use a self adhesive film on concrete such as a Glass Plastic self adhesive product, regardless of how smooth the finish, you would swear it had no adhesive. Yet if you took the same roll and tried it on glass, it would stick beautifully. Part of what we take advantage of with glass protection is the ionic nature of glass.

For your project, a much more aggressive adhesive would be needed. This depends on how smooth the concrete being covered is, and whether or not it has been sealed. We have had quite a few customers use one of our products to cover concrete while they are re-surfacing asphalt parking lots. This is honestly about the only experience we have with covering concrete, because we normally recommend against it. The product that has been used is a 6 mil film with an adhesive system called 479. It is fairly aggressive as surface protection films go, but this is normally needed to adhere to concrete, and even then the concrete needs to be pretty smooth or it will not adhere well enough to support its own weight.

It is important to know how long the film would be in place. Surface protection films must be applied to cured surfaces in temperatures fairly close to room temperature for the adhesive systems to “wet out” properly. In colder climates, quite a few of our customers warm the rolls, and say they work pretty well on colder surfaces.

Microscopically speaking, concrete has a very open porous system, and it often holds quite a bit of moisture. Moisture is the enemy of adhesive systems of the types used on surface protection films. A water-based adhesive system is slippery until the water is removed, then it becomes sticky. If water is present it can re-hydrate the adhesive system to some degree, and cause not only the loss of adhesion, but can also cause adhesive residue transfer. If the surface protection film is left on concrete for an extended period of time, adhesive residue transfer becomes more and more likely. Really the only applications where we have had reports of it being used successfully are for days, not weeks or months.

If the concrete is sealed, then the film adheres much easier, and the chances of problems are reduced significantly. Once the film is well adhered to sealed concrete, it will usually stay adhered, even during inclement weather.

Lee Hinsley- Global Plastic Sheeting, http://www.globalplasticsheeting.com Global plastic sheeting carries a wide variety of plastic sheeting products for use in construction, aerospace, shipbuilding and more. If you have an unusual application where you think the use of plastic sheeting could help you, ask for Lee Hinsley. Lee has worked in this industry for 20 years, and will be happy to help you research your unique project application.