Posts from — May 2009

Install Wall-to-Wall Carpeting -1

Before installing the carpeting, prepare the floor. Move all furniture out of the room and remove doors that open into the room. Pound in any loose nails and reset squeaky floorboards with flooring nails, using a nail set to drive the heads below the floor surface. Condensation can be a problem when resilient flooring is carpeted; if the floor is covered with resilient tile or sheet flooring, remove the old flooring and then prepare the subfloor.

To complete preparations for the carpet installation, remove floor register covers and, if you want it to cover the carpeting, quarter-round baseboard molding. Fill in any wide cracks in the floor with wood putty, smoothed over with a putty knife, and let the patches dry completely. Vacuum the room thoroughly before you start.

The first step is nailing down the fastening strips. Starting at a corner, nail strips along the edge of the floor, ¼ inch from the wall, with their teeth pointing toward the wall; use a tack hammer to drive the preset nails through the strips and into the floor. Wear work gloves to protect your hands. To make sure the strips are nailed evenly and to maintain the ¼ -inch gap, slide a ¼ -inch-thick piece of scrap wood, on edge, between the strip and the wall as you nail each fastener into place. Work around the room, sliding this guide board along the wall as you nail the fastener strips into place.

To work around corners, cut fastener strips to fit with a small handsaw. Nail strips in front of radiators unless there’s enough clearance under them to admit the knee kicker with room to spare there usually isn’t. Set strips closely around open floor registers. Nail a metal door edging strip across the floor in each doorway, open rim pointing into the room and teeth pointing out. The rim should line up exactly under the edge of the door when both carpet and door are in place.

Installing carpeting takes preparation and care, but it doesn’t take much special skill. Very large rooms require power stretchers, so leave those to the professionals-the rest of the house is yours. Tools: measuring rule, hammer, nail set, screwdriver, putty knife, vacuum cleaner, work gloves, tack hammer, ¼ -inch-thick piece of scrap wood, small handsaw, heavy scissors, staple gun, paintbrush or fine-toothed notched trowel, utility knife with sharp heavy-duty blades; knee kicker, available on rental from most carpet dealers; block of scrap wood, plane. Materials: graph paper, flooring nails, wood putty, tack-less carpet fastening strips, metal door edging strip for each doorway in room, latex or vinyl foam carpet padding, foam padding adhesive, heavy-duty staples, precut and preseamed carpeting. Time: 1 to 2 days, depending on preparation necessary.

Probably the most difficult part of installing carpeting is calculating exactly what to buy and how to place it. Carpeting is sold in 9-foot, 12-foot, and 15-foot widths; padding is sold in standard 4 ½ -foot rolls. Before you buy, measure the room to be carpeted and draw a floor plan on graph paper make sure your measurements are exact. Mark the exact position and width of all doors, windows, fireplaces, radiators, and other wall interruptions, and include the full depth of door frames. Take this floor plan with you to the carpet dealer.

Plan the layout of the carpeting and the padding carefully with the dealer to take advantage of the full width of the carpeting and to minimize seaming in heavy-traffic areas. Calculate the square yardage to be carpeted-length times width, divided by 9-and take the dealer’s advice on the lengths of carpeting and padding you’ll need.

It is possible to cut and seam the carpeting yourself, but this can be tricky. In a small room, no wider than the carpet roll, you won’t have to make seams; otherwise, have the carpet dealer cut and seam the carpeting to fit the room.

The dealer should also determine the amount and type of tackless strip fastener you need. The fastener comes in 4-foot strips. The type depends on the thickness of your carpet and the floor you’re covering; the strips have preset edge tacks and preset nails for installation over wood or concrete. Be sure to buy the right kind, and buy a strip or two extra to allow for mistakes. Have metal door edging strips cut to the exact measure of your doors.

Finally, rent a knee kicker from the carpet dealer. The kicker is used to stretch the edges of the carpet onto the fastening strips.

In the past and even today, carpet is very popular with home owners all across the U.S.  Carpet is the most practical, fashionable, and versatile choice of flooring out there, as it also accounts for more than half of all flooring purchases that are made each and every year.  The fact is, carpet has outsold every other type of flooring for more than 60 years.

Carpet offers you several advantages that other flooring options can’t compete with.  Below, you will find many of the features that carpet will add to your home.

Warmth
Carpet is the best choice you can make for your bedroom, family room, and other areas where you need warmth underfoot.

Insulation
Both carpet and carpet padding will provide an extra layer of much needed insulation between the floors of your home.  Depending on the density and weight of the carpet, it contributes to the R-value of your home, which adds to the energy efficiency as well.

Safety
Carpet offers a slip resistant surface that will prevent accidents along with a natural cushion in the event of someone falling.  For young children and the elderly, this is very important.

Reduction in sound
Carpet will also reduce noise better than any other type of flooring.  Carpet works to dampen noise in three ways:
1.  Reduces surface noise from foot traffic
2.  Absorbs airborne sound
3.  Blocks transmission of sound These qualities are valuable in apartments as well as semi-detached homes.

Surface
Adding carpet to a room can also disguise any existing damage to the floor and also hide any other problems such as warped floors.  The thicker density the carpet is, the more problems it will be able to hide.

Easy to care for
The carpets of today are more stain resistant than they have ever been in the past, which makes cleaning even the worst possible spills easier than ever.  No matter type of spill it may be, there is always a way to clean it up.

Clean air
Research has proven that carpet can indeed improve the quality of air by trapping allergy causing dust and allergens if it is properly cleaned and maintained.

Variety of use
Carpets aren’t only for floors anymore, which is a really great thing.  You can easily add carpet to steps, stairs, walls, posts, and other non level surfaces, without having to worry about it slipping, lifting, or buckling.

Flexibility
Carpet is the primary foundation in almost any room.  Because it is available in a variety of different colors and textures, it helps to create an unlimited number of possibilities for decorating.  From the neutral tones to rich solids, carpet is the first step you can take to make your home look better than ever.

Low cost
Carpet doesn’t cost a lot of money, as it offers an economical alternative to the other types of expensive flooring.  Even with professional installation, you won’t pay near as much as you would for hard surfaces.  Unlike hard surfaces, carpet can keep you comfortable if you decide to lay down on it.

Life span
The carpets of today are very durable and can outlast most other types of flooring available on the market.  All you have to do is select a type of carpet that has a life span of 5 – 30 years or more, which is very common now days.

Warranty
With most manufacturers, you can get great warranties with your carpet purchase.  This way, you’ll be protected when you install your new carpet.  Once installed, all you have to do is enjoy it – as the warranty will ensure that you are very well protected.

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Stair carpeting takes a lot more abuse than room carpeting, and it often wears out much sooner. Replacing a worn stair runner or carpeting a bare stairway is no problem when you know the technique.

Tools: pliers, vacuum cleaner, measuring tape or rule, chalk or pencil, work gloves, small handsaw, hammer, heavy scissors, 3/4-inch-thick piece of scrap wood, staple gun, utility knife with sharp heavy-duty blades, awl, tack hammer, stair wedging tool or broad-bladed chisel; knee kicker, available on rental from most carpet dealers. Materials; tackless carpet fastening strips, heavy rubber or felt stair carpet padding, paper, heavy-duty staples, carpet runner.
Time: about 3 to 4 hours for a short straight stairway, longer for long or winding stairways.

First remove old carpeting from the stairs. Use pliers to pull up any carpet tacks left in the wood, being careful not to splinter it. Vacuum the stairway thoroughly.

Measure the stairs carefully for the new carpet. On straight stairs, stretch a measuring tape or rule around one entire stair, starting at the inside edge of the tread and moving over the outside of the tread and down along the riser below it to the top of the next tread. Add 1 inch and multiply by the number of steps, not counting the last riser to the top landing. Measure any landings and add these measurements to the tread figure; add 1 inch to be turned in at the ends. Divide the total by 36 to determine the number of yards of carpet runner you need. You’ll need roughly the same length of padding; the exact length used will be less because the padding doesn’t cover the stair risers completely.

To measure for carpeting on a winding stairway, first measure straight stairs and landings as above. Then measure each wedge-shaped or turning step at the widest point the carpet will cover, and add 1 inch. Measure each wedge-shaped step separately. To determine the number of yards of carpet runner and padding you need, add all the stair measurements together; add 1 inch for top and bottom edges and divide by 36.

Carpet runner is sold in standard 27-inch and 36-inch widths; buy the width that best fits your stairway. Don’t try to use carpeting left over from a room installation-cut-to-fit carpet pieces have to be turned under at the edges all along the stairs, and that’s tricky. Buy 6 inches or so more than you think you need, just to be safe.

Choose a high-quality heavy rubber or felt stair carpet padding; it doesn’t pay to economize here. Ask the carpet dealer to figure the amount of padding and the number of tackless fastening strips you’ll need-the strips will have to cover roughly twice the width of the stairway for each step.
Finally, rent a knee kicker from the carpet dealer. The kicker is used to stretch the carpeting tightly onto the fastening strips at each riser-tread inter section, producing a more stable runner than hand stretching techniques.

Many people say that the tap water all over the world it is not safe for drinking. They I right. Research studies conducted all over the world show that the water contains harmful chemicals.

Even in the major cities in the States the water can not be drank safely.

I had to reconsider my option of drinking tap water. It is not safe. Then I did a market study and saw the prices on the water. I was scared when I saw the result. A family that buys bottled water to drink spends around 3000 dollars a year just for that. I decided to look for other ways to get safe and clean water.

If it was possible, a less expensive way to do that. After a short period of time I discovered that using a tap water filter helps me eliminate the dangerous bacteria and debris from the water. The filter even eliminates the heavy metals and the parasites. But still, many of the filters were expensive and even hard to use. I had a problem. Some filters are so accurate about cleaning the water that they even remove some good minerals in the tap water.

And that can damage our health. The recent studies have clearly shown that the lack of minerals in the water can cause many and serious diseases.

This is the reason why you need to know what the filter at your home does precisely. If yours removes 95% of the heavy metals in the water, don’t use it. It will eliminate the good minerals also. I wish this article has provided you with some helpful information on how to deal with the problem of having safe water.

A pond may offer a number of benefits. It can be cool and relaxing, visually appealing and it can provide the local wildlife a watering point.

For Starters

It is imperative to know the reason why you are building this pond before the actual construction. Some individuals just wanted to put up these kinds of projects without considering the comfort and safety of the inhabitants of that pond. Evaluate first these things before assembling your pond.

You can ask for advice from your pond professional or read books that are concerned on pond kits and the techniques of construction of ponds. Consult your local pond contractors who have experience regarding this field.

Now you can build your own fish pond following these planning stages:

Consider the location.

Choose a site where your pond is not near existing large trees. These vantage points will prevent root problems as well as minimizing the problem of falling leaves in your pond that may cause decaying and poor water quality. Pond plants such as water lilies need sunlight to grow. It is best to place your pond where it can be exposed to sun but not too much as it can over heat during mid afternoon or on hot days. A semi shaded place with a good amount of light coming through is sufficient enough.

Temperature extremes should be minimized on the pond. If you intend on raising and keeping fish, it is important to make the pond as deep and as large as practical. However, deeper ponds may need to be fenced to prevent accidents.

Design with purpose.

Consider electricity supply for pumps, filters, and lights when designing your pond. It is also important to look into the water supply and drainage.

Ponds must have an overflow area (a place located below the rest of the pond height) to control where the excess water should go. Overflowing may be caused by overfilling the pond with water or from heavy rain.

Screen your overflow paths to prevent any escape of small plants, fishes (and its eggs), and snails during water additions and heavy rainfall. This may also protect the local waterways from any possible escape. This is especially important if there are non local fish in the pond.

Complete preparation requirements.

It is essential to clean and rinse ponds before using it since fish and other water plants are sensitive to contaminants. “Curing” concrete ponds combined with water changes, scrubbing, filling, and painting with vinegar is also important.

Allow chloramines and chlorine to dissipate especially if you used tap water to fill the pond. One can also utilize a commercial chlorine neutralizer from pet shops to solve this problem.

Ensure that all equipment such as fountains, waterfalls, filters, and lights are working satisfactorily before adding the fish and plants.

It is also better if you allow at least one week for the plants to settle in the pond before adding the fish. Clean up the pond regularly for dead leaves as this will add unwanted excess nutrients to the water and decay it as well.

Observe proper maintenance.

A said, keep the pond clean of fallen vegetation and dead leaves. The frequency of cleaning will depend on the amount of vegetation falling into the water and on the tome of the year. Do the cleaning at the beginning of spring before the temperature of the water starts to rise.

Feed your fish and clean up the filters periodically.

Add water in the pond periodically. A normal garden hose will do. However, no more than 10-20% should be added at any time because of the chlorine levels in tap water.

Cleaning out your closets/toilet  is always a difficult thing to do mainly because there are so many decisions to be made. To help you out, here are some great closet/toilet ideas that you may not have thought of or known about:

1) If you are like me, you probably have lots of clothes that have never been worn. If so, you can try to return them to the store where you bought them. The stores will sometimes give you cash but usually they will give you store credit. If you don’t want the credit, you can turn around and sell that credit on Ebay. There is a high demand on Ebay for store credit receipts and they usually fetch upwards of 80% of face value. Of course this will only work if you have store credit from a national chain.

2) Many people also use Ebay to get rid of their unwanted clothes whether it is new or used. Children’s clothes sell especially well as do sweaters, shirts, and blouses. If you hate the thought of organizing a garage sale, Ebay can be a great place to sell some of your nicer items and get some nice cash for them too.

3) Here is a very neat hangar trick – try putting all your hangars in backwards on the rod in your closets. When you wear an item, turn the hangar around. At the end of the year or season, you will easily be able to tell which clothes you haven’t worn and may want to get rid of!

4) Do you need more space to store things? Did you know that you can put the clothes you won’t need in large sturdy plastic bags and suck the air out of them? This also works great when packing for a long trip and you need more room. Give this a try and you will be amazed. Put all the clothes you don’t need in a plastic bag and use your vacuum cleaner to suck all the air out. It will shrink the size of your clothes significantly freeing up lots of room.

5) If you want to plan a new closet design, figure out first what you plan to put in the closet. Only by knowing what types of clothes you want to put in the closet will you know what types of shelves, poles, and drawers you will nee. There are many closet ideas out there and you need to be organized and create an inventory list first.

Getting your closet organized in a manner that is going to continually serve you takes time. The success of your endeavor is going to depend on the system you device to keep your closet
organized. Most of us have never stopped to consider all the open space in our closet. The key to being successful is to find a way to turn that space into something you can work with.

They best way to organize your closet isn’t the best way that someone else choose to do theirs. Remember that everyone has a different organization style as well as different sizes of closets. Your closet organization system should be customized to what you have to store in your closet. There are some wonderful closet organization kits and systems out there, but only purchase one if the set up is right for you. Don’t rearrange your set up to match what is available unless you are sure you will be satisfied with the results.

It is to your advantage to design your own customized closet organization system. This can be done in many ways. You can purchase individual closet organization products to come up with your own design. This can be tricky though when you are trying to get everything to fit properly. If you choose this option, try to select closet organization products that are all made from the same manufacturer. You should always measure your closet space and the products twice to get the best fit.

A much easier way to get the closet organized the way you need it to be is to design your own closet organization kit. While this is similar to purchasing each piece, it is much cheaper. It involves working with a manufacturer who offers design your own closet organizer kits. This works in one of two ways.

The first is you email them the layout you want for the closet size you have. The other way is you email them with the dimensions and a few photos of your closet. They come up with some good layouts for you based on the information you provide. Once you select one that is right for you, they manufacture it. It is shipped to you for installation.

Keep in mind that proper installation of a
closet organization system is essential. You want to work with a manufacturer that offers step by step instructions. The more pre-assembled the closet organization kit is, the better. You will want to consider your level of comfort with following directions and installing the custom closet organization kit that is designed for you. You do have the option of having a friend, family member, or professional install it for you as well.

If you want the closet organization process to be as easy as it can, then consider hiring a consultant to do it for you. Keep in mind this will be more expensive than the other options, but certainly worth saving you the time and the worry of installing it correctly. They can come to your home and discuss everything with you including what you are interested in accomplishing with your closet organization make over. They will offer you several different options for layouts and materials.

Once you decide on the layout and the materials that are right for your custom
closet organization system, they will have it professionally installed for you. Then you can simply organize your clothing and accessories in there. Quite simple right?

Closet organization does come with many decisions, but the end result will be something you are going to enjoy using for a very long time. You will be very glad that you invested your time and money in a custom
closet organization system regardless of the method you choose for designing it, the materials you select, or who installs it. With so many closet organization options available, there is no reason why you should have to settle for anything other than exactly what works well for you.