Archive for April, 2008
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Decks Summer holidays are just around the corner. The family will soon be coming over to your home to celebrate Memorial Day. You’re all ready…you’ve got your grill out from storage, all the grilling tools are ready, and you have even started perfecting your own unique barbecue sauce.
But is your deck ready?
Many decks have taken a harsh beating from the winter and all the rain we have had here in the Midwest. A good deck cleaning in Missouri every year will keep you deck looking good, and mold and mildew away from your boards.
And maybe its time to think about deck staining? Most of the time, if your deck is in good shape, a good cleaning then 2 coats of durable stain will get your deck looking good again.
But maybe in St. Louis deck cleaning just isn’t enough. It might have been years since anything was done to your deck, and now you think your deck might be past looking good again. Don’t worry. A total deck restoration can have your deck looking fresh and new again in just a matter of a few days. All the old stain can be removed, your wood can be rejuvenated, and a fantastic stain can be applied to keep water out of the wood and protect it from U.V rays.
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Home Improvement,
Windows and Doors The kitchen is the most important part of the house these days. Entertaining and of course eating is the standard. When it comes to replacement windows for the kitchen personal preference and functionality play a big role.
Most homeowners are opting for minimizing maintenance and increasing air flow on the kitchen. They also have energy efficiency on their minds because they want to get those fuel bills lowered.
There are a few solutions for this common situation. One is a casement window above the kitchen sink. These replacement windows maximize the ventilation by opening a full 90 degrees. The screen is located in the inside of the window, which makes cleaning simple.
Another possibility for this opening is a garden window. This vinyl replacement window comes with 2 vents in each side and a picture window in the middle and on the roof. This window is similar to the bay window providing extra depth with a seat for your plants and knick-knacks. It will give you nice ventilation with the 2 casement window vents on the side.
The other window styles for the kitchen are the common double hung window and slider window. They give you half the airflow as the casement option but they are still a nice choice for folks that want to maintain their original design.
Buffalo Grove replacement windows Illinois are increasingly demanding the casement windows for their homes.
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Decks,
Home Improvement Wood is the most popular choice material for decks. Not only is wood gorgeous, it is also strong, durable, and easy to work with. Wood is vulnerable, however, to moisture damage and should be checked frequently. Deck boards that are split, splintered, cracked, or have raised nails may point to a potential problem with moisture saturation.
Moreover, wood is an absorbent substance, not unlike skin; wood pores can develop clogged and deteriorated conditions. The best way to prevent troubles with your wood deck is to have it sealed and maintained. Now, let’s discuss some different types of woods that are commonly used for decks.
Cedar: The wood from this hefty, coniferous evergreen tree is a trendy favorite for decks. It not only looks beautiful and has a wonderful aroma, it is also enormously durable. The feel of cedar is soft, and the grain of cedar is elaborate and stunning. Cedar produces natural tannins that are said to be naturally defiant to insects.
However, these tannins can spot, especially after it rains, and this carries on until the wood becomes fully acclimatized (three years or so). After a wood deck cleaning the cedar should be sealed. Sealer colors that work predominantly well with cedar are the likely redwood or cedar tinted. These deck sealers allow the natural grain of the cedar to show through, while still protecting the wood through a shielding pigment.
Redwood: Used commonly in timber construction, redwood is (as the name advocates) a reddish colored wood. Besides the color, redwood is very similar to cedar, and is a stylish choice for wooden deck construction.
Pressure Treated Pine: This long-needled tree also has wood that is very common in the building of decks. Pine varies from extremely soft wood, as with the white pine, to very rigid wood, as in the long leaf pine. The term “pressure treated” refers to wood that has been chemically treated to repeal insects and rot. Cedar and redwood are never treated due to their nature, it isn’t necessary. The downsides to using pressure treated wood are rapid staining, splitting problems, and inconsistent look due to the many chemicals that are in the wood.
As with all woods, it is always a good idea to have your pressure treated deck cleaned and sealed so that these natural problems can be evaded. It’s best to hire a company that specializes in pressure washing decks and wood deck restoration. Depending on personal liking, pine works well with any color deck sealer. As with cedar or redwood, there are natural colors that can heighten the natural grain and color of the wood. Advantages of using pine are its versatility, affordability (compared to cedar or redwood) and its dependability.
Wooden decks can be subjected to very severe exposure, plus abrasion and extreme friction from foot traffic. The horizontal surfaces, such as the floor and top hand rails, receive abundant amounts of sunlight and moisture. Continuous swelling and shrinking of the wood severely breaks down any continuous film coating, resulting in cracking, flaking, and peeling.
These deck coatings or sealers are not recommended for these surfaces. Deep penetrating oil based deck sealers are recommended coatings. They require frequent refinishing, but it is an easier task than the scraping and sanding needed to prepare paints, solid stains, and waterborne sealer for refinishing. Latex sealers or paints are to be avoided where water can collect on flat surfaces. Silicone enhanced sealer products should also be avoided.
Coatings fall into one of two categories. Film forming coatings are primers, paints, heavy bodied and solid color sealers which form coat or film over the surface. Penetrating stains, the second category, dive deep into the wood past the surface resulting in very little surface film. This type of penetrating sealer is not prone to cracking, peeling, or flaking like the film forming type.
Oil based penetrating deck sealers to an excellent job of locking out moisture and protecting against harmful UV rays. These types of sealers are normally semi-transparent but can still have a tone or tint added to them in a variety of colors. Therefore, your deck can have a particular color or tone to it, but yet the beauty of the wood grain will still show through. A rule of thumb is the darker the tone of deck sealer, the more sun protection it provides.
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Windows and Doors The average person driving down the street seeing sign after sign littering the telephone poles promoting $200 windows could only conclude that a new window cost $200. After seeing several signs of different colors and with different phone numbers, all new replacement windows must cost $200. Let’s explore what a $200 window really cost.
A $200 window is a base model that is used to attract price shoppers in order to get a salesperson in their home. Generally the salesperson is honest enough to inform you that the window is a piece of garbage and that a good window will cost at least $400+.
Let’s assume that the sales person is not honest. When you add on Argon gas and a single layer of Low E to meet the energy codes the price jumps to a little over $300. When the sales person finds that your install is not a “basic install” your price will generally jump another $50-$75 which brings your total to a little under $400. So now we can conclude that a $200 window cost a little under $400.
At this point my article should end, I answered the question correct? Well not really, cheap windows are just cheap windows and are made by companies that make cheap windows. Cheap vinyl windows are made of vinyl that is mixed with used plastic.
These windows will always began to fade and discolor, the surface begins to chalk like cheap plastic lawn chairs and the material falls apart. The glass is generally a single strength glass which cracks very easily letting cold air in and creating a hazard. The frames are never sturdy and they will sag due to the weight of the glass this prevents the frames from contacting the weather stripping properly.
The life span of a cheap window is around 3-5 years before they fail. But wait, the sales guy said that they have a lifetime warranty. A warranty is only as good as the company that stands behind the warranty. There are over 600 names brands of the best vinyl windows in the US today, how many can you name? Companies make a ton of money making cheap products and changing their names every few years in order to avoid warranty issues.
In case you have not put the pieces together yet, a $200 window is actually a $400 window and it will fail in a few years. Once you replace the $400 windows you are at $800 per window.
The question now is how long do you want your windows to last before you need to replace them again? Hopefully you will only want to replace them once in your lifetime. So, how about asking the “$200 window company” for some really good windows?
Let’s take a look at the integrity of a company that sells crappy products. Their marketing is illegal in most areas, they litter telephone poles, place flyers under your windshield and call your home even if you are on the do not call list.
They offer prices that are low in order to pull a “bait and switch” once they get in your home. They generally have not been in business in one area long enough to answer any warranty complaints. Is this the type of company that you want to buy your product from?
You might need to reread this again to understand how a $200 window turned into an $800 window, it’s hard to stomach! If you are going to spend $800 on a window, please only spend it once in your life!
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Flooring,
Home Improvement If you have ever tried to purchase home improvement products such as flooring or any other type, you know how frustrating it can be and how the overwhelming number of options can leave you more confused than you were before you started. You also know how the sales representatives at stores can ask you questions that you do not know, resulting in another trip to the store.
It is not hard to avoid such issues and still get the information you need if you know the right questions to ask and things to do before you make a visit to the home improvement store you plan to do business with.
For the purpose of this article, we will discuss the necessary steps to take when planning to visit a flooring store, but the same type of planning can be applied to most situations related to remodeling.
Make sure your store visit goes smoothly by going through this simple checklist below.
Before you go, consider drawing a simple outline of your room indicating;
* Room exits
* Adjoining room floors - type and color
* Sources of sunlight and other lighting
* Subfloor - what’s underneath (sometimes you can pull up an in-floor heating duct to see)?
You will also need to;
* Measurement - length and width, include closets. This will help you explain your needs to the salesperson.
* Measure the distance or the gap from the bottom of the doors to the top of the floor in the rooms that will have new flooring. This will tell you if the bottoms of the doors will have to be shaved to accommodate the new floor.
* Make a note of the color and type of baseboards that are currently installed. Include shoe molding if it exist.
Bring with you to the store:
* Swatches - room fabrics, paint chips. These will help you match floors with your decor for your room design.
* Pictures - take pictures of the rooms that are going to receive improvements. These pictures will serve as a guide in case you have to make a different choice than you originally planned.
Questions the salesperson may ask you:
Durability/Performance
* Is there light or heavy traffic in this room?
* What is the room used for?
* Do you have children and if so, how old are they?
* Do you have pets and if so, what kind?
* How long do you want this flooring to last?
* Is there a door to the outside in the room?
Style/Appearance
* Do you have a certain color in mind?
* What are the room’s lighting sources?
* What types of furnishings do you have?
The New Look
* What’s the style of the room? Traditional? Contemporary? Rustic?
* What’s the feel of the room? Casual? Formal? Somewhere in between?
Questions you may want to ask the salesperson:
* Estimate - Do charges apply?
* Samples - Available to take home?
* Underlayment - What type is required?
* Warranties on flooring - What is offered?
Flooring Installation
* What is the cost?
* What is the installation procedure?
* Who handles appliance and fixture removal and replacement?
You Need To Know
* Who disposes of old flooring?
* Are new moldings, wall base and toe kick required?
* Will the new flooring add height to the room?
* Are installers certified?
By following these simple steps, your visit to the flooring store will be more productive and will enable you to get a more thorough explanation of the flooring products that are available as well as information you need to get the flooring you want.
Other benefits include knowledge of the flooring installation steps that the company follows and how much you will have to pay for this service.